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Proposed appointments for the newly merged Downtown Development Authority Board are expected to be discussed at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
The twelve candidates proposed by Mayor Paul Schreiber are John Coleman, Linda French, Sandee French, Robert M. Barnes, Scotty James, Jim Karnopp, Karen Maurer, Rene Greff, Peter Rinehart, Darryl Daniels, John Donegan and Dave Wheeler.
“I wanted to pick a mix of experience and energy and I thought the Depot Town DDA board had a lot of experience and the downtown DDA had a lot of energy,” Schreiber said. “I hope city council approves the list as is because I think it’s a real good mix.”
The new board is being created after the Depot Town DDA and the Ypsilanti DDA were disbanded following the resignation of DDA Director Brian Vosburg.
A resolution passed by City Council June 16 calls for a 12-member board with a representative from Eastern Michigan University and the mayor. All the seats are to be split evenly between stakeholders in downtown and in Depot Town.
The resolution specifically stated, the members of the combined DDA board should be a resident of the City, or fulfill the requirement of “having an interest in property located in the downtown district or officers, members, trustees, principals, or employees of a legal entity having an interest in property located in the downtown district.”
Councilmember Brian Robb, Ward 3, said he would have like to see more youth on the board.
“I’m surprised there wasn’t a bigger youth movement as far as recruiting members for the DDA,” he said.
The new board will maintain separate budgets for both DDA districts. It will also be responsible for finding a new director.
An interim director from an outside company will be helping with the transition of the boards and the search for a new director.