When it comes to democracy, you don’t get a voice unless you participate. That can be said for La Jolla businesses in deciding how their money, collected by the city to go into the some-$150,000 La Jolla Business Improvement District (LJBID) fund, is spent. For more than a year, the city’s Office of Small Business has been deciding how to spend BID funds while Promote La Jolla (PLJ), which had done so since 2002, was being investigated for possible money mishandling. Last month, PLJ settled, buying its peace with the city. Enter Mike McLaughlin of TurpinMcLaughlin Communications, who was hired by the San Diego Business Improvement Foundation to promote organization and collaboration among La Jolla merchants in forming an entity that could contract with the city to oversee the use of BID assessments. He’s created an informational website, www.lajollabusine ssesunite.org, and he’s been holding weekly “coffees” at Hennessey’s, located at 7811 Herschel Ave., on Mondays at 8:30 a.m. There is also a meeting being held today, Dec. 2, at 4 p.m. at the La Jolla Recreation Center, located at 615 Prospect St., to organize committees and choose a name for a new entity. McLaughlin’s efforts have been a vehicle for community involvement, but only a tiny fraction of La Jolla’s more than 1,200 BID merchants have been showing up, with none representing La Jolla’s biggest businesses. An average of 15 people have been attending McLaughlin’s weekly gatherings at Hennessey’s, he said, and about that same number attended an Oct. 21 BID workshop conducted by Councilwoman Sherri Lightner’s office. However, the Oct. 21 workshop and today’s meeting at the rec center were planned for 4 p.m., a time that may not be the most convenient for those operating businesses. About half of those who have consistently participated have been from PLJ, which still has ample community support, and managed to put on events such as the La Jolla Pet Parade and the La Jolla Art & Wine Walk last year, even with its funding frozen by the city. There may be a variety of opinions concerning how to get the ball rolling again or who to put in charge, but it seems there’s more of a need to show up and start collaborating than there is time to demur.