Our plan for the revitalization of downtown Fresno is to create an entertainment district that serves the entire Central San Joaquin Valley. Entertainment can range from live music, art galleries, theater, dining, nightclubs, film, coffeehouses, sports, festivals.
Downtown Fresno should have enough overlapping activity that it will support fun, interesting shops and be a place where people will live to be close to the action.
Entertainment districts are walkable. Walkable districts are between one-quarter of a mile in radius. This makes the Fulton Mall area ideal. It was the historical central gathering district for our region. It has millions of square feet of space that is already built.
It will be important for the entertainment district to offer a variety of activities that people can't get other places in the region. The combination of uses is also important. 10 ethnic restaurants are enough for a dining district. Old theaters that show cult classic movies, impendent films and film festivals differentiate them from the megaplex theaters that dominate suburbia. Rooftop bars take advantage of our beautiful summer evenings and liven up the night with music. Outdoor cafes add security by providing eyes on the street, plus give people-watching options (an activity that human beings love). A boutique hotel in an historic building would be an option that would appeal to many people who are not interested in the express hotels that are popping up everywhere.
There are 1.5 million people in Kings, Tulare, Madera and Fresno counties. For the entertainment district to work, it will need to draw people from the region on a regular enough basis to support businesses. The entertainment district will really be a sum of its parts. When we talk about revitalization, what we are really saying is that people will come and do more than one thing. Dinner and a show. Lunch and shopping. Club hopping. Sunday services followed by brunch.
There is no place that brings everyone together in the Central San Joaquin Valley. Downtown Fresno's entertainment district can serve as this place. I'm not sure that any other place really could.
Monday, December 28, 2009
12-24-09 12-25-09
Christmas Eve
I had a fun day helping to plant some of the monster trout into the Kings River below Pine Flat Dam. This program has been going on for a few years. The Dept. of Fish and Game bring the fish to the river and then volunteers carry nets with 2-6 fish to the river.
Part of the Lower Kings River is set aside for catch and release, no bait, no barbs. In other states this has built up healthy fisheries. People will come from all over the world to fish a healthy river. Fly fishing is a great way to get people to our area for tourism revenues. Protecting our rivers will add to a positive connection between our city dwellers and nature.
Christmas Day
After making egg nog French toast for the clan, I headed back out to the river for some fishing. I was in short sleeves most of the day. It was very clear and I could see snow covered peaks behind the hills. I had several strikes, but didn't land a fish. Fishing size 20 hooks is really challenging. It was my first shut out since last February, so I can't really complain.
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/4927338.jpg
I had a fun day helping to plant some of the monster trout into the Kings River below Pine Flat Dam. This program has been going on for a few years. The Dept. of Fish and Game bring the fish to the river and then volunteers carry nets with 2-6 fish to the river.
Part of the Lower Kings River is set aside for catch and release, no bait, no barbs. In other states this has built up healthy fisheries. People will come from all over the world to fish a healthy river. Fly fishing is a great way to get people to our area for tourism revenues. Protecting our rivers will add to a positive connection between our city dwellers and nature.
Christmas Day
After making egg nog French toast for the clan, I headed back out to the river for some fishing. I was in short sleeves most of the day. It was very clear and I could see snow covered peaks behind the hills. I had several strikes, but didn't land a fish. Fishing size 20 hooks is really challenging. It was my first shut out since last February, so I can't really complain.
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/4927338.jpg
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
12-23-09 The problem with time travel....
I started the day with a 7:00 breakfast gathering the the Chicken Pie Shop counter. A few members of the group had never had the joy of the good old CPS. Rollie Smith, John Raymond, Eileen Neely, Keith Bergthold and Preston Prince. I was the only one who had the full experience of chicken livers however.
8:30 Specific Plan update withy Elliott and Wilma.
9:30 Deptment Management Meeting...final preparation for furloughs, and preparing for our two new team members who will join us on January 4th.
10:00 Overview of high speed rail options for the downtown terminal. Marlene Murphey, John Dugan, Elliott Balch, Keith Bergthold and I met with Eric Von Berg from the HSR consultant URS.
11:30 One on one meeting with George Smigh.
1:00 Rollie Smith led a seminar on the new LEED Certification for neighborhoods call LEED ND. For more information look at: http://www.cnu.org/leednd
2:00 Our department went out for sandwiches at Cedar Lanes to wish our buddies Jenna and Fernando the best of luck as the re-enter the workforce. If any of you are looking, these are two super-talented people. The have skills, work ethic and personality! Ray is moving to another department that needed his experience within the City, so he's not too far.
5:15 Meeting with Chuck Manock.
Happy Holidays everyone. I don't imagine I'll be blogging much over the next week or so. Thanks for the support, encouragement and suggestions.
Craig
The problem with time travel is the difficulty of landing on a planet that is moving through space and is rotating.
8:30 Specific Plan update withy Elliott and Wilma.
9:30 Deptment Management Meeting...final preparation for furloughs, and preparing for our two new team members who will join us on January 4th.
10:00 Overview of high speed rail options for the downtown terminal. Marlene Murphey, John Dugan, Elliott Balch, Keith Bergthold and I met with Eric Von Berg from the HSR consultant URS.
11:30 One on one meeting with George Smigh.
1:00 Rollie Smith led a seminar on the new LEED Certification for neighborhoods call LEED ND. For more information look at: http://www.cnu.org/leednd
2:00 Our department went out for sandwiches at Cedar Lanes to wish our buddies Jenna and Fernando the best of luck as the re-enter the workforce. If any of you are looking, these are two super-talented people. The have skills, work ethic and personality! Ray is moving to another department that needed his experience within the City, so he's not too far.
5:15 Meeting with Chuck Manock.
Happy Holidays everyone. I don't imagine I'll be blogging much over the next week or so. Thanks for the support, encouragement and suggestions.
Craig
The problem with time travel is the difficulty of landing on a planet that is moving through space and is rotating.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
12-22-09 Happy Tuesday Everyone
I started with a jog this morning at 5:00 with Ellis and our special guest, my wife, Betty Ann. It was breezier than usual, but a pretty morning. Mostly clear skies with some cool clouds.
I got into the office a little after 7:30. Today was light on meetings, so I could get some computer and phone work done. I had emails and phone messages because I was out yesterday and stuff to get done before the furloughs.
9:00 Amy Huerta and I had our one on one meeting. She is working on a strategy with our CPA affiliate group and how to bring resources into the Lowell Neighborhood to help with the Earned Income Tax Credit. We'd also like to bring Bank on Fresno resources into Lowell at the same time.
10:30 I spoke with Brad Segal who is the consultant for our Property Based Improvement District. He had spoken with Elliott and Jan Minami earlier.
I wrote my piece for January's e-newsletter from our department. If you'd like to sign up for the newsletter please send an email to me at craig.scharton@fresno.gov .
12:00 I walked over to Salsa Mexicatessen for a shredded beef quesadilla to go.
12:30 Elaine Robles, Wilma Quan and I met for an hour regarding the many issues and decisions that are needed as we take the Specific and Community Plans forward to the City Council on January 28th. There are many deadlines and decision points before we get back in front of the City Council.
3:00 We had our weekly staff meeting. Elliott Balch was in Sacramento meeting with folks about Proposition 84 funds and how they might fit with our planning efforts. George Smith is on vacation, but will be in tomorrow. So the meeting was shorter than usual, but everyone needed to get back to work and do some final reporting before the furlough week begins.
5:00 I was a greeter for the boomerang event held at the Smittcamp House at Fresno State. It was very well attended, the room was packed. I met many people who have moved away from Fresno but who are considering a move back. It was a great event. The organizers should be proud and happy.
I got into the office a little after 7:30. Today was light on meetings, so I could get some computer and phone work done. I had emails and phone messages because I was out yesterday and stuff to get done before the furloughs.
9:00 Amy Huerta and I had our one on one meeting. She is working on a strategy with our CPA affiliate group and how to bring resources into the Lowell Neighborhood to help with the Earned Income Tax Credit. We'd also like to bring Bank on Fresno resources into Lowell at the same time.
10:30 I spoke with Brad Segal who is the consultant for our Property Based Improvement District. He had spoken with Elliott and Jan Minami earlier.
I wrote my piece for January's e-newsletter from our department. If you'd like to sign up for the newsletter please send an email to me at craig.scharton@fresno.gov .
12:00 I walked over to Salsa Mexicatessen for a shredded beef quesadilla to go.
12:30 Elaine Robles, Wilma Quan and I met for an hour regarding the many issues and decisions that are needed as we take the Specific and Community Plans forward to the City Council on January 28th. There are many deadlines and decision points before we get back in front of the City Council.
3:00 We had our weekly staff meeting. Elliott Balch was in Sacramento meeting with folks about Proposition 84 funds and how they might fit with our planning efforts. George Smith is on vacation, but will be in tomorrow. So the meeting was shorter than usual, but everyone needed to get back to work and do some final reporting before the furlough week begins.
5:00 I was a greeter for the boomerang event held at the Smittcamp House at Fresno State. It was very well attended, the room was packed. I met many people who have moved away from Fresno but who are considering a move back. It was a great event. The organizers should be proud and happy.
Monday, December 21, 2009
12-21-09 L.A. Story
I went down to Los Angeles to meet with one of our downtown building owners and to introduce him to potential investors.
The day started at the Weingart Center in Skid Row. http://www.weingart.org/
This is a comprehensive transitional housing center for people who want to get out of chronic homelessness. Participants can stay for two years. They have mandated savings programs. It is for individuals only.
We also looked at some well-designed affordable housing in Los Angeles:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=330%20W%20Avenue%2026%20los%20angeles
and then put this into Google maps and look at street view: 360 W Avenue 26, Los Angeles, California 90031
The introductory meeting with the downtown property owner was friendly and informative. There is some good possibility of forward movement with his building, I'll report more when I have something a little more tangible.
The day started at the Weingart Center in Skid Row. http://www.weingart.org/
This is a comprehensive transitional housing center for people who want to get out of chronic homelessness. Participants can stay for two years. They have mandated savings programs. It is for individuals only.
We also looked at some well-designed affordable housing in Los Angeles:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl&q=330%20W%20Avenue%2026%20los%20angeles
and then put this into Google maps and look at street view: 360 W Avenue 26, Los Angeles, California 90031
The introductory meeting with the downtown property owner was friendly and informative. There is some good possibility of forward movement with his building, I'll report more when I have something a little more tangible.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
12-19-09 Saturday
Elliott Balch and I met with the talented Suzanne Bertz Rosa at Echo Street Cafe (formerly Java Wava http://echostreetcoffee.com/default.aspx I had the breakfast sandwich on the Parmesan Bagel, Mark's suggestion, it was great. We met from 9:30 to noon.
We were beginning preparations for the State of Downtown breakfast presentation. Suzanne is an accomplished designer and along with Travis Sheridan created the Fresno Brand. Check out some of her stuff at http://www.bertz-rosa.com/
I had to complete my sexual harassment training as required by the State. All supervisors in organizations with more than 50 employees have to complete 2 hours.
Then I watched our Bulldogs falter in the New Mexico Bowl. That was a painful loss. First and goal on the one yard line, Cowboys hold the line four straight plays...ouch.
We were beginning preparations for the State of Downtown breakfast presentation. Suzanne is an accomplished designer and along with Travis Sheridan created the Fresno Brand. Check out some of her stuff at http://www.bertz-rosa.com/
I had to complete my sexual harassment training as required by the State. All supervisors in organizations with more than 50 employees have to complete 2 hours.
Then I watched our Bulldogs falter in the New Mexico Bowl. That was a painful loss. First and goal on the one yard line, Cowboys hold the line four straight plays...ouch.
