The Downtown Investment Authority Wednesday approved a $1.5 million budget and staked its position to City Council that a $9 million fund for Downtown revitalization should be retained in what the authority's chair described as a "new chapter" for the organization.
Authority Chair Oliver Barakat used the description for the arrival of authority CEO Aundra Wallace, who told the nine-member board he could take over some of the responsibilities from after a 10-month period with no dedicated or independent staff.
With Wallace aboard, Barakat said the group could relieve itself of day-to-day duties and "think strategically" about Downtown.
Wallace and Barakat are scheduled to address the Council Finance Committee today about the authority's budget.
Board members approved a $1.5 million budget that Wallace said was "fiscally conservative" and would include additional staffing. Mayor Alvin Brown's budget proposes an authority budget of $300,000.
The five-person staff would be Wallace, a chief operating officer, executive assistant and two project managers, with additional budget items dedicated to items such as professional services and internal service charges.
Board member Mike Saylor advocated for more funds for professional services and member Donald Harris pushed for more marketing dollars, but board Vice Chair Jim Bailey, publisher of the Financial News & Daily Record, warned the group it could be hitting a "buzzsaw" in the form of the Finance Committee that presses for budgetary detail.
Council member Lori Boyer, an authority liaison who is not on the committee, said she thought Bailey was right because the authority likely will "have to explain each item and why you need it."
No items were added and the $1.5 million budget motion passed.
The committee during its Aug. 9 meeting diverted a $9 million fund dedicated for Downtown development into a capital projects account, a step toward allocating the funds for fiscal 2013-14.
Last week, authority board members held a special meeting to determine how to react to the Finance Committee's action. Barakat drafted a resolution to Council that the money should be returned as a dedicated Downtown development source and presented it to the board Wednesday.
"I do not think it will be too detrimental," he told the board when describing the decision whether to submit it to Council or not.
He said that although he didn't know if the resolution would make much difference, members should consider the appearance to Downtown stakeholders if the board did nothing as a response.
"We don't have a real good history on these resolutions," Bailey responded, offering the best way to resolve the issue is "going toe-to-toe" with Finance Committee members and explaining in detail how the money and budget would spent.
While he said the resolution would not be a solution, he said he was not opposed to its message and supported it.
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