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Clawson DDA to press county on accreditation, allocates $10,000 for beautification
Summary
Following an Oakland County Main Street evaluation that placed Clawson at 'select' level, the DDA will ask county officials for reconsideration and agreed to allocate $10,000 (Main Street tech funds) for downtown beautification with an August spending deadline.
Representatives from Oakland County Main Street and National Main Street conducted an accreditation visit that left Clawson at the 'select' level and recommended removing formal accreditation. DDA staff reported the review covered the prior year and that the county preferred maintaining select-level status.
Board members expressed concern that the evaluation did not reflect recent improvements and discussed submitting a formal letter and an accompanying board resolution to request reconsideration. Members identified the lack of a written job description and the need to document a DDA director’s hours as the main sticking points in the county review; staff and the chair agreed to draft a director job description and to present it to city council for approval.
On funding, the board discussed applying Main Street Oakland County ‘tech assistance’ funds toward beautification projects. The DDA previously committed $4,000 of the $10,000 tech funds to beautification and considered using the remaining $6,000; the board ultimately moved and approved using $10,000 for beautification projects (planters, year‑round lighting or holiday displays) and gave the director discretion to determine specific purchases. Staff noted the tech-assistance grant requires projects to be completed or committed by Aug. 31 and said the DDA must submit the application before the next meeting.
Board members tied the accreditation discussion to attendance and governance: several members said unity and documented roles would strengthen the DDA’s accreditation case. The chair proposed calling a special meeting to finalize the job description and commitment letter so the items could be forwarded to the March 3 city council meeting.
