WEBIA AGM

The West End Business Improvement Association (WEBIA) will hold its annual general meeting Jun 26 at 2 pm at the Empire Landmark Hotel on Robson St.

According to the notice sent out to members Jun 9, agenda items include the election of new board members and information concerning an EGM scheduled for Sep 30 to discuss the renewal of the West End BIA.

Asked how many board positions are up for election, WEBIA’s executive director Lyn Hellyar says she doesn’t “have that number in my head right now.”

Hellyar referred Xtra West to the notice for any additional information. The notice lists the following purposes for the meeting: review of the activities of the WEBIA over the past year; appointment of an auditor for the coming year; financial statements for the year ending Mar 31, 2008; election of directors; and the EGM discussion.

Property and business owners in WEBIA’s catchment area are eligible for membership in the association and can vote at the AGM. Once encompassing three blocks on Davie St, the BIA now covers a 23-block area that includes Robson and Denman Sts in addition to the gay village.

WEBIA recently made headlines after removing the rainbow banners from the lampposts on Davie St, temporarily replacing them with banners promoting the Triathlon World Championships held Jun 5-8.

Angry community members called the rainbow banner removal “disturbing and disrespectful.”

Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

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