What do you get for your BID dollar?

So, what do you get for your BID dollar?

Police protection? If you would like police protection, why not call the police? The number is 9-1-1. And, although overworked at times, they do an excellent job of tracking crime patterns, and adjust their patrol areas accordingly. The police fight crime directly, not through a bureaucracy. They don't have the time or resources to play political favorites. It is dangerous to promote the idea that you can buy your way into better police protection with a BID.

Business Promotion? A smart business knows where to market and advertise, and doesn't need government help. Businesses can cooperate on joint ventures without the help of a salaried overseer. Collaborative business associations are organized all the time in the private sector. Why the need for a heavy-handed government program?

Graffiti removal? Can't we do that ourselves? It's paint – you get the solvent and wipe it off. If it sticks you get a wire brush. You can remove a lot of graffiti for $200. The cost the City quotes in their budget to do it is ridiculously prohibitive, and billed to the taxpayers at a rate the highest-paid remodeling contractor would envy. And if you feel the urge to control your neighbor's graffiti, there's more than enough bureaucratic machinery in place now in our city government, without the added bloat of the BID bureaucracy.

Banners? Buy your own! Almost every BID organizer tries to sell the idea of “unifying us all under one banner”. This is a deliberate manipulation of the truth. What's really going on in a banner project is nothing more than a series of (primarily) no-bid contracts given to political pals in exchange for political favors. It's expensive – the concept, demographic studies, design consultation, logo development, production operations, and presentation strategies – and it's all funded by your BID money at TOP DOLLAR – nobody is giving a price break for the good of the community. And EVERYBODY INVOLVED GETS PAID. The resulting banner product usually evokes snorts of disbelief - “you paid HOW MUCH for these?” Banners give a message to the passers-by – and that message is: “This area controlled by committee.”

Think of how much better you could allocate your own money in your own neighborhood, if only given the chance. Allow the businessmen to run their own businesses. It's free enterprise – give it a chance.