PBID Backers Mail Petitions to Village Property Owners, Seeking Vote

Supporters of a downtown Village PBID have set a Jan. 31 deadline for returning petitions calling for a vote on whether property owners and residents should tax themselves.

Petitions were mailed Friday by advocates of the PBID—property-based business improvement district, which would provide various physical improvements and services.

“Once property owners representing greater than 50 percent of the total PBID assessment [$378,100] return their petition, we will submit them to the La Mesa City Council,” PBID committee chair Lynn McRea, a local CPA, wrote landowners in a letter dated Dec. 29.

“We will then request that they adopt a resolution to establish the PBID, schedule a public hearing, and send out sealed ballots to all property owners. The City of La Mesa will mail ballots to all proposed PBID-zone property owners, requesting a yes or no vote.”

Version 2.4 of the 25-page PBID Draft Management Plan (attached) said 293 parcels would be in one of three improvement zones.

The five largest parcels, listed by their county APN numbers, are:

• 4705711300—taking in the La Mesa Village Plaza condominiums, northwest of Nebo Drive and La Mesa Bouevard. It would pay $34,527.62 in the first year of the PBID.
• 4705810100, paying $25,582.15
• 4705722001, paying $23,982.64
• 4705810800, paying $13,143.99
• And 4944032500, paying $11,355.31

McRea was quoted in La Mesa Today as saying: “We are not trying to be secretive or misleading in any way. Our names are signed to these documents, and we are making ourselves personally available to anyone with specific questions or concerns.”

McRea asserted that “a lot of misinformation” exists, La Mesa Today said. “We want to make sure property owners get all the facts.”

In a supporting document quoting 14 district backers, Mayor Art Madrid, a member of the PBID Formation Committee, says:

“In 1990, the City Council adopted a Downtown Specific Plan, which has served as a blueprint for the improvement of The Village. All first-class cities have a first-class downtown. I will also recommend that the city invest up to $5 million in public infrastructure improvements; a PBID is the only viable plan that will help maintain this large investment by the city.”

Accompanying photos (attached) showed overflowing trash cans and cracked sidewalks, chipped sidewalk pavers and other unsightly parts of The Village.

As of late Friday night, an unscientific Patch poll from Oct. 13 indicated 56 percent of readers opposed the PBID, 16 percent backed it, and 27 percent were unsure.