7:00 I started the day going to the former Dan Gamels to watch my son play some racquetball. It's been a long time since I've seen him play. He's enjoyed the game since he started high school. We used to play together when he first started, but those days are long gone.
8:00 I had three meetings at the Chicken Pie Shop this morning. I started with Oliver Baines a Fresno Police Officer who is working with us on the Lowell revitalization effort. He is one of the people who stepped up to focus on Lowell.
9:00 Robert Wood from Generation homes is a friend from college. I've admired Robert's commitment to downtown and other issues like solar panels on the houses that he built. Robert and I met to talk about ways that he could get involved in the Lowell neighborhood. I gave him an update on all of the programs that are coming together.
10:00 I met Scott Buller who is in the Executive MBA program at Fresno State. He is focusing on the Information Systems part of the program. He is interested in doing his thesis on the use of technology in revitalization. Scott is another great example of the resources available through Fresno State. We also had conversation with Fresno Pacific's Psychology Department last week about an ongoing attitudinal survey for Lowell. It's really taking off folks!
Two sets of tennis this afternoon with my wife (7-5, 6-4). Although I won, her trash talking was superior.
And to cap off the day a sandwich of leftover turkey, dressing, and cranberry for dinner. Outstanding.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
11/26/09 Thanksgiving
This blog is mostly about work. But I tend to chronicle some personal stuff too.
I did get up for a 5:00 run with the dog.
Thanksgiving morning started with photographs with my family. I have a niece, a brother in law and a sister in law who are all into photography. We all hung around for a couple of hours.
A short nap.
Then I read the latest scope of work for the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan and the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan. I had very few comments or changes. It has been reviewed by many eyes by this point. Many of the recent changes have been from technical folks.
Thanksgiving dinner at my brother's house. Everyone was in town. Even all of the nieces and nephews, which is hard to do when they are all away for college and work. Our dog can go to my brother's house, so really, everyone was there.
I did get up for a 5:00 run with the dog.
Thanksgiving morning started with photographs with my family. I have a niece, a brother in law and a sister in law who are all into photography. We all hung around for a couple of hours.
A short nap.
Then I read the latest scope of work for the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan and the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan. I had very few comments or changes. It has been reviewed by many eyes by this point. Many of the recent changes have been from technical folks.
Thanksgiving dinner at my brother's house. Everyone was in town. Even all of the nieces and nephews, which is hard to do when they are all away for college and work. Our dog can go to my brother's house, so really, everyone was there.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
11-25-09 It was Drew Wilson Day
My day started at the counter at the Chicken Pie Shop. My son was supposed to meet me but he overslept. He's doing his part to perpetuate the college student image. So I joined the guys at the counter. We talked Grizzlies, downtown stuff in general. But the best part was a 78 year old guy who hikes in the mountains every Monday and Friday with a group of retirees. 4 miles hikes on Mondays, 8 miles hikes on Fridays. Inspiring.
9:00 Agenda Conference for the Dec. 3rd meeting. We have several items on the agenda. We have the Economic Development Corporation contract, which is funded through our department. They are receiving an 18% cut, just like our department. Council President Sterling has placed a closed session update on the agenda for the Hotel Fresno. We also have an item on the consent to change the signage on the freeways to say: Downtown Fresno next exit. The Downtown Association is paying for the new signage.
We also have an item on consent that will halt the Municipal Restoration Zone program. This will be presented to the City Council this Monday as part of the overall budget adjustment/cuts.
9:30 The directors' meeting was mostly about budget issues and personnel issues. The City is pulling together a job fair on Dec. 2 for the employees who are losing their jobs.
10:00 We had our weekly coordination meeting with Depts. involved in the downtown revitalization effort. the focus is still on the downtown incentives program, which would waive or defer city fees. We are getting set to go to Council on the 17th of December. If you are a downtown supporter, please come down and applaud if it goes through. John Dugan is also presenting the interim development standards. We hope to have those go through in January.
11:30 I had lunch with Brian Rouch at the Shepherds' Inn. He is the founding CEO of the Central Valley Business Network. This is a group of local businesses who have incorporated green or environmental stewardship practices into their business or farming operations.
My 1:00, my 3:00 and my 4:00 meetings all cancelled! Happy Thanksgiving.
I had time to catch up with Drew Wilson, our superstar intern from last summer. Drew is now in the Urban Studies program at Cal. It was great to hear how he is doing, and of course, how our internship has helped him in his program. Drew is already of wealth of knowledge. I hope that he is the Planning Director in Fresno 12 years from now.
I had some one on one time with Elaine, Amy, and Wilma. I had time to catch up on emails and phone calls and walked out of the doors of City Hall at 5:05. Dinner at my folks and the guys headed out to watch Ninja Assasin at the movies.
Happy Thanksgiving., Craig
9:00 Agenda Conference for the Dec. 3rd meeting. We have several items on the agenda. We have the Economic Development Corporation contract, which is funded through our department. They are receiving an 18% cut, just like our department. Council President Sterling has placed a closed session update on the agenda for the Hotel Fresno. We also have an item on the consent to change the signage on the freeways to say: Downtown Fresno next exit. The Downtown Association is paying for the new signage.
We also have an item on consent that will halt the Municipal Restoration Zone program. This will be presented to the City Council this Monday as part of the overall budget adjustment/cuts.
9:30 The directors' meeting was mostly about budget issues and personnel issues. The City is pulling together a job fair on Dec. 2 for the employees who are losing their jobs.
10:00 We had our weekly coordination meeting with Depts. involved in the downtown revitalization effort. the focus is still on the downtown incentives program, which would waive or defer city fees. We are getting set to go to Council on the 17th of December. If you are a downtown supporter, please come down and applaud if it goes through. John Dugan is also presenting the interim development standards. We hope to have those go through in January.
11:30 I had lunch with Brian Rouch at the Shepherds' Inn. He is the founding CEO of the Central Valley Business Network. This is a group of local businesses who have incorporated green or environmental stewardship practices into their business or farming operations.
My 1:00, my 3:00 and my 4:00 meetings all cancelled! Happy Thanksgiving.
I had time to catch up with Drew Wilson, our superstar intern from last summer. Drew is now in the Urban Studies program at Cal. It was great to hear how he is doing, and of course, how our internship has helped him in his program. Drew is already of wealth of knowledge. I hope that he is the Planning Director in Fresno 12 years from now.
I had some one on one time with Elaine, Amy, and Wilma. I had time to catch up on emails and phone calls and walked out of the doors of City Hall at 5:05. Dinner at my folks and the guys headed out to watch Ninja Assasin at the movies.
Happy Thanksgiving., Craig
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
11-24-09 dogs are bad for productivity
Here I am, trying to get my daily web log done a little early but my dog Ellis would prefer that she get the attention.
3:00 Wide awake. My brain decided to stress out. What a perfect time to think about all of the things that could go wrong. My daytime brain focuses on the list of all things possible. Occasionally the 3:00a.m. brain likes to focus on the list of things that could go wrong. Finally after reading for a bit I went back to sleep.
Fortunately my 8:00a.m. meeting had cancelled last night, so I could sleep a little longer and still make it to the gym for 2 miles on the treadmill.
9:00a.m. We had a wonderful weekly staff meeting. Fernando reported on his weekend in at the Start Up Weekend in Los Angeles. Elaine reported on the upcoming Christmas Day in Roeding Park to feed the homeless and the families that live on motel drive. Amy reported the both Sanger and Visalia have confirmed their participation in a best practices workshop on enforcement of unlicensed contractors. The workshop will be at lunch on December 15th. Let me know if you are interested. Ray reported on the e-newsletter. Angela brought us up to speed on the DT FACES events nonprofit. Jenna told us about the State of Downtown Breakfast. Kelly had an update on the discontinuation of the Municipal Restoration Zone.
The real treat was our AARP volunteer Ysabel. We heard about her kids, her life growing up in a migrant farm working family. She told us about her work as a prison chaplain. It was another great example of how the people around us have such rich lives and stories.
10:30 We had a meeting to review the scope of work for the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan and the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan. This meeting included Wilma Quan and me from DCR. John Dugan, the Planning Dept. Director, Keith Bergthold, Assistant Planning Dept. Director, Darrel Unruh and Arnoldo Rodriguez both City of Fresno Planners. We had members of the team from Moule and Polyzoides on a conference call to review the scope so that we can get ready to take the contract to the City Council. There were very few changes or concerns, everything has been very thorough.
11:30 I met Jim Ford, ol' college buddy for lunch at the Cosmo. You should see the pastrami on rye that those folks are putting out. I had the tri-tip; I just couldn't bring myself to deviate from an old favorite.
Jim is putting together a start-up company that features an organic fungicide. I love being around the energy and excitement of a start-up company. Jim is experienced in his field and is an extremely hard worker. I have no doubts at his ability to get through the obstacles that face entrepreneurs.
1:00 We had our monthly update with the companies that have been awarded the contracts through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. There still seems to be a shortage of homes on the market within the guidelines of the NSP. It appears that investors are buying up many of the homes to keep as rentals. This is not what our downtown neighborhoods need, as they started off with low homeownership rates before the real estate bust. The next step is to contact the owners of vacant houses in the Lowell and Jefferson neighborhoods to see if any of them are willing to sell.
2:15 I had a meeting regarding a Fresno State grad student who is interested in doing his thesis project focused on the needs for technology in the downtown revitalization effort. The resources just keep coming out of the woodwork. This baseline of information about existing I.T. infrastructure and best practices about the use of technology by other cities in their revitalization programs will be valuable, and frankly, probably not something would could have gotten to any other way. More to follow!
3:00 Member of the downtown business community presented the Mayor an update on their progress for the establishment of the Property Based Improvement District (PBID). The meeting included: Tom Richards (Penstar), Saundra King (Security Bank Building), Jim Koch (downtown and Chinatown property owner), Art Farkas (Krazan and Associates), and Jan Minami (Downtown Association Executive Director). The DTA is going to post progress and updates daily. This privately led effort will continue it one by one approach to meet with property owners and to build support for this important effort.
4:00 I met with Aren Hekimian a local music promoter who is very enthusiastic about music and event promotion in downtown Fresno. Aren has great revitalization instincts and has travelled enough to know how downtowns, music and culture mix together. I look forward to working with him to create the entertainment district that is our goal.
5:00 Fernando, Dawn and I met at El Torito for Taco Tuesdays and to brainstorm ways to integrate the downtown revitalization effort with Fresno's Leading Young Professionals. We discussed ideas like field trips to other downtowns, to a year long monthly program to introduce people to our downtown, to involvement with students at Lowell Elementary. They'll discuss this at their next FLYP board meeting.
That's it. Tonight I'm pretty sure that I'll sleep well. Here's a picture of Ellis sleeping with her stuffed elephant toy:
3:00 Wide awake. My brain decided to stress out. What a perfect time to think about all of the things that could go wrong. My daytime brain focuses on the list of all things possible. Occasionally the 3:00a.m. brain likes to focus on the list of things that could go wrong. Finally after reading for a bit I went back to sleep.
Fortunately my 8:00a.m. meeting had cancelled last night, so I could sleep a little longer and still make it to the gym for 2 miles on the treadmill.
9:00a.m. We had a wonderful weekly staff meeting. Fernando reported on his weekend in at the Start Up Weekend in Los Angeles. Elaine reported on the upcoming Christmas Day in Roeding Park to feed the homeless and the families that live on motel drive. Amy reported the both Sanger and Visalia have confirmed their participation in a best practices workshop on enforcement of unlicensed contractors. The workshop will be at lunch on December 15th. Let me know if you are interested. Ray reported on the e-newsletter. Angela brought us up to speed on the DT FACES events nonprofit. Jenna told us about the State of Downtown Breakfast. Kelly had an update on the discontinuation of the Municipal Restoration Zone.
The real treat was our AARP volunteer Ysabel. We heard about her kids, her life growing up in a migrant farm working family. She told us about her work as a prison chaplain. It was another great example of how the people around us have such rich lives and stories.
10:30 We had a meeting to review the scope of work for the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan and the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan. This meeting included Wilma Quan and me from DCR. John Dugan, the Planning Dept. Director, Keith Bergthold, Assistant Planning Dept. Director, Darrel Unruh and Arnoldo Rodriguez both City of Fresno Planners. We had members of the team from Moule and Polyzoides on a conference call to review the scope so that we can get ready to take the contract to the City Council. There were very few changes or concerns, everything has been very thorough.
11:30 I met Jim Ford, ol' college buddy for lunch at the Cosmo. You should see the pastrami on rye that those folks are putting out. I had the tri-tip; I just couldn't bring myself to deviate from an old favorite.
Jim is putting together a start-up company that features an organic fungicide. I love being around the energy and excitement of a start-up company. Jim is experienced in his field and is an extremely hard worker. I have no doubts at his ability to get through the obstacles that face entrepreneurs.
1:00 We had our monthly update with the companies that have been awarded the contracts through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. There still seems to be a shortage of homes on the market within the guidelines of the NSP. It appears that investors are buying up many of the homes to keep as rentals. This is not what our downtown neighborhoods need, as they started off with low homeownership rates before the real estate bust. The next step is to contact the owners of vacant houses in the Lowell and Jefferson neighborhoods to see if any of them are willing to sell.
2:15 I had a meeting regarding a Fresno State grad student who is interested in doing his thesis project focused on the needs for technology in the downtown revitalization effort. The resources just keep coming out of the woodwork. This baseline of information about existing I.T. infrastructure and best practices about the use of technology by other cities in their revitalization programs will be valuable, and frankly, probably not something would could have gotten to any other way. More to follow!
