The Mooresville Downtown Commission may soon find out its fate.
Several members of the MDC’s board of directors, coinciding with their annual request for public funding, plan to make a presentation about the value and future of the MDC during a Friday-morning agenda briefing for Mooresville commissioners. The commissioners’ regular monthly meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 7, at 6 p.m.
In recent years, the Town of Mooresville has given the MDC between $40,000 and $45,000 annually. But this year – due mainly to the upcoming retirement of longtime MDC Executive Director Wayne Frick – the MDC is asking for $60,000, mostly to offset a new director’s salary.
Frick has been executive director of the MDC since one year after the organization was formed in 1987. He plans to retire in June.
One or two downtown business owners are using the retirement as a convenient excuse to attempt to nix the MDC, just at the time when all the right people are in place to move our downtown forward and make the MDC the organization it always should have been.
Interestingly, according to its very own website, the MDC “plays a vital role in the success of downtown Mooresville.” Working with civic leaders and merchants, the MDC “has kept the economic vitality and main street values going and growing strong in Mooresville for generations,” the website reads.
The MDC, funded by local government and business and property owners, “develops strategic plans to make downtown economically attractive to citizens, customers, visitors, and other businesses,” states the website, adding that “Mooresville is a great locale for business because it has great people with traditional American values.”
The town also apparently has people who can’t seem to accept change or let go of the reigns of control.
The one or two downtown business owners – including Mayor Bill Thunberg, who owns a Main Street jewelry store – are pushing to abolish the downtown commission, reportedly arguing that the district tax (16 cents per $100 of valuation) to help float the MDC isn’t paying dividends.
So after two decades, they are now apparently arguing that each business should promote and advertise itself, and the MDC has not done much for them in the past.
A couple of others are contending that the MDC executive director should be a Chamber employee or, even more absurd, a town employee … who would report to – you guessed it – the mayor.
On the other hand, another group of downtown business owners and major investors believe that the MDC’s full potential can finally become a reality. They want to help shape Mooresville’s downtown into a vibrant retreat and destination.
This particular group of business owners and investors want to search for a competent, dynamic director with experience and an expansive, futuristic vision for downtown – someone who knows how to vigorously pursue grants and how to recruit and retain professional, quality shops, boutiques, galleries and restaurants – someone with an open mind and an eclectic flair who recognizes the value and uniqueness of a downtown like Mooresville’s – someone whose goal it is to attract a variety of people and businesses to a downtown that desperately needs a shot (or five) of adrenaline injected into it.
Call me an optimist, but I can’t figure out why anybody wouldn’t want to jump all over such an opportunity – and why any elected official who has voted to fund the MDC in the past would not vote to fund it now.
Either the MDC website has been lying to us, or it has been telling the truth and somebody wants to sabotage it. I don’t know which is worse.
A question to our elected officials: After years of providing many hundreds of thousands of dollars to a shoddy-run MDC – and apparently providing those tax dollars for more than a dozen years before the organization had even adopted bylaws – why would anyone consider nixing the MDC’s funding now?
A question to the downtown business owner(s) who say the MDC has never worked for them: Where were you a year ago, or a year before that, or a year before that, or five years before that? You’ve been paying an extra tax for the MDC for years, and we are to believe that all the while the system has been failing you? Where was the talk about dissolving the MDC while Wayne Frick was the executive director?
In years past, town commissioners have rubber-stamped a $45,000 check to the MDC which in turn threw a few token community events, then kicked back and called it a year.
But as soon as the MDC gains a new-school, progressive chairman and a board of directors that seeks accountability … at the same time that outdated, dilapidated buildings and stores are giving way to fresh, trendy shops and restaurants … at the moment when major investors sink roots and millions in downtown and start splashing fresh coats of vibrant paint on storefronts … at the time when we receive the resignation of the only executive director the MDC has ever had – who was given the job 20 years ago because, like everyone else running this town, he had friends in the right places and Belk’s Department Store on his resume – that is when we decide to question our annual contribution to the downtown commission?
Something doesn’t add up.
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26 comments:
Love it! Thank you for not being afraid to name names and speak the truth! So proud of you! You have lots of people applauding you!
Heather Sherrill
I love it! The town of Mooresville now has an advocate for the citizens, instead of the good ole boys! Keep it up and you could be Mayor, but until then you are our only Mooresville Oversight Effrontery(MOE) Thanks for your efforts--can't wiat till the next blog.
I will levy one of the 6 votes to support our Down Town. The Down Town is in a time of change, and needs our support as much if not more so than at any other time. I will work to ensure that ours remains remains the vital part of our economic infrastructure, just as my family has done for generations.
