The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to renew the Los Feliz Village Business Improvement District, despite the objections of some business owners.
Allison B. Cohen, owner of the Los Feliz Ledger, led a campaign to dissolve the organization through various editorial columns and meetings with local business owners. She claimed the BID had received more than $1 million in assessments since its creation 13 years ago with little progress made.
Some business owners also in favor of disbanding the BID cited a lack of results from services it was supposed to provide, including tree trimming and trash cans, according to complaints filed with the city clerk’s office. Others protested what they said was a lack of effective communication, professionalism, cronyism and improper election practices. Other business owners spoke in favor of renewing the BID.
BID President Chris Serrano, manager of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices office in Los Feliz, disputed the claims regarding the BID’s assessments during the Tuesday meeting, telling the City Council that the BID had taken in a little more than $733,000 in assessments between 2002 and 2015.
According to Serrano, the BID bills for $77,000 in assessments but it only takes in about $52,000 each year on average for a variety of factors including payment processing fees.
“Communicating with our members is an ongoing issue, and we’re always looking for ways to improve this day to day and year to year,” Serrano told the Business Journal in response to the roughly 50 members who filed complaints. “We will not please everybody, but we always encourage our members to be involved in the process. The onus is on them to participate, and we provide them opportunities to do so by attending the meetings, writing to us, communicating with us on our Facebook page and so on.”
There are 294 businesses under the BID’s umbrella required to pay a mandatory assessment each year. Those assessments contribute to an annual budget of about $80,000, from which the BID’s governing body assigns expenditures tied to neighborhood improvements.
Despite the approval, David Ryu, who represents the 4th District, told the Council on Wednesday that the BID should be held more accountable going forward.
“Our office prioritizes community engagement, including building consensus between opposing sides,” wrote Ryu spokesman Estevan Montemayor in an email to the Business Journal after the vote.
Montemayor pointed to a 2014 motion introduced by 7th District Councilman Felipe Fuentes that prompted the city to examine the best practices of BIDs across the country as a way to identify creative opportunities and options to revitalize development and reignite job creation.
“We are very supportive of the motion and look forward to reviewing the report on best practices of Business Improvement Districts across the country as soon as it’s complete,” he wrote.