3:00 Member of the downtown business community presented the Mayor an update on their progress for the establishment of the Property Based Improvement District (PBID). The meeting included: Tom Richards (Penstar), Saundra King (Security Bank Building), Jim Koch (downtown and Chinatown property owner), Art Farkas (Krazan and Associates), and Jan Minami (Downtown Association Executive Director). The DTA is going to post progress and updates daily. This privately led effort will continue it one by one approach to meet with property owners and to build support for this important effort.
4:00 I met with Aren Hekimian a local music promoter who is very enthusiastic about music and event promotion in downtown Fresno. Aren has great revitalization instincts and has travelled enough to know how downtowns, music and culture mix together. I look forward to working with him to create the entertainment district that is our goal.
5:00 Fernando, Dawn and I met at El Torito for Taco Tuesdays and to brainstorm ways to integrate the downtown revitalization effort with Fresno's Leading Young Professionals. We discussed ideas like field trips to other downtowns, to a year long monthly program to introduce people to our downtown, to involvement with students at Lowell Elementary. They'll discuss this at their next FLYP board meeting.
That's it. Tonight I'm pretty sure that I'll sleep well. Here's a picture of Ellis sleeping with her stuffed elephant toy:
Monday, November 23, 2009
11/23/09 A Blogging Monday
Out the door for a 5:00 walk and jog with the mutt.
8:15 The Mayor and I met with a potential downtown tenant this morning. We gave them a tour and an overview of the downtown revitalization plans. This tour was for the employees of the business, to show them that downtown is a safe place. I know so may people who love working downtown, so it is still interesting how many people who are truly afraid of downtown. The fear is very real and will only be overcome through better urban design (specific plan) and the presence of more people (the very essence of revitalization). The group that we met with today was very open-minded and I hope that we adequately shared our commitment to the effort.
11:00 We had a specific plan update this morning. Wilma Quan continues to power through the scope of work issues like infrastructure, water, traffic and historic preservation. Elaine met with Council Member Dages about his plan to find appointees to the citizens' committee.
12:30 I had lunch with Chief Bruegman at the Downtown Club. This was my first one on one meeting with the Chief. The primary reason that I wanted to talk with him was to get his insight into how we can make the City great at adaptive re-use. This is a key issue for the success of the revitalization effort. There is well over 1 million square feet of vacant space in historic buildings within the Fulton District. It is going to be much more important to fill buildings than it will be to build buildings. This will require that the regulatory bodies are armed with the latest information and techniques to make this process as simple and financially feasible as possible. The private sector is also going to have to come up to speed as well. The Chief had started an adaptive re-use committee and after today's meeting, we're ready to bring it back into action.
2:30 I had a conference call with the chair, vice-chair and other committee chairs from the Union Bank Community Advisory Committee. I chair the affordable housing committee for the group, although as a newcomer, I didn't have much to do, I had fantastic committee members. This call was to prepare for our final meeting of the year, which is next Tuesday. We'll be meeting with the President and CEO of Union Bank, Mr. Tanaka, and give him our end of year reports and recommendations.
3:30 The weekly management meeting was a little sparse today. Only Elaine, Amy and I were on hand. Amy is continuing to make progress on the Local Business Directory and Elaine is busy with the creation of the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan Citizens' Committee.
5:00 My last meeting was with Elizabeth Jonasson. She is a very talented young woman who started in our department, who went to the Mayor's office, but was announced as part of the layoffs. Elizabeth has been doing much of the translation work for us during our community meetings and also for the written materials. She'll be missed, but she'll land on her feet. Her skill for reaching out to the Spanish-language-speaking community and increasing access will always be in demand.
8:15 The Mayor and I met with a potential downtown tenant this morning. We gave them a tour and an overview of the downtown revitalization plans. This tour was for the employees of the business, to show them that downtown is a safe place. I know so may people who love working downtown, so it is still interesting how many people who are truly afraid of downtown. The fear is very real and will only be overcome through better urban design (specific plan) and the presence of more people (the very essence of revitalization). The group that we met with today was very open-minded and I hope that we adequately shared our commitment to the effort.
11:00 We had a specific plan update this morning. Wilma Quan continues to power through the scope of work issues like infrastructure, water, traffic and historic preservation. Elaine met with Council Member Dages about his plan to find appointees to the citizens' committee.
12:30 I had lunch with Chief Bruegman at the Downtown Club. This was my first one on one meeting with the Chief. The primary reason that I wanted to talk with him was to get his insight into how we can make the City great at adaptive re-use. This is a key issue for the success of the revitalization effort. There is well over 1 million square feet of vacant space in historic buildings within the Fulton District. It is going to be much more important to fill buildings than it will be to build buildings. This will require that the regulatory bodies are armed with the latest information and techniques to make this process as simple and financially feasible as possible. The private sector is also going to have to come up to speed as well. The Chief had started an adaptive re-use committee and after today's meeting, we're ready to bring it back into action.
2:30 I had a conference call with the chair, vice-chair and other committee chairs from the Union Bank Community Advisory Committee. I chair the affordable housing committee for the group, although as a newcomer, I didn't have much to do, I had fantastic committee members. This call was to prepare for our final meeting of the year, which is next Tuesday. We'll be meeting with the President and CEO of Union Bank, Mr. Tanaka, and give him our end of year reports and recommendations.
3:30 The weekly management meeting was a little sparse today. Only Elaine, Amy and I were on hand. Amy is continuing to make progress on the Local Business Directory and Elaine is busy with the creation of the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan Citizens' Committee.
5:00 My last meeting was with Elizabeth Jonasson. She is a very talented young woman who started in our department, who went to the Mayor's office, but was announced as part of the layoffs. Elizabeth has been doing much of the translation work for us during our community meetings and also for the written materials. She'll be missed, but she'll land on her feet. Her skill for reaching out to the Spanish-language-speaking community and increasing access will always be in demand.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
11/20/09 Casual Friday-Jeans and boots are almost like a vacation day
7:30 I started the day by getting a cup of coffee at Parsley Garden on the northern block of the Fulton Mall. The shop has a new owner. I didn't really have an opportunity to talk with him, because he was a one-man show. Cooking, making coffee drinks and running the register. There were only 4 of us in the shop while I was there, but this guy was slammed with just for people ordering. I left him my card; he's going to need some help figuring a way to make that operation work. Go by and check it out.
8:00 My first meeting was with Kiel Thomas Famellos-Schmidt who has Spacio Designs an architectural and design firm. This relatively new business is in 1724 Broadway, a very cool adaptive re-use of an historic warehouse done by owner/developer Cameron Moors.
Kiel's firm is focusing on urban design. Kiel has already given a great deal to our community by establishing ArcHop which coincides with ArtHop, but focuses on the art of design. He has undertaken projects for homeless housing and also a park at San Pablo and Belmont in the Lowell Neighborhood.
9:30 My weekly one on one meetings with our Downtown and Community Revitalization staff members continued with Jenna Slawinski. Jenna works on our vouchers for the business that participate in the Enterprise Zone. She helps on every event that we have including community meetings and festivals. She is an upbeat person who works hard and boosts morale. The other day one of our co-workers said, "you can feel it when Jenna is out for a day." Jenna is going to be helping with the Mayor's State of Downtown Breakfast which will be held January 26th.
11:00 My one on one with Cynthia Dondero who is our department's Executive Assistant. Cynthia keeps the scheduling going and is another person who is a real morale-booster. Cynthia is going to be gone next week, so we had plenty to go over so that nothing falls through the tracks while she is out. I hope that she has a great Thanksgiving Week, but I get nervous when she is out. I can't quantify in these blogs how much gets done by short phone calls, emails and text messages. It is really the work that gets done between meetings that moves things forward.
For example: Many people in the City have been working on a proposal to waive or defer development fees in the area of downtown covered by the specific plan. This would act as an incentive to invest into the area that the City has decided is our focus area. This combination of private and public investment is what gets the revitalization to spark. The City invests in great rules for development and contributes its fees, while the private sector brings its capital for businesses, housing and activity.
We hope that this proposal will go to the City Council in December and that it will be approved. However there is a little bit of lag time for existing or proposed projects. Should they start now or wait to see if the waiver/deferral passes? Well, it would make sense to wait a few weeks to see if a development could save maybe 5% of its costs. This has a result of slowing down development...the opposite of what we would like to have happen. So, we have administratively said that any developments that have approval can go forward and still benefit if the incentives are passed. So there is no reason to wait. This will allow people to move into the Iron Bird Lofts on December 1st instead of January 1st. Is this a big deal in the overall scheme of things? Not really. But it is an indication to people who invest in our downtown that we can be flexible and that we are trying to turn downtown into the best place to invest. Like always...it is doing the little things right. This happened as a result of many quick emails and meetings over the passed three days. It was finalized at 4:45.
We are also working on an exciting tenant that we are hoping to attract downtown. On Monday morning they will be touring downtown. Just like when you invite friends over to your house, it is a great time to spruce things up a bit. We're making sure that things look extra nice for them when they head down to take a look. I'll report how it goes on my Monday blog.
12:30 I had lunch with a few longtime friends, I usually see them about twice a year. I had been scheduled to have lunch with our new City Controller but he was not feeling well, so we rescheduled.
2:00 Amy Huerta, our Local Business Initiatives Manager, and I met to discuss ways for her division to get the word out about the many fantastic things that they are working on to strengthen the local business community. Communication has been our key issue for a few weeks, as we struggle to figure the best ways to keep people informed and to get the word out to get even more people involved. We also worked on our local business directory, which will make it easy for people to find locally-owned businesses.
4:00 Chuck Leonard from www.centralvalleytalk.com had me on his show, along with the fantastic Patrick Contreras. This locally produced internet show is produced in a studio in Mike Briggs real estate office. Chuck is hilarious. The guy has so much energy and get so much enjoyment from the show it is infectious. I'm not exactly sure when the show will replay; it apparently loops throughout the weekend. The station is getting 50,000 viewers/month, which is pretty amazing. I think about the fact that I am writing a blog, shared through facebook and twitter, talking about an interview I did on a locally-produced internet talk news how. 10 years ago that sentence wouldn't have made sense to anyone.
5:30 I met with Reza Assemi to recap the fee deferral process and to make sure that everything is moving forward. It is...people will start moving into the Iron Bird Lofts on December 1st.
8:00 My first meeting was with Kiel Thomas Famellos-Schmidt who has Spacio Designs an architectural and design firm. This relatively new business is in 1724 Broadway, a very cool adaptive re-use of an historic warehouse done by owner/developer Cameron Moors.
Kiel's firm is focusing on urban design. Kiel has already given a great deal to our community by establishing ArcHop which coincides with ArtHop, but focuses on the art of design. He has undertaken projects for homeless housing and also a park at San Pablo and Belmont in the Lowell Neighborhood.
9:30 My weekly one on one meetings with our Downtown and Community Revitalization staff members continued with Jenna Slawinski. Jenna works on our vouchers for the business that participate in the Enterprise Zone. She helps on every event that we have including community meetings and festivals. She is an upbeat person who works hard and boosts morale. The other day one of our co-workers said, "you can feel it when Jenna is out for a day." Jenna is going to be helping with the Mayor's State of Downtown Breakfast which will be held January 26th.
11:00 My one on one with Cynthia Dondero who is our department's Executive Assistant. Cynthia keeps the scheduling going and is another person who is a real morale-booster. Cynthia is going to be gone next week, so we had plenty to go over so that nothing falls through the tracks while she is out. I hope that she has a great Thanksgiving Week, but I get nervous when she is out. I can't quantify in these blogs how much gets done by short phone calls, emails and text messages. It is really the work that gets done between meetings that moves things forward.
For example: Many people in the City have been working on a proposal to waive or defer development fees in the area of downtown covered by the specific plan. This would act as an incentive to invest into the area that the City has decided is our focus area. This combination of private and public investment is what gets the revitalization to spark. The City invests in great rules for development and contributes its fees, while the private sector brings its capital for businesses, housing and activity.
We hope that this proposal will go to the City Council in December and that it will be approved. However there is a little bit of lag time for existing or proposed projects. Should they start now or wait to see if the waiver/deferral passes? Well, it would make sense to wait a few weeks to see if a development could save maybe 5% of its costs. This has a result of slowing down development...the opposite of what we would like to have happen. So, we have administratively said that any developments that have approval can go forward and still benefit if the incentives are passed. So there is no reason to wait. This will allow people to move into the Iron Bird Lofts on December 1st instead of January 1st. Is this a big deal in the overall scheme of things? Not really. But it is an indication to people who invest in our downtown that we can be flexible and that we are trying to turn downtown into the best place to invest. Like always...it is doing the little things right. This happened as a result of many quick emails and meetings over the passed three days. It was finalized at 4:45.
We are also working on an exciting tenant that we are hoping to attract downtown. On Monday morning they will be touring downtown. Just like when you invite friends over to your house, it is a great time to spruce things up a bit. We're making sure that things look extra nice for them when they head down to take a look. I'll report how it goes on my Monday blog.
12:30 I had lunch with a few longtime friends, I usually see them about twice a year. I had been scheduled to have lunch with our new City Controller but he was not feeling well, so we rescheduled.
2:00 Amy Huerta, our Local Business Initiatives Manager, and I met to discuss ways for her division to get the word out about the many fantastic things that they are working on to strengthen the local business community. Communication has been our key issue for a few weeks, as we struggle to figure the best ways to keep people informed and to get the word out to get even more people involved. We also worked on our local business directory, which will make it easy for people to find locally-owned businesses.
4:00 Chuck Leonard from www.centralvalleytalk.com had me on his show, along with the fantastic Patrick Contreras. This locally produced internet show is produced in a studio in Mike Briggs real estate office. Chuck is hilarious. The guy has so much energy and get so much enjoyment from the show it is infectious. I'm not exactly sure when the show will replay; it apparently loops throughout the weekend. The station is getting 50,000 viewers/month, which is pretty amazing. I think about the fact that I am writing a blog, shared through facebook and twitter, talking about an interview I did on a locally-produced internet talk news how. 10 years ago that sentence wouldn't have made sense to anyone.
