Six of seven reform candidates beat Promote La Jolla’s incumbents Oct. 3 in a race to fill seven vacancies for the 2009 business improvement district’s board of directors. La Jolla business owners become automatic members of PLJ – the village’s business improvement district, a nonprofit entity – with added business tax assessments, but anyone can choose to pay dues and become an associate member. The reform slate’s ongoing theme centered on the public’s mistrust of the current board. This year’s winners included incumbent George Hauer, owner of George’s at the Cove, and six reform slate candidates: Jennifer Clark, Glen Rasmussen, Shannon Turner, Brian Miller, Daisy Fitzgerald and Rick Wildman. The reform slate said they collectively decided to run after PLJ came out in favor of paid on-street parking, said La Jolla Town Council President Darcy Ashley. Members of the reform slate said they are against paid on-street parking but the community’s issues run deeper, according to many new board members. “I think transparency is a nice word that’s used a lot,” Wildman said. “It’s like every other public organization, and I think it’s very important that everything be done out in the open.” Last year’s election resulted in ongoing legal battles between two newly elected reform candidates and other PLJ board members, but Wildman said he doesn’t predict any repeat skirmishes. “Nobody objected to the results. There were no protests,” Wildman said. “Hopefully it’s going to be that way in the future. A lot of us live here and have lived here a really long time.” Although nothing is official until the first of January, Wildman – a prominent La Jolla attorney – said the reform slate is planning to cash in on their previous promises. “We shouldn’t be spending money that’s meant to promote local businesses in litigation,” Wildman said. “I don’t know that there’s anyone who wants to get even [with the current board]. I look at the new list and most of these people, and I think that this is a group of people that can get beyond the past.” Wildman said PLJ is a public organization that should always remain accessible to the community, but some have felt the board was not offering the community information. “I think that’s what got all of us locals involved — whether it has been or not — I think that is sort of the central theme,” Wildman said. Recent PLJ board meetings ended with “closed sessions” allowing the board to legally retire to privacy by saying they were discussing an ongoing court case. Because the case involved last year’s two reform candidates, the two were excluded. “I don’t know how good of an idea these closed sessions really are,” Wildman said. “I think everything should be open, including the books.” Wildman said the new candidates just want to create a fresh new board that will change the public’s image of PLJ. “We all run into each other around town,” Wildman said. “Everybody’s frustrated more than anything else. Who knows why things were the way they were in the past, but now things are going to be different.” PLJ’s next monthly meeting is Wednesday, Nov. 12, 6 p.m., at La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect Ave. For more information, go to www.lajollabythesea.com.