Economic Development Perspective

By Mary Anne Landis

A well-rounded approach that includes:

• the bigger county-wide picture
• our downtown core
• the shop local movement
• ways to increase the revenue streams for City government

will provide the base for renewing our identity as an economically thriving city.

We all want good paying jobs, a downtown that's a commercial hub and a city government that serves its citizens well. To bring this change about I propose multi-pronged plan for economic vitality. My plan will focus on:

• the bigger county-wide picture
• our downtown core
• the shop local movement
• ways to increase the revenue streams for City government.

In our downtown, part of the answer lies in making government more accessible and customer friendly for those who want to bring businesses in or improve existing businesses. That means we need to create the public policy to support a change in the perception of those seeking assistance from the city. Much like the model I observed in Sunnyvale, our residents can be viewed as customers rather than applicants-- a small shift in perspective can bring about much bigger changes. We also need to create more incentives for smaller business people to improve their businesses. This business incentive program is in development and should be very useful for owners of properties in the downtown who need to meet state or federal mandates regarding things like sewer laterals, ADA compliance, grease interceptors, fire sprinklers among other options.

Then, there's the location of the new Courthouse and the swift re-purposing of the old Courthouse building. Working with the Public Advisory Group that is advising the Administrative Office of the Courts, the selection of a location which is a near to downtown as possible is a priority. Addressing what happens to the old courthouse will involve the county and citizens planning for the retention of this center of commercial activity.

Shopping Local makes so much sense, not just from the economic effect of the money staying local and multiplying back into the community, but also because of its effect on our social capital-- the folks in our community who take the risks to run businesses, support our youth and adult sports programs, donate to non-profits and live here, raising families. You can see some the fabulous, winning videos from the Youth Shop Local video contest that I spearheaded this past Spring at these four websites:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USY47t_PCDU , David MacDonald shop local http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4-XryISU0M , Lexi Jenne, shop local http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0YHj0gTe6o, Morris and Blandford shop local http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUM5xdwAPMU ,Ellen Sassnerath, shop local

And finally the issue of increasing the revenues in our Redevelopment Agency in order to promote more revitalization of the downtown, revolves around locating an anchor in our Airport Business Park. This anchor business can stablize our Business Park, reduce economic leakage, and build our tax increment for future development of Ukiah's lovely downtown. Though I realize this is a controversial issue for some who oppose big box stores, to me, with the planning we have done, we have said that the area at the Airport Business Park is where we say big box stores are acceptable. Although I would prefer that locally owned businesses were our mainstay, many in our community rely on the goods from large scale retail stores for their needs. For others this may be controversial because there is not a clear understanding about how the Redevelopment Agency is funded and how this particular sequence of decisions can actually lead to a more vital downtown.

A well-rounded approach to economic development is essential to creating the bright economic future we all want.