Petition drive against downtown K Street Project

2009-04-12T19:55:55Z

Why sign the petition against K Street revitalization efforts?

Here we go again. Pane and followers don't have the originality or creativity to put forward ideas and suggestions for businesses that would revitalize K Street, but they will spend their energy to be nay-sayers to SF entrepreneur's proposal to create entertainment venues.

Sure the project is risky. Sure it might fail. Sure it uses tax money. Have these self-appointed defenders of our tax dollars ever heard of "investment?" Taxpayer dollars are often used to invest in a community. What's wrong with that? Some have said it would be better if we had a “Downtown Market”—like Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Sounds like a great idea, but that is a risk too.

Look at the federal government's use of tax dollars to invest in the Tennessee Valley in 1933 when it created the Tennessee Valley Authority. Was it a risk? YES! Was there a guarantee that such an investment would pay off? NO! But it has paid the government back in millions more dollars than originally spent and enabled business to thrive, created millions of jobs and raised the standard of living for those millions of people living in that area. Without that initial spark of investment that area would still be impoverished.

Everyone who goes into business is taking a risk. What has happened to this city's investment mentality with or without tax dollars? The past local success of this kind of investment risk can be demonstrated by the $50 million dollars netted by the City with its original $8 million investment in the Sheraton, of which almost half has gone to shoring up our City’s current deficit allowing for fewer cuts to necessary services such as police and fire. Did anyone know that? Do the nay-sayers care?

The type of investment the city approved for K Street and the SF investor is offering to bring to Sacramento's downtown BELONGS downtown and not in Pane's, midtown's or anyone else's residential neighborhood. An investment strategy tries to predict who its customers will be to help make the investment a success.

The questions are, then, who are Downtown's customers? Do Pane and those signing the petition patronize downtown retail and service businesses, dinner houses, nightclubs and bars at night NOW? A first step would be for them to do so, and maybe there wouldn’t be a risk or a need for something else! Absent that, how about those twenty one thousand plus petition signers (10% required registered city voters to sign the petition to get it on the next regular ballot) commit to being regular customers of the proposed project? That could result in an early return on the city's investment! Further, what ideas do they have? They should suggest something unique and maybe they would get the tax dollars that they are opposing the SF entrepreneur will get. That is really how they could help. But of course, that would mean "putting their money where their mouth is"--hardly a realistic expectation from the experts on "no."

While many residents of Placerville, Roseville, Auburn, Lincoln, Rocklin or other regional suburban residents work downtown, is it a reasonable goal to expect them to stay downtown after work or count on them and their neighbors to drive back to downtown to be a customer pool to support downtown businesses? Other than a performance at the Community Center, Music Circus or occasional visit to a museum, I wouldn't place any bets on them.

Aren't downtown's customers primarily the conventioneers, the tourists, the Sacramento visitors who stay in the hotels downtown and residents (and their guests) who live a reasonable distance from downtown--all of whom are looking for something interesting and fun to do evenings? What is the present variety of those activities for them to walk a few blocks to participate in or see during the evenings in downtown Sacramento?

Why sign a petition that will go to city voters, the majority of whom care little to nothing about downtown or ever shop or visit downtown? Voting on this issue is reminiscent of the years-ago valiant efforts by preservationists to save the Alhambra Theater by placing its fate on a citywide ballot when most voters then cared little to nothing about that historic unique theater. Those uncaring voters killed the Alhambra. We elect our city council to act in our city's best interests. Sometimes they haven’t, but in this case they did.

If you want to see entertainment in vibrant "downtown where the lights are bright," you won’t get it by signing this petition or voting for it if there are enough valid signatures to place it on the ballot.