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By Lookout Staff

June 26 -- The City Council Tuesday amended the Downtown leasing guidelines to require the City Manager to execute leases for City-owned buildings with tenants chosen by the Bayside Board.

The amended guidelines -- which mirror a similar policy for City-owned spaces on the Pier -- also “encourage and support the success of independent, non-formula entrepreneurs who will offer the public quality service and value.”

The guidelines, however, eliminate the preference for “local” businesses, a term that is “difficult to prescribe in today’s retail environment,” according to the Bayside Board.

Mayor Pro Tem Richard Bloom, who cast the sole dissenting vote, argued that the City should not give up its power to choose any tenant it deems worthy.

“This essentially provides them with a veto,” Bloom said. “It gives the power to Bayside.”

Bloom noted that under a new management plan currently being voted on by Downtown property owners, the council would share its power to appoint Bayside Board members.

Under the plan -- which would change the way the entire Downtown is managed for the first time in 20 years -- the existing 11-member Bayside Board currently appointed by the council would be replaced with a 13-member board, six of whose members would be appointed by the council, six by the property owners and one by the City Manager.

Council member Ken Genser defended the changes to the guidelines, which were adopted for five years in April 2007.

“It keeps politics out of leasing,” Genser said. “I just think it’s worked well (at the pier). I think it’s an essential policy.

“If the board approves (a tenant), the City Manager can say no,” Genser said. “The final decider is the City Manager. It has to go through a screening process, but the final decision is with the City manager.”