Proposed New Bedford Business Improvement District Retracted – and Ruled Illegal

NEW BEDFORD — A proposal to create a “BID” or “business improvement district” in downtown New Bedford did not meet state legal requirements, city officials discovered. The findings were announced at Monday’s City Council Finance Committee meetingwhere BID detractors — many of whom came to be loosely organized under the name “No BID New Bedford” — gathered on the steps outside City Hall.

“We were working to determine whether the General Mass Ordinance requirements were met and discovered that the originally proposed exclusions cannot be excluded, including all properties within street boundaries,” stated a letter from Acting Assessor Pamela Davis, read and accepted. in the registry on Monday. “It was found that the requirements would not be met.”

A letter from municipal secretary Dennis Farias, also read and accepted on Monday, revealed that the proposal had been withdrawn before non-compliance with the criteria was confirmed.

“Although the numbers and calculations were not completely finalized at the time of the petitioner’s withdrawal, it became very evident to both the assessor’s office and myself that the petition would in fact not meet the criteria defined in the General Mass Law,” Farias said. letter read.

A letter signed by the presenter of the proposal, New City America President Marco Li Mandri officially informing municipal authorities about the withdrawal of the proposal was also read into the records. The Finance Committee voted to dissolve the public hearing on the matter and forwarded it to the City Council plenary for a “no further action” vote.

As stated in previous Standard-Times reports, state law mandates that 51% of the total assessments generated from all properties participating in the BID, and 60% of property owners within the BID, must petition for the BID.

According to Jenny Newman-Arruda, owner of TL6 The Gallery on William Street and a key organizer for No BID New Bedfordand her husband Joseph Arruda, who spoke to The Standard-Times after the meeting, the proposal’s failure to meet state criteria came after some businesses were excluded from the district.

Get some basic information: Controversial New Bedford Business Improvement District plan being withdrawn

“They just confused all the property owners and the people who were offering resistance,” said Joseph Arruda.

“It’s like a very aggressive HOA,” Newman-Arruda said, describing her views on the nature of BIDs, noting that businesses in a BID are subject to rules established by those selected to make decisions. “The BIDs implemented by New City America do not benefit people like me who have a small rental business.”

As described in previous reports, BIDs are touted as a way to increase property values, create real estate demand and bring more business to places like retailers and restaurants. This requires companies located within the IDB to pay to finance improvements. Opponents have argued that BIDs favor larger businesses over small business owners and local residents, expressing the view that BIDs serve as a vehicle for gentrification.

Councilors criticize the way the Mitchell administration handled the BID proposal

At the meeting, some councilors openly expressed their opinion that the BID proposal had not been adequately addressed by the municipal administration; although Mayor Jon Mitchell later disputed that notion in a prepared statement provided Wednesday.

“I am shocked and outraged that this administration would force this candidacy without doing due diligence,” said Councilman Shane Burgo, who would later call the matter “a waste of time for everyone involved.” “This is a dereliction of duty that we see too often from this administration.”

Burgo expressed gratitude to city resident Rose Miller, who he and protesters outside said was instrumental in bringing to light the inadequacy of the proposal through her research, which he suggested led to the evaluators’ conclusions presented Monday night. -fair.

“If it wasn’t for her coming forward, we wouldn’t be here tonight to be able to see that they didn’t meet that threshold,” Burgo said.

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“I think the worst part of this,” said District 4 Councilman Derek Baptiste, “is that the administration would allow this and really play with people without doing their due diligence…and look at the work they did. done and see how they changed, and see how communities came together to fight it.”

“Fortunately, we were able to come to the conclusion that it was not properly before us, but not before this administration caused civil unrest throughout downtown and throughout the city,” said District 3 Councilman Shawn Oliver. “Next time, if something like this appears before us, I hope the government, which prides itself on being correct, will have its i’s dotted and its t’s crossed.”

“What happened here was a land grab and it didn’t happen,” said Councilman Brian Gomes. However, Gomes said concerns for a “cleaner” and “safer” city center that were highlighted during the BID’s consideration process would not go unnoticed. “I will introduce a motion at the next City Council for us to meet with the downtown business community and find out exactly what their concerns are…”

Mayor Jon Mitchell would support a “thoughtful” future BID; says that residents presented a proposal

Although protesters and councilors placed the responsibility for the development of events surrounding the BID proposal on the Mitchell administration, Mitchell – in a written statement – ​​stated that the proposal was presented by the owners, and not by himself. However, he expressed support for the idea, which he reiterated in an email on Wednesday.

“I applaud the downtown property owners’ initiative to establish a business improvement district. These districts have become a popular and effective way to increase demand for small businesses, which is probably why there are more than a thousand of them in the US,” Mitchell wrote. proposal for a new BID, I would look for ways the city could support it.”

‘But this is not the end…’

While BID detractors who gathered outside City Hall in the run-up to the meeting’s 7pm start on Monday were pleased with New City America’s pullback, some suggested it was not necessarily a victory lap.

“I am very proud of our response to what could have been so damaging to our community, but it is not the end. Who or what will try to take advantage of the city next?” said Elissa Paquette. , owner of the Calico clothing store downtown and president of Downtown New Bedford, Inc. Paquette encouraged more local residents to run for public office. “If we had a City Council that we could count on, we wouldn’t be so anxious about what was going to happen.”

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Newman-Arruda and Arruda told The Standard-Times they wouldn’t be surprised to see another attempt to create a BID in New Bedford at some point. As noted in a previous reportSmall property owners and tenants were not in favor of the idea of ​​a BID when it was attempted from 2015 onwards.

“The IDB got pulled out the first time because they listened to us, they heard we didn’t want this,” said speaker Marcus Coward.

A speaker who identified himself only as Mwalim, and as a Mashpee Wampanoag elder, suggested that there was an element of racism involved in the way the city government operates beyond the BID case.

“Part of the situation that’s happening with the city of New Bedford, when we look at the city center, when we look at the arbitrary laws that are imposed on businesses and organizations that are owned or operated by people of color, or we work in alliance com, we see broken sidewalks, we see interesting ordinances that deny access to or use of buildings in public spaces,” Mwalim said. Mwalim spoke of cases in which he was prevented from engaging in public art and other “freedom of expression” endeavors in community public spaces, and that groups like the Oversoul Teatro Coletivo, Inc. – where he serves as artistic director – are coming together to “fight against” such challenges.

Since news of New City America’s intention to withdraw its BID proposal began to spread last week, Newman-Arruda told The Standard-Times that “someone from the Riverside, Calif., BID contacted me and said, can you tell us how to get out of the IDB were in?”

Information found in riversidedowntown.org says the IDB started in 1986.

This article originally appeared in the Standard-Times: New Bedford officials accept New City America BID retraction