I'm starting a separate thread because a discussion about the actual proposed PBIA budget, I believe, is important. However, the title of Emmett's post is misleading and a mistake made by many.

The Parking and Business Improvement Area (PBIA) was formed by ordinance of the Olympia City Council after a simple majority of business owners in the bounds of the proposed PBIA signed a petition in favor of it.  The Olympia Downtown Association is a private non-profit who seeks to promote downtown business.  It was members of the ODA who worked on getting the PBIA passed.  The argument in favor of the PBIA differs depending on who you talk to.  Many saw it as a way to pay for a parking structure.  Others saw it as a way to address pressing issues downtown, such as "clean and safe" and business retention, and other areas that were not getting the proper attention from the city.  Still others saw it as a way to force a more coherent voice of downtown businesses in order to be better lobbyist to the city.  I'm sure there are plenty more reasons than those, but they seem to be the most prevalent.

The important distinction between the PBIA and the ODA is that the PBIA is public.  The assessments that businesses pay are collected by and spent by the city.  The city uses an advisory board to make recommendations on the expenditures of that money, but ultimately has total control over how that money is spent.  The ODA is clearly private and autonomous.  Where the two bleed together is through the contract that the city holds with the ODA to provide all administrative support to the PBIA.  The details of this contract are in the council packet (look for Exhibit A: scope of services). 

We (the PBIA advisory board) are working very hard and spending a lot of volunteer time to make the best recommendations possible to the council and to serve the ratepayers to the best of our abilities.  We are not one and the same as the ODA.  We do share two board members with the ODA board.  We also have three board members who are on the record as speaking out against the PBIA while it was being formed.  The ODA plays no role in setting the agenda for the PBIA or in making budget decisions.  However, in the interest of putting a stop to reinventing the wheel, we do find topics and programs that we can work on in tandem.  One example is a joint ODA/PBIA alley committee.  But to reiterate, the ODA is a private organization and has no say in how a public advisory board operates.