Dear Editor:
Your editorial "Clarkson BIA" (May 11) suggests that the dispute that has arisen in Clarkson is a simple personality conflict. In reality it is due to the nature of so-called Business Improvement Areas.
The problems in Clarkson are not simply the result of lack of interest. BIAs invariably create serious problems whenever they are imposed on a business community and Clarkson is certainly no exception.
What's the point of being able to elect a board of management that can be dissolved by city council and replaced by its appointees? This is precisely what happened in North York when businessmen opposed to their BIA were elected and attempted to reduce the budget and disband the BIA.
Your asssertion, "BIAs have proven to be very effective tools in improving local shopping districts," is wrong on two counts.
First, merchants aren't the only ones forced into joining BIAs. All businesses, including lawyers, dentists, real estate agencies, bank branches, gas stations, etc. (all of which are in the Clarkson BIA), are forced to pay the BIA tax - and they are all treated as a single group with one common interest! Thus, a bookstore can end up being forced to subsidize the promotion of a tavern and vice versa.
Second, BIAs do not work as a group. A legitimate group relies on the voluntary co-operation of its members, who join without being forced to do so, and who join for a recognized and agreed-upon mutual interest. Those who do not recognize or share this mutual interest are not forced to join.
In contrast, a BIA lumps all the businesses in an area together -including competitors - and then attempts to promote them as a unit. How can such promotions possibly benefit so many different businesses, each of which has its own district identity and reputation? Since a BIA doesn't have to earn the money it spends on promotion, it is under no obligation to make effective use of that money. The empty stores in Port Credit and Clarkson show that these districts are not doing well.
I invite anyone who shares our concerns about Business Improvement Areas to contact Freedom Party headquarters in London.
William Frampton
Metro Chairman
Freedom Party of Ontario
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last updated on April 28, 2002
