By Janet Kalter

To review the information in Part 1 of this series of four articles, these are the missions of the Old City organizations:

OCAA - Old City Arts Association - develop and maintain arts, culture, and commerce

OCCA - Old City Civic Association - enhance the quality of life and preserve historic character

OCBC - Old City Business Collective - improve business climate; maintain our unique character

OCD - Old City District - establish and maintain a clean, safe, well-managed environment

OCCF - Old City Community Fund - promote the restoration and maintenance of the facades, sidewalks and roadway on Market Street in Old City.

All are non-profit organizations, and only Old City District (OCD) has paid staff.

Funding
The source of revenue for OCAA, OCCA, and OCBC funding is membership fees. Some local businesses have been generous enough to give donations toward specific events. Food and beverages for events have been contributed by many local restaurants. Occasionally, a committee will make an effort to raise funds for a specific project, such as the OCCA Tree Fund.

Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation has made contributions for events, particularly those events that occur through a weekend, such as the OCBC Sidewalk Sale and Stroll.

In some cases, organizations have succeeded in acquiring grants for specific projects. OCAA, at one time, had a grant for the Old City Experience brochure.

OCD, the District, is funded by a 5% surcharge on the taxes assessed by the City of Philadelphia and the School District of Philadelphia on the assessed valuation of all taxable commercial properties within the District. Service contracts generate additional revenues.

Committees

While the boards of these organizations oversee the missions of their respective groups, the activities are generally carried out on a committee level. The committees report to their respective boards on proposals they wish to make to the Board after discussions at their meetings.

OCAA, the arts association, usually forms groups on an as-needed basis. Much of the activity is generated by an individual gallery based on their specific area of interest, e.g., the recent national ceramics conference, NCECA, which The Clay Studio organized in our region. Certainly, all of the galleries and most of Old City's businesses benefitted from the attendees' presence in our neighborhood; and all of Philadelphia, for that matter. So, the Wood Turning Studio or Snyderman Gallery or any other gallery may host events that are of interest to people beyond our specific area and bring visitors to all of the galleries and businesses in Old City and surrounding neighborhoods.

OCAA does not have regularly scheduled meetings.

OCCA, the civic association, has specific committees committed to managing tasks to accomplish the mission. The committees are: Developments Committee, Liquor Committee, Membership and Events, and the Beautification and Tree Planting Project.
For the most part, the titles of the committees describe the activities. Two of the committees have regularly scheduled meetings: Developments Committee meets twice each month on Tuesday mornings at 8:00 AM at the Christ Church Neighborhood House (all are welcome to attend); the Liquor Committee meets on the first Monday of each month. Meeting places and times vary according to the agenda.

The Beautification and Tree Planting Project may seem slightly vague in its title, but you may be aware, or may have even participated in some of the projects:

• Clean-Up Day on April 10

• Tree Planting event on April 24th when TreeVitalize trees from Pennsylvania Horticulture Society were planted. Last November, 12 trees were planted.

• OCCA paid for the planting of two more trees.

• June 22, 2010 OCCA sponsored the Household Hazardous Waste Pickup, and in November there will be another Pickup

• November, 24 more TreeVitalize trees are scheduled to be planted.

Since funding of OCCA is through membership and small fund-raising activities, the task of the Membership and Event Committee is clear.

OCBC, the business collective, has three committees:

Marketing/Public Relations/Fundraising

Operations/Memberships/Nominations/Strategic Planning

Events

OCBC didn't offer further definition of these committees, but the purposes of the committees seem clear by title.

OCD, the District, reports that these are their committees and the functions of each:

Marketing
The Marketing Committee is responsible for promoting the District: who we are and what we do. The committee presently has a P/R Initiative Task Force sub-committee responsible for working with other local Old City organizations to help promote businesses in the area.

Clean & Safe
This committee discusses cleanliness and safety issues in the District and how the District should be involved in resolving these issues. Also represents District at the Old City Task Force meetings.

Board Development
This committee nurtures new board members for the District. They are also responsible for meeting the strategic planning goals numbers to keep the organization healthy, vibrant, and well-funded

Economic Development
This committee deals with proactively moving Old City forward through economic development of vacant properties, encourages new businesses to open in the District, and deals with matters of zoning where relevant

Executive Committee
This committee deals with board related internal matters.

Summary

Funding
With the exception of OCD and OCCF, the organizations of Old City rely primarily on membership fees; there are occasional fund-raising events, and grants to fund specific activities.

OCD is funded by a 5% surcharge on real estate tax of commercial properties within the district. Service contracts generate additional revenues.

Committees

OCAA forms committees as needed.
OCCA, OCBC, and OCD have standing committees, though some committees and sub-committees are formed on an as-needed basis. The goals of these committees are briefly described above.