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Former treasurer and residents urge DDA to correct ‘mismanagement’ narrative
Summary
During public comment, former board treasurer Jacob Cooper and former director Jay Marks asked the DDA board to publicly correct claims that past board members engaged in financial wrongdoing, saying city staff confirmed all funds are accounted for and that fundraising restrictions contributed to shortfalls.
During the public-comment period at the Downtown Adrian Main Street DDA meeting on May 13, residents and former DDA leaders pressed the board to correct what they described as a misleading narrative about the authority's finances.
"There's no denying that we overspent," former board member and resident Jacob Cooper said, but he added that city staff had confirmed all dollars are accounted for and that claims of nefarious activity were inaccurate. "I'm asking this board to provide a clear public clarification on the DDA's financial situation, correct the record of nefarious and wrongdoing so that we can stop looking backwards..."
Jay Marks, the former DDA director who said he was terminated, also addressed the board and said fundraising was impeded by leadership directives. Marks said an October 7, 2025 email from the treasurer warned of funding shortfalls and that in some cases board directives limited fundraising activity. "A director cannot be held responsible for a lack of revenue when they are explicitly forbidden by leadership from pursuing that revenue," Marks said, adding that no funds were manipulated and that the financial state of the DDA was transparently discussed.
Board policy for public comment was reiterated: the board will not respond during the comment period. The meeting record shows no immediate formal response to the requests for a public clarification; later in the meeting board members thanked staff and volunteers but did not issue a formal corrective statement.
Other public commenters thanked the board for downtown improvements and urged collaboration on future events, including a resident who asked the DDA to support the city's 250th-anniversary efforts.
The board did not take a formal vote to respond to the request to publicly correct the record during this meeting. Members indicated plans for ongoing review of the director position and governance processes in June.
