Definition and Job Descriptions  

The Main Street Advisory Board should be a strong, working board capable of creating positive change for downtown. The success of a commercial district’s preservation and revitalization effort depends largely on the board’s ability to identify and mobilize resources, build volunteer support, develop new leadership, and maintain clear focus on the district’s needs and opportunities. All members of the board and additional volunteers for the program should be historic preservation advocates.

The board should be a decisive, action-oriented group, small enough to establish a quorum easily and large enough to represent a cross-section of the community. Ideally, the board should have between 9-11 members. Board members should bring commitment, skills, leadership, time, enthusiasm, money and community respect to the organization. Examples of sectors of the community to be represented are:  downtown property owners, historic preservation societies, retailers, business owners, city/county government, local civic organizations, community leaders, architects, bankers, interested citizens, etc.

Officers should include a president, vice president, secretary and possibly a treasurer (if there is a non-profit component to the program.)  Responsibilities of each include:

 

President

  • Chairs the board meetings

  • Facilitates open discussion of the board

  • Is a worker as well as a delegator

  • Monitors accountability of the organization

  • Works with the Main Street manager to set board meeting agendas

  • Appoints committee chairs with board input

  • Serves as a visible and influential leader of the organization

  • Empowers volunteers

 

Vice President

  • Supports the president and shares responsibilities as delegated by the president.

  • Performs the president’s duties when the president is absent

  • May take a more active role in monitoring committee activities

 

Secretary

  • Serves as the primary record keeper

  • Transcribes and prepares official board meeting minutes for approval by the board and delivers them to the Main Street manager.

 

Treasurer (if there is a non-profit component to the program, i.e. “Friends of…”)

  • Maintains the financial books and records according to standard accounting practices

  • Prepares financial reports as required by the program and possibly by external sources (i.e. Internal Revenue Service)

 

Role of the Advisory Board member

As part of the board team:

  • Develops a clear mission and vision for the program and promoting its goals to the community

  • Plans long- and short- term projects for the revitalization of the district

  • Advocates for the Main Street program and the revitalization and preservation of downtown

  • Is a historic preservation advocate

  • Recruits volunteers to carry out projects and activities on the work plan

  • Regularly attends board meetings

  • Understands of the advisory role

  • Fully participates in Main Street projects and events

 

Ex officio board members

It is also appropriate to include ex-officio board members. These are people who serve on the board because of another office they hold, such as the Chamber of Commerce president or executive director. If the Chamber director leaves that position, the new Chamber director would take that board seat. Ex-officio members can be voting or nonvoting, depending on the Main Street program’s bylaws.

 

The Advisory Role

The board serves a very important role to the program as noted above and without the volunteer efforts of the board, the program could not prosper and thrive. In the most traditional structure for small-city Texas Main Street programs, the board is advisory. This means that the Main Street manager is neither hired nor fired by the board and he or she reports to a city staff person (usually the city manager) in the chain of command. The advisory board and Main Street manager work alongside one another to create results. In its most effective state, the Main Street Advisory Board has open communications with city hall and advocates for the program as necessary. The board structure will be set up through Main Street bylaws, which outlines items such as number of board members, officers, nominations process and board terms. There may also be some items that are governed by city policies pertaining to the formation of boards under the city structure. Since the Main Street Advisory Board represents a taxpayer-supported program under the city, board meetings should be posted in accordance with Texas Open Meetings Act. The city secretary will assist you with this process.

 
 

 

Downloadable Documents