Mac Herring, Commissioner, Ward 3
Town of Mooresville
Thank you, Mr. Gatton, for shedding some much needed light on the downtown situation. My family and I have strolled down its streets with our children and watched the changes. We have always wondered why it has not thrived the way it should, considering all the growth around it.
Even though I voted for Mayor Bill Thunberg twice, I am disturbed by what I have read about our mayor's position and actions in this issue.
But I like hearing both sides of a story. Could you please get our mayor's formal position on this issue by any chance? Perhaps there are some mitigating circumstances?
I would also like to commend Commissioner Mac Herring of Ward 3 for his comments supporting downtown.
We have a jewel in the rough in our downtown. We can all get together and make it shine!
I've said for years that in order for Mooresville to move forward that some people (sorry) needed to pass on. Maybe their just retiring will do the trick as well. Thank you Jaime for your eloquent and glaringly truthful observations. I think with a younger board and the hiring of someone who has some experience in this field (and absolutely NO ties to Mooresville) the downtown may just become a good place to be. Greenville, SC should serve as our inspiration.
The MDC is a waste of taxpayer money. I dont feel the taxpayers should be paying for having someone in an Easter Bunny suit waving at cars. Yes that was your tax dollars at work. If the Town of Mooresville is going to subsidize businesses in downtown with extra money from the town budget then other businesses in town should get a refund too. It is not fair to tax businesses on Hwy 150 a general town tax and take $60,000.00 out of the town budget to lift up otherwise failing businesses in downtown. If businesses in downtown cant stand on their own so be it.
Out with the old! In with the new! Down with the good ole' boy network!
The question should be.. What has the Downtown Commission done for businesses such as Bay State Milling (Bay State pays more taxes than any other Downtown Taxpayer) Harry Hart's business, Mooresville Savings Bank? Clippers Florist, Couch Movers, Lake Norman Fire Extinguisher, Gibson's Furniture, CVS, Bank of America, John Howard, Mooresville Ice Cream, Co., Barger Construction and others? NOT A THING BUT SUCK BLOOD in the form of taxation.
The Downtown Commission is now only concerned with the 100 blocks of Main Street... That is except for when it needs to collect more tax revenue to waste. This is not an issue of the good old boys being ousted. It is an issue of the rest of the district being ousted and ignored. Better put, Much of the opposition to the Mooresville Downtown Commission lies with the old issue of "Taxation without representation."
As to the Good Ole Boys. If you look at the tax area of the Mooresville Downtown District there is a reason it does not go further North or South. To do so would run into Teeter Family Property. Mr. Atkins remark about expanding the tax district will bring out some "Good Ole Boys" he does not want to mess with. How ironic it may be if Mr. Atkins comments actually lead to lobbying from even those outside the district for shutting down the cancer that has plagued Mooresville for 20 years.
Another question is: What have those business owners done for themselves?
The MDC *has* been a waste of taxpayer money for 20 years -- you won't get an argument there. But if "taxation without representation" is indeed the key issue, I would ask again: where have those downtown business owners been for 20 years while their money -- and *our* money -- has been wasted?
In addition to the business owners paying a special tax, our town board gives public money every year to the MDC. And what I'm now hearing is that every taxpayer in this town has been jipped for 20 years -- that downtown businesses, who were the only people who would truly understand the extent of that, were also being jipped and keeping mum about it -- and Wayne Frick is the only person who profited?!? That bothers me.
Again, no one is arguing that the MDC has been a joke. The question is: what can the organization *become*?
If the business owners in the 100 block of Main Street are the ones who are finally willing to rattle a few cages and put their necks out in an attempt to put an end to the blood-sucking -- and to go after what is due them -- I say more power to 'em.
I would rather my tax money go to a group like that than a group who kept quiet about the waste of tax dollars for 20 years so that Wayne Frick could keep his job.
That's just my .05 (inflation, ya know).
So Jaime...
What about yesterday. Your new holier than thou Downtown Commission Board had to have spent $2,000.00 to $3,000.00 of taxpayer money on a band and related advertising with the Tribune promoting a free downtown concert.
Usually I avoid downtown, but I guess it was somewhat a success as it did get me to go downtown to see if tax dollars were spent wisely by the Mooresville Downtown Commission.
I rode through 3 times yesterday and the band was playing. But they were playing to themselves with no one watching. It looks like business as usual as this new board you so admire continues to waste money.
