Will Uptown Partnership Dissolve?

"The Uptown Partnership voted to take the suicide pill," reported one Hillcrest denizen in an email after returning from the parking agency's November 4 meeting.

According to several area residents who attended the meeting, Uptown Partnership, the agency responsible for the parking supply in Hillcrest, Mission Hills, and Banker’s Hill, passed two resolutions, both of which appear to signal the end of Uptown Partnership after ten years of administering the parking district.

The first resolution passed during the monthly board meeting allows the City Planning and Community Investment Department, not Uptown Partnership, to find a facilitator to restructure and reform the parking district and manage its annual $750,000 contract.

"There is such a lack of confidence from the neighborhoods," said one resident of Uptown who was present at the meeting and helped draft the motion. "The thinking behind the resolution was if Uptown Partnership was involved, then the perception from community members is that the process would be tainted."

The second resolution, introduced by board member Jim Frost, notified the city that once Uptown Partnership's contract expires on December 28, the nonprofit corporation would not pursue any additional city contracts.

Both resolutions come after staff, board members, and councilmembers Todd Gloria and Kevin Faulconer attended an October 16 public workshop, conducted by management consultants Albert Hall and Associates, aimed at restructuring the parking agency.

Tim Gahagan, a Hillcrest resident and longtime advocate for reform of Uptown Partnership, was present at Thursday's meeting. Gahagan is not convinced that the end of Uptown Partnership is near.

"No one saw it coming," said Gahagan during a November 5 phone interview. "Maybe the motion was meant to show that Uptown Partnership is just done, no more contracts. But, I don't really know.... It seemed as if [Uptown Partnership] was telling the city to go pound sand."

Carol Shultz, Uptown Partnership's Executive Director, failed to respond to a request for comment.

Photo courtesy of www.hillquest.com