By Keri Luiz
Assistant Editor

The Downtown Benicia Alliance this week approved proposed changes to its bylaws, including how new directors will be seated.

The changes, approved Monday, were discussed in a special meeting Oct. 23. Among them:

• Changes to Article V, Section 3: Rather than, “Among the nine Directors, there shall be three representatives each from the east, central, and west sections of the BID,” it now reads, “Among the nine Directors, it is preferred that there should be equal representaiton among the three desingated districts: Park (Military to ‘I’ Street, Capitol (‘I’ Street to ‘F’ Street), and Waterfront (‘F’ Street to end of Street) districts of the BID.”

• The section also now includes the caveat, “Notwithstanding this preference, if there are insufficient candidates to fulfill this criteria, then candidates from other districts may be selected, so long as no district has more than four Directors.”

The board elected to keep the wording of Article V, Section 2, regarding tenure. All current directors’ terms expire at the end of 2013, after which new directors will draw straws to determine length of term — four will serve for one year, five will serve for two years.

The changes were approved unanimously. Vice Chair Eric Hoglund, Estey Real Estate, was absent.

In the search for new board nominees, letters soliciting nominations were mailed last week to all businesses in the Business Improvement District. Existing board members may resubmit their applications, but they must go through the same process as other nominees.

“We’re all timed out in December,” said Chair Leah Shelhorn, owner of Studio 41. “We each have been given applications, and we have to turn them in … just like everyone else.”

Deadline for submitting a nomination form is Dec. 2. “The nominations committee and (Economic Development Manager) Mario (Giuliani) will sit down and get all the applications together, and those will go in the packet (examined by the board),” Shelhorn said.

A nomination form may be mailed to the Downtown Benicia Alliance, P.O. Box 2345, Benicia, CA 94510, or be given directly to one of the nomination committee members: Christine Meade of Capitol Café, Christine Mayall of Bookshop Benicia or Edmund Johnson of JAE Properties.

The newly nominated board will draw straws at their first meeting to determine length of term.

Shelhorn said she and Hoglund will speak at the Nov. 19 City Council meeting to give the DBA’s annual report. “Since it’s the first year, it’s almost the anniversary date of when we started, I thought it would be nice to give it on that day rather in December,” she said.

The report will be “a synopsis of what we’ve done this past year, and really what we’ve created. I think its outstanding,” she said. “The lights have increased the sales tax in the downtown, first quarter sales tax was up from last year. The restaurants are happy, the people are happy. It’s a great place to be.”

The next meeting of the Downtown Benicia Alliance will be Dec. 9 at 9 a.m. at the Rellik Tavern, 726 First St.

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