12/7/09 An internal coordination day

On Sunday I barbequed for a bunch of fly fisher-folk who spend some time together out on the Kings River to raise funds for increased enforcement. We had some activities like tours of the incubators and fly casting clinics. I cooked German sausage from the Meat Market.




Monday

I started the day with a nice run on the treadmill at the gym this morning. I kind of wussed out because of the cold and potential rain. But I did get my exercise in. The dog didn't get much more than a walk around the block. But don't feel too sorry for her, she spent about 5 hours with us on the Lower Kings River yesterday.



8:30 Wilma Quan and I met with Councilmember Mike Dages to review the downtown plans. While we discussed the plans, we also enjoyed some of the cookies that he baked over the weekend. Aren't people fascinating? I've known him for 25 years and never knew that he liked to bake. We also discussed an upcoming proposal by Club One Casino to change some of the pieces of the card room ordinance.



9:15 I had my weekly one on one meeting with George Smith. As a refresher, George oversees the budget, H.R. and grant writing for the department. He has a grant that should be going to City Council in early January that he is preparing before the furlough that starts December 24th.



10:00 We had our weekly Specific Plan update meeting with Wilma, Elliott Balch (Downtown Revitalization Manager) and Elaine Robles (Neighborhood Revitalization Manager). We now know the time for the Council hearing for the Specific and Community Plans which will be December 17th at 9:15. Please come to this meeting to support this critical piece of the revitalization effort. It will be very difficult and slow to revitalize without the complete overhaul to our zoning and code rules.



11:30-1:00 I am a member of Fresno Rotary (disclaimer: the City does NOT pay for my membership). I have only been a member for a few months and I hardly make any meetings at all. It is a really good group of people, many are very interested in downtown. I keep trying to attend, but other stuff always seems to trump the meeting. I'll try to go more often in the New Year!



1:15 We had a meeting with a potential downtown investor/developer. This is about our fourth meeting. Fingers crossed.



2:00 We had our internal management meeting which included George, Elaine and Elliott and also Local Business Initiatives Manager Amy Huerta. Our topic today was an introductory meeting with Katie Stevens who is coordinating the legislative agenda and grants for the City. We gave Katie an overview of our department's mission and an update on current efforts. Katie can keep an eye out for legislation or grants that might assist us.



3:00 Elliott and I met with Public Works Director Patrick Wiemiller along with Scott Mozier (Assistant PW Director) and Martin Wendels (PW Project Manager). This meeting was to refine the development incentives package that we hope to take to the City Council, along with the Specific Plan, on the 17th. We had some news today that some of the incentives could go forward while others will need more legal research. That's okay, progress is the goal.



3:30 One on one with Angela Vasquez, who works with Elliott on downtown stuff. She is currently focusing on getting the Downtown FACES nonprofit running, the State of Downtown breakfast and our weekly downtown coordination meetings with all City departments.



4:00 Wilma and I met with Stephen Sotemayor and Councilmember Borgeas. Similar contest as the meeting this morning with Councilmember Dages. The purpose is to explain the Specific Plan and Community Plan and to answer any questions.



4:30 One on one with Cynthia Dondero, my assistant.



5:00 One on one with Fernando Santillan, who works with Amy Huerta on the Local Business piece of the department's goals.



6:00 We had a meeting with business owners in Chinatown. I ran my portion of the meeting from a very comfortable barber chair. We had some good things to report like the removal of all of the old parking meter poles. It is what they asked for at the last meeting and will be a very tangible sign of the City's seriousness on following through in our urban areas.



Home in time for Final Jeopardy!