Stepping Back to Move Ahead

By Jorge Casuso

September 15 -- Nearly two decades ago, City leaders and Downtown stakeholders decided to launch a bold experiment on Third Street. They levied assessments to pay for improvements and formed the Bayside District Corporation to revitalize and run the dying strip. It was an instant success.

Today, the Third Street Promenade is an international destination and a model for outdoor malls around the world. But in the midst of the crowds that flock to the popular destination are warning signs. The sidewalks are worn, the bathrooms and alleys unwelcoming and transients have made the strip their hangout.

In order to look ahead, Downtown officials have called a timeout. Over the next six months, property owners, businesses, residents and Downtown officials, with the help of consultants, will step back and reevaluate how the heart of the city is being run, what improvements should be made and how they will be paid for.

“It is time to establish a new plan for managing the Promenade and create a vision of what the Promenade is and should become,” said John Warfel, vice chair of the Bayside Board. “It kind of organically took off on its own.

“It’s been extremely successful, but we’re reaching a point where the original infrastructure needs updating and we have competition from venues that have learned from the Promenade,” Warfel said. “Bayside can’t rest on its laurels and become a has-been district.”

“We always want to stay ahead of the curve,” said Bayside Board Chair Bill Tucker, who owns property on the Promenade. “We don’t want something to go wrong to try to fix a good thing…. It’s always important to pause.”

To help draft a new management plan and craft strategies to steer the district over the next five to ten years, Downtown officials have hired Denver-based Progressive Urban Management Associates (PUMA), a prominent consulting firm that has worked with more than 100 cities over the past 13 years.

The consultants – who will hold a series of public and private meetings with Downtown stakeholders – will also help determine where additional funds should be allocated and if special assessments or tax districts funded by property owners, businesses and residents should pay for those improvements.

“The issue is ‘What is the best way to manage, maintain and market Downtown Santa Monica?,’” said Brad Segal, who is heading the consulting team. “Downtown is a great destination, but it also has its own challenges.

“This is a multi-billion dollar real estate and community asset,” Segal said. “Are we really utilizing the best techniques to run it and market it? Are businesses, property owners and residents engaged in the best way they can be engaged? The question is, ‘Is it being run in the best way?’ It’s a fresh look at all of this.” Brad Segal

Segal and his team will study the current management structure of the Bayside District Corporation, which runs the Downtown, and pour over past plans, budgets and market studies. The consultants will also review how the district has been run and the strengths and weaknesses of the current management structure.

The management structure, Segal said, was “created incrementally piece by piece over the last 30 years.” The consultants and stakeholders, he added, will need to determine “whether it needs to be tweaked or overhauled.”

The Bayside poses a unique challenge for the consultants, who will look at other downtowns, including those in Hollywood, San Diego, Pasadena, Sacramento, Denver and Seattle, which have different management plans, some of them including assessments to pay for specific improvements for businesses, residents and public transit.

Currently, the City Council appoints all eleven members to the Bayside District Board of Directors, which decides how the money budgeted by the City is spent and makes policy recommendations to the council.

“In order to increase the services, we need to better control the finances,” said Rob Rader, a resident who is the Bayside Board’s secretary/treasurer. “To better control the finances, we need to have people have a sense of ownership and a sense of being invested in it and to have a say in how the money is spent.

“This is an opportunity to rationalize our process so it is more transparent and to make sure there is more accountability,” Rader said. “We’re at the mercy of the City budget. We need to have more say in our destiny.”

Bayside officials initiated the reevaluation. They note that Downtown businesses and property owners pump more than $17 million in sales taxes, property taxes, business license fees and parking fees into the general fund, but don’t control how the money is spent.

“A lot of the money is coming from the private sector,” Tucker said. “That’s unusual when the private sector doesn’t have much of a say…. The Bayside is funded by the City at their whim, and that’s unusual… We don’t get a pure accounting of how much money goes in, how it’s spent.

“We don’t mind contributing money, but we have two issues – the transparency of the money that goes into the general fund and how the board is appointed,” Tucker said.

Downtown stakeholders note that the City Council not only determines how much money is allocated to the Bayside District – it also must green light any assessments levied to pay for improvements.

“If there are renovations that need to be done, Bayside has to beg” the City, said Barbara Tenzer, a local Realtor who sits on the board of the Greater Promenade Association.

“Every time something needs to be done, you have to start over,” Tenzer said. “It’s not a good thing. You shouldn’t have to beg for money.”

“Basically what we want is a long-term fix,” said Janet Morris, a property owner and member of the Greater Promenade Association. “We want a management that can change on the dime, so when you need to do things, you can do things.

“We are the goose that lays the golden egg, and if we don’t take care of it, we could kill it,” Morris said.

Over the next four months, consultants, armed with a survey of Santa Monica residents and Downtown stakeholders, will compile a list of improvements that will “encourage visitors to come Downtown more often,” said Kathleen Rawson, the district’s executive director.

The list will likely reflect the key concerns expressed during a special meeting in February of the Bayside Board, where property owners, business owners, residents and civic leaders gauged Downtown’s most pressing needs and began planning for the future.

Among the top needs the group identified were managing the Downtown’s homeless problem; improving the maintenance of sidewalks and alleys; installing clean, convenient public restrooms, and improving the alleys.

“It’s time to evaluate where things are and how we make a dent on the core issues,” said Robert O. York, a consultant to the Bayside District. “It’s a great opportunity for people to reassess and make their voices heard.”

“There are some big expenditures that need to be done in the next few years,” said David Martin, a member of the Bayside Board. “The infrastructure is getting old. There are things that need to be done to keep the Promenade new and fresh.”

“All we’re saying is, ‘Look, there’s a certain amount of money raised, do we need more?’” Tucker said. “Instead of layering something on top of it, let’s step back. Maybe we can become a better district and optimize what we’re doing.”

After the public input is compiled, Segal and his team will conduct as many as six round table discussions with Downtown stakeholders to identify priorities for Downtown and determine whether they are willing to levy new assessments. Eight to 15 participants, including retailers, restaurateurs and residents will take part. In addition, there will be 15 one-on-one meetings.

“Part of the fun in doing this work is that every community’s sensibilities are different,” Segal told the board on July 27. “We are trying to balance everyone’s goals as best as we can … We do need the community to have ownership of this plan for it to succeed.

“I’m the therapist,” Segal added. “This process is very much going to feel as if we are going through therapy together. We want to hear from you what your dreams are for Bayside. We want to hear from you about what you like and don’t like.”

Segal expects to have a draft management plan by early 2007 that will include initiatives to promote special events, manage parking, make physical improvements and attract and grow new businesses. The proposal will include budgets and revenue streams and will require the approval of the stakeholders and, ultimately, the City Council.

Segal expects the meetings, leading up to the plan, will be spirited and fruitful.

“Community involvement is more heightened in Santa Monica,” Segal said. “All constituencies share a passion for Downtown. That’s a good thing. We want to build off that. We want to respect the community’s vision for Downtown.

“Maybe we can address these challenges in a way that’s uniquely Santa Monica,” Segal said.

Downtown officials are optimistic the process will pay off for the Bayside, as well as the City.

“I think at the end of the day there may be benefits for the City to make the Bayside District more independent,” Tucker said. “It should be win-win. Everyone should benefit from this.”