DOWNTOWN OAKLAND ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING WEDNESDAY, MAY 2ND, 2012-1:00 P.M.

CITY CENTER 5-STAR CONFERENCE CENTER 500 12TH STREET, SUITE 105 Present: Chris Curtis, Don Rogers, Julia Sherwin, Jesse Nelson, Martin Ward, Laurie Berberich, Ke Norman, Michael McGuire, Joe Gallardo, Karissa Obeso, Aliza Gallo

Excused Absence: JC Wallace, John Bruno, Michelle Lane Staff: Steve Snider/District Manager, Andrew Jones/District Services Coordinator, Victoria Decker/Office Manager, Fiona Simms/Administrative Assistant, Ted Tarver/ Block By Block Elizabeth Clark/FAB Tim Gallen/Gallen Neilly

General Counsel: PR Consultants: Guests:

Discussions held and decisions made by the Board of Directors

SUBJECT Call to order- Chris Curtis, Vice President Approval of the minutes of March 7th, 2012

DISCUSSION
The minutes of the March 7th, 2012 meeting were presented for approval. Julia Sherwin requested that she be listed as an excused absence and Andrew provided clarification that Jesse Nelson would function as the primary representative for CIM, with John Bruno as his alternate.

ACTION?
Chris moved and Martin seconded the motion to approve the March 7th, 2012 minutes with changes. The motion was approved unanimously. No action taken.

Financial Report

Approval of Updated Bidding Policies and Procedures

Tori noted that this will be an informational item only. Tori outlined the current financial situation of the organization. She noted that to date $832,688.14 has been collected in assessments. This is 94% of our expected collection this year. Our expenses to date this year total $287,608.56. Our current cash remaining totals $619,370.27. Andrew noted that is it required of the district in the disbursement agreement that we file our bidding policy and procedures with the city. DOWNTOWN OAKLAND ASSOCIATION

Laurie moved and Chris seconded the motion to approve

388 19th Street Oakland, California 94612 Phone 510.238.1122 Fax 510.452.4530 info@downtownoakland.org www.downtownoakland.org

Elizabeth noted that we simply took the Oakland Municipal Code and applied it to our organization. Julia raised several concerns with the language of the policy. Her concerns included the provisions including the term lowest responsible bidder and informal bidding procedures which the policy currently states can be used for contracts between $5,000 and $50,000. She also noted that our policy, and therefore the policy of the City of Oakland may not be in line with the California State law regarding competitive bidding. There was discussion about whether or not to approve the current policy or to wait and seek out an outside legal opinion from a bid policy lawyer. Andrew explained that moving into 2013 there will be a budget gap, and there is the option of raising the assessment to fill that gap. If we submit the increase request this year in the September Annual Report, assuming it is approved, the district will not receive the increased assessment amount until 2014. Martin also explained how service levels have already been decreased due to funding. It was also noted that we have not raised our assessment since the district was formed, despite our ability to do so annually. Chris noted that going forward we should be increasing the assessment annually to avoid sticker shock. Julia noted that she thinks we should be cutting expenses instead of increasing the assessment. It was noted that the district is required to notify all property owners of the potential increase, and of the date, time, and place of the city council hearing that will discuss the increase so they may voice any concerns or objections. Julia requested that when we send out that mailing, we provide her with our mailing list so she may express her opinion to the property owners as well. Julia noted that she has concerns regarding the legality of the boards expenditures of funds. Elizabeth noted that as the general counsel to the board she has looked into Julias concerns and found that her legal opinion, and the legal opinions retrieved from the City Attorney disagree with Julias. Aliza asked if staff or the board have received any other complaints from property owners, to which staff replied no. Andrew noted that we have approved this hardship request three times previously. Aliza asked if the district had any cap on the number of times a property can request reimbursement. Staff responded no. Andrew did note that the Church is happy to explore the possibility of allowing the district to utilize the space for meetings or events, although the venue is not really suitable for our needs. Elizabeth noted that although

the bidding policies and procedures. Julia opposed and the motion was approved.

Triggering Assessment Increase in 2012 Annual Report

Martin moved and Chris seconded the motion to approve the request to the city to increase the annual assessment by 5%. Julia opposed, Aliza abstained, and the motion was approved.

Consideration of Hardship Reimbursement Request from the First Church of Christ Scientist

Chris moved and Laurie seconded the motion to approve the hardship reimbursement request from the First Church of Christ Scientist. Aliza

SOBO Updates

DISI Updates

Gallen Neilly Report

non-profits do not pay regular property taxes, they do pay special assessments including the CBD assessment. Aliza and Elizabeth discussed the possibility of exempting organizations like the church, but Elizabeth stated that the code would not permit for that. Andrew updated the board on hanging plant baskets and the back of BART project. He noted that both projects should be completed by the Annual Breakfast Meeting. Andrew also noted that the maintenance and security teams performed well during and after the General Strike activities of May 1st. Steve expressed that OPD and PWA did a phenomenal job. Ted noted that there were two homicides in the districts over the weekend and gave details about each event. Steve encouraged the board to upload their vacant properties to our new property database on our websites. He also showed the board a copy of our broker marketing sheet. He explained staffs plan for the Annual Breakfast and requested that the board attend. He then listed the various organizations and events that DISI has sponsored. Tim highlighted the major parts of Gallen.Neillys report, and mentioned a few articles written about Oakland. Aliza mentioned the upcoming Oakland Mega Region event. August 8th, 2012

abstained, and the motion was approved unanimously.

No action taken.

No action taken.

No action taken.

Other Next Meeting

No action taken.

Minutes taken by: Fiona Simms, District Manager, Downtown Oakland Association