5:30 I met with Reza Assemi to recap the fee deferral process and to make sure that everything is moving forward. It is...people will start moving into the Iron Bird Lofts on December 1st.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
11/19/09 Budget Cuts
5:00 I was up and on the road for the morning jog. No shooting stars this morning, just the first glimpse of fog.
7:00 I had my weekly meeting with Preston Prince and Eileen Neely (Housing Authority), Keith Bergthold (Planning Dept.) and John Raymond (Redevelopment). I had to leave early this morning but we had a chance to talk about a local preference policy that we'll follow-up on.
7:45 Newsroom Cafe. The budget cuts have affected the entire City and have eliminated the Office of the Film Commission. Ray Arthur our Film and entertainment Commissioner is a real pro and a gentleman. He has done a great job with establishing the Film Commission in Fresno. He is an asset to our community and I hope that we can keep him around. After hearing about the cuts he said, "All right, let's get to the office, I have too much to do today."
8:30 We had an impromptu staff meeting to talk about the proposed budget cuts and to answer as many questions as we could.
9:00 We have Primetime for Business in front of the City Council and John Shegerian did a great job of representing his company, as always. The Mayor presented her proposed budget cuts to the City Council. I had to leave early.
10:00 I was a speaker at a Small Communities Downtown Revitalization Workshop. The group of 70 people attending the workshop in Fowler represented communities from six Central Valley counties. Merced, Kings, Tulare, Kern, Madera and Fresno. Many cities and special districts were present. I spoke from 10:15 to 11:30 about the principles of downtown revitalization. I hope that it was helpful. Given the morning's events, I don't think that I was at my energetic or comedic best. The Federal Reserve Bank was an organizer and sponsor along with the Local Government Commission, San Joaquin Valley Housing Trust, and the California Coalition for Rural Housing. Favorito's Restaurant in Fowler was great too. I loved the Fowler Mayor's comments at the beginning. We need to clone that guy; every Valley town could use one of him!
By the time that I got back to the office it seemed a little like everything was beginning to unravel with some of our key downtown pieces. They looked like they were working themselves out, but things are always so darned dicey. You can never think that a project is done until it is really done.
3:00 The Urban Entrepreneurship class met in City Hall today. Today's class was the dress rehearsal for the semester projects. Everyone had a chance to go through their project today and to get feedback from their peers and from me. They have two weeks to put on the finishing touches. The look really good.
6:30 I had dinner with Lena Robinson and Elaine Robles (Neighborhood Revitalization Manager). Lena is from the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco. We spent the evening updating Lena on the progress in the Lowell neighborhood and we requested assistance with developing and keeping data to monitor the effectiveness of the revitalization process. It will be key to have measurable results and also key to learn what is working and what isn't. Lena is a wonderful resource, I appreciate the work that they are doing and the interest that that are showing in Fresno.
7:00 I had my weekly meeting with Preston Prince and Eileen Neely (Housing Authority), Keith Bergthold (Planning Dept.) and John Raymond (Redevelopment). I had to leave early this morning but we had a chance to talk about a local preference policy that we'll follow-up on.
7:45 Newsroom Cafe. The budget cuts have affected the entire City and have eliminated the Office of the Film Commission. Ray Arthur our Film and entertainment Commissioner is a real pro and a gentleman. He has done a great job with establishing the Film Commission in Fresno. He is an asset to our community and I hope that we can keep him around. After hearing about the cuts he said, "All right, let's get to the office, I have too much to do today."
8:30 We had an impromptu staff meeting to talk about the proposed budget cuts and to answer as many questions as we could.
9:00 We have Primetime for Business in front of the City Council and John Shegerian did a great job of representing his company, as always. The Mayor presented her proposed budget cuts to the City Council. I had to leave early.
10:00 I was a speaker at a Small Communities Downtown Revitalization Workshop. The group of 70 people attending the workshop in Fowler represented communities from six Central Valley counties. Merced, Kings, Tulare, Kern, Madera and Fresno. Many cities and special districts were present. I spoke from 10:15 to 11:30 about the principles of downtown revitalization. I hope that it was helpful. Given the morning's events, I don't think that I was at my energetic or comedic best. The Federal Reserve Bank was an organizer and sponsor along with the Local Government Commission, San Joaquin Valley Housing Trust, and the California Coalition for Rural Housing. Favorito's Restaurant in Fowler was great too. I loved the Fowler Mayor's comments at the beginning. We need to clone that guy; every Valley town could use one of him!
By the time that I got back to the office it seemed a little like everything was beginning to unravel with some of our key downtown pieces. They looked like they were working themselves out, but things are always so darned dicey. You can never think that a project is done until it is really done.
3:00 The Urban Entrepreneurship class met in City Hall today. Today's class was the dress rehearsal for the semester projects. Everyone had a chance to go through their project today and to get feedback from their peers and from me. They have two weeks to put on the finishing touches. The look really good.
6:30 I had dinner with Lena Robinson and Elaine Robles (Neighborhood Revitalization Manager). Lena is from the Federal Reserve Bank in San Francisco. We spent the evening updating Lena on the progress in the Lowell neighborhood and we requested assistance with developing and keeping data to monitor the effectiveness of the revitalization process. It will be key to have measurable results and also key to learn what is working and what isn't. Lena is a wonderful resource, I appreciate the work that they are doing and the interest that that are showing in Fresno.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
11-18-09 Ups and Downs
5:00 I had a good walk and run at the gym this morning. The other guy on the treadmill already had VH1 on the television. I'm so glad that it wasn't the financial news or other nonstop talking news. It's nice to hear a little music and to hear some of the new music, instead of more negative blather from the cable news networks. The dog got her walk when I got back.
8:00 We had our weekly Downtown and Community Revitalization Department staff meeting. We are all aware that the budget cuts will make changes. We are reminded that the only things in our control are our efforts. Everyone in our department is committed, hard working and skilled. The times that we get to work with groups like this are rare in life, so they should really be savored. I appreciate the opportunity to work with these wonderful people.
We celebrated George Smith's first Federal grant which he submitted this week. Ray Arthur shared the benefits and processes for us to take better advantage of social networking. Elaine Robles reported on the Lowell Community meeting's results, Elliott had a long list of downtown accomplishments, plus a potential new investor. Amy Huerta reported on the successful Technology Affinity Group meeting on Tuesday. Kelly Trevino is catching up after bring her 180 colleagues to town last week for a conference. Wilma Quan has finished the draft scope of work and is circulating it to other departments for comment and has completed the draft of the staff report for the upcoming City Council meeting in December. I tell ya, this group is firing on all cylinders.
10:00 I met with Reza Assemi and Assistant City Manager Bruce Rudd to go over some items that need to be cleared up for Reza to get the Iron Bird Lofts open. If you haven't been through them yet, you should arrange a tour, they are very cool. Folk should start moving in on December 1st.
11:00 A meeting with another potential downtown investor who is interested in primarily new construction north of the Fulton Mall. This is a new investment group/developer for downtown Fresno, but they have national experience, although they are headed by a local guy.
12:00 Elaine Robles and I met with Council Member Westerlund to get up to speed on the work and research he was doing to eradicate irresponsible multi-family property owners. This has been a major reason for the specific and community plans and also through our partnership with code enforcement. There are thousands of housing units at risk in Fresno and the Central Valley. Property owners who neglect their properties to the point of unhealthful living conditions or even to the point beyond repair are doing real harm to everyone. These properties breed crime and concentrate people in horrible conditions, creating poverty magnets. We are developing every tool possible to try to reverse this trend.
1:30 I had a one on one meeting with the City Manager Andy Souza. This is an opportunity to bring Andy up to speed with our department's activities and also to get direction about our department and also in my role as a department director.
3:00 Wilma and I met with John Dugan the new Planning Director (he's really more like a planning guru!) and Jerry Bishop who is the Assistant Planning Director who helps us with our code enforcement efforts. Reza joined in part of this meeting to see if we could knock down a few of his roadblocks. After Reza left we worked through some of the other issues facing downtown projects and also went over the historic survey and research component of the scope of work for the specific plan.
3:30 Wilma Quan and I had about 15 minutes for our weekly one on one. Wilma is fully emerged in her role as the project manager for the specific plan. She is searching for additional funding for certain components and is coordinating the whole planning team, from sewer engineers to architects.
4:00 we have a meeting for all department directors to begin the process of understanding the depth of the budget buts that will be proposed at the City Council meeting in the morning. I'll have more to say (write) about this tomorrow night.
5:30 I went to a wonderful event honoring Brian King for his leadership award from the California Wellness Foundation. It was a very upbeat affair. Brian inspires! The event was held at Marisol (Nicola's for us old timers). A really nice crowd was on hand to congratulate Brian.
Like I said at the beginning. Highs and lows. But I know that we are all working our hearts out, and are beginning to get traction from our combined efforts. We'll just focus on what is in our control, celebrate the victories and do what we can, while we can.
8:00 We had our weekly Downtown and Community Revitalization Department staff meeting. We are all aware that the budget cuts will make changes. We are reminded that the only things in our control are our efforts. Everyone in our department is committed, hard working and skilled. The times that we get to work with groups like this are rare in life, so they should really be savored. I appreciate the opportunity to work with these wonderful people.
We celebrated George Smith's first Federal grant which he submitted this week. Ray Arthur shared the benefits and processes for us to take better advantage of social networking. Elaine Robles reported on the Lowell Community meeting's results, Elliott had a long list of downtown accomplishments, plus a potential new investor. Amy Huerta reported on the successful Technology Affinity Group meeting on Tuesday. Kelly Trevino is catching up after bring her 180 colleagues to town last week for a conference. Wilma Quan has finished the draft scope of work and is circulating it to other departments for comment and has completed the draft of the staff report for the upcoming City Council meeting in December. I tell ya, this group is firing on all cylinders.
10:00 I met with Reza Assemi and Assistant City Manager Bruce Rudd to go over some items that need to be cleared up for Reza to get the Iron Bird Lofts open. If you haven't been through them yet, you should arrange a tour, they are very cool. Folk should start moving in on December 1st.
11:00 A meeting with another potential downtown investor who is interested in primarily new construction north of the Fulton Mall. This is a new investment group/developer for downtown Fresno, but they have national experience, although they are headed by a local guy.
12:00 Elaine Robles and I met with Council Member Westerlund to get up to speed on the work and research he was doing to eradicate irresponsible multi-family property owners. This has been a major reason for the specific and community plans and also through our partnership with code enforcement. There are thousands of housing units at risk in Fresno and the Central Valley. Property owners who neglect their properties to the point of unhealthful living conditions or even to the point beyond repair are doing real harm to everyone. These properties breed crime and concentrate people in horrible conditions, creating poverty magnets. We are developing every tool possible to try to reverse this trend.
1:30 I had a one on one meeting with the City Manager Andy Souza. This is an opportunity to bring Andy up to speed with our department's activities and also to get direction about our department and also in my role as a department director.
3:00 Wilma and I met with John Dugan the new Planning Director (he's really more like a planning guru!) and Jerry Bishop who is the Assistant Planning Director who helps us with our code enforcement efforts. Reza joined in part of this meeting to see if we could knock down a few of his roadblocks. After Reza left we worked through some of the other issues facing downtown projects and also went over the historic survey and research component of the scope of work for the specific plan.
3:30 Wilma Quan and I had about 15 minutes for our weekly one on one. Wilma is fully emerged in her role as the project manager for the specific plan. She is searching for additional funding for certain components and is coordinating the whole planning team, from sewer engineers to architects.
4:00 we have a meeting for all department directors to begin the process of understanding the depth of the budget buts that will be proposed at the City Council meeting in the morning. I'll have more to say (write) about this tomorrow night.
5:30 I went to a wonderful event honoring Brian King for his leadership award from the California Wellness Foundation. It was a very upbeat affair. Brian inspires! The event was held at Marisol (Nicola's for us old timers). A really nice crowd was on hand to congratulate Brian.
Like I said at the beginning. Highs and lows. But I know that we are all working our hearts out, and are beginning to get traction from our combined efforts. We'll just focus on what is in our control, celebrate the victories and do what we can, while we can.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
11-17-09 Day started with a shooting star
Really, it did. I got up for a run (jog) with the dog and was out of the door at 5:00. As I started down Wishon I saw one of those really great shooting stars streaming across the western sky. It's going to be a good day, I decided. And, it was. Shooting star? Attitude? The revitalization effort is on a roll? I'm not sure...it was just a great day. Even though I spilled coffee on my shirt as I drove into the City hall parking lot.
8:15 (yes, I was late) I had a meeting with one of the City Attorneys to discuss the process for resolving some of our code enforcement issues with downtown property owners. We're about to get some of the toughest cases wrapped up, I hope. I'll report as soon as I can.
9:00 My weekly one on one with George Smith our Administration Manager. George had quite the list of things to go over today, but the biggest was that we, through George's leadership and many other people's help, submitted a HUD Healthy Homes Grant for the Lowell Neighborhood. This is HUGE!
9:30 We (Elliot Balch and Angela Vasquez) had a quick meeting to prepare for Wednesday's meeting with the Department Directors regarding downtown efforts. Elliott and Angela coordinate these weekly meetings that are designed to keep all departments involved, engaged and coordinated. Although most of this meeting was focused on the nonprofit that was created to support and organize downtown events.
10:00 Elliott and I met with representatives from the Facilities Management Dept. to discuss the possibility of the Downtown and Community Revitalization Department's possible move to the Fulton mall. There are many issues to be resolved and it will have to make sense for the larger City needs, but it sure would be great to be more on-site.