12-18-09 The week Finale ends
No run this morning. I got up early to write the blog for Thursday. I couldn't connect to the internet. I was finally successful, just as it was time to get ready and go to my first meeting. I don't think that I've mentioned this. Our dog Ellis is allergic to profanity. I can mutter a cuss word under my breath and she will come from another room and stare up at me with a pathetic look. This makes working with technology (or fighting with technology) very difficult. Computers and swearing go together like steak and cabernet.
I started at the Chicken Pie Shop at 7:00 with investors who are interested in buying and renovating an apartment building in the Lowell neighborhood. I told them about our desire for quality, in appearance and also in management. This is a particularly symbolic apartment complex because a few months ago it was inhabited by gang members. It is now vacant after the Police Dept. cleared out the trouble-makers. It would be great to have it fixed up and have it become a contributor to the neighborhood, rather than a detractor.
8:30 Elliott Balch, Donna Gavello and I met with Gordie Webster at the Business Journal. We were meeting to discuss the BJ's participation as a sponsor in downtown events and festivals. As always, Gordie is very supportive of revitalization efforts and will help us with our event promotions.
10:00 Elliott, Elaine, Amy, Wilma and I met to regroup after Tuesday's City Council meeting. We took a look at how this chaotic week went, what worked and what we could have done better. And, what we need to do between now and the January 28 meeting when the Specific Plan and Community Plan will go back to the City Council for consideration.
We all chipped in for some pizza and had some time for the whole department to get together to celebrate the four victories for downtown from the day before.
1:30 The Mayor, City Manager, Public Works, Public Utilities, Planning Director and I met to continue the improvement of internal processing of development applications. I'm at these meetings to make sure that the downtown projects stay top of mind as the whole system is redone.
2:30 I had word from the Personnel Department that two of our departments team members would be on the receiving end of a bump caused by layoffs. Amy Huerta and I delivered the bad news to our co-workers. And then we pulled together the rest of our team to share the news. We know that this is happening everywhere, it's not just our department or just the city, still it is a difficult thing to lose people who are really great at what they do and who are an important part of our work family.
3:00 Wilma, Elliott, Elaine and I met briefly with the City Manager and Nicole Zieba, Deputy City Manager, to work on our strategy for the Specific Plan and Community Plan. There will be a great deal of work for Wilma, the City Attorney's office and our consultant team to bring more options to the council on the 28th of January.
4:00 We had one final meeting to try to get everyone back together and to get a clear picture of what we need to do going forward. All of you who manage groups of people know, the effort put into keeping people moving together in unison, working toward a common purpose, takes a great deal of thought and resource, but is the only way to accomplish big things. Today was certainly a reminder of this fact.
We'll miss our two friends and co-workers, but will do all that we can to help them find new work. They are both wonderful and will land on their feet. We'll welcome the two new member of the team after we return from the holidays and furlough. Ultimately it is the mission of downtown revitalization, neighborhood revitalization and creating a strong base of locally-owned businesses that drive our mission. Regardless of the ups and downs that happen along the way.
I started at the Chicken Pie Shop at 7:00 with investors who are interested in buying and renovating an apartment building in the Lowell neighborhood. I told them about our desire for quality, in appearance and also in management. This is a particularly symbolic apartment complex because a few months ago it was inhabited by gang members. It is now vacant after the Police Dept. cleared out the trouble-makers. It would be great to have it fixed up and have it become a contributor to the neighborhood, rather than a detractor.
8:30 Elliott Balch, Donna Gavello and I met with Gordie Webster at the Business Journal. We were meeting to discuss the BJ's participation as a sponsor in downtown events and festivals. As always, Gordie is very supportive of revitalization efforts and will help us with our event promotions.
10:00 Elliott, Elaine, Amy, Wilma and I met to regroup after Tuesday's City Council meeting. We took a look at how this chaotic week went, what worked and what we could have done better. And, what we need to do between now and the January 28 meeting when the Specific Plan and Community Plan will go back to the City Council for consideration.
We all chipped in for some pizza and had some time for the whole department to get together to celebrate the four victories for downtown from the day before.
1:30 The Mayor, City Manager, Public Works, Public Utilities, Planning Director and I met to continue the improvement of internal processing of development applications. I'm at these meetings to make sure that the downtown projects stay top of mind as the whole system is redone.
2:30 I had word from the Personnel Department that two of our departments team members would be on the receiving end of a bump caused by layoffs. Amy Huerta and I delivered the bad news to our co-workers. And then we pulled together the rest of our team to share the news. We know that this is happening everywhere, it's not just our department or just the city, still it is a difficult thing to lose people who are really great at what they do and who are an important part of our work family.
3:00 Wilma, Elliott, Elaine and I met briefly with the City Manager and Nicole Zieba, Deputy City Manager, to work on our strategy for the Specific Plan and Community Plan. There will be a great deal of work for Wilma, the City Attorney's office and our consultant team to bring more options to the council on the 28th of January.
4:00 We had one final meeting to try to get everyone back together and to get a clear picture of what we need to do going forward. All of you who manage groups of people know, the effort put into keeping people moving together in unison, working toward a common purpose, takes a great deal of thought and resource, but is the only way to accomplish big things. Today was certainly a reminder of this fact.
We'll miss our two friends and co-workers, but will do all that we can to help them find new work. They are both wonderful and will land on their feet. We'll welcome the two new member of the team after we return from the holidays and furlough. Ultimately it is the mission of downtown revitalization, neighborhood revitalization and creating a strong base of locally-owned businesses that drive our mission. Regardless of the ups and downs that happen along the way.
Friday, December 18, 2009
12-17-09 A day late
I got behind on my blogging. Now I'll have to blog from my day-old memory.
I got up for a run with Ellis. We were on the road at 5:00. It was our first foggy winter run. It is amazing how different it is in the fog. You can't see worth a darn, but the sound carries so clearly. The train sounds so close and you can hear it so long. I almost ran into another dog. I could see the lady running, she had a headlamp on, but I didn't see the long leash or the dog until the last second.
My first meeting was at 7:00 with Rollie, Preston, Eileen and Keith. We discussed the Housing Authority projects, Rollie discussed an introduction he was making for us with an investor in Lowell and Keith recommended a book called the Happiness Hypothesis.
I spent most of the day at the City Council meeting. We had several items on the agenda. We had spent the past few days answering questions from Council Members regarding the agenda items. Some of the Council Members had suggested delaying the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan and Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan because of questions about cost savings. The Council did table the item when they approved the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. They made supportive comments beforehand. The item will come back on January 28th and we'll prepare some additional options for their consideration.
4-5 folks showed up at the meeting to ask questions about the Property Based Improvement District. It wasn't on the agenda, but they wanted to register their concerns.
The Council unanimously supported the Downtown Development incentives. This is the first of many that we will be bringing to them over the next few months. We want downtown to be the most desirable place to invest, develop and to open a business. This particular incentive will give developments within the footprint of the specific plan 7 years to pay for traffic, park, and public safety fees. These citywide fees pay for new construction, much of which is done outside of downtown. The first three years there are no charges and the fees are spread over years 4-7. This delay can help the cash flow and financing of downtown projects.
The City Council also unanimously approved some changes to the Card Room ordinance which applies to Club One Casino. The changes allow for higher betting limits for poker games and also allow Club One to play poker games approved by the State, rather than naming the games individually. Once the games are approved by the State, Club One can begin hosting them, rather than having to come back to the Council every single time to update the ordinance.
The City Council also approved a stay of the lawsuit against the Hotel Fresno for 13 months and will drop the lawsuit if the new owners need to clear the title when they get financing. The owners are the people who just renovated the Hotel Virginia and who are now renovating the Mayflower Apartments at Broadway and Tuolumne. The lawsuit had been initiated against prior owners. The current owners have been responsible, so we wanted to give them some relief while they attempt to secure financing.
I also had some time to meet with the Mayor and do some long range planning in between Council items. I also dashed out to meet with some of my Urban Entrepreneurship students at Heros as they celebrated the end of their semester.
Finally, the Council approved the lease with the Grizzlies on a 6-1 vote. Not only was this the best option fiscally, but it keeps the team in place and will give us a chance to make the stadium the cornerstone of revitalization that was originally envisioned. An empty stadium would have cost the City even more and would have been a huge black hole in downtown. After the meeting several of us went out to celebrate the successful conclusion of months of precarious negotiations. Go Grizzlies!
I got up for a run with Ellis. We were on the road at 5:00. It was our first foggy winter run. It is amazing how different it is in the fog. You can't see worth a darn, but the sound carries so clearly. The train sounds so close and you can hear it so long. I almost ran into another dog. I could see the lady running, she had a headlamp on, but I didn't see the long leash or the dog until the last second.
My first meeting was at 7:00 with Rollie, Preston, Eileen and Keith. We discussed the Housing Authority projects, Rollie discussed an introduction he was making for us with an investor in Lowell and Keith recommended a book called the Happiness Hypothesis.
I spent most of the day at the City Council meeting. We had several items on the agenda. We had spent the past few days answering questions from Council Members regarding the agenda items. Some of the Council Members had suggested delaying the Fulton Corridor Specific Plan and Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan because of questions about cost savings. The Council did table the item when they approved the agenda at the beginning of the meeting. They made supportive comments beforehand. The item will come back on January 28th and we'll prepare some additional options for their consideration.
4-5 folks showed up at the meeting to ask questions about the Property Based Improvement District. It wasn't on the agenda, but they wanted to register their concerns.
The Council unanimously supported the Downtown Development incentives. This is the first of many that we will be bringing to them over the next few months. We want downtown to be the most desirable place to invest, develop and to open a business. This particular incentive will give developments within the footprint of the specific plan 7 years to pay for traffic, park, and public safety fees. These citywide fees pay for new construction, much of which is done outside of downtown. The first three years there are no charges and the fees are spread over years 4-7. This delay can help the cash flow and financing of downtown projects.
The City Council also unanimously approved some changes to the Card Room ordinance which applies to Club One Casino. The changes allow for higher betting limits for poker games and also allow Club One to play poker games approved by the State, rather than naming the games individually. Once the games are approved by the State, Club One can begin hosting them, rather than having to come back to the Council every single time to update the ordinance.
The City Council also approved a stay of the lawsuit against the Hotel Fresno for 13 months and will drop the lawsuit if the new owners need to clear the title when they get financing. The owners are the people who just renovated the Hotel Virginia and who are now renovating the Mayflower Apartments at Broadway and Tuolumne. The lawsuit had been initiated against prior owners. The current owners have been responsible, so we wanted to give them some relief while they attempt to secure financing.
I also had some time to meet with the Mayor and do some long range planning in between Council items. I also dashed out to meet with some of my Urban Entrepreneurship students at Heros as they celebrated the end of their semester.
Finally, the Council approved the lease with the Grizzlies on a 6-1 vote. Not only was this the best option fiscally, but it keeps the team in place and will give us a chance to make the stadium the cornerstone of revitalization that was originally envisioned. An empty stadium would have cost the City even more and would have been a huge black hole in downtown. After the meeting several of us went out to celebrate the successful conclusion of months of precarious negotiations. Go Grizzlies!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
12-16-09 Another crazy day
This'll be a short one, just the facts ma'm.
8:00 I met with the representative of a new tenant that we are trying to attract to a downtown location. It looked like they would be making a decision tomorrow, but I found out that they have postponed their decision until January. We really are working hard at getting this one. Hopefully we'll have something good to report in January...stay tuned.
9:15 Press conference to announce that Penstar has purchased the historic Bank of Italy Building. This was a nice one for the "wins" column. This was a culmination of efforts from code enforcement and the city attorney’s office who have been prioritizing enforcement against negligent downtown property owners. When a new potential owner put the building in escrow, but who needed additional investors, we introduced him to Penstar. We didn't know if they had followed up with each other until we got word that they were working together to close the purchase. The City Manager's office, code enforcement and the City attorney had to move quickly to clear some issues on the title to ensure that the deal went through. It was a good team effort that proved successful.
