Hale re-elected president
Marshall de Hutton | Editor
The Hillcrest Business Association (HBA) held its annual members meeting and election Oct. 16 at Snooze, where it voted in new officers and approved several amendments to the nonprofit’s bylaws.
Four new members were elected to the board: Tami Daiber of Carlton Management, Charles Kauffman of Bread and Cie, Frank Lechner of Harvey Milk’s American Diner and Janet Stucke of 100 Wines.
Lechner, however, was elected to the board shortly after Harvey Milk’s announced it would close temporarily. HBA Executive Director Ben Nicholls said Lechner resigned from the board on Monday to focus on his business. A board of directors vote will fill the vacancy created by his resignation.
The bylaws were amended to allow any business paying Hillcrest’s business improvement district assessment — an annual fee split between the HBA and the city — to become a member. However, the organization also voted to adopt stricter measures determining eligible candidates for the board of directors.
Under the new rules, only those with physical businesses operating in Hillcrest’s business improvement district are eligible to become board candidates, though Nichols said this did not apply to special elections and filling vacancies.
This follows previous efforts over the last few years by HBA leadership to prevent dues-paying members residing outside of Hillcrest to become voting HBA members. City staff ultimately forced the HBA to rescind a portion of their bylaws earlier this year enforcing the membership restriction.
The organization also voted to remove a time limit mandating board vacancies had to be filled within three meetings.
Johnathan Hale of Hale Media, publisher of SDGLN and SDPix magazine, was re-elected board president. The partner of congressional candidate and former City Councilmember Carl DeMaio, Hale declined to state through email whether he would relocate to Washington, D.C. or resign from the board should DeMaio be elected. Hale was first elected to the board of directors in 2010.
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Correction: A previous version of this article stated that the HBA elections took place before Harvey Milk’s American Diner announced it would cease operations. Harvey Milk’s announced the closure on Facebook on Oct. 10.