The real question is, why all of the sudden is Mayor Bill Thunberg leading the charge to de-fund the MDC? And why is he not stating his position on the record and instead trying to do this behind the scenes? Or is this the way he always does business? Thunberg has supported funding for the organization for twenty years while his friend Wayne Frick helped perpetuate the "old" Mooresville stranglehold on downtown that has now been broken. Where were Thunberg and the complainers for 20 years? Why do they now want to de-fund it? Perhaps because it is clear that it will no longer simply do the bidding of the Mayor and his old school crowd. In 2005, Chris Carney, while running for town board, stated that the MDC should be defunded due to its poor performance under Frick. Did Thunberg join in that call at that time? No, he did not and none of the other people who are now suddenly so "interested" did. So if it was just about funding, this would be a much more simple argument. But it is really about an attempt to use the perceived (and now fading) power of the Mayor's office to silence an organization that is no longer in lock step with the old way of doing things. And by the way, the MDC supported Bay State Milling in its efforts to enlarge its mill to the current monstrosity. Bay State's selling point to the MDC: Its added tax base would help MDC funding. So of all businesses, Bay State has no room to complain. As to paying for Easter Bunnies and bands that have no audience, I agree with you and that is the kind of "leadership" the organization has endured for 20 years from Wayne Frick.
I just received these comments from a reader who asked to remain anonymous:
For 21 years, there has been only one Director of this commission. Why should we throw out the baby with the bath water? A Town study several years ago, funded by the TofM, recommended that the Director of this Commission should have expertise in marketing and real estate. Certainly it would seem that now is the time to hire such a person and try this for several years.
Any commission that receives tax monies should be made accountable to the town for its activities and expenditures. I suggest that the Director should be required to submit a planning calendar of the week’s activities and the plans for the upcoming week. Certainly the Director should be made accountable to someone in the town.
The owners of Downtown businesses and buildings need an advocate. They are paying an extra tax and need to know what they are getting for their money. They should be made aware of all meetings and feel free to attend, that these are open meetings just like the Town Board meetings. Certainly some type of schedule must be followed to avoid long-winded speakers but the merchants have a business to run so that may not be an issue.
The concept of a special commission which focuses on the vitality of our downtown is an excellent one, and sorely needed if downtown Mooresville is to become a vital area. Perhaps the commission needs more teeth, in order to accomplish its goals such as setting established hours of operation in the downtown stores, so that when a shopper goes to the store they are assured that it will be open. Plan a meeting with the merchants to get their opinion of what they want their downtown to be. There are many avenues to pursue to “beef up” the role of the MDC and its Director. Remember that united we stand, divided we fall.
I am well aware that there are new members of the Commission who want to change the perception of this group and I applaud their efforts. I think that now is not the time to demolish this group, but rather to develop a specific job description for this position of Director, increase the salary so that well-qualified applicants will apply, and move forward with a new person in this position.
If we have a positive vision for our town, we will not look to the mistakes of the past, but look to improvement in the future.
The live band did not cost $2,000 to $3,000. At most the amount was a couple of hundred dollars. The MDC is at least trying something different and the weather did not cooperate.
But having a live band makes sense when you had the car show scheduled and Home & Garden show at Citizens Center. The investment in downtown Mooresville over the past five years has been sizable and the tax base has increased. The idea of wasting money (a couple $100's) because it rained is ridiculous but if that is the standard, then every local/state/national project should be disallowed for wasting money. Get a real life.
I think that all of these comments are great. I hope all of the contributors will encourage their family and friends to subscribe, because ideas move the machine. Jamie, stand tough, because Rome wasn't built in a day.
The Charlotte Observer reported yesterday that “downtown commission members say the new director must meet measurable goals, such as increasing investment, business growth, residential development and entertainment, or be fired”. How about the current director? Opponents and proponents alike agree he is not meeting these qualifications, yet he “announced” in January that he will be staying on for another six months.
MDC Board: The proof is in the pudding. If you want the taxpayers of this town to back the downtown commission, and if you want to convince us that you are indeed going to start being accountable with our tax dollars, you must start now – by firing Wayne Frick.
I requested a copy of the minutes this morning and I just got emailed a copy of the minutes from the MDC for March. If they did not spend $2,000.00, looks like they had the authorization to do so.
"David Miller presented for the Race City Pit Stop (RCPS) and mentioned that the MDC had a Band for Easter could the MDC have a Band for RCPS? David then asked the Board for his budget for RCPS. 2007 budget was $1000.00. David asked for $1000.00 plus the cost of a Band, Dennis Cowardin recommended $1000.00 plus $600.00 for a Band. A motion was made to budget $2000.00 for RCPS by Bob Amon and seconded by Ellis Kelly and passed by a vocal vote."