11:00 Travel by home to change coffee-stained shirt
11:30 Technology Affinity Group, or as the called themselves F-TAG. We are moving this meeting to all parts of town. This time we went to Fajita Fiesta on Shaw, near Cedar. Amy Huerta and Fernando Santillan chose the location for the convenience of our two guests, relatively new Computer Science professors from Fresno State. There was another large group. We went through the priorities that they had identified last September and we reviewed the progress that we were making. The two professors are working hard to fill the gap between the academic world and practical industry needs. Everyone was very excited by the efforts to involved students into local companies. It continues to amaze us how many tech companies there are in Fresno and how many of them go unnoticed.
2:00 I had a meeting with more potential investors for downtown buildings. Things are beginning to boil, folks. I'm telling you, the general population is going to miss out on the opportunity to get in early. Traditional investors will sit on the sidelines until it's too late and then they'll all talk about how they wish that they'd gotten in while everything was cheap. Sure, there is still risk, but that's why prices are low. There are still many pieces that have to move forward for the revitalization effort to succeed. But with the City focus, with growing community support, with changes in state legislation that forces growth inward...the forces are finally lining up for a revival.
3:00 Wilma Quan (Urban Planning Specialist) and I had a conference call with representatives from the California Endowment about some of their initiatives that focus on healthy communities. The have resources to help cities to plan and design neighborhoods and town centers for mobility, exercise and access to healthy foods. We think that this effort could line up nicely with part of the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan. We were planning a Health Impact Assessment, so hopefully we can share resources and accomplish even more by working together.
4:30 I had my weekly one on one meeting with our Neighborhood Revitalization Manager Elaine Robles. We were both still riding the high from last night's Lowell Community meeting. It was such a positive group of people, both residents and City staff. That positive experience really carries forward and motivates everyone to do even more. We also discussed the dinner honoring Fresno's own Brian King Wednesday night for his Peace Prize. Elaine and I also discussed the need for more capacity to manage the resources that are coming into the Lowell revitalization effort. If anyone out there wants to lend a hand on a regular basis, we could use any help. We have research, we have stuff like data entry to build our database, website content, communications and of course work in the neighborhood.
5:30 Amy Huerta and I tried to corner Chamber CEO and all around great guy Al Smith into opening a downtown entertainment spot. Don't you guys think he'd make a great host of a really cool place? If you see him or have his email address please encourages him. His New Orleans sense of style, music, food and attitude are just what we need in a downtown joint.
I was home by 8:00 and remembered the half and half that my wife Betty Ann asked me to bring for her morning's coffee. I told you it was a great day.
8:15 (yes, I was late) I had a meeting with one of the City Attorneys to discuss the process for resolving some of our code enforcement issues with downtown property owners. We're about to get some of the toughest cases wrapped up, I hope. I'll report as soon as I can.
9:00 My weekly one on one with George Smith our Administration Manager. George had quite the list of things to go over today, but the biggest was that we, through George's leadership and many other people's help, submitted a HUD Healthy Homes Grant for the Lowell Neighborhood. This is HUGE!
9:30 We (Elliot Balch and Angela Vasquez) had a quick meeting to prepare for Wednesday's meeting with the Department Directors regarding downtown efforts. Elliott and Angela coordinate these weekly meetings that are designed to keep all departments involved, engaged and coordinated. Although most of this meeting was focused on the nonprofit that was created to support and organize downtown events.
10:00 Elliott and I met with representatives from the Facilities Management Dept. to discuss the possibility of the Downtown and Community Revitalization Department's possible move to the Fulton mall. There are many issues to be resolved and it will have to make sense for the larger City needs, but it sure would be great to be more on-site.
11:00 Travel by home to change coffee-stained shirt
11:30 Technology Affinity Group, or as the called themselves F-TAG. We are moving this meeting to all parts of town. This time we went to Fajita Fiesta on Shaw, near Cedar. Amy Huerta and Fernando Santillan chose the location for the convenience of our two guests, relatively new Computer Science professors from Fresno State. There was another large group. We went through the priorities that they had identified last September and we reviewed the progress that we were making. The two professors are working hard to fill the gap between the academic world and practical industry needs. Everyone was very excited by the efforts to involved students into local companies. It continues to amaze us how many tech companies there are in Fresno and how many of them go unnoticed.
2:00 I had a meeting with more potential investors for downtown buildings. Things are beginning to boil, folks. I'm telling you, the general population is going to miss out on the opportunity to get in early. Traditional investors will sit on the sidelines until it's too late and then they'll all talk about how they wish that they'd gotten in while everything was cheap. Sure, there is still risk, but that's why prices are low. There are still many pieces that have to move forward for the revitalization effort to succeed. But with the City focus, with growing community support, with changes in state legislation that forces growth inward...the forces are finally lining up for a revival.
3:00 Wilma Quan (Urban Planning Specialist) and I had a conference call with representatives from the California Endowment about some of their initiatives that focus on healthy communities. The have resources to help cities to plan and design neighborhoods and town centers for mobility, exercise and access to healthy foods. We think that this effort could line up nicely with part of the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan. We were planning a Health Impact Assessment, so hopefully we can share resources and accomplish even more by working together.
4:30 I had my weekly one on one meeting with our Neighborhood Revitalization Manager Elaine Robles. We were both still riding the high from last night's Lowell Community meeting. It was such a positive group of people, both residents and City staff. That positive experience really carries forward and motivates everyone to do even more. We also discussed the dinner honoring Fresno's own Brian King Wednesday night for his Peace Prize. Elaine and I also discussed the need for more capacity to manage the resources that are coming into the Lowell revitalization effort. If anyone out there wants to lend a hand on a regular basis, we could use any help. We have research, we have stuff like data entry to build our database, website content, communications and of course work in the neighborhood.
5:30 Amy Huerta and I tried to corner Chamber CEO and all around great guy Al Smith into opening a downtown entertainment spot. Don't you guys think he'd make a great host of a really cool place? If you see him or have his email address please encourages him. His New Orleans sense of style, music, food and attitude are just what we need in a downtown joint.
I was home by 8:00 and remembered the half and half that my wife Betty Ann asked me to bring for her morning's coffee. I told you it was a great day.
11-16-09
I'm off track already. A day late on my blogging. As we left off on Thursday, I drove to Shasta/McCloud on Thursday night to pick up my son Cole at his school (Saint Mary's College) in Moraga. We arrived at the house where we were staying at 2:00a.m. We fished the McCloud River on Friday and the Upper Sacramento River on Saturday and Sunday. It was absolutely gorgeous up there and the fishing was great. It was wonderful to be able to have a long drive with my son and have time to really catch up. I am revitalized and ready for some revitalizing.
Monday morning. Most of the day was very internally focused. Not me personally, I mean internally focused on our department.
I started the day at 8:30 with a meeting at the Newsroom Cafe on Kern and L Street in the newly remodeled Virginia Hotel. Vic, the proprietor, said that lunch business is really picking up and that the Workforce Investment Board employees that just moved in are proving to be loyal customers. The meeting was with Linda Calandra, former city councilmember, who now does fundraising for the Library's foundation. We were joined by Elliott Balch and Jan Minami. The discussion was about the newly formed DT FACES nonprofit, fundraising, the nonprofit's employee compensation, and the Association of Fundraising Professionals as a resource.
At 9:30 I met with Fernando Santillan who works with Amy Huerta on our Local Business Initiatives. Fernando is building up the CPA Affinity Group and the Community Banks and Credit Unions Affinity Groups. We were discussing the possibility of getting the banks and accountants, along with Fresno State accounting students and Bank on Fresno, to coordinate with our Lowell neighborhood revitalization efforts to promote the Earned Income Tax Credit, free tax preparation, open more bank accounts, financial literacy programs. This is how these efforts can really stack up together.
10:00 we had our weekly management meeting with Amy Huerta (Local Business Initiatives) Elliott Balch (Downtown Revitalization), Elaine Robles (Neighborhood Revitalization) and George Smith (Administration). Most of the time was spent reviewing our budget and individual budgets. George has created a report so that our department's budget mirrors a standard budget report. It helps us to understand where we are and would also be easier for anyone who wanted to see our budget to understand.
11:00 Specific Plan Update meeting with Wilma Quan, who is the Project Manager, and Elliott and Elaine. We finalized our draft of the Scope of Work which will accompany the contract with Moule and Polyzoides the consultants for the downtown zoning and code overhaul.
12:00 We had a meeting with First 5 who are working with us toward a proposed downtown childcare center headquarters. We expect to take an agreement to the City Council within a few weeks to keep this project moving forward. A downtown daycare center would be a great service to downtown employees and residents.
1:30 Elliott and I met with the City Manager Andy Souza and Deputy City Manager Nicole Zieba. We have a brief meeting on Mondays to align the City departments with the downtown revitalization efforts for the week and to track our progress.
From this point on I worked with Elaine on the final touches for the Lowell Neighborhood Meeting #3.
The meeting in Lowell started at 5:30 in the cafeteria at Lowell Elementary. We had a very full house with residents, City staff, and partnering agencies.
Council President Cynthia Sterling started the meeting with a welcome and then introduced the Mayor. The Mayor got things going and talked about long term commitment to the revitalization effort.
I gave an overview of the evening's agenda and an overview of how our department coordinated the revitalization effort. We had a slide that listed the concerns/needs that the neighbors have expressed to us and then City departments gave an update on their efforts. Chief Dyer started the program off by showing how their activities in the neighborhood are leading to more community engagement in fighting crime. Every department showed the tangible results from the coordinated effort in the neighborhood. I'll try to see how we can put to powerpoint online. Here are some picture that photographer and Lowell resident Steve Skibbie took last night Lowell Meeting #3 photos.
The neighbors gave us their input/feedback on what a revitalized Lowell neighborhood looks like and suggestions on how to get to the goals. It was one of the best community meetings that I've ever experienced. The room was filled with a very positive energy. Elaine, the whole Downtown and Community Revitalization team and all of the departments did a fantastic job last night in coordinating the event. The neighborhood is pulling together like gangbusters (now there's an interesting word).
Signing off for now. Back on track tonight, I hope.
The happy downtown revitalization fisherman,
Monday morning. Most of the day was very internally focused. Not me personally, I mean internally focused on our department.
I started the day at 8:30 with a meeting at the Newsroom Cafe on Kern and L Street in the newly remodeled Virginia Hotel. Vic, the proprietor, said that lunch business is really picking up and that the Workforce Investment Board employees that just moved in are proving to be loyal customers. The meeting was with Linda Calandra, former city councilmember, who now does fundraising for the Library's foundation. We were joined by Elliott Balch and Jan Minami. The discussion was about the newly formed DT FACES nonprofit, fundraising, the nonprofit's employee compensation, and the Association of Fundraising Professionals as a resource.
At 9:30 I met with Fernando Santillan who works with Amy Huerta on our Local Business Initiatives. Fernando is building up the CPA Affinity Group and the Community Banks and Credit Unions Affinity Groups. We were discussing the possibility of getting the banks and accountants, along with Fresno State accounting students and Bank on Fresno, to coordinate with our Lowell neighborhood revitalization efforts to promote the Earned Income Tax Credit, free tax preparation, open more bank accounts, financial literacy programs. This is how these efforts can really stack up together.
10:00 we had our weekly management meeting with Amy Huerta (Local Business Initiatives) Elliott Balch (Downtown Revitalization), Elaine Robles (Neighborhood Revitalization) and George Smith (Administration). Most of the time was spent reviewing our budget and individual budgets. George has created a report so that our department's budget mirrors a standard budget report. It helps us to understand where we are and would also be easier for anyone who wanted to see our budget to understand.
11:00 Specific Plan Update meeting with Wilma Quan, who is the Project Manager, and Elliott and Elaine. We finalized our draft of the Scope of Work which will accompany the contract with Moule and Polyzoides the consultants for the downtown zoning and code overhaul.
12:00 We had a meeting with First 5 who are working with us toward a proposed downtown childcare center headquarters. We expect to take an agreement to the City Council within a few weeks to keep this project moving forward. A downtown daycare center would be a great service to downtown employees and residents.
1:30 Elliott and I met with the City Manager Andy Souza and Deputy City Manager Nicole Zieba. We have a brief meeting on Mondays to align the City departments with the downtown revitalization efforts for the week and to track our progress.
From this point on I worked with Elaine on the final touches for the Lowell Neighborhood Meeting #3.
The meeting in Lowell started at 5:30 in the cafeteria at Lowell Elementary. We had a very full house with residents, City staff, and partnering agencies.
Council President Cynthia Sterling started the meeting with a welcome and then introduced the Mayor. The Mayor got things going and talked about long term commitment to the revitalization effort.
I gave an overview of the evening's agenda and an overview of how our department coordinated the revitalization effort. We had a slide that listed the concerns/needs that the neighbors have expressed to us and then City departments gave an update on their efforts. Chief Dyer started the program off by showing how their activities in the neighborhood are leading to more community engagement in fighting crime. Every department showed the tangible results from the coordinated effort in the neighborhood. I'll try to see how we can put to powerpoint online. Here are some picture that photographer and Lowell resident Steve Skibbie took last night Lowell Meeting #3 photos.
The neighbors gave us their input/feedback on what a revitalized Lowell neighborhood looks like and suggestions on how to get to the goals. It was one of the best community meetings that I've ever experienced. The room was filled with a very positive energy. Elaine, the whole Downtown and Community Revitalization team and all of the departments did a fantastic job last night in coordinating the event. The neighborhood is pulling together like gangbusters (now there's an interesting word).
Signing off for now. Back on track tonight, I hope.
The happy downtown revitalization fisherman,
Friday, November 13, 2009
11/12/09 Thursday's blog is written on Friday?
It's gonna be a quick on today sports fans.
