Hillcrest is the only neighborhood left to discuss in our series discussing community organizations. But don’t bring the tears just yet! Due to the large amount of activity, Hillcrest is being split into two parts. This half looks at the Hillcrest Business Association and the newly formed Hillcrest Community Development Corporation, as well as possible future involvement between the two.

Certainly no stranger to the population burst in Uptown, Hillcrest has a number of established, dynamic organizations, most of which are used to being a loud and often opinionated voice in the community.

As one might guess with a community full of outspoken organizations, there’s plenty disagreed upon. And while it’s difficult to keep it in mind when the organizations rail against one another on building height limits or bike lane implementation, all organizations are trying to work to create a better Hillcrest.

Hillcrest Business Association (HBA)

Celebrating its 90th birthday in 2012, the HBA is the oldest continuously running business association in the city. From Joyce Beers to Christine Kehoe, it’s produced some of the most recognizable names of Hillcrest. It’s also created several landmarks in the neighborhood, like the Hillcrest sign on Fifth and University avenues, or the Pride Flag monument.

The HBA’s activities center heavily around producing events, which its received both praise and criticism for. Ben Nicholls, HBA’s interim executive director (and former executive director — a complicated subject) said about 80 percent of the organization’s funding comes from event, while just 20 percent comes from its annual business assessments, which differs greatly from other business associations in the area.

Nicholls said this gives the HBA more autonomy since less of its revenue comes from City-managed assessments. It also gives the businesses a better return on their assessment, since for every dollar a business is assessed for, another $4 is brought in from events. However, others argue that events, specifically the nightlife-centric events the HBA is known for, benefit only a certain type of business, namely bars and restaurants. A plumber, for example, may not see additional foot traffic in their business from a large block party event.

Still, few deny the HBA’s success at putting on large-scale events in the community. The Hillcrest Block Party regularly draws thousands, as does CityFest and the weekly Hillcrest Farmer’s Market, which is rumored to have a year-long waiting list for businesses wishing to be vendors.

Nicholls said that as a large, longstanding entity in Hillcrest, it’s important for the HBA to be a leader on issues impacting the area. It’s taken a stand on several local issues over the years, differing from many businesses associations that tend to be more apolitical.

Many may have seen the HBA in the news in the last six months a little more than usual. Recently, controversy has centered around the HBA’s board president Johnathan Hale, who runs Hale Media and the online news site SDGLN.com. He’s also the partner of Congressional candidate and former city councilmember Carl DeMaio, which certainly brightens the spotlight on Hale and the HBA.

Still, the HBA is arguably unparalleled in the ambition of its programing and in the legacy it has created.

Hillcrest Community  Development Corporation
(Hillcrest Community Foundation)

The Hillcrest Community Development Corporation is still in its fledgling stages, but its people its and goals are far from novice. As the section title states, the Hillcrest CDC and the Hillcrest Community Foundation (HCF) are one in the same. For those unfamiliar with the HCF, it was a 501(c)3 started in 2006 by residents associated with the Hillcrest Business Association, but was reportedly never used. In fact, it’s been inactive for the majority of its existence because the mandated yearly filings were often neglected.

But now, the dust has been wiped off by Glenn Younger, a former board president of the HBA, and several other members of the community. They technically run the HCF, but changed the name to the Hillcrest CDC. Younger also said the HCF and the Hillcrest CDC were near identical in their mission statement, thus the CDC will use the HCF’s bylaws as well.

The HCF used to be directly overseen by HBA. In fact, before Younger, Nicholls was one of the HCF’s three reported officers, as was HBA Board President Johnathan Hale.

There can be legal complications when a 501(c)6, or a membership benefitting nonprofit, like the HBA oversees a 501(c)3, or a public benefit nonprofit, like the HCF. Members of the HBA have previously stated that more separation between the two entities was needed.

In conjunction with this, members of the community, including some of the HBA, wanted to see more civic projects like the Pride Flag Monument in Hillcrest, but that’s slightly outside the scope of what a business organization like the HBA typically does.

Younger felt this idea would best be put into a community development corporation, a common public-benefit nonprofit that aids the community in facilitating projects and by acting as an independently run fiduciary for other organizations.

A few civic projects in the community are also being discussed. The big one is the Pride Plaza, which would be something of an extension of the Pride Flag Monument, turning the area around it on Normal Street into a more walkable, pedestrian-friendly space. The exact design for this is still being discussed, and a trial run possibly blocking off parts of Normal Street and University Avenue for a day may happen within the next year.

Hillcrest Main Street Alliance

The Hillcrest CDC’s Glenn Younger also spoke about a tentative plan to bond the Hillcrest Business Association and the Hillcrest CDC into the Hillcrest Main Street Alliance, in which the two organizations would still function independently but work together very closely on the four tenants of a main street organization, which are organization, economic development, promotion and design.

Previously in this series, we looked at North Park Main Street (NPMS), another nonprofit following the programming of the National Main Street Center, which provides a model for preservation-based economic development.

A Hillcrest Main Street Alliance would differ from NPMS in that it would be two independently operating organizations two separate boards of directors. The Hillcrest CDC would handle the Main Street components of civic planning and design, while HBA would continue to handle promotions and economic development, two things its already made a name for itself doing. Ideally, the two groups and the community at large would benefit from the synergized efforts, thus becoming more efficient and effective.

Check back in next week, when we’ll discuss other organizations operating within Hillcrest.

Disclosure: An employee at San Diego Community News Network outside of the editorial department is a member of the HBA Board of Directors.u