Chamber Board of Directors to decide on fate of DBA by Feb. 1

Photo by Bob Lickter Jim McConnaughay, right, and Gary Tintle testify about the Downtown Business Association at recent City Council meeting. McConnaughay was elected treasurer of the Nevada City Chamber on Monday.

The central point raised at Monday's Board of Directors meeting was the existence of the Downtown Business Association. Some members wondered why three of its members were added to the board before the Downtown Business Association, a 501(c)6 non-profit, was officially dissolved, which they believed was part of the merger agreement.

The Nevada City Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors voted to make a final decision on the status of the Downtown Business Association by Feb. 1, 2010, before electing Barbi Jackson as its president-elect and Jim McConnaughay at treasurer for 2010.

 Dave Painter of SPD Markets will be the board president in 2010.

 Jackson was the only candidate for president-elect, while the other announced candidate for treasurer, Kirk Valentine, withdrew his candidacy at the meeting that was held Monday at the National Hotel.

 Despite being the only candidate for treasurer, McConnaughay did not receive the support of three board members.

 McConnaughay, Gary Tintle and Bob Weiner are members of the Downtown Business Association. They were recently appointed to the chamber’s Board of Directors as the result of a merger between the two organizations, a deal that some board members felt had strayed from its original course.

 The central point raised was the existence of the Downtown Business Association. Some members wondered why McConnaughay, Tintle and Weiner were added to the board before the Downtown Business Association, a 501(c)6 non-profit, was officially dissolved.

 After a lengthy debate, the majority of the board agreed the merger had met conditions outlined in the agreement and that they would decide by Feb. 1, 2010, whether to dissolve the non-profit status of the Downtown Business Association.

 The Downtown Business Association has lobbied for and collected fees from downtown businesses that have been used to market the downtown and to make minor improvements. A number of downtown businesses have in the past strongly opposed those assessments, which ultimately were approved by the Nevada City council through a mechanism called the Business Improvement District.

 At the most recent City Council meeting an agenda item that would have terminated the Business Improvement District was removed from the agenda at the request of City Councilman David McKay, who has been an outspoken proponent of the Downtown Business Association and along with the other council members voted for the 2009 assessments.