What is your Old Mandeville Business Association?
Well, perhaps the most obvious and immediate answer is we are you; you are us. That is, you are your Old Mandeville Business Association. Technically, of course, it is a non-profit dues-paying collective of stewards of varied commercial enterprises in Old Mandeville who come together to share ideas, get to know each other, interact on personal and professional levels and seek to refine the goals of helping forge a climate in our mixed use B-3 zoning district where we can prosper economically. As we prosper, so does the city of Mandeville.
When I say we are you, I am also referencing the fact that I have the honor of serving as the president of your board of directors for 2009.
But I am just like you, all of you who are dues paying members of your non-profit association. I have a shop, Das Schulerhaus, in Old Mandeville because I believe in the vitality of the commercial corridor from Girod to Carroll streets, from U.S. 190 to the lakefront. I have made an investment in my belief just as all of you have made investments in your similar beliefs in this unique and historic environment. The rest of your officers/board of directors has made similar financial commitments to this area and they share that belief.
We, all of us collectively in OMBA, also adhere to the adage that all work and no play is not healthy for mind, body and spirit.
Thus, all of you graciously join in supporting your association annually in a number of Old Mandeville projects. We sponsor good causes and entice locals and visitors to come into our neighborhood to pass a good time and spread joy and good tidings among the multitudes.
I speak with amazement and wonderment at your ready support of such OMBA activities as Empty Bowl to help the needy, Christmas decorating to create a seasonal wonderland in our community, Christmas Past to pay homage to a simpler time, Art Heart & Soul to enrich the body with healthy living tips and showcase the art and music of our creative area citizens, our town hall meetings with our elected officials to keep us all abreast of latest developments and how they might impact Old Mandeville, Christmas in July, and Fall Foliage to find creative ways to bolster business during those times.
You should also know — and we are confident that you do — that your team which was elected by you to administer the affairs of your organization, never loses sight of the fact that as a business organization, your welfare and interests as commercial enterprises is always utmost in our minds.
While many of you are perhaps aware of some recent actions of your board on behalf of you as OMBA members, it might be that not all of you have been apprised. As a board, we have in recent months and weeks, addressed these concerns that may threaten to impact you:
-- Last fall we wrote a letter to our mayor and the state Department of Transportation and Development pleading for some acceleration (and we suggested night work to accomplish this) on the stifling road work on U.S. 190 that was suffocating many of our businesses. Shortly afterwards, night work got underway.
-- More recently we have expressed serious concerns over what we see as oppressive and unwarranted city demands being place on the two managers who have re-opened the historic Bechac lakefront property and the Lake House. We, as a board, adopted and sent a letter to all seven members of the city Planning & Zoning Commission that detailed our opinion of the demands which may be placed on restaurant managers.
-- We have, after extensive analysis on our part, and bolstered by the opinions of many of you in OMBA, written a detailed letter to Councilwoman Trilby Lenfant expressing deep concerns over what we view as a stifling set of regulations concerning noise from commercial establishments, applicable only to the B-3 zoning district.
-- We urgently dispatched a written plea to Planning & Zoning on a recent Tuesday to delay a work session on the proposed Lenfant noise amendment applicable only to B-3 until we could sit down with her to amplify our many concerns. They concurred with our plea.
-- Your board did have an early morning meeting recently with Council members Lenfant and Jeff Bernard to enumerate our many concerns. She did not, as expected, agree to amend her original language. She conceded, as did Bernard, that your OMBA obviously hears more succinctly what you are concerned about.
Taking both council members up on their suggestion, your OMBA board has submitted a detailed to all seven Planning & Zoning commissioners detailing precisely what we find wrong with the proposed amendments and offering our version of how they can be streamlined, be fair to both businesses and residents, and continue to keep the scales balanced more equally for Old Mandeville businesses. As we stressed, it is a B-3 district and the B stand for business. It has never been a B-R (Residential) - 3 district; always a B-3.
We readily concede as your OMBA leadership that our positions on behalf of you, our members, may not always prevail. But we are committed to the challenge that as your elected officers, we will carefully study every measure out of city hall impacting Old Mandeville. We will consult all of you, and if we hear a consensus that something needs to be said about it to our city leaders, we will say it. We may not always win, but we are steadfast in our belief that City Hall will realize that OMBA is an aggressive, pro-business organization and we will make sure your concerns as business investors in Old Mandeville resound loudly through the corridors of our City Hall.
A Beauty Is Being Born
Work is well underway toward producing the first updated OMBA brochure in two years. Your board has contracted with talented local photographer/designer Abby Miller (an OMBA member) to photograph and produce the brochure.
That is why our amazingly capable membership Vice-President Carol Self has been calling you, stopping you in the street, coming to your business, and seeking your renewal membership. The new OMBA membership directory brochure will be colorful, eye catching, current with lots of new photos and include our many new businesses. It will be widely distributed.
Thus, once more, I emphasize, if you are a business in Old Mandeville and you don’t renew your dues or join, you will not be listed or pictured in the brochure. It is that simple. It is a valuable promotional and advertising tool. Take advantage of it; become an OMBA member now.