| In five years everything will be swell. |
From the City of Pacifica. "Adopted on February 14, 2006, Pacifica's Strategic Plan represents the ideas, input and feedback of a cross-section of citizens who attended a series of workshops designed to identify where the city should be headed and what its priorities should be. The city council now has the directive to keep its governance in harmony with the strategic plan." City of Pacifica Strategic Plan, updated March 2007.
Five year community vision statement. Pacifica will be: economically and ecologically vibrant, fiscally sound and community focused, and a beautiful, desirable and safe coastal community in which to live, work, play or conduct business.
Mission statement. The coastal community of Pacifica is dedicated/committed to: The stewardship of its exceptional natural attributes, and cultivating and sustaining a high and excellent quality of life for residents, businesses and visitors.
Goals. (Goals were not prioritized and numbering does not imply prioritization).
1. Preserve and enhance Pacifica's natural resolurces and open space to ensure an ecologically vibrant community.
2. Evaluate land use issues to ensure that the goals, policies and programs of the General Plan reflect the community's vision and mission.
3. Maintain, modernize and beautify the City's infrastructure and facilities.
4. Broaden and enhance local revenues to provide stable, reliable, and sufficient revenue sources.
5. Foster a vibrant business climate.'
6. Promote cultural arts and community services.
7. Enhance economic development in a manner which emphasizes sustainable urban development, increased public sector revenue increased investment in the community, and positively impacts the physical environment and quality of life.
8. Maintain a safe community that is prepared for emergencies.
9. Provide efficient, cost effective city government and excellent customer service and administration.
10. Implement measures that improve traffic congestion and enhance safety.
Note: graphic from Coturnix blog.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
32 comments:
How much did this cost the taxpayers?
John Curtis ran this meeting. He said front and center and did 90% of the talking telling them what to do.
Thank the gang of no and their puppet council members Pete, Jim & Sue for this and everything else they did to promote hiking trails and limit progress. Oh I forgot, they don't exist. And if they did they hav told us they don't like to be called that. Oops sorry.
Da plane! da plane, boss! Pacifica has a fondness and, let's face it, makes timely and tactical use of issuing plans and reports. Not every fantasy is an island.
I am curious to know the progress on
5. Foster a vibrant business climate.
What has the city done so far? What does it need to do? And how can the citizens help?
When businesses that have been in existence for 50 years start closing, you don't have a vibrant business climate.
817 You might have someone retiring or a business that can no longer compete with over the hill. Not saying the city has done squat to foster a vibrant business community, just that one size doesn't fit all when businesses close.
As a starting point. I would suggest looking at small towns similar in size and demographics. See what type businesses have made them successful. Perhaps too many restaurants or small mom and pop stores cannot compete with the chains; but perhaps lite manufacturing or small tech companies might thrive. Just an idea that might be worth exploring/
726 They can start by hiring the economic development director they've been promising for 2 years.
904 You make a good suggestion. Pacifica has space for light industry and high-tech and plenty of Pacificans would love to work in town. The problem is that the community can suggest and hope for any number of common-sense solutions to the slo-mo collapse of Pacifica, but until we have a council that isn't worried about their approval rating among those opposed to revenue-producing development, we will see no economic development of any importance. Lots of talk, lots of posturing, plans and reports and goals up the yazoo and nothing else. The day they hire an Economic development director is the day things start to change.
10:06
The city manager was hired for one reason, she helped in building a new library for Walnut Creek. Walnut Creek is a thriving city, with business and a downtown. Pacifica is not.
Now they want to hire an assistant city manager at almost $200k a year so Tinfow can work on the Library at the sea.
Can you see the city council is bowing down the library group and trying desparately to "taint" the Old Waste Water Treatment plant.
No developer is going to jump in with a Library and poop pump next door and touch this parcel.