I spent much of my day running between Council offices double-checking and providing answers to questions about the items that we have on the agenda for the downtown. There have been some questions that might cause some delays, but they are thoughtful questions and everyone seems to be interested in keeping things moving forward. Whether we have delays or not, I feel pretty confident that we'll still be making progress. So many of these items are complex, and the timing with other issues facing the City just makes them more so.
12:00 Amy Huerta and I met with Will Fleet, Ken Hatfield and John Coakley at the Fresno Bee. We met to discuss how we might do a directory of locally-owned restaurants and retailers. This would be a valuable tool for people who want to support our independent businesses. We'll meet again in January after the City's new business license software is operational. Disclaimer: The Bee brought in salads for lunch.
1:30 I had my one on one meeting with the Mayor. It was short, because of the number of issues that we both had to attend to that needed last minute attention. We'll continue the meeting tomorrow.
2:30 We had a run through with the folks who will be presenting at tomorrow's Council meeting.
4:00 The Mayor hosted a holiday party in the foyer at City Hall
5:00 I had a haircut at The Loft in the Security Bank Building. I read an article in Fresno Magazine that featured an imaginary debate with Reza Assemi and me. In reality, we did not have a conversation, but our separate interviews were pieced together to make it seem like a point/counterpoint discussion.
6:00 I went to the chamber of Commerce for an award presentation for Reza Assemi.
7:00 My son Cole is home from college (Saint Mary's in Moraga). It was great to have dinner with him!
8:00 I met with the representative of a new tenant that we are trying to attract to a downtown location. It looked like they would be making a decision tomorrow, but I found out that they have postponed their decision until January. We really are working hard at getting this one. Hopefully we'll have something good to report in January...stay tuned.
9:15 Press conference to announce that Penstar has purchased the historic Bank of Italy Building. This was a nice one for the "wins" column. This was a culmination of efforts from code enforcement and the city attorney’s office who have been prioritizing enforcement against negligent downtown property owners. When a new potential owner put the building in escrow, but who needed additional investors, we introduced him to Penstar. We didn't know if they had followed up with each other until we got word that they were working together to close the purchase. The City Manager's office, code enforcement and the City attorney had to move quickly to clear some issues on the title to ensure that the deal went through. It was a good team effort that proved successful.
I spent much of my day running between Council offices double-checking and providing answers to questions about the items that we have on the agenda for the downtown. There have been some questions that might cause some delays, but they are thoughtful questions and everyone seems to be interested in keeping things moving forward. Whether we have delays or not, I feel pretty confident that we'll still be making progress. So many of these items are complex, and the timing with other issues facing the City just makes them more so.
12:00 Amy Huerta and I met with Will Fleet, Ken Hatfield and John Coakley at the Fresno Bee. We met to discuss how we might do a directory of locally-owned restaurants and retailers. This would be a valuable tool for people who want to support our independent businesses. We'll meet again in January after the City's new business license software is operational. Disclaimer: The Bee brought in salads for lunch.
1:30 I had my one on one meeting with the Mayor. It was short, because of the number of issues that we both had to attend to that needed last minute attention. We'll continue the meeting tomorrow.
2:30 We had a run through with the folks who will be presenting at tomorrow's Council meeting.
4:00 The Mayor hosted a holiday party in the foyer at City Hall
5:00 I had a haircut at The Loft in the Security Bank Building. I read an article in Fresno Magazine that featured an imaginary debate with Reza Assemi and me. In reality, we did not have a conversation, but our separate interviews were pieced together to make it seem like a point/counterpoint discussion.
6:00 I went to the chamber of Commerce for an award presentation for Reza Assemi.
7:00 My son Cole is home from college (Saint Mary's in Moraga). It was great to have dinner with him!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
12-15-09 Well, we knew it was going to be a doozy of a week.
No run today. 1 whole Clariton floors me. I know, not much of a drug tolerance, I know.
8:00 we started refining our presentation for Thursdays’ City Council meeting. I walked in with great news. We are on for a press conference for Wednesday morning at 9:15 to announce the sale of the Bank of Italy building. While it was good news, it also put strain on an already strained crew. We knew that it would be a full week, but guess what? We're heaping more fuel on the fire.
8:30 We changed our focus to the list of invitees for the State of Downtown breakfast. Let me know if you want in invite.
10:00 Marlene Murphey, Georgeanne White and I met with representatives from the local IRS offices and a representative from the General Services Administration. It was a positive update on how many jobs the IRS has consolidated in Fresno and especially downtown Fresno.
11:00 Amy Huerta and Fernando Santillan hosted a seminar on best practices for enforcement of unlicensed contractors. The contractors chose Visalia and Sanger as the best examples. They had a great turnout.
12:30 Elaine Robles and I met with Supervisor Mike Hanson and his cabinet to talk about the incredible resource coming from Fresno State into the Lowell Neighborhood revitalization effort. Resources are a funny thing, they require planning and management. We have a responsibility to the neighborhood residents to do this really well.
On top of everything else, one of the tenants that we have been trying to bring downtown will vote whether or not to choose downtown on Thursday. I'll let you know when I know if they are coming downtown.
2:30 We had an abbreviated staff meeting. We had a quick overview of everyone's week. There was leftover Me&Ed's from the contractor's meeting, so that helped keep morale high.
I met with Carl Jones, Cynthia Sterling's Chief of Staff to keep him updated on the Specific Plan and Downtown Development Incentives.
We also worked on the press announcement for tomorrow morning's press conference. Join us at 9:15 a.m. in front of the Bank of Italy Building...did I say that already?
5:15 I met with Crystal Smith, Jane Sumpter, Lee Brand, Andreas Borgeas, Larry Westerlund, Georgeanne White and Renena Smith. usually we meet with council members in one on one or maybe two, but this worked out with everyone's schedules to get together this evening. It was a good opportunity to present some of the information about our downtown revitalization efforts.
6:30 I met with Elaine Robles and Elliott Balch joined us for a debrief of the day.
8:00 we started refining our presentation for Thursdays’ City Council meeting. I walked in with great news. We are on for a press conference for Wednesday morning at 9:15 to announce the sale of the Bank of Italy building. While it was good news, it also put strain on an already strained crew. We knew that it would be a full week, but guess what? We're heaping more fuel on the fire.
8:30 We changed our focus to the list of invitees for the State of Downtown breakfast. Let me know if you want in invite.
10:00 Marlene Murphey, Georgeanne White and I met with representatives from the local IRS offices and a representative from the General Services Administration. It was a positive update on how many jobs the IRS has consolidated in Fresno and especially downtown Fresno.
11:00 Amy Huerta and Fernando Santillan hosted a seminar on best practices for enforcement of unlicensed contractors. The contractors chose Visalia and Sanger as the best examples. They had a great turnout.
12:30 Elaine Robles and I met with Supervisor Mike Hanson and his cabinet to talk about the incredible resource coming from Fresno State into the Lowell Neighborhood revitalization effort. Resources are a funny thing, they require planning and management. We have a responsibility to the neighborhood residents to do this really well.
On top of everything else, one of the tenants that we have been trying to bring downtown will vote whether or not to choose downtown on Thursday. I'll let you know when I know if they are coming downtown.
2:30 We had an abbreviated staff meeting. We had a quick overview of everyone's week. There was leftover Me&Ed's from the contractor's meeting, so that helped keep morale high.
I met with Carl Jones, Cynthia Sterling's Chief of Staff to keep him updated on the Specific Plan and Downtown Development Incentives.
We also worked on the press announcement for tomorrow morning's press conference. Join us at 9:15 a.m. in front of the Bank of Italy Building...did I say that already?
5:15 I met with Crystal Smith, Jane Sumpter, Lee Brand, Andreas Borgeas, Larry Westerlund, Georgeanne White and Renena Smith. usually we meet with council members in one on one or maybe two, but this worked out with everyone's schedules to get together this evening. It was a good opportunity to present some of the information about our downtown revitalization efforts.
6:30 I met with Elaine Robles and Elliott Balch joined us for a debrief of the day.
Monday, December 14, 2009
12-14-09 The beginning of a huge week!
Up at 4:45 for a jog, it was sprinkling lightly. What a nice rainstorm we've had.
I didn't have a meeting scheduled until 8:30, which was nice because the City's Outlook didn't work yesterday, so I was behind on emails. My first meeting was a one on one with Jenna Slawinski, one of our hardworking administrative team members. Jenna is working hard on the upcoming State of Downtown breakfast on January 26th. She's still doing all of her other work like vouchers for the Enterprise Zone and training our AARP volunteers, too.
9:00 I had my one on one with George Smith our Administrative Manager. We had some end of the year loose ends to tie together, mostly regarding the furlough week than starts next Thursday.
9:30 Elliott Balch, Angela Vasquez and I met with the City Manager's crew to nail down the details for the Thursday’s presentations.
10:00 Elliott, Wilma Quan, Elaine Robles and I met to review our part of the presentations for this Thursday. The Specific Plan and Downtown Development Incentives are scheduled for 9:15. Come by if you can. If not, maybe watch on-line. Go to http://www.fresno.gov/ go to City Council and then Watch Live.
11:00 Department management meeting with George, Elaine, Elliott and Amy Huerta. We didn't meet for long, we'd pretty much covered it already. No need to meet just to meet.
12:00 We had our holiday party for the department last night. It was pot luck and we had Rock Band set up after dinner. Elliott was our host. We had leftovers for lunch. Ahhh, the holidays.
12:30 One of the Urban Entrepreneurship students presented her project idea to one of our downtown property owners. There are several students who are still keeping their business idea moving forward. It was great for the property owner to see a creative use for their building and it was a great experience for a student to get to present to business people.
1:30 Elaine and Dawn Steele organized the monthly meeting for City departments regarding the Lowell neighborhood revitalization effort. We debriefed from the meeting in Lowell last month. We had updates on what each department is doing now and what has been accomplished in the last month. We had the chance to prepare everyone for the Fresno State involvement that is coming in a month.
4:00 Elaine and I met with the Mayor, Assistant City Manager, Planning Director and Assistant Planning Director, Georgeanne White, Mayor's Chief of Staff, Jerry Bishop from Code enforcement, and Public Works. This meeting was an update on the neighborhood revitalization strategy. We all presented where we are in the process with Lowell and began planning how the next neighborhoods will be targeted. Much of the focus was about how to involve the neighborhoods in the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan.
6:00 I had dinner with 5 young adults who have moved into the Lowell neighborhood. I had met one of them at a community meeting and another was a friend of one of my urban entrepreneurship students. I got a tour of their home on San Pablo and was recharged by their enthusiasm for their new neighborhood. All five grew up in Fresno and decided that they would start living their ideals. They are learning from the neighbors and their neighborhood. What an enjoyable dinner conversation!
I didn't have a meeting scheduled until 8:30, which was nice because the City's Outlook didn't work yesterday, so I was behind on emails. My first meeting was a one on one with Jenna Slawinski, one of our hardworking administrative team members. Jenna is working hard on the upcoming State of Downtown breakfast on January 26th. She's still doing all of her other work like vouchers for the Enterprise Zone and training our AARP volunteers, too.
9:00 I had my one on one with George Smith our Administrative Manager. We had some end of the year loose ends to tie together, mostly regarding the furlough week than starts next Thursday.
9:30 Elliott Balch, Angela Vasquez and I met with the City Manager's crew to nail down the details for the Thursday’s presentations.
10:00 Elliott, Wilma Quan, Elaine Robles and I met to review our part of the presentations for this Thursday. The Specific Plan and Downtown Development Incentives are scheduled for 9:15. Come by if you can. If not, maybe watch on-line. Go to http://www.fresno.gov/ go to City Council and then Watch Live.
