Fresno Famous

California has had a great revitalization tool for communities to use called a Property Based Improvement District (we write PBID, but pronounce the acronym pee-bid). The state legislature created PBIDs about 13 years ago at the request of downtown Sacramento Property Owners and community leaders.

So, Sacramento started the first PBID by forming the Downtown Sacramento Partnership 13 years ago. They provide Downtown Guides which are additional friendly "eyes on the street" (a loving quote from Jane Jacobs). They also are able to pressure wash sidewalks, hire social workers to assist homeless folk, and stage events. The assessment on property has been renewed with a 92% approval of property owners.

In the Valley, the only PBID that I'm aware of is Visalia's Downtown Alliance , which coexists with a business/merchant assessment district. Together they generate about $500,000 annually to run downtown programs.

Now, back to Fresno. Last Thursday the City Council voted to add $75,000 to the budget to hire an experienced consultant to create a downtown PBID. Yes, this is one of those cases when you want someone with expertise to put this thing together. There are legal petitions, public meetings, engineering reports and elections to be held. This is something that we have to get right the first time!

We are lucky to have a gentleman named Dan Doyle in town. Dan is the president of Central Valley Community Bank (who just opened a branch downtown). He was also the first board chair in Sacramento, making him the first chair of the first PBID in California. Dan has been the champion of a downtown Fresno PBID for a few years. His experience will be a great asset.

The Cultural Arts District board, the Regional Jobs Initiative's Livability Task Force, Penstar's President Tom Richards and others from the community showed enough community support to gain political momentum. Thanks to them, and hooray for us.

Now we just have to put this thing together. So please consider thanking the City Council Members for their support and offer to help with the process if you can, or ask to be kept informed of the PBID progress. You can email them from the City of Fresno's website.