Community leaders have formed a group loosely referred to as the Steering Committee. The group met July 29 to determine the best course of action for reforming and managing La Jolla’s Business Improvement District (BID). In the event that the currently insolvent Promote La Jolla is unable to regain its management position from the city after guiding the BID since fall of 2009, a new group may emerge to take the reins. The committee focused on two main questions throughout the July 29 meeting. One was whether to make a serious attempt a regaining local management of the BID. “To me, the answer to that question was resoundingly yes,” said Joe LaCava, president of the La Jolla Community Planning Association (LJCPA) and informal co-chair of the Steering Committee, along with La Jolla Town Council president Rick Wildman. The other question focused on the benefits and drawbacks of forming a Maintenance Assessment District (MAD), otherwise known as a Community Benefit District (CBD), versus another BID. A BID is comprised strictly of merchants and exists primarily to promote local businesses through marketing, while a MAD would include property owners as well as businesses and residents and would manage physical aspects like street cleaning and beautification. LaCava said it might possible and even desirable to form two separate organizations to perform each function, but that the role of the BID should not be underestimated. “One good thing that came of the meeting was the affirmation that the BID is important and has its own unique role,” he said. “It needs to be reenergized and start serving merchants during these difficult times.” On the other hand, he said, an MAD could perform another, equally important function. “There was also a positive response to forming an assessment district as a second tool for improving the physical appearance of the village,” he said. Either way, the consensus seemed to be that the groups should be separate. “When you have both happening in the same organization, priorities can get jumbled up,” LaCava said. “It was good to hear that there are lots of successful models where communities have both groups in place. Wildman said at the meeting that a new nonprofit organization, called La Jolla Business Improvement District, has been incorporated, but it is not yet active. LaCava said the committee members hope to use the new group to take back management from the city. “With all due respect to the good city of San Diego, it’s really not best suited to run the local BID,” he said. “They have a lot of strings attached which makes it difficult for them to be very effective.” The city seems “very motivated” to relinquish BID management, LaCava said, as long as La Jolla can prove it has an established group and a board elected by local merchants. Remaining questions include whether to hire an executive director dedicated to responding to merchant’s needs, and whether to hire an outside consultant like Marco LiMandri, executive director of New City America, Inc. who helped coordinate the revitalization of downtown’s Little Italy and who has offered insight to La Jolla community leaders throughout their planning process. Meanwhile, the committee continues to invite input from community members who are interested in becoming involved. “We need a core group of dedicated people that will grow through this process,” LaCava said. The committee will meet again Aug. 11 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the La Jolla Library, 7555 Draper Avenue.