11:00 Department management meeting with George, Elaine, Elliott and Amy Huerta. We didn't meet for long, we'd pretty much covered it already. No need to meet just to meet.
12:00 We had our holiday party for the department last night. It was pot luck and we had Rock Band set up after dinner. Elliott was our host. We had leftovers for lunch. Ahhh, the holidays.
12:30 One of the Urban Entrepreneurship students presented her project idea to one of our downtown property owners. There are several students who are still keeping their business idea moving forward. It was great for the property owner to see a creative use for their building and it was a great experience for a student to get to present to business people.
1:30 Elaine and Dawn Steele organized the monthly meeting for City departments regarding the Lowell neighborhood revitalization effort. We debriefed from the meeting in Lowell last month. We had updates on what each department is doing now and what has been accomplished in the last month. We had the chance to prepare everyone for the Fresno State involvement that is coming in a month.
4:00 Elaine and I met with the Mayor, Assistant City Manager, Planning Director and Assistant Planning Director, Georgeanne White, Mayor's Chief of Staff, Jerry Bishop from Code enforcement, and Public Works. This meeting was an update on the neighborhood revitalization strategy. We all presented where we are in the process with Lowell and began planning how the next neighborhoods will be targeted. Much of the focus was about how to involve the neighborhoods in the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan.
6:00 I had dinner with 5 young adults who have moved into the Lowell neighborhood. I had met one of them at a community meeting and another was a friend of one of my urban entrepreneurship students. I got a tour of their home on San Pablo and was recharged by their enthusiasm for their new neighborhood. All five grew up in Fresno and decided that they would start living their ideals. They are learning from the neighbors and their neighborhood. What an enjoyable dinner conversation!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
12-13-09 Today's Fresno Bee Article re: PBID
Today’s' Fresno Bee article about the downtown PBID: http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/1746436.html
First, Fresno will not miss out on the vote to create a Property Based Improvement District (PBID).
PBIDs have been in existence in sunny California for about 15 years. The first was formed in Sacramento. Here is a link to their website: http://www.downtownsac.org/DSPAPP/V/about/index.html
There are about 80 PBIDs in California, in cities like Visalia. Here is the description on the http://www.downtownvisalia.com/ website's About Us page:
DOWNTOWN VISALIA ALLIANCE
A second special benefit assessment district to improve the downtown was formed in 2001. As a group of property (owners), the Alliance also known (as) PBID, formed a coalition with Downtown Visalians and is providing environmental and business improvements in an approximately 70 block area.
PBID operates on a budget of $1.7 million and through a contract with Downtown Visalians the group has implemented programs to provide 24 hour security, graffiti removal, additional parking and other capital improvement projects. Their investment now creates continued downtown health and wealth.
********
The current assessments of for the Fresno Downtown Association is about $35,000 (that's right, 35 thousand, I didn't miss any zeros). Compare that with the Visalia budget of $1.7 million. The Fresno PBID is only going to raise about $750,000.
My point is that PBIDs are normal. The steps that our new Downtown and Community Revitalization department are taking are normal. My assertion is that if there is any controversy about the PBID in downtown Fresno, if should be: Why has it taken us so long? If Visalia could pull this off in 2001 and Sacramento could form theirs in 1995, then what the heck is our story?
Who is to blame? Is it a few lackluster property owners who speculate on real estate but don't want to pony up for any real change? Is it a public that has downtown so low on the priority list that they have not elected representative's who are knowledgeable or committed to revitalization? Is it the media for failing to educate the public about standard revitalization processes and then holding elected officials accountable for whether or not they implement them? Does it matter who is to blame or should we focus forward and do the hard lifting of revitalization?
The majority of the work to form the downtown PBID is being done by a committee of volunteers, some property owners, some committed citizens, with the help of a PBID Consultant ( http://www.pumaworldhq.com/ ), and financed by a loan from the City of Fresno. In every case that we researched, the host city or redevelopment agency had financed the formation of their downtown PBIDs...again, this is normal.
There is a flaw in the Fresno PBID process. In the same spirit that this web log is trying to increase transparency, I will also use it to acknowledge mistakes, because there are always mistakes. At some point the PBID committee, and I assume the PBID consultant, decided to create an arbitrary deadline of December 15th. The response that I have received from the PBID committee is that this was done to try to get downtown property owners to have a greater sense of urgency to return their PBID ballots. I think that we can now see that this was a mistake. It should have been stated that December 15th was a goal and not a deadline, because in fact, the only real deadline is to have the ballots returned by April to get the assessment onto the December property tax bill. This is the explanation as to why the City did not miss the PBID vote.
We will occasionally make mistakes. Those who work for us and with us will also occasionally make mistakes. That is inherent in the nature of DOING.
The other potential flaw is that I am not a micro-manager. If I have to do everyone else's work, then I am not managing resources very well. While none of us like to make mistakes, I accept that they will happen.
Revitalization, especially at the early stages, is focused on making some big changes. We have some big pieces to put into place first like: the Specific Plan, codes action against negligent property owners, finding new responsible investors, the PBID to unify the long term priorities of property owners, focus City attention back on the urban area, investment incentives, improvement of downtown infrastructure...
Some of these items will happen more easily than others. Some might not pass their first hurdles and will have to wait for better timing, support and capacity. All of this is normal, all of the other cities that have revitalized have gone through these challenges. The real question is...will we persevere? Will we acknowledge a mistake when it is made? Will we continue forward, even when things get tough? Do we have the inner drive necessary to achieve success as a community?
I hope that the downtown property owners in Fresno will vote to assess themselves and to band together to tackle their collective priorities. I know that this is probably the worst possible time to ask them to do so. It is in the best interest of all downtown stakeholders that we improve the value of their investments. Other places have found the PBID to be a successful tool toward this goal.
First, Fresno will not miss out on the vote to create a Property Based Improvement District (PBID).
PBIDs have been in existence in sunny California for about 15 years. The first was formed in Sacramento. Here is a link to their website: http://www.downtownsac.org/DSPAPP/V/about/index.html
There are about 80 PBIDs in California, in cities like Visalia. Here is the description on the http://www.downtownvisalia.com/ website's About Us page:
DOWNTOWN VISALIA ALLIANCE
A second special benefit assessment district to improve the downtown was formed in 2001. As a group of property (owners), the Alliance also known (as) PBID, formed a coalition with Downtown Visalians and is providing environmental and business improvements in an approximately 70 block area.
PBID operates on a budget of $1.7 million and through a contract with Downtown Visalians the group has implemented programs to provide 24 hour security, graffiti removal, additional parking and other capital improvement projects. Their investment now creates continued downtown health and wealth.
********
The current assessments of for the Fresno Downtown Association is about $35,000 (that's right, 35 thousand, I didn't miss any zeros). Compare that with the Visalia budget of $1.7 million. The Fresno PBID is only going to raise about $750,000.
My point is that PBIDs are normal. The steps that our new Downtown and Community Revitalization department are taking are normal. My assertion is that if there is any controversy about the PBID in downtown Fresno, if should be: Why has it taken us so long? If Visalia could pull this off in 2001 and Sacramento could form theirs in 1995, then what the heck is our story?
Who is to blame? Is it a few lackluster property owners who speculate on real estate but don't want to pony up for any real change? Is it a public that has downtown so low on the priority list that they have not elected representative's who are knowledgeable or committed to revitalization? Is it the media for failing to educate the public about standard revitalization processes and then holding elected officials accountable for whether or not they implement them? Does it matter who is to blame or should we focus forward and do the hard lifting of revitalization?
The majority of the work to form the downtown PBID is being done by a committee of volunteers, some property owners, some committed citizens, with the help of a PBID Consultant ( http://www.pumaworldhq.com/ ), and financed by a loan from the City of Fresno. In every case that we researched, the host city or redevelopment agency had financed the formation of their downtown PBIDs...again, this is normal.
There is a flaw in the Fresno PBID process. In the same spirit that this web log is trying to increase transparency, I will also use it to acknowledge mistakes, because there are always mistakes. At some point the PBID committee, and I assume the PBID consultant, decided to create an arbitrary deadline of December 15th. The response that I have received from the PBID committee is that this was done to try to get downtown property owners to have a greater sense of urgency to return their PBID ballots. I think that we can now see that this was a mistake. It should have been stated that December 15th was a goal and not a deadline, because in fact, the only real deadline is to have the ballots returned by April to get the assessment onto the December property tax bill. This is the explanation as to why the City did not miss the PBID vote.
We will occasionally make mistakes. Those who work for us and with us will also occasionally make mistakes. That is inherent in the nature of DOING.
The other potential flaw is that I am not a micro-manager. If I have to do everyone else's work, then I am not managing resources very well. While none of us like to make mistakes, I accept that they will happen.
Revitalization, especially at the early stages, is focused on making some big changes. We have some big pieces to put into place first like: the Specific Plan, codes action against negligent property owners, finding new responsible investors, the PBID to unify the long term priorities of property owners, focus City attention back on the urban area, investment incentives, improvement of downtown infrastructure...
Some of these items will happen more easily than others. Some might not pass their first hurdles and will have to wait for better timing, support and capacity. All of this is normal, all of the other cities that have revitalized have gone through these challenges. The real question is...will we persevere? Will we acknowledge a mistake when it is made? Will we continue forward, even when things get tough? Do we have the inner drive necessary to achieve success as a community?
I hope that the downtown property owners in Fresno will vote to assess themselves and to band together to tackle their collective priorities. I know that this is probably the worst possible time to ask them to do so. It is in the best interest of all downtown stakeholders that we improve the value of their investments. Other places have found the PBID to be a successful tool toward this goal.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
12-11-09 and 12-12-09 Chris Ammon Shadow Day
I started the day a t 4:45with two miles on the treadmill at the gym because it was raining. On the way there, I saw an older guy running in the rain, just wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Arrrrgh. It's not enough to have Coach Carter, now I have this guy pushing me too!? I watched VH1 videos while I was running, and had Lady GaGa's Bad Romance song in my head all day...which I admit, I liked.
7:00 I met Christor Ammon at the Chicken Pie Shop for breakfast. He was my shadow for the day. My old buddy Smitty had suggested him Chris is from Milwaukee and was a Peace Corps volunteer. It was great to have him along for the day, I hope that it was worthwhile for him. I don't think that I'll have shadows on Fridays in the future, by Friday it's hard enough to put together coherent sentences.
8:30 Chris and I met Elliott Balch at John Dodson's office, SJVTech at L and San Joaquin. John has been in downtown since 1971 and has started many tech companies. It is important to build on the anchor businesses that we have. Many downtowns have had great success with start-ups inhabiting cool old buildings.
10:00 We had a meeting with the team that is working on the High Speed Rail plan and design. Stefanos Polyzoides and David Sargent atteneded. These two gentlemen will be leading the Specific Plan Team for our downtown redesign of City zoning and development laws and policies. It was important that they hear about the HSR and also for the HSR folks to hear about our revitalization efforts.
12:30 We went to lunch with David and Stefanos at Sheherds' Inn. Wilma, Elliott and David Schecter were on hand for lunch. We discussed the HSR meeting and the upcoming presentation to the City Council next Thursday,
2:00 Chris, David, Stefanos and I toured the areas for the proposed high speed rail station and walked through Freso Station, the historic depot at Tulare between H and G.
4:00 Fresno Bee reporter George Hostetter interviewed Andy Souza, Elliott Balch and me regarding the Property Based Improvement District for downtown Fresno. We'll see how it comes out in a day or two, I'm sure.
5:00 I took Chris Ammon back to his Tower District home. I hope that he enjoyed his day and learned a little about our revitalization efforts. Chris spent some time with Amy Huerta at the end of the day to learn about the Local Business Initiatives too.
