Santa Ana Council Member Sal Tinajero may put an item on an upcoming City Council meeting agenda to get rid of the Downtown Santa Ana Pbid, a property assessment that is collected and spent by a non-profit, Downtown Inc. There has been a lot of anger on the part of small businesses made to pay these fees (either directly as property owners or passed on to them in their leases by their landords), but who feel that they don’t draw benefit from Downtown Inc’s marketing, which has apparently benefited the Downtown restaurants and bars more.
Need more proof of that? Tara Jimenez, the owner of Drapes Vintage, was hired by Downtown, Inc. to run workshops to teach local Downtown businesses how they could make their stores more appealing to the downtown’s changing demographic,” according to the Voice of OC. But she is now closing her business – and she has turned on Downtown Inc. too.
The fact is that the arts movement in Downtown Santa Ana never included the overall Santa Ana community. The Artists Village succeeded in part thanks to millions of redevelopment dollars, which are now gone.
Really, when you think about it the Artists Village was a bit of a nutty experiment, at taxpayer expense. Usually when you want to open a new business you conduct marketing research and check out the area demographics to see if the enterprise is a good fit for the area. The Artists Village however was an attempt to ignore the local demographics and instead appeal to those who don’t live here. Well, as Drapes Vintage’s owner found out the hard way, folks did come here to get wasted and look at, but not generally buy, artwork, those visitors don’t spend money on other businesses. They come here, eat, get wasted and leave. Sometimes they pee on our streets before they leave, as has been the case with some of the customers at the Velvet Lounge.
Isn’t it time now to rethink our Downtown? Let’s leave the Artists Village as it is but let’s also bring in businesses and entertainment that will appeal to Santa Ana’s families.
Just look at Brea’s successful Downtown. We could have had that, but instead we ended up with a seedier version of Fullerton’s downtown, thanks to Don Cribb and his pals.
Imagine what a first-rate movie theater could do to our Downtown? What about some family restaurants? Or a comedy club? Enough with the bars and upscale restaurants already. If they want to tax folks so they can market themselves, why not tax themselves?
It is high time to end the Pbid assessment – which really is just another property tax. I hope that Tinajero can find two more votes on the Council. Council Member David Benavides ought to be one of those votes. The artists have attacked his friends from the Newsong Church, making racist and anti-Christian comments. Benavides doesn’t need these people. He ought to vote to get rid of the Pbid and show solidarity with the small businesses that are still trying to make it in Downtown Santa Ana.
And Council Member Michele Martinez, who is running for the 69th Assembly District, should vote against the Pbid too. Sure, Cribb is backing her but most of the artists are backing her opponent, leftwing union nut Julio Perez. At the end of the day her loyalty should lie with the people of our city, not the outsiders who just come here to eat and get drunk.
Council Member Vince Sarmiento and Mayor Miguel Pulido cannot vote for or against the Pbid, due to conflicts of interest. But you know that Mayor Pro Tem Claudia Alvarez will be happy to vote to end the Pbid.
PBID is a property tax, not a small business tax.
But if the small business owns the building, they are directly on the hook, right? And if they lease it you don’t think the owner will pass that PBID tax on to them? Of course they will.
But you bring up a good point. Property owners in the Downtown who have no retail businesses are getting screwed by this assessment. It does overly favor the bars and restaurants, at everyone else’s expense. Why not just tax the bars and restaurants? Or better yet, let them do that themselves as association dues. The city government need not be involved in this at all.
There you go again, Mr. Propaganda Minister, spreading misinformation about the Artists. Oh how you love baiting the artists to fight you. Santa Ana, a place for Art! No?
This is how you are wrong.
a)The majority of activists artists from the A.V. have always been highly critical of Downtown Inc., especially in regards to the concept of an unfair property tax policy. (most of us are libertarian at heart, but politics get in the way)
b)The Artists have always resented being used by Downtown Inc. or any capitalizing/marketing firm for other people’s benefit and that includes a Christian Church Marketing Firm! Doh.
C) You have cut off my comment space.
Great, then we agree. The PBID should go.
Neither should be the case the PBID nor the Association.
The business is based on the competition which does refine it.
Hence, if you create an Association of the business which are equally bad they will dominate against any new commerce or will force it to join, monopolizing the area which leads to degradation of the business as is happening downtown Santa Ana.
Remember that my Mayoral philosophy was not to involve city in any support for business activity, only to provide a safe playground for it.
Rest should be resolved by the business forces, meaning that bad business will go out of the business.
Fiala, you were doing just fine with your argument until the end and then you contradicted yourself. Because in actuality, corrupt monopolizing associations will destroy the good business before the bad business goes out of business as well.
