Only in Marin
Plans, PR, Prison Purchases & Presh
Columnist: Bill Meagher
May, 2009 Issue
There’s a reason San Rafael is the most business friendly place in Marin. Faced with a recession that’s contributed to a $3 million budget gap, the city is laying plans to do all it can to make it easier for new businesses to come to San Rafael, old businesses to remain in town and to fast-track projects through the planning process.
In the early 1990s, downtown San Rafael was a ghost town with plenty of empty storefronts and a Macy’s that was struggling. Firing a cannon down the main drag on 4th Street wouldn’t have been a threat to public safety. But the city, along with the San Rafael Chamber and residents, made plans for a renaissance of sorts, with housing above retail and a combination of dining and entertainment at night. With the remodeling of the Rafael Theater and more businesses staying open at night, the downtown made a comeback. Today, navigating 4th Street by car is an exercise in frustration as folks come down to shop or eat.
But things aren’t all they could be, and the city is looking to get creative to keep San Rafael viable in the midst of the downturn. While the city’s motivation is to make up a budget shortfall, its concern for businesses’ health is genuine. The city is looking for big ticket help by hustling approvals for car dealership properties on both sides of Highway 101 along both East and West Francisco Boulevards. A pre-owned Mercedes dealership is eyeing property at 540 West Francisco, an Audi/VW shop could open at 700 West Francisco, and a Nissan dealership might slip into the former Audi/VW location at 740 West Francisco.
San Rafael would still like to see a Target—and its sales tax help—move into the Shoreline Center. But the project is still in the environmental review process, and Target is scaling back new openings this year and next (that said, the company is pushing hard for an anchor spot in the proposed Regency Center project in Petaluma), so any help here is still years away. Marin Square, a strip mall located adjacent to the Highway 580 exit, has been purchased by Sutter Health, but so far the health care provider hasn’t filed any plans to change the retail/office location.
Novato city officials also aren’t sleeping on the economic tough turn, they just don’t have a plan in place yet. The Downtown Committee, a group made up of business owners and city officials, wants to improve signage directing more people to Old Town (as the Grant Avenue district is known locally). Another concept is to ask downtown businesses to stay open later. But this idea may have a hard time gaining traction at a time when shopkeepers are seeing a drop in revenues and are looking for ways to contain costs.
At the other end of Marin, the Mill Valley Chamber of Commerce has struggled so mightily that it asked the city for a $10,000 bailout. Cash flow has become critical as event sponsors have taken a step back and membership renewals for the 350-member nonprofit have been inconsistent. The city fronted the Chamber the money as an advance against city sponsorship of events as well as participation in chamber programs.
Ramping up to speak out?
The Marin Healthcare District will take over operation of Marin General Hospital from Sutter Health on July 1, 2010. With that in mind, the District wants to begin putting its best foot forward. This is a different strategy than the one often employed by the District, which more commonly trips over its own feet or puts its foot in its mouth. With this in mind, the District has contracted with San Francisco public relations firm Fineman PR.
The District has been at war with Sutter for years. Sutter has guided the operation of the hospital by the Marin General Hospital Corp., but the relationship has deteriorated to the point where, after the contract expires next year, the District will take the hospital back after 25 years of private operation.
Fineman will collect between $13,000 and $25,000 a month depending on the services it provides on the month-to-month contract. Fineman will have to dive in, as the District has a reputation for being stingy with information, and it’s likely that Fineman and the District will embark on a campaign to explain how the District will operate without Sutter.
Fineman also represents the Sequoia Healthcare District in San Mateo County and the Republic of Tea here in Marin. The first order of business for Fineman might be spinning the decision by Sutter to retain control of the hospital until July of 2010. Sacramento-based Sutter had the option of handing the hospital back sooner, but recently announced it will hold on until next summer.
Want to buy a prison?
San Quentin has made the big time, garnering a story in the Wall Street Journal about the efforts by Assemblyman Jared Huffman and State Senator Jeff Denham to derail the ill-advised expansion of death row. Denham has actually gone one step further, authoring a bill that proposes selling the prison for redevelopment in the hopes of realizing as much as $2 billion from the sale of the waterfront property.
You have to give Denham an A for effort, but with Governor Schwarzenegger dedicated to the $356 million plan to expand death row in the 150-year-old prison, and the muy influential California Correctional Peace Officers Association tossing about political contributions the way AIG hands out bonuses, the bill will likely never see the light of day.
End with something pretty
Presh, the San Anselmo jewelry company owned by Nicole Apostoli, has been getting exposure in national magazines. While the sparklers are available at Accents in Novato, the publicity in such magazines as InStyle, Lucky and Seventeen doesn’t hurt. Apostoli’s jewelry was also featured in this year’s Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue, the annual landmark publication that features the very best in sports coverage.
OK, I had to go through the issue three times before I realized that the models were wearing jewelry. That said, the jewelry is very nice.
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Bill Meagher