06-24-10 PBID Passed

Dear Diary,
Today the long-awaited Property Based Improvement District passed. The votes, weighted by how much assessment each owner would contribute, won by a 2 to 1 margin. The City Council followed with a 6-0 vote (Perea absent) to form the district.


The PBID effort represents two attributes that successful cities possess: perseverance and momentum.


PBIDs didn't exist until the mid 1990's. It wasn't until the late 90's that I learned of them. I remember sitting at a Main Street Conference seminar about this relatively new tool. Even though I was working in downtown Pleasanton at the time, I wondered if my hometown would use this funding mechanism.


Community leaders led by Dan Doyle (CEO of Central Valley Community Bank) began an effort to create a PBID in Fresno nearly 10 years ago. Dan had been the first chair of the first PBID board in California, while he was working in Sacramento. A bus load of Fresnans went up to Sacramento to learn firsthand how the PBID was furthering their revitalization efforts.


The City Council voted for the funding to create a PBID, the former mayor vetoed the funding. The City Council reversed itself and voted against overturning the veto. The PBID suffered many such false starts over the years.


In March 2009 the City Council voted to fund the PBID effort, for the first time. Public meetings were held. Meetings with property owners were held. Boundaries and assessment levels were adjusted. Finally, it was time to gather the petitions, to see if a majority of the private sector owners would support an assessment. After many months of work, the committee of supporters collected petitions. A majority was finally secured.


Next a vote had to be held. This is what concluded today. Finally the City Council had to vote to form the District. This was the last hurdle, and the City Council stayed with the process and continued their support.

This is perseverance. There were many obstacles and hurdles. Political risk. A vocal group of opposing property owners. Time. Cost. A foundering economy. So many people contributed to the effort. If any one of them were removed from the equation, it might not have succeeded. One thing that a successful downtown demonstrates is that the city has learned to work together. The PBID shows that we are beginning to work together.


That brings me to Momentum. The PBID organizes property owners. They will now have a vehicle to find their common voice and their common priorities. We have shown that we can work together toward progress. The good ship REVITALIZATION is moving forward. We set out to accomplish a task, and together we succeeded. Add a Specific Plan, which required political and financial support, and the momentum increases. Downtown nightclubs can stay open until 4:00a.m....momentum. Iron Bird Lofts. The renewal of the Grizzlies lease. Plans are submitted for the Mayflower Apartments. A groundbreaking for Fulton Village. Penstar buys the Bank of Italy Building. ACEL Charter School moves into Fresno Station. KJWL puts up a new neon sign. The Housing Authority buys the Droge Building. The Raisin Marketing Board moves back downtown. Cliff Tutelian reopens the 10th floor ball room in the old PG&E Building for the first time in decades. The old facade of the Kress five and dime store is revealed for the first time since the late 1950s.


Momentum. It is still precarious. That is how momentum is in its early stages. But we have some. We also know that we can persevere together and work together. The Mayor and the City Council. The City Staff and the private property owners. Civic groups and citizens. We can do this. We now have proof that we have what it takes.

05-31-10 Memorial Day

I have been in my new home in Lowell for four weeks.  I've had my new dog for two.  Man was my old  life simple.

The house will be an ongoing project for the next few years.

My goals:

I will bring this home back to its historic character in a way that will add to the revitalization of this neighborhood.  I will only use licensed contractors and neighbors.

Every bit of flora will be food producing.

I will incorporate the best energy and water conservation possible.

The art in my home will be from local artists.

Part of my personal goal is to integrate my beliefs with my actions.  It's not always easy.  There are many potential shortcuts.  As always it is easy to say what we should do, it is another thing altogether to do them.

Eventually, I'd like this home to need very low overhead, so that I could live here well into the future.  I'd also like it to be a showcase.  A place where neighbors could see how much food can be grown on a residential lot, using less water than a conventional yard.  I'd also like to incorporate rainwater and graywater systems to show how much further our resources can go.

Now, back to my dog Peeve.  He is the greatest, but is also driving me nuts (a short drive).  He is affectionate and minds well, but there is still enough puppy in him to cause some destruction in the house when I leave for a couple of hours.  I had a new gate installed last week, the old chainlink had several holes that people had cut to get through.  On my first day of letting Peeve out into the yard during the day, he still managed to escape twice.  Once leading to a trip to the SPCA to reclaim him ($70).  Tonight I pounded stakes into the ground to secure the rest of the fencing.  I really hope that this holds him tomorrow.  But I know that a dog that wants to get out will eventually find a way.

The neighborhood kids love Peeve.  The come over to play with him constantly.  He is great with them.  The second time he got out I saw Jeffery, a 7-year old walking him down the street with a chain leash.  I took Jeffery's bike, which had no back tire and a loose chain, to Steven's Bike Shop to get repaired, as a reward.

I'm living without a stove or refrigerator, a washer or a dryer.  No dish washer, TV, or disposal.  I'll be living with an evaporative cooler this summer (like my neighbors).  I have to fix the electrical before I add any more load.  My bedroom is upstairs, so I really don't need a fire!