What do the “Occupier’s” have to say?
The “PBID” is a tax on the 1 percent to pay for cleaning up the area and advertising to the 99 “percent”.
The city spent plenty of 99’s tax money in subsidies to the 1’s, who have reaped the rewards of higher property values and rental income’s.
Makes your head spin just thinking about it.
Not sure about the PBID or where the money really goes to, but I can say that it takes restaurants and “destination” places to get outsiders to come to an area to spend money..oh…and then they see the shops and retail that are really cool, and then it’s a win-win. Economic Development 101. It’s starting to happen, but some of the stinkin’ stores refuse to stay open past 6 or 7:00. That includes some of the food places! Kicking themselves in the wallet! They just need to take advantage of the market that is coming to them.
But they’re not spending money on our retail stores. Ask the owner of Drapes Vintage. These folks come here to get drunk and then they leave…
“Because in actuality, corrupt monopolizing associations will destroy the good business before the bad business goes out of business as well.”…… Hmmmmmm
I think that you do not understand my ESL mateo.
I said [NO] PBID, ASSOCIATION, hence, [NO] monopolization!!!
Bay definition there is NO good business in a monopoly!!!
Only bad business!!!!
My statement: Rest should be resolved by the business forces, meaning that bad business will go out of the business — means outside of the monopoly.
Exactly Admin.
Downtown is slowly regressing to a night life only,tourists destination for partiers that have no interest in unique retail or culture of any kind. If they had any uniqueness about them would they start standing in line at 11:00 to go into a bar where they can’t even order a drink in comfort and engage in any meaningful conversation? No. If they had any wits or street smarts, they would avoid the D.U.I.s and attempt meaningful downtime s.t.d. free with Mr. Propaganda Minister @ New Santa Ana. This is not elitism talking, I spent nearly 40 years acting like the same self destructive type of dolt that most of these younguns are aspiring to be. Jesus did not save me. The Grand Inquisitor pulled my head out of my arse.
Yep. Weaker version of Fullerton’s downtown. With redevelopment gone the time is now to plot a new direction. Ending the PBID should be the first step we take…
mateo,
If you are good – paint something like Mona Lisa and live happily ever after from the proceeds but stop asking for the handouts and stop promulgating your socialistic crapola.
I no ask for the handouts Fiala. Me no like Mona Lisa too.
The PBID plan as presented to the city council and the downtown community is flawed and will fail. First of all the Hispanic shopping district historically has been successful only second in tax revenue to the Main Place Mall.So the argument of revitalization by Downtown Inc. is corrupt. An excuse to follow a plan with an agenda.
The recent decline is a consequence of competition with closed malls and large department stores. The competitors offer what downtown lacks…………infrastructure to service the shopper.
The traditional downtown shopper has assimilated to the degree that they want services the downtown lacks……….free parking, bathrooms, food courts, good lighting, comfortable hard and soft scrapie and pedestrian friendly.
The traditional Hispanic downtown shopper, second and third generation Hispanic shopper and others having the option of a Old Navy store in downtown and another in the Main Place Mall will choose the one at the Main Place Mall due to the shopper friendly infrastructure that the downtown lacks
So Downtown Inc’s PBID plan to the Council and the Council adopting it will fail if the plan is to bring restaurants and shops to the downtown without the necessary infrastructure to compete with Other Malls and large department stores that have the infrastructure that shoppers seek.
Producing the infrastructure will bring the local and surrounding Hispanic shopper back to historical levels and beyond. This maybe be the reason the infrastructure question is ignored and the reason for the failure of recruiting south county patrons.
“I no ask for the handouts Fiala. Me no like Mona Lisa too.”……. Hmmmmmm
Interesting imitation of my ESL.
If you do not like Mona Lisa than create any other artistic (or is it spell autistic?… not sure) crapola, pay your rent, and who knows maybe some day you will be discovered and become the 1%.
Me no complaining.
“Producing the infrastructure will bring the local and surrounding Hispanic shopper back to historical levels and beyond”……… Hmmmmmm
Interesting statement Dr. Amalgam: “back to historical levels and beyond”.
Do you mean lake “back to the future?…. or back to feathers.
I am currently working on a painting depiction of Fiala and Theo Hirsch making sweet love and working out all of their post-totalitarian trauma.
“I am currently working on a painting”…… Hmmmmm
You are kidding me…. Huh?
Do you mean that you are actually working?…. I thought that artists are creating.
Forget about me and Hirsch.
Try to make money mateo, so put Vern “Gröfaz” Nelson’s – “I have a dream” retitled “Procreating Progressive Liberalism”, on the canvas in oil and place it in the Bowers on consignment.
Me no complaining!