8:00 weekly interenal Downtown and Community Revitalization management meeting. Elaine got back from the Harlem Childrens Zone conference. They confirmed everything that we are doing is on the right track. Focus is the key, you can't do everything and everywhere at once. The piece we need to work on is being more data driven...we'll need to work with partners to have enough capacity.
9:00 Weekly agenda meeting. Department directors and city council staff get together to go over next week's agenda. The Mayor's budget presentation will be the big item. Tthe directors have the irmeeting directly afterward. I reported on the upcoming Lowell neighborhood meeting the Monday night and on Fresno State's huge buy into the Lowell revitalization effort.
10:00 We had a quick internal meeting to review the staff report and the scope of work for the specific plan.
10:30 Downtown FACES Board meeting. This is the nonprofit that has been formed to oversee, create and coordinate events and festivalos on the Fulton mall and in the stadium.
11:30 I was on a panel with Elaine Robles (Neighborhood Revitalization Manager), Terance Frazier (Frazier Realty) and CeCe Vega (Lowell resident). We spoke to a group called the No Name Fellowshipo, which is a longstanding faith-based gathering to discuss urban issues.
1:30 We went over the United Security Bank and opened our checking account for DT FACES. Now any of you can make a contribution!
3:00 Urban Entrepreneurshp class was at the Trade Center. Cliff Tutelian is really doing a first class job on renovating the building. The ballroom upstairs is close to fully operational and is going to be one of the great party spots in the Valley. The ground floor is also going to be spectacular.
5:30 I headed toward Moraga to pick up my son Cole for a three day fishing trip up near Shasta. We pulled in about 2AM. I did a phone interview with a future urban planning legend Drew Wilson for an hour on the drive up through Los Banos.
Now we're headed out to see if we can annoy a few fish! Talk back atcha on Monday. Join us at the Lowell meeting at 5:30 at the school. Real life neighborhood meetings are always interesting.
8:00 weekly interenal Downtown and Community Revitalization management meeting. Elaine got back from the Harlem Childrens Zone conference. They confirmed everything that we are doing is on the right track. Focus is the key, you can't do everything and everywhere at once. The piece we need to work on is being more data driven...we'll need to work with partners to have enough capacity.
9:00 Weekly agenda meeting. Department directors and city council staff get together to go over next week's agenda. The Mayor's budget presentation will be the big item. Tthe directors have the irmeeting directly afterward. I reported on the upcoming Lowell neighborhood meeting the Monday night and on Fresno State's huge buy into the Lowell revitalization effort.
10:00 We had a quick internal meeting to review the staff report and the scope of work for the specific plan.
10:30 Downtown FACES Board meeting. This is the nonprofit that has been formed to oversee, create and coordinate events and festivalos on the Fulton mall and in the stadium.
11:30 I was on a panel with Elaine Robles (Neighborhood Revitalization Manager), Terance Frazier (Frazier Realty) and CeCe Vega (Lowell resident). We spoke to a group called the No Name Fellowshipo, which is a longstanding faith-based gathering to discuss urban issues.
1:30 We went over the United Security Bank and opened our checking account for DT FACES. Now any of you can make a contribution!
3:00 Urban Entrepreneurshp class was at the Trade Center. Cliff Tutelian is really doing a first class job on renovating the building. The ballroom upstairs is close to fully operational and is going to be one of the great party spots in the Valley. The ground floor is also going to be spectacular.
5:30 I headed toward Moraga to pick up my son Cole for a three day fishing trip up near Shasta. We pulled in about 2AM. I did a phone interview with a future urban planning legend Drew Wilson for an hour on the drive up through Los Banos.
Now we're headed out to see if we can annoy a few fish! Talk back atcha on Monday. Join us at the Lowell meeting at 5:30 at the school. Real life neighborhood meetings are always interesting.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
11/11/09 Downtown Vet's Parade was HUGE
Slow start today. No exercise, I'm recovering from yesterdays.
10:00 Meeting with Jane Whitehurst. We tried to meet at the Newsroom Cafe, but Vic must've closed because of the holiday and the fact that the government offices would be closed and because he was in an island surrounded by the parade route. I had to move (and replace, of course) barricades to even get near L and Kern. Jane and I walked over to the Starbucks instead. Jane is a downtown property owner and is part of three projects. She is a long time friend and is one of the original members of the Bus Bard Studio, the folks who started ArtHop. I updated her on the Specific Plan, PBID, downtown development incentives (proposed). Jane is looking into turning one of her properties into a studio/gallery. Good news.
11:30 I met with Terence Frazier, Steve Hosey and Mehmet Noyan. We were going to have lunch at the Downtown Club, but we went over to Club One instead. The Downtown Club was also closed. Club One's restaurant is always open, so remember that when you are looking for something late night and don't want a grand slam at Denny's! Their Asian food is really good, too. These gentlemen were also interested in hearing about the downtown revitalization plans. I had the opportunity to describe the Entertainment District concept. Mehmet is familiar with the development around PETCO Park in San Diego. It is important to keep local investors, developers, entrepreneurs and commercial real estate brokers up to date. When they show an interest, it is imperative that we continue to share information on a regular basis. We're not exactly where I'd like to be with our communication, but we're building toward it. Once the Specific Plan is underway, we'll have a website dedicated to the project to give and receive information and input.
2:00 From 2:00 to 6:30 Andrew Stuebner (Grizzlies) Jan Minami (Downtown Association), William Broomfield (City Events Coordinator) Elliott Balch ( our department's Downtown Revitalization Manager) and I interviewed potential candidates to run the newly created DT FACES nonprofit. This entity has been formed to coordinate events on the Fulton Mall and in Chukchansi Park on non-baseball nights. Nonprofits have much more ability to raise funds and have much more flexibility to work with vendors, hire short term staff and others steps necessary for event creation and successful execution. Hopefully we'll have someone on board within a couple of weeks. Get ready Central Valley, the party is coming to downtown!
7:00 I met with a couple of Urban Entrepreneurship Students (Adam and Krystal) to help them on their semester project. Hold the date on you calendars...December 3rd from 3-6. You'll have a chance to see what college level entrepreneurship students think that downtown Fresno needs.
10:00 Meeting with Jane Whitehurst. We tried to meet at the Newsroom Cafe, but Vic must've closed because of the holiday and the fact that the government offices would be closed and because he was in an island surrounded by the parade route. I had to move (and replace, of course) barricades to even get near L and Kern. Jane and I walked over to the Starbucks instead. Jane is a downtown property owner and is part of three projects. She is a long time friend and is one of the original members of the Bus Bard Studio, the folks who started ArtHop. I updated her on the Specific Plan, PBID, downtown development incentives (proposed). Jane is looking into turning one of her properties into a studio/gallery. Good news.
11:30 I met with Terence Frazier, Steve Hosey and Mehmet Noyan. We were going to have lunch at the Downtown Club, but we went over to Club One instead. The Downtown Club was also closed. Club One's restaurant is always open, so remember that when you are looking for something late night and don't want a grand slam at Denny's! Their Asian food is really good, too. These gentlemen were also interested in hearing about the downtown revitalization plans. I had the opportunity to describe the Entertainment District concept. Mehmet is familiar with the development around PETCO Park in San Diego. It is important to keep local investors, developers, entrepreneurs and commercial real estate brokers up to date. When they show an interest, it is imperative that we continue to share information on a regular basis. We're not exactly where I'd like to be with our communication, but we're building toward it. Once the Specific Plan is underway, we'll have a website dedicated to the project to give and receive information and input.
2:00 From 2:00 to 6:30 Andrew Stuebner (Grizzlies) Jan Minami (Downtown Association), William Broomfield (City Events Coordinator) Elliott Balch ( our department's Downtown Revitalization Manager) and I interviewed potential candidates to run the newly created DT FACES nonprofit. This entity has been formed to coordinate events on the Fulton Mall and in Chukchansi Park on non-baseball nights. Nonprofits have much more ability to raise funds and have much more flexibility to work with vendors, hire short term staff and others steps necessary for event creation and successful execution. Hopefully we'll have someone on board within a couple of weeks. Get ready Central Valley, the party is coming to downtown!
7:00 I met with a couple of Urban Entrepreneurship Students (Adam and Krystal) to help them on their semester project. Hold the date on you calendars...December 3rd from 3-6. You'll have a chance to see what college level entrepreneurship students think that downtown Fresno needs.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
11/10/09 Expectations Exceeded
I still don't know what happened to spell check. It used to be on the tool bar until yesterday. They added a link function which I have used tonight.
The day started off really well with a good workout at the gym. 20 minutes on the cross trainer and 2 miles on the treadmill.
I got off track for time and ened up late for my 7:00 meeting with Chris Johnson, our area's renowned historic preservation architect. He designs new stuff too, but really excells at the historic work like our Santa Fe depot. He is finishing another historic home in the Jefferson Neighborhood soon. I can't wait to see it. Fortunately I've known Chris since high school, so he didn't mind that I showed up in gym clothes.
Dawn Steele helped me to outlline a presentation for the No Name Fellowship this Thursday.
10:30 Amy Huerta, Elliott Balch and I met with Dan DeSantis from the Fresno Regional Foundation to introduce him to the Public Market project that we're interested in pursuing. Dan was very helpful and put us on a good track to get investment. Many national foundations have funded these projects in the past.
I had to head to the Dr.s office to take care of a stubborn ear ache. Followed by a trip to the pharmacy.
2:30 I met with Assistant City Manager Bruce Rudd to discuss issues like downtown water wells, parking, and possible locations for new downtown developments and tenants.
3:15 We started our weekly Downtown and Community Revitalization Dept. staff meeting a few minutes late. I was very eager to get started and to spend some time with our entire team. There have been so many great things happening, I was looking forward to having everyone share their good news with the others.
Like:
Kelly Trevino had a very successful Enterprise Zone conference last week with 200 attendees! We only heard positive comments from folks, and many had never been to Fresno before. Great receptions and the Met Museum and downtown Club.
Dawn Steele worked on Cargo of Hope and the event exceeded everyone from the national organization's expectations.
Amy Huerta and Fernando Santillan held very successful Independent Retail and Restaurnt Affinity Group and an equally successful Licensed Contractor Affinity groups.
Elaine Robles in New York at a conference about the Harlem Children's Zone. She is the guest of The California Endowment and is making some great connections for Fresno. There are other great things happening, like the two universities involvement in Lowell and a HUD Grant.
But that's enough for now.
4:30 Elliott Balch, Jan Minami (Downtown Association) and I met with Cliff Tutelian to discuss the Property Based Improvement District. Cliff signed his ballots/petitions and as a large downtown property owner gave us some great momentum for this improtant effort. Jan reported that KVPT had signed theirs earlier in the day too.
5:15 A quick meeting with the quality affordable housing trio of Preston Prince, Brian Glover and Wayne Rutledge. They are going to begin to pull together best practices for high quality affordable housing. Frankly much of the stuff that has been built down in our urban neighborhoods is pretty bad and it is no wonder that people do not want it in their neighborhood. We'll see what they can come up with. Preston brings a wealth of experience from Seattle and Denver.
6:00 I had the opportunity to speak with the Fresno Citizen's Academy about our department's funcitons and goals. Tonight they met at Dickey Youth Center in Lowell. Mostly we discussed downtown revitalization...always a lively topic. This is a realy informed group. They committ time for 8 weeks to learn about how the City operates. I hope that they enjoyed the presentation, I did.
Back by City hall to get my computer and home by 8:00ish. Not to shabby for a day that started off kind of screwy.
The day started off really well with a good workout at the gym. 20 minutes on the cross trainer and 2 miles on the treadmill.
I got off track for time and ened up late for my 7:00 meeting with Chris Johnson, our area's renowned historic preservation architect. He designs new stuff too, but really excells at the historic work like our Santa Fe depot. He is finishing another historic home in the Jefferson Neighborhood soon. I can't wait to see it. Fortunately I've known Chris since high school, so he didn't mind that I showed up in gym clothes.
Dawn Steele helped me to outlline a presentation for the No Name Fellowship this Thursday.
10:30 Amy Huerta, Elliott Balch and I met with Dan DeSantis from the Fresno Regional Foundation to introduce him to the Public Market project that we're interested in pursuing. Dan was very helpful and put us on a good track to get investment. Many national foundations have funded these projects in the past.
I had to head to the Dr.s office to take care of a stubborn ear ache. Followed by a trip to the pharmacy.
2:30 I met with Assistant City Manager Bruce Rudd to discuss issues like downtown water wells, parking, and possible locations for new downtown developments and tenants.
3:15 We started our weekly Downtown and Community Revitalization Dept. staff meeting a few minutes late. I was very eager to get started and to spend some time with our entire team. There have been so many great things happening, I was looking forward to having everyone share their good news with the others.
Like:
Kelly Trevino had a very successful Enterprise Zone conference last week with 200 attendees! We only heard positive comments from folks, and many had never been to Fresno before. Great receptions and the Met Museum and downtown Club.
Dawn Steele worked on Cargo of Hope and the event exceeded everyone from the national organization's expectations.
Amy Huerta and Fernando Santillan held very successful Independent Retail and Restaurnt Affinity Group and an equally successful Licensed Contractor Affinity groups.
Elaine Robles in New York at a conference about the Harlem Children's Zone. She is the guest of The California Endowment and is making some great connections for Fresno. There are other great things happening, like the two universities involvement in Lowell and a HUD Grant.
But that's enough for now.
4:30 Elliott Balch, Jan Minami (Downtown Association) and I met with Cliff Tutelian to discuss the Property Based Improvement District. Cliff signed his ballots/petitions and as a large downtown property owner gave us some great momentum for this improtant effort. Jan reported that KVPT had signed theirs earlier in the day too.
