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.