From Mary Ann's fluff piece
With your support, Mary Ann will work to:
· Achieve financial sustainability
· Maintain and enhance city services
· Revitalize aging business districts
· Promote economic development
· Seek out and encourage new businesses
· Protect our hills, open space, and environment
· Build a new library/life long learning center
· Support our schools and children, and
· Preserve our quality of life.
Mary Ann Has:
Fought for dog rights
Got doggie parks built
Focusing on 30 Mil Library
Took expensive trips
Tried to tax us at every turn
Acted aloof
Yanked her own chain
7:37
So what do you think should be done with this parcel, especially since the "poop pump" isn't going anywhere?
If you've seen one Pacifica City Council, you've seen them all.
737 Council broke into a spontaneous circle dance when they found her. Names on a building, names on a building, we're going to get our names on a building!
945, why don't you be a "big boy" and put your name on comments that attack individual city council members? I suspect you've made an anonymous passion of using Mary Ann for target practice on this article and others.
Addressing your list (which warrants further consideration):
1. If Mary Ann "fought" for the "doggie park", good for her. Dogs need places to socialize, and run free.
2. A "30 mil library" would be nice, but we also need sustainable economic development (that generates maximum city revenue). Property owners paying bonds for over a few decades to build one library only is not so appealing.
3. City council trip and expense reimbursement to attend local, regional and state meetings are compatible with the job description (nothing unusual). And Mary Ann is not only Mayor of this city, she is now Chairman of City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County, C/CAG. That leadership role may be helpful to this city and our community.
4. Mary Ann is very bright, and proactive in her official capacity. Sure, some of us are disappointed that she has not been the significant leader with vision to move city development forward at something other than a snail's pace (if at all). But, your comments that she "acted aloof, and yanked her own chain" are not specific, and simply are more blanket doggie-do.
City council does need to get serious about their #1 action goal: economic development. Hiring an effective Economic Development Director should be a good first step. We can thank then Mayor Len Stone for creating the city council goal list (no such list existed prior); and we can thank the current city council for establishing the goal priorities (with economic development at the top).
I am not sure a $30 million dollar expense that has no way to pay for itself is the right thing to do for Pacifica at this point in time.
Culture always comes after good business. I would spend money on beautifying my home *after* I've determined I am running a profitable business.
Pacifica is not profitable. Not yet.
One suggestion I have to improve business in Pacifica:
a) Designate Pacifica as the craft brewing & craft chocolate & bakery capital of the SF Bay Area
b) Business tax holiday for craft breweries & craft chocolatiers & bakeries for 5-8 years.
c) Attract local breweries (Anchor Steam, Anderson Brewing -- some examples) to open shop in Pacifica
d) This would bring in:
1) Employment to the city
2) Tourism -- brewery and chocolate, bakery factory tours are quite popular.
e) We don't have to attract big brands -- Pacifica doesn't have the real estate they need anyway.
f) We can focus on helping the small business guy who has a unique product and is catering to a specialized customer.
g) this will not burden the city -- since providing tax holiday would result in incremental business and in fact would help the city by attracting employment and tourism
Thoughts?
1034 Too bad we can't go back and save the $700,000+ spent on asinine plans in the past 10 years by current and previous regimes.
Keep it simple, market the whole parcel aggressively and without any city conditions or preferences on use. You know the CCC will provide all the conditions.
If it doesn't sell, and it just might not, form a city/developer partnership to build a hotel and restaurant with plenty of the open space/coastal access to keep the CCC happy. Of course this city doesn't know how to do that, but they can hire a pro on contract or a consultant for that specific task. The city puts up the land to get the TOT, jobs, visitor spending and a small permanent share of the business. Not a ladida unknown boutique hotel but something with national name recognition and mid-range prices. Conference facilities on a small scale. Wedding site. Design the open space/coastal access part as a simple town plaza accessible from Beach Blvd, Montecito and Palmetto. Fed and state grants available for that part. A town plaza is also something that would draw visitors on its own to explore the area. More foot
traffic would draw more businesses to serve them. In fact, if we can't make a development deal, a simple plaza built with fed and state funds, could be a way to fix that eyesore and revitilize the area until something better comes along.