5:15 A quick meeting with the quality affordable housing trio of Preston Prince, Brian Glover and Wayne Rutledge. They are going to begin to pull together best practices for high quality affordable housing. Frankly much of the stuff that has been built down in our urban neighborhoods is pretty bad and it is no wonder that people do not want it in their neighborhood. We'll see what they can come up with. Preston brings a wealth of experience from Seattle and Denver.
6:00 I had the opportunity to speak with the Fresno Citizen's Academy about our department's funcitons and goals. Tonight they met at Dickey Youth Center in Lowell. Mostly we discussed downtown revitalization...always a lively topic. This is a realy informed group. They committ time for 8 weeks to learn about how the City operates. I hope that they enjoyed the presentation, I did.
Back by City hall to get my computer and home by 8:00ish. Not to shabby for a day that started off kind of screwy.
Monday, November 9, 2009
11/9/09-A Doozy
NOTE: spell check disappeared. It used to be on the tool bar, but tonight it's missing. Please forgive the spelling errors.
Yesterday-First, I want to say that I redeemed myself after my humiliating 6-1 loss to my wife in tennis last week. Yes, I won 6-3 yesterday. Bobby Riggs would be proud of me.
Today-I started off the day with a nice 2 mile jog/run with ol' Ellis this morning at 5:00. I forgot to tell Coach Carter, but I'll let her know after tomorrow's effort.
8:00 meeting with Deb Nankivell (Fresno Business Council), Doug Davidian, Kristine Walter and Fresno Pacific University President Merril Ewert. We met in Dr. Ewert's office. The meeting was another in a successful chain of get-togethers regarding the Lowell neighborhood and our revitalization focus on Lowell. I have to admit, I wasn't at my best. I could blame it on too much caffeine or just wanting to get the week going, but I could have used a little deep breathing or other calming exercise. It is interesting, after doing this kind of work in a variety of forms for many years. There still are no directions. It is really just a matter of trying my best and moving forward.
10:30 I got back to City Hall in time to meet with a new intern from Fresno State who is in the grant writing certificate program through the American Humanics program. Darcy was a huge help on her very first day, finding information for a grant that we are working toward that would fund pest (cockroach, rat) infestation elimination in some of our urban neighborhoods. These pests have a direct link to an increase in asthma in children...something I did not know. Another example of how resources are begining to materialize and how valuable they can be.
12:00 I was on Mike Briggs on-line news program. This was very interesting. He has a studio in the back of his real estate office in the Tower District. He does a daily show, that is repeated throughout the week. Others do shows from there as well. It is amazing how accessible the media is to almost everyone now. I'm not sure how to get to the show to watch it, but it should be a relatively easy search. The topic was downtown revitalization.
1:15 I had a nice, quiet lunch by myself at Ribs 'n Tip on Divisadero and Broadway (Echo actually). A great tri-tip sandwich and great pilaf. If you haven't tried them yet, it is worth the trip.
2:00 Amy, Fernando and I met with the Business Tax Division to learn more about their new software's capabilities. We have an interest in the usability of the software, what the City has had in the past is archaic. The new software should allow us to do quieries so that we can begin to put together better lists for our business affinity groups and to create an on-line directory for locally owned businesses like restaurants and retailers.
3:30 I did a walking tour of the Fulton Mall with the Parks Department. We were trying to decide short, medium, long range priorities. Much of the Mall is a real mess. The concrete, the aggregate, the planters, lights, fountains and garbage cans are all in pretty sad shape. Whether or not you are a pro-mall or pro-traffic person, there will need to be a major investment to fix this core of our downtown. Even examples like Santa Monica and Charleston have renovated their pedestrian malls. Preserving what we have isn't going to work very well. Patching will just make it look worse over time.
4:45 I met at the Trade Center building to confirm the location for the Urban Entrepreneurship's class presentations. We're hoping to use the newly renovated 10th floor and also hoping that all of you (are there still 11 of you?) that will join us on December 3rd from 3-6...stay tuned.
6:30 The Mayor had a Town Hall Meeting in Woodward park Library. She continues to move around the city engaging with neighbors about their localized issues as well as citywide issues. It was gratifying to see how much interest there was in downtown revitalization from the folks in the Woodward Park district.
8:15 I met with Brian Glover from Penstar after the Town Hall meeting. Penstar did the new building at Kern and M streets in dowtown. Penstar made a huge investment in downtown and have been real leaders in efforts from the Property Based Improvement District to the Specific Plan.
Home at 10:00, done with blog at 11:30. Lights out!
Yesterday-First, I want to say that I redeemed myself after my humiliating 6-1 loss to my wife in tennis last week. Yes, I won 6-3 yesterday. Bobby Riggs would be proud of me.
Today-I started off the day with a nice 2 mile jog/run with ol' Ellis this morning at 5:00. I forgot to tell Coach Carter, but I'll let her know after tomorrow's effort.
8:00 meeting with Deb Nankivell (Fresno Business Council), Doug Davidian, Kristine Walter and Fresno Pacific University President Merril Ewert. We met in Dr. Ewert's office. The meeting was another in a successful chain of get-togethers regarding the Lowell neighborhood and our revitalization focus on Lowell. I have to admit, I wasn't at my best. I could blame it on too much caffeine or just wanting to get the week going, but I could have used a little deep breathing or other calming exercise. It is interesting, after doing this kind of work in a variety of forms for many years. There still are no directions. It is really just a matter of trying my best and moving forward.
10:30 I got back to City Hall in time to meet with a new intern from Fresno State who is in the grant writing certificate program through the American Humanics program. Darcy was a huge help on her very first day, finding information for a grant that we are working toward that would fund pest (cockroach, rat) infestation elimination in some of our urban neighborhoods. These pests have a direct link to an increase in asthma in children...something I did not know. Another example of how resources are begining to materialize and how valuable they can be.
12:00 I was on Mike Briggs on-line news program. This was very interesting. He has a studio in the back of his real estate office in the Tower District. He does a daily show, that is repeated throughout the week. Others do shows from there as well. It is amazing how accessible the media is to almost everyone now. I'm not sure how to get to the show to watch it, but it should be a relatively easy search. The topic was downtown revitalization.
1:15 I had a nice, quiet lunch by myself at Ribs 'n Tip on Divisadero and Broadway (Echo actually). A great tri-tip sandwich and great pilaf. If you haven't tried them yet, it is worth the trip.
2:00 Amy, Fernando and I met with the Business Tax Division to learn more about their new software's capabilities. We have an interest in the usability of the software, what the City has had in the past is archaic. The new software should allow us to do quieries so that we can begin to put together better lists for our business affinity groups and to create an on-line directory for locally owned businesses like restaurants and retailers.
3:30 I did a walking tour of the Fulton Mall with the Parks Department. We were trying to decide short, medium, long range priorities. Much of the Mall is a real mess. The concrete, the aggregate, the planters, lights, fountains and garbage cans are all in pretty sad shape. Whether or not you are a pro-mall or pro-traffic person, there will need to be a major investment to fix this core of our downtown. Even examples like Santa Monica and Charleston have renovated their pedestrian malls. Preserving what we have isn't going to work very well. Patching will just make it look worse over time.
4:45 I met at the Trade Center building to confirm the location for the Urban Entrepreneurship's class presentations. We're hoping to use the newly renovated 10th floor and also hoping that all of you (are there still 11 of you?) that will join us on December 3rd from 3-6...stay tuned.
6:30 The Mayor had a Town Hall Meeting in Woodward park Library. She continues to move around the city engaging with neighbors about their localized issues as well as citywide issues. It was gratifying to see how much interest there was in downtown revitalization from the folks in the Woodward Park district.
8:15 I met with Brian Glover from Penstar after the Town Hall meeting. Penstar did the new building at Kern and M streets in dowtown. Penstar made a huge investment in downtown and have been real leaders in efforts from the Property Based Improvement District to the Specific Plan.
Home at 10:00, done with blog at 11:30. Lights out!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
11/7/09 An Easy Saturday
I got up this morning to find that I'd forgotten to get coffee yesterday. I walked the ol' pooch to the store when it opened at 7:00
8:00 I had breakfast with Saundra King, the owner of the Security Bank Building (a.k.a. Fresno Pacific Towers, Pacific Southwest Building) at the Chicken Pie Shop. We had a number of things to catch up on, but primarily the Specific Plan and the Property Based Improvement District. Saundra has been elected the interim chairperson for the Specific Plan Committee and was on the Stakeholders' Committee that voted on the selection of the planning team. Saundra has also been a proponent of the PBID for a number of years.
10:00 Ray Arthur, our Film and Entertainment Commissioner, has been organizing the owners of our historic theaters. Today we met at the Azteca Theater in Chinatown. We had a tour through the Theater, it was my first look inside. Two of my Urban Entrepreneurship students, Rodney and Brandon came along because they are using the theater for their semester projects. It was a good opportunity to inform the theater owners about the possibility of City fee waivers, the Specific Plan and the entertainment district concept.
12:00 I picked up my order of Beerocks from the Cross/Well Church at Palm and Gettysburg. This is the church where my grandparents attended and helped in the annual beerocks sales. The Volga German or Germans from Russia community makes a style of beerocks different from the usual store or restaurant variety. For our family, there are no comparisons. The Edison Social Club is the only other place to get them, and their sale will be in December. The Edison Social Club also has sausage for sale too.
One of the truly great things about living in our area is our ethnic heritage. I'd love to see a place on Fulton someday that honors this piece of our Fresno history and culture. Beerocks, vereniks (strawberry and potato), egg noodles, coffee cake and German smoked and regular sausage (Olberg's Recipe). A place that had pictures of Fresno's Germantown on the walls and would organize and a great Oktoberfest every fall.
8:00 I had breakfast with Saundra King, the owner of the Security Bank Building (a.k.a. Fresno Pacific Towers, Pacific Southwest Building) at the Chicken Pie Shop. We had a number of things to catch up on, but primarily the Specific Plan and the Property Based Improvement District. Saundra has been elected the interim chairperson for the Specific Plan Committee and was on the Stakeholders' Committee that voted on the selection of the planning team. Saundra has also been a proponent of the PBID for a number of years.
10:00 Ray Arthur, our Film and Entertainment Commissioner, has been organizing the owners of our historic theaters. Today we met at the Azteca Theater in Chinatown. We had a tour through the Theater, it was my first look inside. Two of my Urban Entrepreneurship students, Rodney and Brandon came along because they are using the theater for their semester projects. It was a good opportunity to inform the theater owners about the possibility of City fee waivers, the Specific Plan and the entertainment district concept.
12:00 I picked up my order of Beerocks from the Cross/Well Church at Palm and Gettysburg. This is the church where my grandparents attended and helped in the annual beerocks sales. The Volga German or Germans from Russia community makes a style of beerocks different from the usual store or restaurant variety. For our family, there are no comparisons. The Edison Social Club is the only other place to get them, and their sale will be in December. The Edison Social Club also has sausage for sale too.
One of the truly great things about living in our area is our ethnic heritage. I'd love to see a place on Fulton someday that honors this piece of our Fresno history and culture. Beerocks, vereniks (strawberry and potato), egg noodles, coffee cake and German smoked and regular sausage (Olberg's Recipe). A place that had pictures of Fresno's Germantown on the walls and would organize and a great Oktoberfest every fall.
Friday, November 6, 2009
11/6/09 Causal Friday
I started the day with another morning run. this time under cloak of darkness. I know that we all seem to have a penchant for street lights, but Ilike to be up before sunrise and see the stars and moon in a place without them.
7:30 I enjoyed a nice walking tour of the Fulton Mall with Dr. Hoff, the Dean of the College of Health and Human Services. He's a long time Fresnan and downtown enthusiast. We had a good conversation about how downtowns work, past planning mistakes and future opportunities working together. Their impact on the Lowell neighborhood could be fantastic. I had a coffee and breakfast sandwich from the Parsley Garden afterward....mmmm.
9:00 I had my weekly one on one meeting with our department's Administrative Manager George Smith. George keeps us on track with some of the process stuff. He is also a burgeoning grant writer, along with his many other credentials. He is currently writing a grant that would help to eradicate some of our Lowell neighborhood homes of pests.
10:00 Dawn Steel (FPU alum), Elaine Robles and I headed to Fresno Pacific University to meet with faculty members to discuss their possible participation in our efforts to revitalize the Lowell Neighborhood. They we enthusiastic and helpful in breainstorming the best ways to have a long term engagement with faculty and staff. Resources continue to build for the neighborhood revitalization effort. My personal belief is that we have all the resources that we need to solve our problems, we just need to focus and learn to wrok together. Well, it is actually happening.
We ate at a great little Mexican Food place on Kings Canyon. I can't remember its name and it isn't showing up on Google maps. It is over by Castillos. Handmade corn tortillas were fantastic.
2:00 I met John Rayomnd (Fresno Redevelopment Agency) at Full Circle Brewery (no beer for us) to meet with the owners Don and Bill. The meeting was for me to introduce them to the redevelopment agency and to talk about the Chinaton Redevelopment project area.
3:30 We hosted a meeting at City Hall with City management and staff and downtown developers to discuss potential fee waivers and deferrals to encourage downtown development. We had a great turnout. The concept is to spur development activity during the formation of the specific plan so that projects will be included in the planning process. Our focus in the Fulton mall area, but all areas within the foot print of the plan are included and would receive benefits under our proposal. coupled with improved zoning and code issues, a property based improvement district, an entertainment district and revitalizing downtown neighborhoods, reduced City fees could be another layer to encourage revitalization.
5:15 I met back at Full circle to meet some friends and to listen to some music from Evo Bluestein and a great group of local musicians.
It is 9:50 and I am about down for the count.
7:30 I enjoyed a nice walking tour of the Fulton Mall with Dr. Hoff, the Dean of the College of Health and Human Services. He's a long time Fresnan and downtown enthusiast. We had a good conversation about how downtowns work, past planning mistakes and future opportunities working together. Their impact on the Lowell neighborhood could be fantastic. I had a coffee and breakfast sandwich from the Parsley Garden afterward....mmmm.