7:00 My wife and I headed to McLane Stadium to watch our alma mater Bullard High School in their Valley Championship football game. It was a great game, 4,000 high school football fans on a rainy Friday night. Congratulations to our friend Donny Arax and the team! It was a hard fought victory.
Saturday
Elaine Robles and I met at Patio Cafe for breakfast and then worked at my house on a couple of PowerPoints unitl a little after noon. We have a couple of meetings and presenations on the neighborhood revitalization plans and efforts on Monday.
7:00 I met Christor Ammon at the Chicken Pie Shop for breakfast. He was my shadow for the day. My old buddy Smitty had suggested him Chris is from Milwaukee and was a Peace Corps volunteer. It was great to have him along for the day, I hope that it was worthwhile for him. I don't think that I'll have shadows on Fridays in the future, by Friday it's hard enough to put together coherent sentences.
8:30 Chris and I met Elliott Balch at John Dodson's office, SJVTech at L and San Joaquin. John has been in downtown since 1971 and has started many tech companies. It is important to build on the anchor businesses that we have. Many downtowns have had great success with start-ups inhabiting cool old buildings.
10:00 We had a meeting with the team that is working on the High Speed Rail plan and design. Stefanos Polyzoides and David Sargent atteneded. These two gentlemen will be leading the Specific Plan Team for our downtown redesign of City zoning and development laws and policies. It was important that they hear about the HSR and also for the HSR folks to hear about our revitalization efforts.
12:30 We went to lunch with David and Stefanos at Sheherds' Inn. Wilma, Elliott and David Schecter were on hand for lunch. We discussed the HSR meeting and the upcoming presentation to the City Council next Thursday,
2:00 Chris, David, Stefanos and I toured the areas for the proposed high speed rail station and walked through Freso Station, the historic depot at Tulare between H and G.
4:00 Fresno Bee reporter George Hostetter interviewed Andy Souza, Elliott Balch and me regarding the Property Based Improvement District for downtown Fresno. We'll see how it comes out in a day or two, I'm sure.
5:00 I took Chris Ammon back to his Tower District home. I hope that he enjoyed his day and learned a little about our revitalization efforts. Chris spent some time with Amy Huerta at the end of the day to learn about the Local Business Initiatives too.
7:00 My wife and I headed to McLane Stadium to watch our alma mater Bullard High School in their Valley Championship football game. It was a great game, 4,000 high school football fans on a rainy Friday night. Congratulations to our friend Donny Arax and the team! It was a hard fought victory.
Saturday
Elaine Robles and I met at Patio Cafe for breakfast and then worked at my house on a couple of PowerPoints unitl a little after noon. We have a couple of meetings and presenations on the neighborhood revitalization plans and efforts on Monday.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
12-10-09 Coming up with titles is harder than the blog
7:00 I started of today with the Thursday morning group: Preston Prince, John Raymond, Keith Bergthold, Rollie Smith. We had a chance to debrief about a wide range of topics from the week like the Belmont Corridor presentation, who’s going to be the new head of the Economic Opportunities Commission, Asian Village, last night's planning commission meeting....
8:30 We had our Primetime for Business, an ongoing awareness campaign to acquaint the City Council and the City to some of our local entrepreneurs. We like to highlight businesses who do much of their business outside of our area, so they are bringing dollars into our economy. We also like the ones that are relatively unknown. Today we featured Ohanyan's who are distributing Armenian meats around the U.S.
http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/index.php/manufacturing/3277-ohanyans-recognized-by-city-of-fresno
9:30 I had my weekly one on one with Wilma Quan, our Urban Planning Specialist. We talked about the next week, and the things that we'll need to do for the City Council presentation for the Specific Plan.
11:00 I had a wonderful meeting with the Downtown Coalition, a group of dedicated downtown enthusiasts. I hope that they enjoyed it as much as I did. I'm sure that we don't see eye to eye on every issue, but the conversation was really interesting. It was another good reminder that if we would try to focus on the larger ideas that we agree on, we'd all get much more done together.
12:30 I picked up Elaine Robles, our Neighborhood Revitalization Manager in front of City Hall, and we picked up Mariam Zuk, a graduate student at Berkeley who will be working on her doctorate in City and Regional Planning. Drew Wilson (superstar) met Mariam at Cal and implored her to come to Fresno to do her research and work. Elaine and I took her to lunch at the Downtown Club and hopefully we didn't scare her away. She is interested in the connection between good planning and good health. She'd be a great addition to the effort!
3:00 We held a Jobs Forum at City Hall. The Mayor asked Amy and Fernando to put it together on short notice on the request of the White House after the Mayor's visit to the Capitol last week. Having strong business affinity groups helped, because they really turned out on short notice. The media was on hand including Business Street, Bill McEwen form the BEE and KYNO 1300, and every TV station. There was a strong list of suggestions that will go back to the President from the Mayor.
5:30 The Central Valley Business Incubator held a holiday party at the Claude Laval Water and Energy Technology Incubator. The event honored Claude and Riley Walter for their 12 years of service, as they are stepping down. Claude was the original Board Chair and has maintained that position throughout. CVBI is a great community asset and it would not even be in existence if it weren't for Claude and Riley.
Home by 7:30 with Mama Mia's calzones! Man they are fantastic.
8:30 We had our Primetime for Business, an ongoing awareness campaign to acquaint the City Council and the City to some of our local entrepreneurs. We like to highlight businesses who do much of their business outside of our area, so they are bringing dollars into our economy. We also like the ones that are relatively unknown. Today we featured Ohanyan's who are distributing Armenian meats around the U.S.
http://www.thebusinessjournal.com/index.php/manufacturing/3277-ohanyans-recognized-by-city-of-fresno
9:30 I had my weekly one on one with Wilma Quan, our Urban Planning Specialist. We talked about the next week, and the things that we'll need to do for the City Council presentation for the Specific Plan.
11:00 I had a wonderful meeting with the Downtown Coalition, a group of dedicated downtown enthusiasts. I hope that they enjoyed it as much as I did. I'm sure that we don't see eye to eye on every issue, but the conversation was really interesting. It was another good reminder that if we would try to focus on the larger ideas that we agree on, we'd all get much more done together.
12:30 I picked up Elaine Robles, our Neighborhood Revitalization Manager in front of City Hall, and we picked up Mariam Zuk, a graduate student at Berkeley who will be working on her doctorate in City and Regional Planning. Drew Wilson (superstar) met Mariam at Cal and implored her to come to Fresno to do her research and work. Elaine and I took her to lunch at the Downtown Club and hopefully we didn't scare her away. She is interested in the connection between good planning and good health. She'd be a great addition to the effort!
3:00 We held a Jobs Forum at City Hall. The Mayor asked Amy and Fernando to put it together on short notice on the request of the White House after the Mayor's visit to the Capitol last week. Having strong business affinity groups helped, because they really turned out on short notice. The media was on hand including Business Street, Bill McEwen form the BEE and KYNO 1300, and every TV station. There was a strong list of suggestions that will go back to the President from the Mayor.
5:30 The Central Valley Business Incubator held a holiday party at the Claude Laval Water and Energy Technology Incubator. The event honored Claude and Riley Walter for their 12 years of service, as they are stepping down. Claude was the original Board Chair and has maintained that position throughout. CVBI is a great community asset and it would not even be in existence if it weren't for Claude and Riley.
Home by 7:30 with Mama Mia's calzones! Man they are fantastic.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
11-10-09 Today would have been a good day to shadow me.
Occasionally I've had people shadow me for a day. Usually one of our interns. It's usually best to have a day with a wide array of activities, so the shadow can get a sense of what our department is up to. Today would have been a good one.
I woke up at 4:45 and hit the slippery streets for a jog with Ellis about 5:00. Folks who leave their sprinklers on the nights when we know it is going to freeze are a special group. Slip sliding away...
I had a 7:00 meeting with Lowell leader Phil Skei. Phil runs Fresno Institute for Urban Leadership, is a Lowell resident, along with his family, and is actively involved in the effort to revitalize Lowell. We had a variety of topics to cover, but primarily we spoke about Lowell's development of organization and capacity and the need for the neighborhood and the City to form sustainable revitalization efforts. What does that mean, it kind of sounds like cliché? I mean that we need to have built a culture where revitalization will continue regardless of administrations, council representatives or individuals.
9:00 Agenda Conference for the City Council meeting for December 17th. Downtown Day. If you've ever thought about spending a day at a Council meeting, this would be a good one. We could use your enthusiastic support for a few items too. As mentioned before, the Specific Plan, Downtown Development Incentives, Grizzlies lease, Hotel Fresno lawsuit...and others will happen on the 17th.
After Agenda Conference ends, the Directors meet to get updates and to report to the group. I reported on the Mayors' Jobs Forum that has been organized by the Local Business Initiatives Manager Amy Huerta. It will be held tomorrow (Thursday, Dec. 10) at 3:00p.m. in meeting Room A on the 2nd floor of City Hall.
10:00 Our weekly downtown coordination meeting. Let's just say that we went through the items on the agenda for the 17th. We are still making final adjustments to the Development Incentives.
11:30 I met a group of community leader types at the Oaxaca Restaurant on Belmont, just west of Chestnut. The meeting was for the Belmont business corridor, between Chestnut and Highway 41. Triangle Associates has done some survey work and other analysis for the new business association. Council Member Perea started off the discussion. Many folks made suggestions for residential involvement, more choices for businesses, like groceries, and mixed-use and historic restoration. I was able to inform the group that the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan will cover their area and will be able to provide land use, design guidelines and other changes. I'd say that there were at least 60 people. The food was great, although I'm just realizing that I didn't pay for my meal...I broke my rule! Dang.
1:15 We hosted a class from City College's Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization. Dr. Marianne Dunklin is their instructor/sponsor. They had a panel from Business License, Planning, and the Central Valley Business Incubator. The also had a tour of those departments so that they will know where to go when the time comes. They were a sharp group.
2:00 We had one of our ongoing meetings with the South Stadium Business Owners at Joe's Steakhouse. This meeting was a bit of a surprise. We've been working with this group, but the mood was pretty nasty when we arrived. The owners had received their Property Based Improvement District petitions. The petitions have the amounts of the assessment that each owner would pay if it goes through. Many years of government frustration welled up all at once, and the target was the PBID and us.
This is what I wonder: How have 80 other communities managed to accomplish the feat of having property owners vote to assess themselves and to pool their money for the betterment of their area, thus raising their own property values? Why is it so difficult to do here? We're already years behind the curve. Once something is so well proven and so widely used, doesn't it seem like we'd be ready? If I'd have known that this would have been the reaction, I'd have suggested that the boundary be even smaller than it is.
3:30 I got back to City Hall to find an email that announced the resignation of City Manager Andy Souza. I met Andy in the conference room at the old city hall. We were both in our twenties. He had just come to work for the City after working for an accounting firm that had completed our audit. I was 25 and he was 26 or 27. I know that people come and go a lot these days, I'm one that changes jobs whenever it makes sense. But it is quite a shock when someone like Andy, who has built his career in Fresno, decides that it is time for a change. I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to work with and for Andy this past year. I wish him the absolute best and appreciate all that he has given.
4:30 We had a board meeting with Donna, the new executive director of Downtown Faces, the new events-focused nonprofit. If downtown is going to be the fun capital of the Central San Joaquin Valley, then events are going to lead the way. Bring it Donna!
5:30 I dropped by the Downtown Club for the Fresno Chamber of Commerce Holiday Party. Many good folk were there including: Bill Lyles, Al Smith, Bruce Batti, Anna Borgeas, Pam Lassiter, Blake Konczal, Steve Geil, Ray Dunn, Scott Anderson...and many more.