From those same minutes here are the nominees from the floor. Does anyone have the list of nominees by the nominating committee and who served on the nominating committee?
--Teresa Alfred, Mooresville Savings Bank/ nom. accepted by Chair Kim Atkins
--Tom Ellis, Mooresville Tribune/ nom. accepted by Chair Kim Atkins
--Leah Mitchum, Visitors and Convention Bureau/ nom. accepted by Chair Kim Atkins
--Chuck Pless, Insurance/ nom. accepted by Chair Kim Atkins
--Cotton Ketchie, Landmark Galleries/ nom. accepted by Chair Kim Atkins
--C. Robert Brawley, Insurance/ nom. accepted by Chair Kim Atkins
The RCPS is the Friday before the Memorial day race at Charlotte. No activities are planned at the track for that day. The RCPS was not this past weekend and again a band for this past weekend did not cost thousands of dollars.
I would advise you understand minutes and what they pertain to before thinking you know everything in advance.
I stand corrected, if the minutes refer to a different date so be it. But you dont have to be so smart about it. $2,000.00 for a band downtown at any time is still way too much. You must be a Board Member to be so defensive. So taking that as a given, I bet if you were spending your own personal money you would not spend it so unwisely.
I am not a board member but tired of people shooting from there hip and not knowing the facts. I apologize if it came across that way, but it was started by stating the "holier than thou" MDC board.
To often people do not take the time to find the truth. The RCPS is much more than just a band. That is when the race cars park downtown and race fans walk up and down the street looking at actual race cars, not show cars. Several vendors will be set up and this day usually brings in a lot of race fans because the track has no practice on that Fri. Last year several thousands of dollars were raised for Victory Junction. I believe that they have a different charity this year.
The MDC is not perfect but I am tired of seeing people blast anything new to try something different. It may not work but then again maybe it will.
I watch very closely how I spend my money. If you want to talk about waste, lets talk about Langtree Properties, LLC. It is begging out of annexiation this year again. ToM has spent a ton on this project and another year will go by without collecting any money on there land. This info is from the town agenda today item #8 especially look at item 23 where we as taxpayers are spending over $100,000 for studying the water lines for that development.
Comment well taken. Cyber shake of hands I hope. Mooresville is full of waste. I guess that is why Mooresville's tax rate is so much more than Statesville's even without the school tax. Actually the amount asked for by the MDC is a drop in the bucket when compared to the amount the town throws away each year. There are much bigger fish to fry so to speak.
I agree completely on the tax rate. I do not mind paying top dollar for something if I am getting top dollar back. Not sure that has been happening in a lot of areas in Mooresville. I personally think this MDC brohau is a smoke screen and much larger waste this is not being addressed. Appreciate the handshake and extend it back.
Thank you so much for looking into this. I'm curious. Did you ever hear back from Mayor Bill Thunberg on his stance on this issue?
You're absolutely welcome. And, no, I did not.
To April 7,4:33 Comment--You are correct--there is alot of waste in Mooresville Government--it is like a financial shell game-lets create a entity to promote Mooresville--then lets get the mayor, some "players" on the board, then lets legally set it up so our activities are shielded from the "Public Information" Statutes by calling it a Private/Public Entity. Then we will ask for public funds--or better yet, lets borrow the money from the Town to operate it, then we will default on the payment. Boy- it sounds like something an investigation might shed a little sunshine on--what do you think--could this be a possability?
This is great! ! ! Finally a place to vent.
First, if the downtown property owners are 'hurting', who in the world ever thought that burdening them with an additional tax was a good idea?
Second, if you look at the MDC budget, you will see that about 60 to 70% of the money spend went to the director, either in salary, health care, retirement contribution, travel, etc etc. Very little actually went to promotion of Downtown.
Third, who are the people proposing that the MDC be continued? Bob Amon, Steve McGlohlin, Howard Kolwoski, etc etc. (the big property owners) that recently just paid big bucks for buildings downtown. If these guys were standing on the corner asking for my tax dollars I would have to say 'Are you kidding me? How bout sharing some of your money with me?'
Forth, I don't believe any Downtown program will succeed until you get merchants to stay open past 5 or 6. The coffee shop even closes at 2 p.m. for Pete's sake. If the MDC does continue, I think the new Director's first "measurable goal" should be to get Cotton Ketchie and Turner Hardware to stay till 9 p.m. Of course, anyone that can accomplish that could move right on to negotiating peace in the Middle East.
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