Salem could have a real downtown association soon

There's some great news in the May issue of the Salem Cherry Pits free newsletter (previously known as Downtown Cherry Pits; see here and here for past issues).

There's an effort underway to form a real downtown association. Currently several groups claim to represent downtown, notably the Salem Main Street Association. 

But as I've written about several times, that association -- referred to in Salem Cherry Pits as the Salem Lame Street Association  -- in no way represents downtown businesses and property owners. See:

Salem Main Street Association is a failure
Here's some problems with the Salem Main Street Association

The board of the Salem Main Street Association is self-selected, so isn't elected by downtown businesses and owners. Also, it was mistakenly organized as a 501(c)(3) organization, rather than a 501(c)(6) organization, which, as you can read below, is what the  real downtown association would be. 

Hopefully a genuine downtown association will come to be before too long, since businesses and property owners in Salem's urban core need to speak with a single voice when issues arise that demand such.

Here's a scan of the page in the May Salem Cherry Pits that has the downtown association article.

 

Comments

[NotEvenWrong]

I don't know why this post got me worked up enough to respond, but here I am!

Salem Main Street Assoc was not incorrectly incorporated as a c3. It isn't a membership-based organization and it is funded by public money and donations. As part of the Main Street model (Oregon Main Street being the coordinating org in Oregon and run by State of Oregon Parks & Recreation Dept.) they follow an organizational template that is used throughout the US. The IRS has signed off on Main Street modeled org's as complying with 501(c)(3), and have issued tax letters to every Main Street organization that has applied and met the criteria. The argument they are inappropriately organized is 100% false.

To say it "in no way represents downtown business and property owners" is ridiculous on its face if you read who is on the board. All individuals who are deeply involved in downtown. However, if I can infer, I think your argument is that you don't like who is on the board. Fine. If a legitimate or real downtown organization requires everyone to approve of everyone, we'll never have a legitimate or real downtown organization. If the issue is with how the initial board was selected, also fine. But that's how most non-profits get started up; by a group of like-minded people banding together and making something happen. If you read the bylaws of SMSA the directors are term limited, so anyone who qualifies to run for a seat is free to do so. The composition and outlook of the board is intended to, and will, change over time. But kudos to them for starting something.

I am not involved with SMSA, but I am familiar with the results of the work they are doing. As a frequent visitor to downtown for dining, and working downtown, I appreciate the efforts to increase the visibility, "enjoyability", and variety of our events and promotions. Does every downtown resident, property owner, business person agree with me? Nope, but that doesn't delegitimize it.