6:30 Back to City Hall for the Planning Commission Meeting. The Green and sustainable development code and general plan update were presented. I don't know how many speakers were there in support, maybe 25, but I do know that I was last. It was a good, thoughtful group. I spoke about 8:00. I left before any voting occurred. I had some minestrone waiting at home from my mother-in-law.
I woke up at 4:45 and hit the slippery streets for a jog with Ellis about 5:00. Folks who leave their sprinklers on the nights when we know it is going to freeze are a special group. Slip sliding away...
I had a 7:00 meeting with Lowell leader Phil Skei. Phil runs Fresno Institute for Urban Leadership, is a Lowell resident, along with his family, and is actively involved in the effort to revitalize Lowell. We had a variety of topics to cover, but primarily we spoke about Lowell's development of organization and capacity and the need for the neighborhood and the City to form sustainable revitalization efforts. What does that mean, it kind of sounds like cliché? I mean that we need to have built a culture where revitalization will continue regardless of administrations, council representatives or individuals.
9:00 Agenda Conference for the City Council meeting for December 17th. Downtown Day. If you've ever thought about spending a day at a Council meeting, this would be a good one. We could use your enthusiastic support for a few items too. As mentioned before, the Specific Plan, Downtown Development Incentives, Grizzlies lease, Hotel Fresno lawsuit...and others will happen on the 17th.
After Agenda Conference ends, the Directors meet to get updates and to report to the group. I reported on the Mayors' Jobs Forum that has been organized by the Local Business Initiatives Manager Amy Huerta. It will be held tomorrow (Thursday, Dec. 10) at 3:00p.m. in meeting Room A on the 2nd floor of City Hall.
10:00 Our weekly downtown coordination meeting. Let's just say that we went through the items on the agenda for the 17th. We are still making final adjustments to the Development Incentives.
11:30 I met a group of community leader types at the Oaxaca Restaurant on Belmont, just west of Chestnut. The meeting was for the Belmont business corridor, between Chestnut and Highway 41. Triangle Associates has done some survey work and other analysis for the new business association. Council Member Perea started off the discussion. Many folks made suggestions for residential involvement, more choices for businesses, like groceries, and mixed-use and historic restoration. I was able to inform the group that the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan will cover their area and will be able to provide land use, design guidelines and other changes. I'd say that there were at least 60 people. The food was great, although I'm just realizing that I didn't pay for my meal...I broke my rule! Dang.
1:15 We hosted a class from City College's Collegiate Entrepreneurship Organization. Dr. Marianne Dunklin is their instructor/sponsor. They had a panel from Business License, Planning, and the Central Valley Business Incubator. The also had a tour of those departments so that they will know where to go when the time comes. They were a sharp group.
2:00 We had one of our ongoing meetings with the South Stadium Business Owners at Joe's Steakhouse. This meeting was a bit of a surprise. We've been working with this group, but the mood was pretty nasty when we arrived. The owners had received their Property Based Improvement District petitions. The petitions have the amounts of the assessment that each owner would pay if it goes through. Many years of government frustration welled up all at once, and the target was the PBID and us.
This is what I wonder: How have 80 other communities managed to accomplish the feat of having property owners vote to assess themselves and to pool their money for the betterment of their area, thus raising their own property values? Why is it so difficult to do here? We're already years behind the curve. Once something is so well proven and so widely used, doesn't it seem like we'd be ready? If I'd have known that this would have been the reaction, I'd have suggested that the boundary be even smaller than it is.
3:30 I got back to City Hall to find an email that announced the resignation of City Manager Andy Souza. I met Andy in the conference room at the old city hall. We were both in our twenties. He had just come to work for the City after working for an accounting firm that had completed our audit. I was 25 and he was 26 or 27. I know that people come and go a lot these days, I'm one that changes jobs whenever it makes sense. But it is quite a shock when someone like Andy, who has built his career in Fresno, decides that it is time for a change. I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to work with and for Andy this past year. I wish him the absolute best and appreciate all that he has given.
4:30 We had a board meeting with Donna, the new executive director of Downtown Faces, the new events-focused nonprofit. If downtown is going to be the fun capital of the Central San Joaquin Valley, then events are going to lead the way. Bring it Donna!
5:30 I dropped by the Downtown Club for the Fresno Chamber of Commerce Holiday Party. Many good folk were there including: Bill Lyles, Al Smith, Bruce Batti, Anna Borgeas, Pam Lassiter, Blake Konczal, Steve Geil, Ray Dunn, Scott Anderson...and many more.
6:30 Back to City Hall for the Planning Commission Meeting. The Green and sustainable development code and general plan update were presented. I don't know how many speakers were there in support, maybe 25, but I do know that I was last. It was a good, thoughtful group. I spoke about 8:00. I left before any voting occurred. I had some minestrone waiting at home from my mother-in-law.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
12/8/09 Focus on the 17th---Downtown Fresno Day
Sorry Coach Carter, no run today. I'll do double-time tomorrow. Walking the mutt around the block was all I was good for. No excuses, just lazy and cold!
7:30 Wilma Quan and I met with Councilmember Lee Brand this morning. We discussed the many items coming to the council on the 17th: Specific Plan contract, Downtown development incentives, Hotel Fresno lawsuit, Grizzlies lease, card room ordinance, freeway signage for downtown, and the Holiday Inn parking agreement. How does it all end up on the same day? It just does. Maybe it's a good thing?
I know that the point of this blog is to be public, so you probably read this with some skepticism, but I'll tell you, Lee is one of the biggest straight shooters you would ever meet. People bag on politicians and government, I've done both too. But sometimes it is important to realize that there are some really good folks too. Complain if you want, it's as American as apple pie. But, I do think that we have a good city council, one of the best in years and maybe decades. Sure it looks messy on the news sometimes. But imagine any committee that you've ever been involved with and put them on T.V. May church boards, little league committees and others would look a little messy too, it is the nature of human beings trying to work together, especially in the public eye.
9:00 I had my first meeting with Donna Gavello who is the new executive director for the Downtown FACES nonprofit that was formed to promote and coordinate events on the mall and in the stadium. We spent over an hour going over the rest of the downtown plan to see how events fit in. We're thrilled to have Donna on board to focus on events and to add that extra spark to downtown while some of the bigger efforts like the specific plan are underway.
10:30 We had an internal meeting to review our department's website and to make some changes to the e-newsletter format. If you would like to be on our list just send an email to me at craig.scharton@fresno.gov and let me know that you'd like to receive it. We also have a Facebook page that we use to send out meeting notices at http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Fresno-CA/City-of-Fresno-Downtown-and-Community-Revitalization-Department/62511260167?ref=ts
11:15 Fresno Bee reporter George Hostetter dropped in to ask me questions about the pending Property Based Improvement District (PBID). We spend quite a bit of time going over the history of PBIDs, where they have been used, why it has taken Fresno so long to have one, how it will be governed...
12:30 I had my one on one meeting with Elaine Robles, our Neighborhood Revitalization Manager. Elaine has been working on putting the process in place to renovate owner occupied houses in the Lowell neighborhood. These are houses owned by qualified low income people, who need some help correcting code violations. This is a perfect example of how we are building templates that will benefit other neighborhoods once they are up and running. Once we get it figured out in Lowell, we will have the edges smoothed off by the time we get to places like Southwest Fresno. Elaine and I ate lunch at my desk, it was really good chicken, but I can't tell you where she got it...stay tuned, I'll find out.
1:00 We had a meeting with the City Manager Andy Souza, Mayor's Chief of Staff Georgeanne White, Planning Director John Dugan, Assistant Planning Director Keith Bergthold and Housing Manager Claudia Cazares. The meeting was an update on our federal affordable housing program and projects.
2:30 Assistant City Manager Bruce Rudd, John Dugan, Elliott Balch and Stacie Melikian from the city Attorney's office met to continue to refine the Downtown Development Incentives proposal that will go to the City Council on the 17th. This stuff really takes a great deal of time to get right, it is an amazing process. This is moving along at incredible speed, given the complexities and all of the departments that are involved. It far exceeds (in terms of speed) any timeframes that I would have come up with.
3:00 Downtown and Community Revitalization staff meeting. This is our weekly chance for everyone to get together and to get synchronized. We went through the items that are going to the City Council on the 17th, so that everyone is up to speed and knows what steps are still needed to ensure their success. Everyone was in pretty good spirits, considering the heaviness of the last two weeks. We have a big hearted, passionate group.
4:30 Amy Huerta and I had our one on one meeting. Amy was drafted to help with a jobs summit which will be held this Thursday. It is a follow-up to the national jobs summit that the Mayor attended in Washington, D.C. last week with the President. Mike Dozier from Fresno State will moderate. It will be at City hall at 3:00, in meeting room A on the second floor. 20 businesses are already attending, which is a testament to Amy's connection with the local business community, she only learned of the event yesterday, and already has it organized.
5:30 I attended the local Housing and Urban Development's Open House. It was very well attended, especially by folks who are interested in housing issues. Rollie Smith gave out recognition to many of the folks who are tirelessly involved in the affordable housing arena.
I just missed Jeopardy, but I was in time for some homemade tacos...
7:30 Wilma Quan and I met with Councilmember Lee Brand this morning. We discussed the many items coming to the council on the 17th: Specific Plan contract, Downtown development incentives, Hotel Fresno lawsuit, Grizzlies lease, card room ordinance, freeway signage for downtown, and the Holiday Inn parking agreement. How does it all end up on the same day? It just does. Maybe it's a good thing?
I know that the point of this blog is to be public, so you probably read this with some skepticism, but I'll tell you, Lee is one of the biggest straight shooters you would ever meet. People bag on politicians and government, I've done both too. But sometimes it is important to realize that there are some really good folks too. Complain if you want, it's as American as apple pie. But, I do think that we have a good city council, one of the best in years and maybe decades. Sure it looks messy on the news sometimes. But imagine any committee that you've ever been involved with and put them on T.V. May church boards, little league committees and others would look a little messy too, it is the nature of human beings trying to work together, especially in the public eye.
9:00 I had my first meeting with Donna Gavello who is the new executive director for the Downtown FACES nonprofit that was formed to promote and coordinate events on the mall and in the stadium. We spent over an hour going over the rest of the downtown plan to see how events fit in. We're thrilled to have Donna on board to focus on events and to add that extra spark to downtown while some of the bigger efforts like the specific plan are underway.
10:30 We had an internal meeting to review our department's website and to make some changes to the e-newsletter format. If you would like to be on our list just send an email to me at craig.scharton@fresno.gov and let me know that you'd like to receive it. We also have a Facebook page that we use to send out meeting notices at http://www.facebook.com/#/pages/Fresno-CA/City-of-Fresno-Downtown-and-Community-Revitalization-Department/62511260167?ref=ts
11:15 Fresno Bee reporter George Hostetter dropped in to ask me questions about the pending Property Based Improvement District (PBID). We spend quite a bit of time going over the history of PBIDs, where they have been used, why it has taken Fresno so long to have one, how it will be governed...
12:30 I had my one on one meeting with Elaine Robles, our Neighborhood Revitalization Manager. Elaine has been working on putting the process in place to renovate owner occupied houses in the Lowell neighborhood. These are houses owned by qualified low income people, who need some help correcting code violations. This is a perfect example of how we are building templates that will benefit other neighborhoods once they are up and running. Once we get it figured out in Lowell, we will have the edges smoothed off by the time we get to places like Southwest Fresno. Elaine and I ate lunch at my desk, it was really good chicken, but I can't tell you where she got it...stay tuned, I'll find out.
1:00 We had a meeting with the City Manager Andy Souza, Mayor's Chief of Staff Georgeanne White, Planning Director John Dugan, Assistant Planning Director Keith Bergthold and Housing Manager Claudia Cazares. The meeting was an update on our federal affordable housing program and projects.
