Who will manage downtown Cedar Rapids? After some delay, panel moves to quickly consider potential changes

CEDAR RAPIDS — Neither city of Cedar Rapids nor Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance officials will have a vote in recommending potential changes to downtown’s management structure, seemingly putting to rest disagreement over how much say either entity would have in the decision.

Determining the structure of downtown Cedar Rapids’ managing entity rests with the Downtown Self-Supported Municipal Improvement District Commission — a mayor-appointed panel that decides how businesses’ tax dollars are spent within the core district — and with select business leaders who have a stake in the city center.

Initially, the SSMID Commission anticipated it would have largely completed its deliberations by now on whether to change the structure of downtown’s managing entity. Depending on what’s decided, it could shake up who is responsible for routine matters such as maintenance or who runs major events like the summer farmers markets.

The SSMID’s structure has been a sticking point for some — but not all — Cedar Rapids City Council members who see it as a key in driving the newly adopted Downtown Vision Plan. The plan provides a five-year guide for efforts to revitalize the heart of Cedar Rapids as it emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic, as remote work trends have diminished worker traffic in an office-heavy downtown.

To revitalize the city center, the plan calls for it to transition into more of a mixed-use district with restaurants, housing, retail and other entertainment. But how to get there — and the level of involvement of certain players — has been up for debate.

When adopting the plan, Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said “future conversations about organizational structure are going to be critical to the success of this plan.”

The commission oversees the district where a tax is levied on property owners for beautification projects, programming and maintenance. Currently, the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance provides administrative services to the SSMID, housing the staff who perform maintenance work and execute on downtown projects and goals.

City, alliance don’t get votes

Originally, the plan was to form a task force with representatives from the Downtown SSMID, city and economic alliance. The SSMID will then vote on whether to keep contracting with the alliance for services, hire for its own services or contract with another entity.

The SSMID tapped Denver-based Progressive Urban Management Associates to advise on possible changes to its structure, as the consultants already are familiar with downtown Cedar Rapid having helped draft the updated downtown vision plan.

To strengthen downtown services, the plan suggests “a strengthened public/private downtown management approach.” It weighed the pros and cons of the existing management structure and explored two alternatives: creating a more distinct downtown business center within the alliance or having the SSMID contract with an independent nonprofit.

Because of a lack of consensus between Cedar Rapids city officials, the SSMID and the alliance on downtown organizational management, PUMA President Brad Segal previously said the consultants did not make a recommendation for which option was best. The plan urges “a business plan for the preferred option” and collaboration among those leaders to decide.

The loose plan was to have nine members on the task force — a member each from the alliance and city, some property owners within the district who are not on the commission and five commission members. The commission budgeted $10,000 for the task force.

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SSMID Commission chair James Klein, president of Cedar Rapids Bank and Trust, in January said the effort was expected to take about 90 days.

Randy Rings, TrueNorth’s general counsel, said after getting input from PUMA and the city of Cedar Rapids, “we reached the conclusion that it’d be more efficient to move forward just with a SSMID Committee.” This panel’s work is expected to take about 60 days to complete.

“We were trying to sort out what was the most efficient process, who all should be involved in the process, how are they involved in the process and maybe take a half a step back for a couple of new folks,” Rings said.

‘Varied mix’ of downtown voices involved

The SSMID’s executive committee — Rings, SSMID chair James Klein and commission member Ted Kepros — approved the makeup of this panel. In addition to those three, others asked to serve on the committee include:

“We tried to get a varied mix of all the different angles we could from downtown businesses,” Rings said. “We still think it's important to have input from the city and from the EA, but we'll do that in meetings with those folks not as a voting member of the committee.”

O’Donnell previously told The Gazette she wants the city to have a vote on the task force, but not the final vote before the SSMID. She also has suggested the alliance had a "financial stake" in keeping downtown within the alliance, though the alliance receives little from the SSMID for administrative support and spends money to run events like the farmers market. O’Donnell said Friday she is “good” with the plan that’s now in place.

She also has suggested the alliance had a "financial stake" in keeping downtown within the alliance, though in actuality the alliance receives little from the SSMID for administrative support and spends money to run events like the farmers market. O’Donnell said Friday she is “good” with the plan that’s now in place.

PUMA consultants will provide input based on information they gathered in the process of drafting the Downtown Vision Plan as well as other examples of how similar districts operate around the U.S. Beyond that and the discussions with alliance and city officials, Rings said the panel will determine whether additional information is needed to make a recommendation.

The goal is for the committee to provide a recommendation to the 15-member SSMID Commission to consider at its May 29 meeting, Rings said.

Another staff departure

While the SSMID deliberates potential structural shake-ups, it’s seeing another change in the alliance staff who work on downtown initiatives.

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Nikki Wilcox’s last day was Thursday as the alliance’s strategic development director. She worked on administrative and strategic tasks pertaining to downtown, while new program manager Jennifar Bassett is focused on building relationships with downtown stakeholders and executing SSMID goals.

Bassett succeeded Jesse Thoeming, who resigned from that role last fall after he was moved from his downtown executive director position into the program manager job.

Bassett and Cedar Rapids Community Development Director Jennifer Pratt, the city’s liaison to the three SSMIDs, meet monthly to keep communication open. Downtown businesses and other stakeholders report to Bassett, while council members and other city officials can communicate through Pratt.

Wilcox had not yet announced her next steps, but said she’ll work for another downtown organization and plans to stay involved in the city center.

“I work because I wanted to, not because I had to do with this,” Wilcox said of downtown. “It's just become an accidental passion. I got my graduate degree in marketing and somehow fell in love with this Downtown SSMID and all of the running the organization.”

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