I've had 3 older homes before, so I know the process.  I've also lived downtown before, so I knew about that part too.  I knew that this move would be a bit of an adventure, but like anyone else, I prefer things when they go smoothly.  It is a big change from my low maintenance condo.  But it feels right.  That's the main thing.  It was not the easiest choice.  But what has easy ever taught me?  It is much better knowing that when I talk to a service club about revitalizing our historic neighborhoods that I am doing more than just talking.

Stay tuned.  I'll try to share more of my experiences as I go along this path.  Like how to get the next door neighbors to quit throwing their garbage (including baby diapers) into my yard.

05-19-10 Three days, back to blogging form

It was bike to work day.  I have my bike, but I don't have a pump.  I'll be biking to work soon though.  I's only .8 miles to the office.

8:00 was our Downtown Working Group.  This is an internal meeting of City Departments that meet weekly to keep the downtown effort coordinated.

9:00 Depart Directors Meeting.  We meet weekly to go through the various activities of the departments and also citywide issues like the budget.

10:30 We had a meeting with the folks from FUND, which is a nonprofit that helps to fix homes in urban Fresno neighborhoods.  We have a contract with FUND to renovate some homes in the Lowell neighborhood with federal Community Development Block Grant funds.  The program is for low income homeowners who have code violations, but need help funding the work.

11:00 We participated in a webinar put on by the International Economic Development Corporation.  The title was Economic Gardening.  This is the approach that we are using to help local businesses, as opposed to putting our resources into attracting businesses.

12:00 I was on the Bill McEwen radio talk show.  Bill and I discusses the Downtown Neighborhoods Plan charrette that took place last week.

1:00 I grabbed a quesadilla at the Mexicatessan at the Galleria.

1:30 I had a meeting with the Raisin Administrative Committee which moved into downtown this month.  We met to discuss their parking needs for their board meetings.  We also got a tour of their beautiful new offices in the Civic Center project.  The employees, who were reluctant to move downtown, are now thrilled with their new digs.

4:00 I toured a building on Broadway.  Afterward I had a tour of Reza Assemi's Broadway Lofts project.  It is coming along.  This will be a completely different housing option for folks who would like urban living.

5:00 I took the mutt to the dog park for a quick stretch and romp.  He decided to lay in the mud, so he got an impromptu bath.

6:30 I met with a couple of entrepreneurs who are interested in starting a business downtown.  We discussed potential locations and business opportunities downtown.

Back at home at 8:00 for some blogging and housecleaning.

05-18-10 Budget and Downtown Academy

I started the day with a trip to the dog park on west shaw.  It was closed.  Dang, I'll need to get a better grasp on the operating hours.

My first meeting was at 7:30 with Parks Director Randy Cooper and Assistant City Manager Bruce Rudd.  Elliott was there too.  The conversation was about the Vagabond Skate Park and a potential change of location to be nearer to the downtown core.  This idea was the result of the planning charrette last week.  It looks hopeful.

At 9:00 our department had its budget workshop with the City Council, Mayor and City manager.  Others were in the room too.  I think that these are on-line on the City's web page.  It went very well.  There were many good questions and even more in depth discussion from the Mayor and Council.  It lasted about two hours.

Elliott and I met with Jeanette Jurkovich at ther new home on Huntington.  We had a tour of this beatiful home that she and her husband are restoring.  We sat in back and had lunch from the Packing Shed (on Merced Street) and discussed hisotric preservation issues.

I ran by my house to give Peeve (the new pooch) a chance to pee.

Back at the office we had our management meeting, followed by a full staff meeting.  We were joined by members of the Housing Division.  they will become part of the Downtown and Community Revitalization Deptartment in July.

At 4:00 I had my semi-weekly update meeting with the Mayor.  City manager Mark Scott and the Mayor's Chief of Staff Georgeanne White were also there.

At 5:00 I hooked up with the inaugural class of the Downtown Academy, which is being coordinated by FLYP (Fresno's Leading Young Professionals.  They had 25 people out on the Mall tonight.  We toured the Security Bank Building lofts, the Loft Salon, the ballroom and the safe.

Afterward, we toured the Mall and then headed to Sustin's for dinner and beer.

I took Peeve to the dog park and let him stretcfh out his long legs.  Back at home about 9:45.

05-17-10 Man I wish I'd been bloggin more...

My blog fell off of a cliff.  I have not had the energy to keep it up.  It's not surprising, given the amount of change and activity, but I feel like I've missed so much.  The Downtown Neighborhoods Design charrette last week, the trip to Sacramento for the State Historic Preservation Commission, the Council votes on the Property Based Imporvement District...

Part of the goal of the blog was to have my own journal to look back on, but also to have a transparent and public record of my activities as a public servant for the City of Fresno.

The changes in my personal life would also be good to list.  I have purchased a bungalow in the Lowell neighborhood and have a new dog that I picked up form the SPCA last Tuesday.

Today our department, Downtown and Community Revitalization, was supposed to have our budget workshop.  They didn't get through the Dept. of Public Utilities until after noon, so they didn't get to us.  Tomorrow morning will be our time.

I met with our budget analyst George smith at 7:30 to go over our final reports.