2:30 Assistant City Manager Bruce Rudd, John Dugan, Elliott Balch and Stacie Melikian from the city Attorney's office met to continue to refine the Downtown Development Incentives proposal that will go to the City Council on the 17th. This stuff really takes a great deal of time to get right, it is an amazing process. This is moving along at incredible speed, given the complexities and all of the departments that are involved. It far exceeds (in terms of speed) any timeframes that I would have come up with.
3:00 Downtown and Community Revitalization staff meeting. This is our weekly chance for everyone to get together and to get synchronized. We went through the items that are going to the City Council on the 17th, so that everyone is up to speed and knows what steps are still needed to ensure their success. Everyone was in pretty good spirits, considering the heaviness of the last two weeks. We have a big hearted, passionate group.
4:30 Amy Huerta and I had our one on one meeting. Amy was drafted to help with a jobs summit which will be held this Thursday. It is a follow-up to the national jobs summit that the Mayor attended in Washington, D.C. last week with the President. Mike Dozier from Fresno State will moderate. It will be at City hall at 3:00, in meeting room A on the second floor. 20 businesses are already attending, which is a testament to Amy's connection with the local business community, she only learned of the event yesterday, and already has it organized.
5:30 I attended the local Housing and Urban Development's Open House. It was very well attended, especially by folks who are interested in housing issues. Rollie Smith gave out recognition to many of the folks who are tirelessly involved in the affordable housing arena.
I just missed Jeopardy, but I was in time for some homemade tacos...
Monday, December 7, 2009
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!
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!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
12/4/09 AVID Friday
Well, you'd think that after a busy week, I'd have had a great night of sleep. No dice, too much to think about or worry over to bother with sleep. I finally decided to get up about 4:15 and go for a jog with the dog. It felt good to get out into the morning air.
It was great to see the Bee's coverage the urban entrepreneurship students' presentations. Thanks for the great story Sandy Nax and the photo Mark Crosse!
http://www.fresnobee.com/business/story/1735392.html?qwxq=6658250&pageNum=1&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container
Why are the people who comment on the Bee articles so incredibly negative? Wouldn't you think that people would be encouraging when they see a group of young people who are interested in their community? It's beyond my understanding.
9:00 I met with Council Member Xiong and his assistant Kyle Loreto, along with Wilma Quan or Urban Planning Specialist. Out meeting with to give the Councilmember an update on the upcoming items that will be coming to the City Council on December 17th: Specific Plan, Downtown Development Incentives, Hotel Fresno lawsuit, Freeway Signage approval.
10:00 Our department signed up for a webinar from the International Downtown Association. The webinar featured Friend of Fresno Rebecca Ryan. The focus was on the role of downtowns as attractions for young professionals. A revitalized downtown that is an entertainment district is a key reason for young people to stay or come back to a community as well as to draw new, young talent. 20 people attended, mostly members of Fresno's Leading Young Professionals and Creative Fresno.
12:45-2:30 I spoke to two AVID classes at Tenaya Middle School (Advancement Via Individual Determination) and the definition for avid is listed as eager for knowledge.
The students and I talked about: doing what you love, interested is interesting and bored is boring, college is REALLY fun so you should work hard to get there, we're working hard to revitalize downtown so that they have fun stuff to do when they get a little older.
3:00 Elliott Balch and I met with Paul and Cherie Fountaine at the Warnors Theater. Paul and Cherie are managing the Warnors and we are hopeful that they will also want to promote other downtown events too. We all know that the Warnors is an incredible facility and want Paul and Cherie to have huge success.
4:00 Elliott and I met with Mr. Edward Fanucchi a local attorney, downtown property owner and former Honorary Vice Consul of Italy. Mr. Fanucchi was the latest property owner to sign onto the Property Based Improvement District! We also discussed the other revitalization efforts and even the possibility of a Little Italy weekend on the Fulton Mall.
5:00 I recapped the week with Elliott Balch, Amy Huerta and Elaine Robles, 3 of our department's managers. We have so many balls in the air that our coordination and communication are very important. We also have to communicate our way through the ups and downs of the current and future budget realities.
7:00 My wife and I went to the Bullard football game. Go Knights! Great victory for the Fresno team.
It was great to see the Bee's coverage the urban entrepreneurship students' presentations. Thanks for the great story Sandy Nax and the photo Mark Crosse!
http://www.fresnobee.com/business/story/1735392.html?qwxq=6658250&pageNum=1&&mi_pluck_action=page_nav#Comments_Container
Why are the people who comment on the Bee articles so incredibly negative? Wouldn't you think that people would be encouraging when they see a group of young people who are interested in their community? It's beyond my understanding.
9:00 I met with Council Member Xiong and his assistant Kyle Loreto, along with Wilma Quan or Urban Planning Specialist. Out meeting with to give the Councilmember an update on the upcoming items that will be coming to the City Council on December 17th: Specific Plan, Downtown Development Incentives, Hotel Fresno lawsuit, Freeway Signage approval.
10:00 Our department signed up for a webinar from the International Downtown Association. The webinar featured Friend of Fresno Rebecca Ryan. The focus was on the role of downtowns as attractions for young professionals. A revitalized downtown that is an entertainment district is a key reason for young people to stay or come back to a community as well as to draw new, young talent. 20 people attended, mostly members of Fresno's Leading Young Professionals and Creative Fresno.
12:45-2:30 I spoke to two AVID classes at Tenaya Middle School (Advancement Via Individual Determination) and the definition for avid is listed as eager for knowledge.
The students and I talked about: doing what you love, interested is interesting and bored is boring, college is REALLY fun so you should work hard to get there, we're working hard to revitalize downtown so that they have fun stuff to do when they get a little older.
3:00 Elliott Balch and I met with Paul and Cherie Fountaine at the Warnors Theater. Paul and Cherie are managing the Warnors and we are hopeful that they will also want to promote other downtown events too. We all know that the Warnors is an incredible facility and want Paul and Cherie to have huge success.
4:00 Elliott and I met with Mr. Edward Fanucchi a local attorney, downtown property owner and former Honorary Vice Consul of Italy. Mr. Fanucchi was the latest property owner to sign onto the Property Based Improvement District! We also discussed the other revitalization efforts and even the possibility of a Little Italy weekend on the Fulton Mall.
5:00 I recapped the week with Elliott Balch, Amy Huerta and Elaine Robles, 3 of our department's managers. We have so many balls in the air that our coordination and communication are very important. We also have to communicate our way through the ups and downs of the current and future budget realities.
7:00 My wife and I went to the Bullard football game. Go Knights! Great victory for the Fresno team.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
12/3/09 We're Thick With Urban Entrepreneurs
I did it, back up at 4:45 for a run. Didn't want to, but I did, Coach Carter.
7:00 meeting with Preston and Eileen from the Housing Authority, Rollie Smith from HUD, John Raymond from Redevelopment and Keith Bergthold from Planning. I continue to be amazed at what a specialized world the whole affordable housing field has become. It has its own markets, laws, industry, finance...I've never really wanted to know about this specialized field. I've known that it was it's own world, but it my current position, it is a key area for financing projects. I'm trying to move from being a skeptic, to becoming an open-minded skeptic. But, at least the people are smart and fun to be around!
8:30 I had a phone call with Marvin Smith, who is the owner of the Rowell Building. It was an opportunity to give him an update on some of the activities that are happening downtown like the specific plan, PBID and downtown development incentives. We'll meet next week. Marv gave me an update on the building's status too.
10:00 We had an internal meeting regarding the specific plan. Wilma has completed the scope of work. Now we are planning our presentation for the council meeting on December 17th. I hope that some of you can join us.
11:00 I met with Jim Christianson, a gentleman that I had met at a talk that I gave a few weeks ago. I gave him an overview of the downtown revitalization plan and the entertainment district concept. It is great to have people who are interested enough in downtown to take time out of their days to come in and find out more.
12:15 I met Dr. Welty and Cynthia Teniente-Matson, Vice President for Administration at CSU, F to give them information about the downtown revitalization effort. I showed them some of the downtown buildings activities around ArtHop and Mono and L Streets.
1:00 I went to buy snacks for the Urban Entrepreneurship presentations.
2:00 We began to set up for the class' final presentations. They were held on the top floor of the Trade Center in the ballroom.
3:00 The presentations began. The class did a fantastic job. Every presentation was solid. I am very proud of the student's ideas and efforts. Thanks to the people who showed up to support these up and coming business leaders and to the Trade Center for letting us use the room.
6:00 Many of the students and folks from the Lyles Center headed to Tokyo Garden for an after class celebration. I love to be around the students...they are a really great group of young adults. It is encouraging.
The Hotel Fresno item that was on today's City Council Agenda was continued for two weeks. I heard from Amy Huerta that the Economic Development Corporation passed. The freeway signs for downtown were also delayed for a couple of weeks. That's what I know for now.
7:00 meeting with Preston and Eileen from the Housing Authority, Rollie Smith from HUD, John Raymond from Redevelopment and Keith Bergthold from Planning. I continue to be amazed at what a specialized world the whole affordable housing field has become. It has its own markets, laws, industry, finance...I've never really wanted to know about this specialized field. I've known that it was it's own world, but it my current position, it is a key area for financing projects. I'm trying to move from being a skeptic, to becoming an open-minded skeptic. But, at least the people are smart and fun to be around!
8:30 I had a phone call with Marvin Smith, who is the owner of the Rowell Building. It was an opportunity to give him an update on some of the activities that are happening downtown like the specific plan, PBID and downtown development incentives. We'll meet next week. Marv gave me an update on the building's status too.
10:00 We had an internal meeting regarding the specific plan. Wilma has completed the scope of work. Now we are planning our presentation for the council meeting on December 17th. I hope that some of you can join us.
11:00 I met with Jim Christianson, a gentleman that I had met at a talk that I gave a few weeks ago. I gave him an overview of the downtown revitalization plan and the entertainment district concept. It is great to have people who are interested enough in downtown to take time out of their days to come in and find out more.
12:15 I met Dr. Welty and Cynthia Teniente-Matson, Vice President for Administration at CSU, F to give them information about the downtown revitalization effort. I showed them some of the downtown buildings activities around ArtHop and Mono and L Streets.
1:00 I went to buy snacks for the Urban Entrepreneurship presentations.
2:00 We began to set up for the class' final presentations. They were held on the top floor of the Trade Center in the ballroom.
3:00 The presentations began. The class did a fantastic job. Every presentation was solid. I am very proud of the student's ideas and efforts. Thanks to the people who showed up to support these up and coming business leaders and to the Trade Center for letting us use the room.
6:00 Many of the students and folks from the Lyles Center headed to Tokyo Garden for an after class celebration. I love to be around the students...they are a really great group of young adults. It is encouraging.
The Hotel Fresno item that was on today's City Council Agenda was continued for two weeks. I heard from Amy Huerta that the Economic Development Corporation passed. The freeway signs for downtown were also delayed for a couple of weeks. That's what I know for now.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
12/2/09 Fast and Furious
When I got home last night, my computer would not start. Scary.
When I got to work the guys from ISD were ready to do surgery. Amazingly enough, the old Dell booted right up. Same old story, the car works fine when you get to the mechanics. We still backed everything up, just in case.
9:00 We had our agenda conference for the council Meeting on Dec. 10th. We have a few things on the council agenda tomorrow: Hotel Fresno lawsuit, highways signs for downtown Fresno and the contract with the Economic Development Corporation. On the 17th, it will be even busier. The Downtown Development Incentives will go to the council along with the contract for the Specific Plan consulting team.