9:00 I had my weekly one on one meeting with our department's Administrative Manager George Smith. George keeps us on track with some of the process stuff. He is also a burgeoning grant writer, along with his many other credentials. He is currently writing a grant that would help to eradicate some of our Lowell neighborhood homes of pests.
10:00 Dawn Steel (FPU alum), Elaine Robles and I headed to Fresno Pacific University to meet with faculty members to discuss their possible participation in our efforts to revitalize the Lowell Neighborhood. They we enthusiastic and helpful in breainstorming the best ways to have a long term engagement with faculty and staff. Resources continue to build for the neighborhood revitalization effort. My personal belief is that we have all the resources that we need to solve our problems, we just need to focus and learn to wrok together. Well, it is actually happening.
We ate at a great little Mexican Food place on Kings Canyon. I can't remember its name and it isn't showing up on Google maps. It is over by Castillos. Handmade corn tortillas were fantastic.
2:00 I met John Rayomnd (Fresno Redevelopment Agency) at Full Circle Brewery (no beer for us) to meet with the owners Don and Bill. The meeting was for me to introduce them to the redevelopment agency and to talk about the Chinaton Redevelopment project area.
3:30 We hosted a meeting at City Hall with City management and staff and downtown developers to discuss potential fee waivers and deferrals to encourage downtown development. We had a great turnout. The concept is to spur development activity during the formation of the specific plan so that projects will be included in the planning process. Our focus in the Fulton mall area, but all areas within the foot print of the plan are included and would receive benefits under our proposal. coupled with improved zoning and code issues, a property based improvement district, an entertainment district and revitalizing downtown neighborhoods, reduced City fees could be another layer to encourage revitalization.
5:15 I met back at Full circle to meet some friends and to listen to some music from Evo Bluestein and a great group of local musicians.
It is 9:50 and I am about down for the count.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
11/5/09 Holy Mackerel...what a great day
I am so glad that I am writing this stuff down. It is way too much to try to remember. I hope that a few of you are checking in occasionally, to see what is happening with the overall effort. I am up for suggestions too, so let me know, please.
I got up at 5:30 and barely had time for a jog. I try to go before sunrise so that I can let the dog off of the leash before people are up. If there are people out, she has to be on a leash, I know some folks are scared of dogs.
7:00 weekly meeting with Rollie from HUD, Preston and Eileen from Housing Authority and Keith from Fresno Planning Dept. Today's topics were far ranging, from the public housing at First and Clinton, to the future of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program update in the Lowell Neighborhood.
10:00 Wilma, Elaine, Elliott and I met to coordinate on the Specific Plan. We are going to be soliciting for members of the neighborhood piece soon, so if you are a stakeholder (property owner, resident, business owner) in Southwest, Jefferson/Lowell, our Southeast Fresno let me know and we'll get an application to you. Or pass the word along to others, please.
11:00 We had a meeting about temporarily implementing new standards for downtown development, for the interim period until the specific plan is adopted. We could potentially have two years of bad urban design if we wait. Planning, Public Works, Public Utilities and others were all present. John Dugan, our new Planning Director was at the meeting and will be a valuable leader on moving this forward. I will probably repeat this somewhat often...John Dugan is one of the best things to happen in the downtown revitalization effort.
11:30 Elaine Robles (Neighborhood Revitalization Manger) and I headed to Fresno State for a meeting to further the concept of engaging the University in the effort to revitalization of the Lowell Neighborhood. We grabbed a quick lunch from locally-owned Don Pepe on Woodrow across from Fresno State.
12:00 What an unbelievably great meeting! Fresno State is on it. The have departments lined up with classes and internships all focused on Lowell. Off the top of my head: construction management, recreation, education, the library (for research and database), political science, psychology, business, engineering, arts (lighting)...and others that I'm forgetting. The have a matrix of every department's involvement. They have specific classes that will be involved. The are organizing an event to link nonprofits in Lowell to students. This is so incredibly gigantic. They are hosting a national conference for Urban Universities next year and will bring schools from around the country to Fresno to see how an engaged city and university can work together. Somebody pinch me...I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that this would all be happening so quickly. Dr. Welty, the Provost and Assistant Provost are all actively engaged to pull this focus and follow-through together. I do not believe that there is anything quite like what is happening, anywhere in the country. As the Mayor says, "it is different this time." Folks, it is different, I've been doing this stuff off and on for 25 years. I have never seen things happening like this before.
2:00 We (Downtown and Community Revitalization Dept.) had a couple of items at the City Council meeting today.
First, we had a proclamation and press event for the former Gottschalks employees who are still looking for work. The Mayor and council member Brand presented the proclamation. About 85 former Big G employees were on hand. This is an incredibly talented and hard-working group of people. We have probably never had this large of an educated, trained, management group enter the workforce at once. A couple of years ago local companies were complaining that we did not have enough management depth in our job market. Well, business owners, we have some incredible talent in our workforce, form the Gottschalks Alumni and other unfortunate closures. We want to keep as many of these experienced people in our economy as possible.
Second, we had a couple of property owners from Lowell express their displeasure with the code enforcement activities in the neighborhood, specifically as they relate to front Yard fence height. The conversation at the meeting was friendly and we will continue to work with folks. The Lowell neighborhood asked for code enforcement in their area, to bring the neighborhood up to the same standard as other parts of the city.
Third, the City Council unanimously voted their support a contract with FUND to help some of the homeowners in Lowell to bring their homes up to code. This money comes to the City from the Fedreal Government's Community Development Block Grant program for use in low-income areas. There are very few homeonwers in Lowell and we wnated to use the resource to help bring the neighborhood up to code, but not to adversly affect the homeowners that have stuck with the neighborhood.
3:00 The Urban Entrepreneurship class that I teach spent a day with Reza Assemi touring his downtown proejcts: Vagabond Lofts, Iron Bird Lofts and the next project to get started, the Broadway Lofts. The class loved the day, meeting with a younger entrepreneur and also seeing a very attractive living option as they graduate soon.
6:00 I had the opportunity to make one ArtHop stop at Cameron Moor's building on Braodway. This adaptive reuse project participated in ArtHop for the first time...it just keeps growing.
6:30 I met with a downtown property owner and a potential new tenant for downtown. We met at the Cosmo and had some great appetizers. The hamburger at the table next to us was a work of art too. The Cosmopolitan Tavern was hopping. The potential downtown tenant was laughing about how some people are afraid of downtown, but the Cosmo was packed with everyone from seniors, middle-aged folks andf one young family with their toddler. The Cosmo is a great place, with great history a fun old town atmosphere, unbelievable food and is a locally-onwed gem. The old bar is really cool too.
I told ya'....it was a great day in downtown Fresno. Craig
I got up at 5:30 and barely had time for a jog. I try to go before sunrise so that I can let the dog off of the leash before people are up. If there are people out, she has to be on a leash, I know some folks are scared of dogs.
7:00 weekly meeting with Rollie from HUD, Preston and Eileen from Housing Authority and Keith from Fresno Planning Dept. Today's topics were far ranging, from the public housing at First and Clinton, to the future of the Neighborhood Stabilization Program update in the Lowell Neighborhood.
10:00 Wilma, Elaine, Elliott and I met to coordinate on the Specific Plan. We are going to be soliciting for members of the neighborhood piece soon, so if you are a stakeholder (property owner, resident, business owner) in Southwest, Jefferson/Lowell, our Southeast Fresno let me know and we'll get an application to you. Or pass the word along to others, please.
11:00 We had a meeting about temporarily implementing new standards for downtown development, for the interim period until the specific plan is adopted. We could potentially have two years of bad urban design if we wait. Planning, Public Works, Public Utilities and others were all present. John Dugan, our new Planning Director was at the meeting and will be a valuable leader on moving this forward. I will probably repeat this somewhat often...John Dugan is one of the best things to happen in the downtown revitalization effort.
11:30 Elaine Robles (Neighborhood Revitalization Manger) and I headed to Fresno State for a meeting to further the concept of engaging the University in the effort to revitalization of the Lowell Neighborhood. We grabbed a quick lunch from locally-owned Don Pepe on Woodrow across from Fresno State.
12:00 What an unbelievably great meeting! Fresno State is on it. The have departments lined up with classes and internships all focused on Lowell. Off the top of my head: construction management, recreation, education, the library (for research and database), political science, psychology, business, engineering, arts (lighting)...and others that I'm forgetting. The have a matrix of every department's involvement. They have specific classes that will be involved. The are organizing an event to link nonprofits in Lowell to students. This is so incredibly gigantic. They are hosting a national conference for Urban Universities next year and will bring schools from around the country to Fresno to see how an engaged city and university can work together. Somebody pinch me...I never, in my wildest dreams, thought that this would all be happening so quickly. Dr. Welty, the Provost and Assistant Provost are all actively engaged to pull this focus and follow-through together. I do not believe that there is anything quite like what is happening, anywhere in the country. As the Mayor says, "it is different this time." Folks, it is different, I've been doing this stuff off and on for 25 years. I have never seen things happening like this before.
2:00 We (Downtown and Community Revitalization Dept.) had a couple of items at the City Council meeting today.
First, we had a proclamation and press event for the former Gottschalks employees who are still looking for work. The Mayor and council member Brand presented the proclamation. About 85 former Big G employees were on hand. This is an incredibly talented and hard-working group of people. We have probably never had this large of an educated, trained, management group enter the workforce at once. A couple of years ago local companies were complaining that we did not have enough management depth in our job market. Well, business owners, we have some incredible talent in our workforce, form the Gottschalks Alumni and other unfortunate closures. We want to keep as many of these experienced people in our economy as possible.
Second, we had a couple of property owners from Lowell express their displeasure with the code enforcement activities in the neighborhood, specifically as they relate to front Yard fence height. The conversation at the meeting was friendly and we will continue to work with folks. The Lowell neighborhood asked for code enforcement in their area, to bring the neighborhood up to the same standard as other parts of the city.
Third, the City Council unanimously voted their support a contract with FUND to help some of the homeowners in Lowell to bring their homes up to code. This money comes to the City from the Fedreal Government's Community Development Block Grant program for use in low-income areas. There are very few homeonwers in Lowell and we wnated to use the resource to help bring the neighborhood up to code, but not to adversly affect the homeowners that have stuck with the neighborhood.
3:00 The Urban Entrepreneurship class that I teach spent a day with Reza Assemi touring his downtown proejcts: Vagabond Lofts, Iron Bird Lofts and the next project to get started, the Broadway Lofts. The class loved the day, meeting with a younger entrepreneur and also seeing a very attractive living option as they graduate soon.
6:00 I had the opportunity to make one ArtHop stop at Cameron Moor's building on Braodway. This adaptive reuse project participated in ArtHop for the first time...it just keeps growing.
6:30 I met with a downtown property owner and a potential new tenant for downtown. We met at the Cosmo and had some great appetizers. The hamburger at the table next to us was a work of art too. The Cosmopolitan Tavern was hopping. The potential downtown tenant was laughing about how some people are afraid of downtown, but the Cosmo was packed with everyone from seniors, middle-aged folks andf one young family with their toddler. The Cosmo is a great place, with great history a fun old town atmosphere, unbelievable food and is a locally-onwed gem. The old bar is really cool too.
I told ya'....it was a great day in downtown Fresno. Craig
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
10/4/09 Hump day
4:30 Up and at 'em. I took the dog for a run up Wishon.
6:15 I was at Uncle Harry's getting two "dozen deals", a cup of coffee and the Bee.
6:45 I had to take my car to Clawson to be smogged.
7:00 Fernando picked me up and we headed to our 7:30 meeting.
7:30 We had our first Independent Retailers and Restaurants meeting. We met at the new Coney Island restaurant concept from locally-owned Me & Ed's. My job was to bring the bagels.
This Affinity group met to discuss ways that they could work together to improve their businesses and to brainstorm ways that the City could help. We had a great group for our first meeting. The Mayor was on hand to hear their concerns and to listen as they formed their group priorities. Some of the ideas were to create a directory for locally-owned businesses, to create a best of Fresno award that only included locally-owned businesses, an awareness campaign to inform the community about locally-owned business and their economic impact. We'll get back together in January. Support your locally-owned retailers and restaurants this holiday season!
9:15 The car is ready and I'm headed to City Hall
10:00 We (Elliot, Elaine, Wilma) had a meeting with the Planning Department to discuss our mutual effort to secure funding for our downtown planning needs alon with the needs of the City General Plan and our goals for Sustainable Fresno. Fresno is starting to get some traction for our efforts to improve planning efforts.
11:00 I had a meeting to update City Council President Cynthia Sterling to keep her up to date with our department's activities and to make sure that we are working together.
11:30 I had lunch with Gary Schulz at Heros. Gary and I worked together while we were at the Central Valley Business Incubator. Now Gary is heading up the Raisin Administrative Committee. We discussed some ways that we could re-integrate the raisin industry into Fresno through a downtown festival or other activities.
2:00 I had my update meeting with the Mayor. This is a regular meeting to keep her up to date with our department's activities, to coordinate and to get direction.
4:00 The weekly downtown meeting with all of the City departmetns involved in the revitalization effort. We are refining the possible City incentives like fee waivers in downtown.
6:30 Attended the reception for the California Enterprise Zone Conference. Our own Kelly Trvino is responsible for bring this 150+ attendee conference to town. Kelly has organized the event and from the looks of things, everyone was thrilled...especially the folks who came in from Indiana and Colorado who I met tonight.
Danged Yankees won. Baseball is over until next season. We are entering the year of the Giants!
6:15 I was at Uncle Harry's getting two "dozen deals", a cup of coffee and the Bee.
6:45 I had to take my car to Clawson to be smogged.
