To the Editor,
In 2018, following a change to the budget of the Westchester Square BID and the assessment to the property owners, the city’s Small Business Services (SBS) submitted mistakes to the city Department of Finance that resulted in one property being overcharged on their assessment fees. When uncovered, it was brought to the attention of SBS who proceeded to redo the assessment rolls and change an additional 21 properties to a formula that was an ambiguous interpretation of the district plan for assessments. When this new assessment roll was sent to BID Executive Director Yasmin Cruz for approval and signature, she refused to sign the paperwork and returned it for correction.
Several calls and meetings followed and then COVID hit and slowed the process. SBS decided to proceed for the following fiscal year with their interpretation without requiring approval signatures. The BID board met and started a process of rewriting the district plan to remove any ambiguities and correct the rolls. Unfortunately, following many meetings, wrangling regarding language, a public meeting and the typical bureaucratic red tape that SBS is known for, the plan was not submitted by them to the City Council for amendment because of “timing issues.”
Meanwhile the Finance Department deadline once again came and the same assessment rolls were submitted to the BID for approval and processing. And once again, Yasmin would not approve them. The board supported her in this decision. However, instead of repeating their process and proceeding with the rolls without signatures as they had for the three previous years, they decided to flex their muscle and cover their tracks by demanding the signature or they would defund the BID, effective July 1. This in effect would mean the shutdown of the entire Westchester Square program.
When I told Councilmember Velázquez what was going on, she immediately contacted SBS Commissioner Kevin Kim to inquire. Kim claimed he knew nothing about his agency’s detrimental actions. Velázquez pushed back and organized a meeting between Kim, Assistant Commissioner Calvin Brown, several SBS staffers involved in the compilation of the assessment rolls, Gary Sheppard (the BID chairman) and myself to review the history of the problem and SBS’ threat to defund the BID.
As you can imagine, SBS stood adamant that they would not change the decision to defund without a signature and we stood our ground that we would not sign without the new district plan enacted. Velázquez demanded to know why SBS staffers dragged their feet and didn’t get the new approved plan to the City Council on time for the stated meetings and the opportunity to meet Finance Department deadlines. Her arguments convinced Commissioner Kim to drop the agency’s arbitrary demands and he proceeded to rule that — especially since the new district plan was ready to go but not yet “law” — they would continue as they had in the last three years with the old plan assessments submitted without signatures from the BID. This compromise will keep the BID funded for July.
Special thanks to Commissioner Kim for his reasoned and supportive understanding and commitment to the BID process. Extra special thanks to Councilmember Velázquez for stepping in and making this happen. Had she not done so, this summer would have seen the lay-off of the entire BID staff, the end of the sanitation and marketing programs, the end of the security program (a true travesty now that the shelter/migrant building is going up on Blondell Avenue), and the eventual creep of urban decay to the surrounding areas. She deserves recognition for saving this from happening.
John Bonizio
