The Keyport Borough Council voted to establish a new business improvement district partnership at its Nov. 1 meeting, breaking ties with the Keyport Business Alliance (KBA).
The ordinance decertifies the KBA as the borough’s district management entity and establishes the new Keyport Business Improvement District (BID) Inc., in its place.
The ordinance passed by a 4-1 vote. Councilman Warren Chamberlain cast the only “no” vote. Councilman Clemente Toglia was absent from the meeting, but voted against the introduction of the ordinance at the Oct. 18 meeting.
“Business improvement districts such as the KBA are intended to provide a quasi- public solution to the decline of downtown business districts. Their intent is to harness the resources of local government and business community in an effort to revitalize the businesses in town and create a better community for businesses and residents together,” said Mayor Robert McLeod.
“Unfortunately, the animosity between KBA leadership and the mayor and council has frustrated the objective of a public/private partnership.”
Business owners filled the meeting room on Nov. 1 to protest the new BID ordinance, many claiming that the decertification of the KBA was a drastic move.
“In any democracy that I’ve been exposed to, when people don’t like the way things are run, you can get involved and get elected. And I think that should be the method that is taken here,” KBAVice President Larry Vecchio said at the Nov. 1 meeting.
“If people were not happy, they would turn out to vote or run for a change of leadership.”
The KBA was established in 1998 and includes most businesses throughout the borough.
The borough charges commercial property owners an assessment each year of 25 cents per $100 of valuation. The funds are used by the KBA to improve the business district and promote economic development and job growth within the borough. Vecchio said last year’s total assessments equaled $118,000. McLeod said the move to decertify the KBA came after a long history of animosity, culminating over the summer when the KBA’s executive board voted to hire a web hosting company to serve as event coordinator for the Country Jamboree and Chili Fest, held on Oct. 8.
He said the KBAapproved the new hire without seeking other proposals or discussing the length of contract or compensation for the employee hired, thus violating the bylaws under which the KBA must operate.
“The KBA is a quasi-public entity entrusted with the expenditure of assessments imposed and levied in the same manner as taxes. It is not a purely private operation, to be exploited at the whim of a ruling clique. It is a public trust which must be administrated consistently with the highest standards of transparency and accountability,” McLeod said.
“The KBA has been feuding with three mayors and councils. When you have an ongoing problem, and you’re looking for a solution, you look for the constant factor. The constant factor is the KBA leadership, which will clearly not work with anybody unless it controls them or thinks it controls them. The borough and KBA partnership has become dysfunctional. As with all dysfunctional unions, it must be dissolved.”
Chamberlain explained his concerns when he cast his vote against the new BID alliance, asking the council to consider a less drastic measure.
“I think we owe our business people a fair shot. Let’s try something different. Let’s try working together to make this town the way everybody wants it,” he said. “There were mistakes made with the KBA, but I think we can try something different. I don’t think a drastic move is in the best interest of the people in this town, and certainly not the business people,” Chamberlain said.
Business owner Cliff Moore, who also serves as president of the Northern Monmouth Chamber of Commerce, pointed out his own concern that the new BID alliance would contain more government appointees than business owners.
“I’m in the top 10 taxpayers of the BID. And I have no problem paying [the assessment], but I would like to have a voice in it. There are more members of council or appointees, and that should be reversed. There should be one more business that has a voice on how the money’s being spent,” Moore said.
Before the council voted to adopt the new BID, council President Joseph Sheridan offered an amendment to the ordinance to allow for another business owner, giving the business owners a majority on the new board.
“I think it would be in our best interest to have a majority of business owners [on the board]. We [can] just go down to one Borough Council member,” he said.
The amendment failed when no council member offered to second the motion.
McLeod said the ordinance allowed for an additional businessperson to be appointed in the future at the behest of the mayor and council.
Under the new ordinance, the BID’s board of directors would include: the mayor; borough administrator; two council members; an appointee from the recycling, property maintenance or code enforcement office; an appointed non-business resident; and five business owners elected by the business community.
“With the creation of the new Keyport BID, we envision a real public/private partnership to develop a strategy for revitalization of a multifunctional downtown, which includes commercial businesses, the arts and recreation.
“We want to create real partnerships between local government, the BID, the private center and civic organizations in order to make Keyport a good town for business, attract ratables and find jobs for people to work,” McLeod said.
Not all of the business owners in the audience were against the new BID ordinance. Former business owner Richard Yarczower claimed that while still operating in Keyport, he had frequently been subjected to pressure and exclusion by the KBA for attending Borough Council meetings and voicing his opinion about the alliance.
“They do things through intimidation. I lost contracts because I came here and voiced my opinion. I lost contracts, and other people doing business with me were told by people on this executive board not to do business with me,” he said.
“They got their wish. We had to fold up. After every council meeting, something happened. My store window was crashed. Sticky notes were left on my door with expletives.
“I’m not easily intimidated, but they won, and we had to move out of town. However, we do come back to this town. We visit your businesses. We eat here. We enjoy your waterfront and think it’s the greatest thing since apple pie. And after tonight, I may be looking for a store to bring my business back here,” Yarczower said.
Councilwoman Christian Bolte offered similar sentiments
“It’s very difficult to smoothly transition a dictatorship back to a democracy. They’ve had control of the checkbook. I would ask business people to come in to speak, but I know for a fact they can’t. It’s a small community. [The KBA] can’t have one resident thinking negatively about them.
“This isn’t the mafia in Keyport. We need to get back to a situation where people feel comfortable and can come in and voice their opinion without worrying about retaliation for their businesses. The assessment dollars themselves have been a tool we want to keep,” Bolte said.
In an Oct. 21 interview, Vecchio said the KBAwould continue to operate as a private organization, despite being decertified as the borough’s district management corporation.
“[The KBA was] designed for and has done a lot of good things for the town, and it’s unfortunate that it got to this,” he said.
“The KBAwill stay in existence, and we plan to use our energies to continue to help the business district.”
The KBA Board of Directors is scheduled to meet on Monday, Nov. 14. The Keyport Borough Council is next scheduled to meet on Tuesday, Nov. 22.
Contact Mike Davis at [email protected].