IMHO, we are trying to do too much with that parcel. Once a public building became part of council's plans, the odds for success went right out the window. Council will have to meet at the police station or the community center. Get over yourselves!
I suggested leasing the sewer plant to a restaurant 10 years ago. Kind of Beach Chalet esq. The leaser would gladly invest in the conversion. Or a micro brewery. We could have been reaping the lease money plus the added stimulus, sales tax, jobs etc all this time.
Now they should at least use the lot for parking during the Fog Fest. Or collector cars.
But no it's just another wasted property owned by the city. Oh well.
The CCC is notoriously hard on hotels by private developers, but if the property is city owned public property and the city is a partner in the project and provides enough coastal access and open space in the project, it could work.
Anyone believe this city hasn't known all along that the CCC would have issues with a hotel, restaurant, or homes in that space?
To the CCC a public building equals public access. Limited use, limited disturbance. The first plan was for a city hall. The financial meltdown made that idea a political liability so we go with the warm fuzzy library with an itty bitty council chambers. Not a money maker but could get CCC approval with enough open space and coastal access thrown in. Bye bye hotel and homes.
Kathy
The pooch group was behind the doggie park, Mary Ann jumped on it and said it was all her idea just like how Jimmy V. would have.
252, thanks for your further clarification. I'm very much aware of how hard Beverly Kingsbury and others from POOCH worked to get that dog park, and how hard they worked to maintain it as well. Of course, the project moved forward through the City over time and with controversy, subject to city research, approvals and cost to the city and to them. I don't know the current status of the dog park, its quiet out there.
Hutch
Being a capitalist in this city is bad. Very very bad.
Now write on the chalkboard 100 times. I will not rock the ship in Pacifica.
Libertarian good points but, it takes money to make money and the city has no money.
Beer and Chocolate do you understand what that would do to Pacifican's waist lines?
How quiet? Has it been quietly closed or had its hours reduced? Opposition from a Sanchez tenant was relentless.
945 Nihart is a politician, no better or worse than any we've seen before. Instinctively seeks the middle-ground. Do you preer extremists? Big ego, so what? She's smart and has a mental health professional's insight into human behavior but she can't dispense meds when constituents get hard to manage. More than anything, she's a victim and a beneficiary of too much build-up.
You want saints or miracles, go to church.
The only saints I know of are in New Orleans. Don't really believe in miracles and politicans are all pretty much full of BS.
Mary Ann made false promises and wrote checks the city couldn't cash. She needs to take the flak better than having a near breakdown and having a one way portal on Nextdoor with no taxpayer feedback.
This whole siting city council needs to be strongly reviewed. I don't believe a single one of them deserves to be re-elected.
@3:22
Craft Brewing has fairly low capital requirements. And similarly for chocolatiers. All the city needs to do is provide advantage for those people who want to brew specialist beer and bake specialist confectionery in Pacifica.
These business do not already exist in Pacifica. By giving them a tax holiday for a period of time, it would give them an incentive to start their business in Pacifica instead of anywhere else in the bay.
Doing so, would attract capital and outside customers to Pacifica.
I was driving by Sam's Chowder House in HMB a little while ago. Friday afternoon an its packed. We have to create that effect in Pacifica.
As for the waistline, one could buy cheap beer and chocolates today at safeway or other grocery stores .. its a personal choice. And promoting industry in Pacifica shouldn't and wouldn't affect that. So, I am not too worried about that.
I think your disenchantment sounds a little personal. She's no better or worse than the rest and I mean the rest, current and past. The letdown was inevitable after all that hype and nonsense. It's always fun to watch that campaign dance between candidates and various wannabe power-brokers. Who needs who more? Who wakes up with more regrets? New Council, my ass. Bottom line, they're pallbearers.
4:31 the waistline comment was made in humor.
Relax have a cold one. It's Friday afternoon almost time for baseball.
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