02-23-10 Tuesday

I woke up at 4:08 ready to roll. On the street for a jaunt with the pup by 4:30.


I headed to the downtown Holiday Inn coffee shop for some breakfast about 6:15. I needed to catch up on the blog and write my director's message for our bi-monthly newsletter. If you aren't on the list, let me know at craig.scharton@fresno.gov and I'll make sure that you are on the list.


8:00 I spoke to the Fresno Board of Realtors. I spoke about the specific plan and how that will positively affect the neighborhoods surrounding downtown. We went over a brief history of why our neighborhoods deteriorated and how they are currently a bargain for people looking for their first home, just like the Tower was 20 years ago.


9:00 City Manager Bruce Rudd organized an off-site retreat to focus specifically on downtown issues. We spent 3 hours going over each department’s projects and efforts, timeframes and resource. We focused half of the time on neighborhood issues and half on downtown core issues. I think that all of the budget issues are going to strain some of the attention and enthusiasm for revitalization activities, so we'll have to be even more motivational.


12:00 I spoke with the Cultural Arts District Rotary Club that meets at Arte Americas. This is a well-informed group of downtown enthusiasts, so they really wanted to know more about the substance of the specific plan, the Met Museum, how the plans will affect Southwest Fresno, how the high speed rail will function within downtown.


1:00-3:00 We had an update meeting with the consultants who are designing the high speed rail and looked at some of the train station layouts, given some of the site constraints. This was a very helpful meeting, they show how people will get to the platform (60 feet in the air). Our goal is to focus as much activity into the center of our downtown as possible.


4:00 We had our weekly Downtown and Community Revitalization staff meeting. Elaine Robles walked us through her Neighborhood Revitalization work plan. We rotate through the work plans as a way to keep everyone in the department up to date.


6:00 I met Larry Balakian for dinner at the Elbow Room. Larry is a long-time supporter of the arts in Fresno, and the state as a former California Arts Council board member. He is also a guru of event planning. It was great to connect with Larry and also to get his insight into how to improve and grow downtown events like the HyeFest.