New and old faces elected to Downtown BIA board

Five new members will join four incumbents on the board of directors for the Downtown Sudbury Business Improvement Area (BIA) for a four year term.

Voting took place on Feb. 3 and 8, and the list of members was approved by city council at the Feb. 9 meeting. During that meeting, Ward 8 Coun. Fabio Belli was also appointed to the board as a council representative.

The incumbents include Jan Browning (Jan Browning Boutique), Shirley Vincent (El Mercado), Bob Wygant (La Boulangerie du Village) and Dennis Gainer (Peddlers Pub).

Newcomers to the board include Jeff MacIntyre (MacIntyre Marketing), Natalie McAloney (Bertolo's Homemade Foods), Deb Brouse (Sentia Hair Design), Joanne Chevrier (Sudbury Credit Union) and Phil Thurston (St. Andrews Place).

“I think that this looks like a good board,” Maureen Luoma, executive director of Downtown Sudbury BIA, said. “We have a nice balance. It's nice that we have incumbents returning. Consistency and continuity is important in a volunteer driven organization — especially one that works on the kinds of projects and issues that we do.”

Luoma said the board will meet once a month.

“They are the ones that set direction, policy, programming and budget,” she said. “That direction involves everything from economic development that we might be involved in — advocacy, safety and security, transportation, special events, marketing — anything that has to do with the downtown.”

Luoma said while 400 members were eligible to vote, only about 10 per cent did so. The new voting process may have had something to do with it, she said.

“We changed our format this year from a ballot to a vote in person,” she said. “The last number of years, (members) were able to mail in or drop off their ballots.”

She also said she has another theory on the low voter turnout.

“A lot of times I think with elections people either run or speak up because they have concerns, issues or problems,” she said. “Maybe it's a reflection that the projects and programs that have been underway are supported.”