DDA’s focus should be mission minded, not event oriented

Downtowns are the pulse of a community. A place where small businesses thrive, and the sense of community is strongest.

The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has captured our tax dollars and made Imlay City a better place to live and work. This newspaper is proud of its work to promote, improve, beautify and be a financial backbone for downtown. It has in the past provided businesses with funds/grants to repair facades and help support important programs.

The DDA’s role has been good for Imlay City.

In recent months and weeks, trouble has been brewing in the ranks at the DDA, as evident in last Monday’s regular monthly board meeting. Instead of conducting constructive business and providing productive reports, the DDA meeting turned into a forum for airing problems, a squabble between a DDA employee and Chamber of Commerce members. Allegations were thrown and ill-feelings spread between a DDA employee and the DDA Board in regard to several topics. Those issues should have all been handled through proper internal channels for review and then brought to the Board at the next meeting for any appropriate discussion and action. The DDA Board is made up of civic minded volunteers who need to be able to work on the core mission of the DDA. We hope the DDA Board listened intently and takes the appropriate action to solve the problems before they grow even bigger. It was not a good look for our proud and historic community.

Currently the DDA Board is searching for a new Executive Director. We hope they find one who has the strength to work and respect all organizations and to do the business of the community. The quicker the better because it appears it will not be solved by itself.

According to multiple reports from this newspaper, the main purpose of establishing a DDA was to promote private investment, ultimately leading to a more vibrant and prosperous community.

The DDA’s efforts are focused on:
• promoting economic growth
• creating an attractive and identifiable downtown
• strengthening local businesses and community involvement

This newspaper hopes the new Executive Director of the DDA adheres to these objectives. We hope the new director will have a clean slate to work with and not be handed a basket-full of problems. We hope the new director will work to benefit not just the businesses within the DDA district, but all residents of the community. We hope the new director will come to our community with a sense of working hard and collaborating with all community organizations and not competing with them.

Imlay City is better than what happened last Monday night. The vitality of our downtown is directly linked to the well-being of our entire community.