Downtown Yakima BID leaders press for clearer complaint routes, election of new advisory board

Ben Hittle, chair of the Downtown Yakima Business Improvement District, told the City Council on Feb. 2025 that the advisory board is updating its membership rolls, preparing to hold an election and asking city staff for clearer complaint-routing so the district can resolve recurring problems for downtown businesses.

The petitions and election paperwork aim to replace advisory-board members whose terms have expired: nominations are due March 7, an election will be completed by March 28, and a reorganized advisory board is scheduled to meet in April, Hittle said. He also described the DYBID funding model: “Businesses within the DYBID pay an annual hundred dollars fee on their business license,” and property assessments are charged on a multiplier; for example, a building with a county assessment of about $950,000 “you would pay roughly just under $900 DYBID fee,” Hittle said.

Why it matters: Council members raised concerns that contract expectations may not match delivered services and that unclear complaint-routing makes it hard to hold contractors accountable. The council sought specifics about what parts of the maintenance contract are not being fulfilled and urged staff and the association to meet and clarify responsibilities.

Hittle said the advisory board believes the vendor known as DAY has been cost-effective overall and that DAY’s new executive director has begun hiring and training staff. “We feel as the DYBID talking to our constituents that he’s doing a positive job,” Hittle said. Kurt Wilson, who responded for the contracted downtown operator, said the contract runs through 2028 and that bids the city gathered would have cost more than continuing the current contract: “those bids all came in at a minimum of $25,000 over what we’re currently paying,” he said. Wilson said DAY publishes contact phone numbers and email addresses for operations staff and that operations manager Jose and others are responding to complaints when they arrive.

Council members pressed for more precise evidence of missing contract items before changing the contract scope. Deputy Mayor Brown said she had sought quotes because she worried the contract scope might be too large for the money available and asked whether some services should be narrowed or shifted. Brown said: “I want to make sure that business owners and you guys are getting what you’re paying for.” Hittle and Wilson offered to meet with council staff to review specific complaints and the contract’s scope; Wilson also proposed a follow-up meeting with council members who had filed complaints.

Other specifics raised in discussion: the advisory board plans quarterly public meetings, is compiling an updated list of assessed property owners, and reports 265 downtown business licenses in the DYBID boundary. Hittle said homelessness-related cleanup remains a frequent source of complaints, distinguishing between nonconfrontational encampments and behavior tied to untreated substance use or serious mental illness that some business owners find alarming. He urged better use of no-trespass agreements and reporting: “If you didn’t report it, it didn’t happen,” Hittle said, urging business owners to file formal complaints so the association and police can act.

Council direction: No formal action was taken on the floor. Council members requested staff and DAY/DYBID leaders meet to compile a list of specific unresolved contract deliverables, to confirm which calls are inside the DYBID boundary versus regular city responsibilities, and to return with recommendations on whether the contract’s scope should be narrowed or restructured.

What’s next: The DYBID election timeline and a plan for better complaint routing were left as near-term priorities; council members said they would refer future individual complaints to DAY’s published contacts and asked staff to consider a single desk or routing point so council offices do not have to redirect callers repeatedly.