Efforts fail to create business improvement association

A group trying to create a Bedford and Area Business Improvement Association had their hopes dashed last week.

Ballots were sent out to commercial property owners the week of March 22. Results were released last Thursday.

"We sent out 265 ballots and we got 69 back. That's very, very low," said Grant Walker, who helped spearhead the campaign.

Of the 69 ballots received, 22 voted in favour and 47 were against the proposal.

"We were trying to make some phone calls to encourage people to vote, and some who had already voted no said they would have voted yes if they'd known all the details," said Walker.

Despite trying to get the word out via the media, the Internet, and three public meetings, Walker believes many remained unaware of the initiative and the potential advantages of a business improvement association.

"We also ran into a little bit of upset in the business community about two things. One was the MLA expenses scandal," Walker said. "The second being that the budget was just a week away. That had a negative impact."

In addition, many ballots were mailed to head offices outside the community, not individual onsite businesses. Walker and his committee were only given the list of landlords the same week the ballots were mailed out.

"We were sending off ballots to Quebec, New Brunswick, and of course Halifax and Dartmouth. Very few of the landlords actually reside here," Walker said.

"I feel sorry for the tenants who'd expressed support but couldn't get a vote. We're a little bit disappointed but not dejected."

Walker said they've been asked to sit down with HRM officials to see if changes can be made to facilitate the process. He said HRM communities that have successfully created comparable associations in the past sent their ballots to individual tenants, not landlords.

"It changes your whole campaign. With tenants you can walk up and down the street and talk to them," he said. "How can you do a proper campaign when you don't know the people you're supposed to talk to?"

Walker said although he won't give up on the idea of a Bedford business association, he believes it would be wise to wait for awhile before making another attempt. Walker said many merchants had expressed support for the initiative with good reason.

"The emphasis of the organization was to enhance general consumer awareness of Bedford as a shopping destination," he explained.

"We have a lot of competition with Dartmouth Crossing and Bayers Lake, but we also have the new area, the Bedford Commons and we had good support from the merchants up there. As an organization we would have been talking about all kinds of things to make Bedford more attractive."

ydentremont@hfxnews.ca