7:00 Fernando picked me up and we headed to our 7:30 meeting.
7:30 We had our first Independent Retailers and Restaurants meeting. We met at the new Coney Island restaurant concept from locally-owned Me & Ed's. My job was to bring the bagels.
This Affinity group met to discuss ways that they could work together to improve their businesses and to brainstorm ways that the City could help. We had a great group for our first meeting. The Mayor was on hand to hear their concerns and to listen as they formed their group priorities. Some of the ideas were to create a directory for locally-owned businesses, to create a best of Fresno award that only included locally-owned businesses, an awareness campaign to inform the community about locally-owned business and their economic impact. We'll get back together in January. Support your locally-owned retailers and restaurants this holiday season!
9:15 The car is ready and I'm headed to City Hall
10:00 We (Elliot, Elaine, Wilma) had a meeting with the Planning Department to discuss our mutual effort to secure funding for our downtown planning needs alon with the needs of the City General Plan and our goals for Sustainable Fresno. Fresno is starting to get some traction for our efforts to improve planning efforts.
11:00 I had a meeting to update City Council President Cynthia Sterling to keep her up to date with our department's activities and to make sure that we are working together.
11:30 I had lunch with Gary Schulz at Heros. Gary and I worked together while we were at the Central Valley Business Incubator. Now Gary is heading up the Raisin Administrative Committee. We discussed some ways that we could re-integrate the raisin industry into Fresno through a downtown festival or other activities.
2:00 I had my update meeting with the Mayor. This is a regular meeting to keep her up to date with our department's activities, to coordinate and to get direction.
4:00 The weekly downtown meeting with all of the City departmetns involved in the revitalization effort. We are refining the possible City incentives like fee waivers in downtown.
6:30 Attended the reception for the California Enterprise Zone Conference. Our own Kelly Trvino is responsible for bring this 150+ attendee conference to town. Kelly has organized the event and from the looks of things, everyone was thrilled...especially the folks who came in from Indiana and Colorado who I met tonight.
Danged Yankees won. Baseball is over until next season. We are entering the year of the Giants!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
11/3/09 Still Blogging After All These Days
Rise and Shine
8:00 we had a dress rehearsal for our next community meeting in the Lowell neighborhood (11/16). Each department presented their activities from the past 4-8 months. This turned out to be a great exercise. None of us were satisfies with the information or presentation. Our saying is the Lowell is the place where Fresno learns neighborhood revitalization. The departments within the City have really been delivering effort and results in Lowell. Now we are figuring out how to to communicate the information to the community. This is not nearly as easy as you might think. But, the effort to communicate effectively should yield great results. Revitalization is an effort made by people, so having good communication is paramount.
9:15 I had my one-on-one meeting with the City Manager Andy Souza. As a Department Director, I report directly to the City Manager. The one-on-one meetings are a time to get specific feedback and direction as well as a time to get management guidance. As a newly restructured department (10 months old) it it vital.
10:00 We (Elliott Balch and I) had a meeting regarding the operations and maintenance of the Fulton Mall. The meeting included city Management and the PARCS Dept. We are discussing some ways to improve the coordination of events on the Mall, and some opportunities to spruce up the Mall while were working on the larger policy issues during the Specific Plan process.
11:00 Neighborhood Revitalization Manager Elaine Robles and I had a meeting with the Mayor and representatives from The California endowment. Fresno is one of 14 California cities that TCE has decided to focus attention and resources. Our meeting was largely informational, but it will also be necessary to coordinate our neighborhood revitalization efforts like our Lowell neighborhood and Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan ( which has a nearly identical footprint to the TCE targeted area). Our community has some huge needs, we need to use every resource that come our way as effectively as possible, to get the best results. That was the conclusion of this meeting.
12:00 Local Business Initiative Manager Amy Huerta and I had lunch with the Mayor's Chief of Staff Georgeanne White (reminder: I do not expense these meals). We talked about ways that we can use individual issues that local businesses face to improve processes within the City, and how to make the changes between departments.
2:00 We had our internal management meeting. Today we had Elaine, Amy, Elliott and me in the meeting. We talked about a broad issue, how to keep our fire and vision as a group while we are working toward long-term goals. We also get around to some of the more mundane daily issues too.
3:00 Weekly full staff meeting. This was a short meeting. We had a late start and we finished early. There was no need to meet for the whole hour if things were humming along well. Kelly Trevino has the California Enterprise Zone statewide conference in Fresno Wednesday through Friday. They are bringing about 170 people to town for this convention. We had a couple of people out this week, too.
4:30 We had a Fulton Mall/Downtown walking tour with a group primarily from Fresno State. Administrators, Faculty and students participated. This is leading up to our strategy lunch on Thursday. Fresno State's engagement in downtown and the neighborhoods is going to make a gigantic difference. Their resources with faculty and students is incredibly deep. We also had David and Lupe along for the tour. Elliott came along and so did a special guest the Honorable Judge Mike Price (and his two adorable girls).
6:30 Time for a quick motivational meeting with Holly Carter before heading home.
8:00 we had a dress rehearsal for our next community meeting in the Lowell neighborhood (11/16). Each department presented their activities from the past 4-8 months. This turned out to be a great exercise. None of us were satisfies with the information or presentation. Our saying is the Lowell is the place where Fresno learns neighborhood revitalization. The departments within the City have really been delivering effort and results in Lowell. Now we are figuring out how to to communicate the information to the community. This is not nearly as easy as you might think. But, the effort to communicate effectively should yield great results. Revitalization is an effort made by people, so having good communication is paramount.
9:15 I had my one-on-one meeting with the City Manager Andy Souza. As a Department Director, I report directly to the City Manager. The one-on-one meetings are a time to get specific feedback and direction as well as a time to get management guidance. As a newly restructured department (10 months old) it it vital.
10:00 We (Elliott Balch and I) had a meeting regarding the operations and maintenance of the Fulton Mall. The meeting included city Management and the PARCS Dept. We are discussing some ways to improve the coordination of events on the Mall, and some opportunities to spruce up the Mall while were working on the larger policy issues during the Specific Plan process.
11:00 Neighborhood Revitalization Manager Elaine Robles and I had a meeting with the Mayor and representatives from The California endowment. Fresno is one of 14 California cities that TCE has decided to focus attention and resources. Our meeting was largely informational, but it will also be necessary to coordinate our neighborhood revitalization efforts like our Lowell neighborhood and Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan ( which has a nearly identical footprint to the TCE targeted area). Our community has some huge needs, we need to use every resource that come our way as effectively as possible, to get the best results. That was the conclusion of this meeting.
12:00 Local Business Initiative Manager Amy Huerta and I had lunch with the Mayor's Chief of Staff Georgeanne White (reminder: I do not expense these meals). We talked about ways that we can use individual issues that local businesses face to improve processes within the City, and how to make the changes between departments.
2:00 We had our internal management meeting. Today we had Elaine, Amy, Elliott and me in the meeting. We talked about a broad issue, how to keep our fire and vision as a group while we are working toward long-term goals. We also get around to some of the more mundane daily issues too.
3:00 Weekly full staff meeting. This was a short meeting. We had a late start and we finished early. There was no need to meet for the whole hour if things were humming along well. Kelly Trevino has the California Enterprise Zone statewide conference in Fresno Wednesday through Friday. They are bringing about 170 people to town for this convention. We had a couple of people out this week, too.
4:30 We had a Fulton Mall/Downtown walking tour with a group primarily from Fresno State. Administrators, Faculty and students participated. This is leading up to our strategy lunch on Thursday. Fresno State's engagement in downtown and the neighborhoods is going to make a gigantic difference. Their resources with faculty and students is incredibly deep. We also had David and Lupe along for the tour. Elliott came along and so did a special guest the Honorable Judge Mike Price (and his two adorable girls).
6:30 Time for a quick motivational meeting with Holly Carter before heading home.
Monday, November 2, 2009
11/2/09 Leadership Development
I love gaining an hour. I wonder about the difference between thinking that we get an extra hour of sleep or an extra hour to do stuff.
I started the day at 5:00 and went for a run with my mutt. I had to shake off the devastating loss to my wife in tennis yesterday. 6-1. Ouch.
7:00 I met Preston Prince and Wayne Rutledge for breakfast/coffee at the Newsroom Cafe (L and Kern). Preston is a national leader among Housing Authority executives and Wayne is interested in investing in the urban neighborhoods. It was a connection. Who knows what it will lead to? Sometimes we just connect good people knowing that good things will emerge downstream. Another great connection was between Wayne, the owner of Uncle Harry's Bagels and Vic, the owner of the Newsroom Cafe. I love to see locally-owned businesses connect. There is so much opportunity to learn, market and cut expenses through group buying power.
8:30 I worked with our Downtown Revitalization Team Elliott Balch and Angela Vasquez to continue planning our weekly downtown coordination meeting and our Friday meeting with downtown investors to get feedback on our proposed City incentives.
9:30 I barged in on a meeting with Elaine Robles and Linda Gleason from Street Saints.
10:00 We met with City leadership to review the City incentives and to outline further research before we present to downtown investors.
10:30 I went to give a tour to a Fresno State Dean, but had the opportunity to run into Sally Caglia, or the Warnors Theater and Cynthia Cooper of FCASH. A new tenant was moving into the Warnors and they are preparing the way for others who are coming soon.
12:00 I met with a downtown property owner who is interested in fixing his property on the Fulton Mall. This would be a major facade improvement that could be a real example for the value of a large scale facade program. We met with a banker to inform them about the public and private investment in downtown from the Specific Plan to the Property Based Improvement District (PBID) to the proposed city fee incentives.
2:00 We met with our Licensed Contractors Affinity Group. The concept of Affinity Groups is to get similar Fresno businesses together to find their common issues and priorities. The Licensed Contractors are concerned with the unlicensed contractors who are underbidding jobs because they do not have the same expenses like workers' comp insurance or proper bonds. This underground economy leaves customers at risk for poor work or liability for injuries on their property. Many Valley communities are strict about these rules to protect their legitimate businesses. The State License Control Board recently opened an office in Fresno and the Fresno County District Attorney's office is also involved. The City's Building Division was also present today. A coordinated effort hasn't existed in recent memory.
4:00 I had my weekly one-on-one meeting with Elaine Robles, our Neighborhood Revitalization Manager. We reviewed the rehearsal tomorrow for the upcoming November 16th neighborhood meeting in Lowell. We want to make sure that the information from each department is presented in the clearest possible way. We also have a meeting with the Provost and Assistant Provost from Fresno State and other Departments on Tuesday and a lunch meeting with Fresno Pacific University on Friday to prepare for.
5:30 I met with my old buddies Kurt Madden (FUSD Chief Technology Officer), Tim Stearns (Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship) and Al Smith (CEO Chamber of Commerce). It's been months since we've been at the same place at the same time...this time it was a last minute get together. A little time with your friends can result in a whole lot of energy and enthusiasm.
I started the day at 5:00 and went for a run with my mutt. I had to shake off the devastating loss to my wife in tennis yesterday. 6-1. Ouch.
7:00 I met Preston Prince and Wayne Rutledge for breakfast/coffee at the Newsroom Cafe (L and Kern). Preston is a national leader among Housing Authority executives and Wayne is interested in investing in the urban neighborhoods. It was a connection. Who knows what it will lead to? Sometimes we just connect good people knowing that good things will emerge downstream. Another great connection was between Wayne, the owner of Uncle Harry's Bagels and Vic, the owner of the Newsroom Cafe. I love to see locally-owned businesses connect. There is so much opportunity to learn, market and cut expenses through group buying power.
8:30 I worked with our Downtown Revitalization Team Elliott Balch and Angela Vasquez to continue planning our weekly downtown coordination meeting and our Friday meeting with downtown investors to get feedback on our proposed City incentives.
9:30 I barged in on a meeting with Elaine Robles and Linda Gleason from Street Saints.
10:00 We met with City leadership to review the City incentives and to outline further research before we present to downtown investors.
10:30 I went to give a tour to a Fresno State Dean, but had the opportunity to run into Sally Caglia, or the Warnors Theater and Cynthia Cooper of FCASH. A new tenant was moving into the Warnors and they are preparing the way for others who are coming soon.
12:00 I met with a downtown property owner who is interested in fixing his property on the Fulton Mall. This would be a major facade improvement that could be a real example for the value of a large scale facade program. We met with a banker to inform them about the public and private investment in downtown from the Specific Plan to the Property Based Improvement District (PBID) to the proposed city fee incentives.
2:00 We met with our Licensed Contractors Affinity Group. The concept of Affinity Groups is to get similar Fresno businesses together to find their common issues and priorities. The Licensed Contractors are concerned with the unlicensed contractors who are underbidding jobs because they do not have the same expenses like workers' comp insurance or proper bonds. This underground economy leaves customers at risk for poor work or liability for injuries on their property. Many Valley communities are strict about these rules to protect their legitimate businesses. The State License Control Board recently opened an office in Fresno and the Fresno County District Attorney's office is also involved. The City's Building Division was also present today. A coordinated effort hasn't existed in recent memory.
4:00 I had my weekly one-on-one meeting with Elaine Robles, our Neighborhood Revitalization Manager. We reviewed the rehearsal tomorrow for the upcoming November 16th neighborhood meeting in Lowell. We want to make sure that the information from each department is presented in the clearest possible way. We also have a meeting with the Provost and Assistant Provost from Fresno State and other Departments on Tuesday and a lunch meeting with Fresno Pacific University on Friday to prepare for.
5:30 I met with my old buddies Kurt Madden (FUSD Chief Technology Officer), Tim Stearns (Lyles Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship) and Al Smith (CEO Chamber of Commerce). It's been months since we've been at the same place at the same time...this time it was a last minute get together. A little time with your friends can result in a whole lot of energy and enthusiasm.
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