We did have a couple of post-charrette meetings.  One with Wilma, Elliott and Elaine, and another with our full department staff.

Elaine, Wilma and I grabbed lunch at the Golden.  They wanted some soup for this cool rainy day.

We had a meeting of the Mayor's PIPES committee at 1:30, which is geared toward refining the processes for projects that are going through city review and approval (or rejection).

At 4:00 Elaine and I drove to Fresno State to meet with the departments that have dedicated part of their curriculum to the Lowell Neighborhood.  We heard some great stories of their involvement this semester, from mediation and peace-making with students at Lowell, to Anthroplogy students who helped at the last neighborhood meeting.  Construction management continues to provide students to work on houses in the neighborhood.  The libraian is building a website to chronicle all of these activities.  Prof. Schecter is shepherding students for us to use as interns from the Political Science Dept.  Theater has put together a powerpoint to show how lighting can improve the neighborhood.

at 5:30 Elaine and I headed to the Lowell Neighborhood Association for the monthly open meeting.

I picked up Betty Ann and Ellis for a trip to the dog park to let out dogs run.  Back to the house on Glenn for some straightening up about 8:30.

A common theme from the last two weeks

It has always been interesting to me how certain themes materialize.  They are not usually new, but they seem to come and go in waves.  Sometimes more clarifying than original.

Two weeks ago a national legend in the world of neighborhood revitalization visited Fresno.  Gus Newport is a former Civil Rights activist and the former Mayor of Berkeley.  His real rise to prominence came through his work in the Boston neighborhood called Dudley Street.  This neighborhood had been burned down by arsonists.  Slumlords collected their fire insurance and left devastation.  Industry followed by using vacant lots as hazardous waste dumping sites.  Gus gathered the remaining neighbors together and used his political skills to get the attention of the Mayor and business leaders.  Together they made huge strides to bring health back to the neighborhood.

The message Gus brought to Fresno was this:  Many of the things that he fought for in the 1960's were flawed.  Ideals like affordable housing had often created slums and ghettos.  Housing was the goal, but without a mixture of uses like services, retail, jobs, and recreation, the end product was a disaster.  Gus talked about the need for more holistic goals.  What is a healthy neighborhood?  A mixture of incomes, walkable places with good transportation.  Education connected to employment opportunities.  Financial knowledge coupled with banking.  Access to living wages.  Businesses that reinvested back into their communities.  Parks that were active and fun.

Stefanos Polyzoides is the Managing Partner heading the Downtown Community Plan and the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan consulting team.  He spoke to the Fresno Planning Commission last week to give them an overview of the planning efforts.  His message was:  Planning needs to include hisotric preservation, economic development, transportation, good design, community input, parks and landscape, infrastructure.  Again, it is a holistic approach to what makes a healthy downtown and a healthy downtown neighborhood.  This is what we are doing through our downtown plans in Fresno.

Contrast this theme with the recent application to add the Fulton Mall to the National Registar of Historic Places.  A small group, operating in relative isolation, has submitted the application.  There were no community meetings and there were no meetings of property owners to decide whether or not this was a good idea.  The rules for adding a property or properties to the National Registar forbid commissioners to consider concepts like economics.  This seperation of ideas was confirmed by commisioners on the State Hisotirc Preservation Commission.  As long as preservation walls itself off from the concepts of economics and revitalization, it will continue to engender unnecessary opposition.  The bizarre piece of the application was that it only included the Mall, not the historic buildings that surround it.  If the applicants really wanted preservation, wouldn't they have included the buildings that are truly historic?  Again, it is a limited perspective rather than a holistic view.

Over 25 years ago, the National Trust for Historic Preservation realized that saving buildings without addressing the economic realities required for revitaliztion, that more buildings would be lost.  And by revitalizing downtowns, more buildings would find economic uses than could ever be saved on a one by one basis.  The program they created called the National Main Street program was their most successful ever.  The helped thousands of downtowns, districts and neighborhoods, while holding to an ethic of historic preservation.

Fresno has an opportuntiy to learn from all of this.  Yes, we have affordable housing needs.  But, putting all of our affodable housing in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty only solidifies their condition.  Historic preservation is an ideal that succesful cities hold onto.  They also know that revitalization of their urban areas is the best way to accomplish this goal, by finding ways to make their downtowns thrive and their older neighborhoods desirable for a wide variety of people.

04-21-10 and 04-22-10 Council Passes PBID Petition

WEDNESDAY

8:00 Downtown Coordination Meeting

9:00 Directors' Meeting

10:00 Bi-weekly update with Mayor

12:00 Lunch with FLYP and Tom Richards

2:00 Update with Councilmember Sterling

3:00 Met Block RFP

THURSDAY

7:00 Housing Meeting (weekly)

8:30 Kelly Trevino gets Employee of the Quarter

10:30 One on One with Dawn Steele

11:00 One on One with Elaine Robles

1:00 Meet with Borgeas

1:30-3:30 City Council Hearing lasted 2 hours.  6-1 vote (Perea voted no)

4:00-5:30 Independent Retailers and Restaurants Afinity Group

5:30-7:00FLYP mixer.  I was the speaker to discuss the Downtown Academy