PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Downtown Association presented city officials with a 15-page letter and dozens of supporting documents as a revised 2014 first-quarter report Friday in the wake of city complaints that the group’s first report was insufficient.
Nathan West, the city’s community and economic development director, said the city will need at least a week to review the new report.
The thick document was delivered almost a month after the city sent a May 23 letter to the association saying it had not provided enough information in its original April 10 report on its activities during the first three months of the year.
“City staff reviewed the [April 10 quarterly] report and determined 2014 first quarter performance to be in default and not in accordance with the PADA’s funding agreement with the city of Port Angeles,” City Manager Dan McKeen wrote in a May 23 letter to association President Bob Lumens.
“At this time, you have 30 days from the date of this letter to correct and cure these non-performance concerns.”
McKeen said the association’s report addressed only two of the group’s 14 responsibilities detailed in the city’s 2010 funding agreement with it.
Changed procedures
Lumens wrote in the new quarterly report: “We have changed our reporting procedures as a result of your request and will continue to provide a detailed report of quarterly activities and measurable results.
Later Friday, Lumens said: “We didn’t give them what they wanted, and in the future, we will give them everything we think they could ever want.”
The new report contains lengthy entries in response to the city’s concerns, including detailed information about promotional activities.
Accompanying documentation with the report includes the association’s 2013 report; the 2014 first-quarter report to the state Main Street Program, of which the downtown association is a member; and samples of promotional materials.
McKeen’s letter also called for details on how the group spent a $20,000 business-and-occupation, or B&O, tax contribution from the city’s electric utility.
The association said no specific B&O funds were spent in the first quarter.
City officials also want documentation on how the association used funds collected through the Parking Business Improvement Area.
More accountability
During budget discussions last fall, City Council members called for more accountability and measurable goals from the three economic development-related groups the city has historically funded, which include PADA.
The other two are the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Clallam County Economic Development Council.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