At 9:30 the agenda conference ended and the directors' meeting began. Most of the discussion is about the budget cuts and issues related to the layoffs. This is certainly a heavy issue that will affect many people and families. It is also a complicated process for the organization. It could take months to really have an understanding of all of the effects. Even in our little department, Ray Arthur is the Film Commissioner, but he also handles the web page, newsletter and is the Public Information Officer. We will have to figure out how to handle people who calls wanting to film in Fresno, and have someone take over the communications pieces. These same issues are happening everywhere, in both public and private organizations.
10:00 We had our weekly downtown coordination meeting. The first issue was the downtown development incentives. There has been a great deal of thought put into these incentives by every department that charges/collects development fees. The simpler, clearer codes of the specific plan, combined with fee reductions or deferrals should speed up the revitalization momentum. They aren't everything, but they get things moving in the right direction.
The next item for this meeting was the draft of interim development standards for the downtown area. The interim standards will help us to have good urban design in downtown and to make it easier for some preferred uses, like entertainment, outdoor dining and mixed-use residential, until the specific plan is adopted.
12:00 The Downtown and Community Revitalization Department watched a webinar on tax incentive programs like New Markets Tax Credits, Historic Tax Credits and Affordable Housing Tax Credits. This was a staff development program so that everyone in our department could increase their knowledge about these valuable revitalization tools. It was very current and detailed.
1:00 I had an update meeting with Council President Cynthia Sterling. We talked about the formation of the community advisory committee for the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan, and the possible dismissal of the Hotel Fresno lawsuit.
2:00 Elaine Robles and I were supposed to have our one on one weekly meeting, but it was not to be today. I was making the rounds trying to answer questions about the Hotel Fresno item. Our hope is that the lawsuit on the Hotel Fresno is dropped. The current property owners have been good downtown investors. They have done a great job renovating the Virginia Hotel and are now working on the old Mayflower Apartments on Broadway and Tuolumne.
I spoke with Council members Brand, Sterling, Westerlund and Borgeas today. I will try to speak to the others tomorrow morning.
I only missed one day of work, but it really backed things up with our council items, the urban entrepreneurship class' final presentations, the budget issues, everything is stacking up. I guess that one good thing about having some experience is that I know that this is how things go. In the revitalization process you try to get things going, and when they do...look out, they all hit at once. Even though things are crazy, that many of the items are still in a very precarious state, we're exactly where we should be.
When I got to work the guys from ISD were ready to do surgery. Amazingly enough, the old Dell booted right up. Same old story, the car works fine when you get to the mechanics. We still backed everything up, just in case.
9:00 We had our agenda conference for the council Meeting on Dec. 10th. We have a few things on the council agenda tomorrow: Hotel Fresno lawsuit, highways signs for downtown Fresno and the contract with the Economic Development Corporation. On the 17th, it will be even busier. The Downtown Development Incentives will go to the council along with the contract for the Specific Plan consulting team.
At 9:30 the agenda conference ended and the directors' meeting began. Most of the discussion is about the budget cuts and issues related to the layoffs. This is certainly a heavy issue that will affect many people and families. It is also a complicated process for the organization. It could take months to really have an understanding of all of the effects. Even in our little department, Ray Arthur is the Film Commissioner, but he also handles the web page, newsletter and is the Public Information Officer. We will have to figure out how to handle people who calls wanting to film in Fresno, and have someone take over the communications pieces. These same issues are happening everywhere, in both public and private organizations.
10:00 We had our weekly downtown coordination meeting. The first issue was the downtown development incentives. There has been a great deal of thought put into these incentives by every department that charges/collects development fees. The simpler, clearer codes of the specific plan, combined with fee reductions or deferrals should speed up the revitalization momentum. They aren't everything, but they get things moving in the right direction.
The next item for this meeting was the draft of interim development standards for the downtown area. The interim standards will help us to have good urban design in downtown and to make it easier for some preferred uses, like entertainment, outdoor dining and mixed-use residential, until the specific plan is adopted.
12:00 The Downtown and Community Revitalization Department watched a webinar on tax incentive programs like New Markets Tax Credits, Historic Tax Credits and Affordable Housing Tax Credits. This was a staff development program so that everyone in our department could increase their knowledge about these valuable revitalization tools. It was very current and detailed.
1:00 I had an update meeting with Council President Cynthia Sterling. We talked about the formation of the community advisory committee for the Downtown Neighborhoods Community Plan, and the possible dismissal of the Hotel Fresno lawsuit.
2:00 Elaine Robles and I were supposed to have our one on one weekly meeting, but it was not to be today. I was making the rounds trying to answer questions about the Hotel Fresno item. Our hope is that the lawsuit on the Hotel Fresno is dropped. The current property owners have been good downtown investors. They have done a great job renovating the Virginia Hotel and are now working on the old Mayflower Apartments on Broadway and Tuolumne.
I spoke with Council members Brand, Sterling, Westerlund and Borgeas today. I will try to speak to the others tomorrow morning.
I only missed one day of work, but it really backed things up with our council items, the urban entrepreneurship class' final presentations, the budget issues, everything is stacking up. I guess that one good thing about having some experience is that I know that this is how things go. In the revitalization process you try to get things going, and when they do...look out, they all hit at once. Even though things are crazy, that many of the items are still in a very precarious state, we're exactly where we should be.
12/1/09 San Francisco
Well, one of the trials of blogging on a consistent basis is consistency. I'm a day behind and I have a million other things to do. But if I don't do them tonight, I'll just be farther behind. Yikes. So this was really written on Dec. 2nd.
I am on the Community Advisory Board for Union Bank. The CAB is made up of 10 people. We have 3 year terms. I joined the CAB last year. Actually, I started this January, but I applied and was accepted last year. We meet 5 times a year. The CAB was formed to help Union Bank to serve their communities better. We make suggestions, give advice, provide feedback when asked, and to act as friendly critics. I am the only representative from the San Joaquin Valley, including Sacramento.
I just completed my first year on the CAB Board and was the Chair of the Housing Committee. We were handed the task of holding a design charrette for an affordable, green, infill housing project in Los Angeles. We held it in Hollywood in October. This meeting was year end wrap-up. The highlight was meeting Mr. Tanaka, the CEO of Union Bank. We had an opportunity to hear his thoughts about the economy and could ask him questions. His main messages were that the recovery would be slow and that small business lending and growth are the solution.
My main goal for the CAB is to have them hold a meeting in Fresno. I'll let you know if this will happen, stay tuned. It would be great exposure for them and for us.
After the meeting ended at 2:00, I went to the Salvation Army Headquarters in SF. The Fresno SA arranged the meeting and tour for me. They wanted for me to see the quality of the projects that the SA is doing now. Ernst Bauer was my tour guide. We spent our time at the Kroc Center in the Tenderloin. This amazing facility has housing for emancipated foster youth, seniors, veterans, and drug and alcohol treatment for homeless people. The facility also has a gym, after school programs, a pool, a pool and rec room, a weight room and a dance center. It's pretty amazing. Google it to get a real picture of this place.
At 5:00 I met my son in SF for dinner at the Tadich Grill. He was already meeting Trevor Dudeck his buddy. We had a great meal, neither had been there before. The lamb shoulder was fantastic.
I dropped the boys off at the Moscone Center for a car show...Trevor had scored free tickets.
I got home at 10:15. No blogging after that. I watched an old south park rerun that was on and hit the sack.
I am on the Community Advisory Board for Union Bank. The CAB is made up of 10 people. We have 3 year terms. I joined the CAB last year. Actually, I started this January, but I applied and was accepted last year. We meet 5 times a year. The CAB was formed to help Union Bank to serve their communities better. We make suggestions, give advice, provide feedback when asked, and to act as friendly critics. I am the only representative from the San Joaquin Valley, including Sacramento.
I just completed my first year on the CAB Board and was the Chair of the Housing Committee. We were handed the task of holding a design charrette for an affordable, green, infill housing project in Los Angeles. We held it in Hollywood in October. This meeting was year end wrap-up. The highlight was meeting Mr. Tanaka, the CEO of Union Bank. We had an opportunity to hear his thoughts about the economy and could ask him questions. His main messages were that the recovery would be slow and that small business lending and growth are the solution.
My main goal for the CAB is to have them hold a meeting in Fresno. I'll let you know if this will happen, stay tuned. It would be great exposure for them and for us.
After the meeting ended at 2:00, I went to the Salvation Army Headquarters in SF. The Fresno SA arranged the meeting and tour for me. They wanted for me to see the quality of the projects that the SA is doing now. Ernst Bauer was my tour guide. We spent our time at the Kroc Center in the Tenderloin. This amazing facility has housing for emancipated foster youth, seniors, veterans, and drug and alcohol treatment for homeless people. The facility also has a gym, after school programs, a pool, a pool and rec room, a weight room and a dance center. It's pretty amazing. Google it to get a real picture of this place.
At 5:00 I met my son in SF for dinner at the Tadich Grill. He was already meeting Trevor Dudeck his buddy. We had a great meal, neither had been there before. The lamb shoulder was fantastic.
I dropped the boys off at the Moscone Center for a car show...Trevor had scored free tickets.
I got home at 10:15. No blogging after that. I watched an old south park rerun that was on and hit the sack.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
11/30/09 Budget redux
A great holiday that included tennis, Men Staring at Goats with Smitty and Elana, and fly fishing the lower kings.
I started with a run with Ellis the dog at 5:00. There was a lot of traffic this morning, we saw four other people. I guess it's time to get up a little earlier.
At 8:30 we had our department's management meeting. We mostly discusses the upcoming budget hearing and discussed what kinds of information the councilmembers might want. The Film Commission, including our Commissioner Ray Arther, and the suspension of the Municipal Restoration Zone were on the agenda for cuts.
10:00 Councilmember Westerlund organized a meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Leo Valdivia, the owners of the Liberty/Hardy Theater. John Raymond, the Assistant Director of the Redevelopment Agency attended too. Marlene Murphey, the RDA Executive Director attended by phone.
We met to discuss possibilities to make the Liberty (on Van Ness, just south of Tulare) more active. We introduced the Valdivia's to one potential promoter.
The Council hearing began at 2:00 and ended about 8:45. I'm sure that it will be covered in the media. The film commission and the MRZ were both eliminated as part of the overall cuts.
I had to jump in the car and head to San Francisco. I got in about 12:15. Just enough time for a very basic blog. I'm in SF for a Union Bank Community Advisory Board. I'll fill you in in a later post. The meeting starts at 8:00. I still have a couple of photos to add to a Powerpoint I'm giving tomorrow.
Sleep tight, Craig
I started with a run with Ellis the dog at 5:00. There was a lot of traffic this morning, we saw four other people. I guess it's time to get up a little earlier.
At 8:30 we had our department's management meeting. We mostly discusses the upcoming budget hearing and discussed what kinds of information the councilmembers might want. The Film Commission, including our Commissioner Ray Arther, and the suspension of the Municipal Restoration Zone were on the agenda for cuts.
10:00 Councilmember Westerlund organized a meeting with Mr. and Mrs. Leo Valdivia, the owners of the Liberty/Hardy Theater. John Raymond, the Assistant Director of the Redevelopment Agency attended too. Marlene Murphey, the RDA Executive Director attended by phone.
We met to discuss possibilities to make the Liberty (on Van Ness, just south of Tulare) more active. We introduced the Valdivia's to one potential promoter.
The Council hearing began at 2:00 and ended about 8:45. I'm sure that it will be covered in the media. The film commission and the MRZ were both eliminated as part of the overall cuts.
I had to jump in the car and head to San Francisco. I got in about 12:15. Just enough time for a very basic blog. I'm in SF for a Union Bank Community Advisory Board. I'll fill you in in a later post. The meeting starts at 8:00. I still have a couple of photos to add to a Powerpoint I'm giving tomorrow.
Sleep tight, Craig
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