The Oshawa BIA is on the line as members are expected to cast their ballots Tuesday as to whether the organization should stay afloat.
However, many are expressing several concerns when it comes to voting notice, eligibility and health and safety protocols.
Amber Derby with the Holiday Inn says she was the designated BIA contact for the company, but did not receive a letter from the city advising a vote would be taking place until four days ago.
“Because of the short timeline, I’m worried about being eligible because I’m still waiting for some documents to come in,” she said.
When she reached out to the city over email inquiring about the vote, she was told a letter had gone out to members of the BIA on Nov. 17.
“The letter was attached to the email and I noticed it was not addressed to anyone,” Derby said.
“I am listed as the BIA contact so it should have been addressed to me. It was not addressed to anyone so it just went into an (unchecked) mailbox.”
The Holiday Inn sales director is now scrambling to obtain the paperwork she needs to be eligible to vote and planned to meet with the city to review her documents Monday afternoon.
Ward 4 Coun. Derek Giberson says many businesses that are eligible to vote Tuesday may find themselves in the same predicament as Derby, as “council passed a very draconian motion, restricting the BIA office from having any involvement in swaying the vote one way or another.”
“They’re afraid to even support their members in answering the questions that they might have about the vote.”
However, Derby and Giberson have brought up additional concerns, including how council made a decision that would require nearly 500 members of the BIA to vote in person.
“Durham Region has just entered a red zone, which is the control status, so we’re trying to limit the spread of COVID-19,” Derby said.
“I don’t think it’s a good decision that we’re all possibly attending at city hall.”
According to Giberson, at the Nov. 10 council meeting, staff had come forward with a survey process that included a mail-in option with the understanding not all members would be able to attend in person to vote.
“For some reason, council decided to set that very sound recommendation aside and instead opt for an in-person vote process during a pandemic,” he said.
“Many of the property owners downtown don’t live in Oshawa. Many of them are coming from lockdown areas against the advice of provincial medical officials.”
Oshawa Mayor Dan Carter’s office tells Global News the mayor was not involved in the discussion and therefore could not comment on the matter.
The reasoning for Tuesday’s vote comes after a handful of businesses called for an end to the organization. Earlier this summer, the BIA removed a levy cap of $5,500, skyrocketing taxes for multiple companies.
One company faced a tax hike of about 600 per cent.
Former city councillor and president of Parmac Relationship Marketing Ltd. Louise Parkes is one of the members voting to dismantle the BIA.
While she says this is partly due to the tax increase, it’s also because of a 267-page report released from the city that “itemized numerous incidences of financial mismanagement and operational mismanagement,” Parkes said.
The report, dated Oct. 16, found “the Board of Management of the O.C.B.D.I.A. currently lacks financial expertise and, therefore, financial oversight.”
Giberson argues that “in none of that have we found that money has gone missing — that money was spent on things it wasn’t supposed to be spent on.”
“What they were struggling with was being a very small organization trying to reach a standard of what’s called controls that are considered best practices but sometimes can be a challenge for a really small organization.”
Parkes says that “with a heavy heart” she will be voting to disband.
“But at the same time, the downtown needs a representative organization, but I think during a pandemic, it’s no longer sustainable,” she said.
Parkes says she would like to see the city resurrect the Downtown Action Committee, which she “chaired many years ago.”
“It was very successful.”
The BIA’s chair of board management, Ivano Labricciosa, says the organization has provided valuable support to businesses, especially during the pandemic.
“We’ve done a tremendous amount of work dealing with all the issues that COVID brought up for businesses,” he said.
“The un-sheltered issue, the safety and security being the top priority of our members.”
In September, the mayor called for help from Durham police after receiving numerous reports of safety concerns from local businesses and organizations. It came amid escalating criminal behaviour from various homeless individuals in the city.
Members of the BIA are expected to vote at city hall Tuesday between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on whether or not the organization should be dissolved.