April 2009
1. Clean
& Safe Security Update
2. Clean & Safe Maintenance Program
3. West Side Community Court
4. Neighborhood District Attorney Update
5. Community Work Crew Activitiy
6. March Crew Comments
7. Theft Accountability Class (TAC)
8. Sidewalk Ambassadors
9. Downtown Marketing Initiative (DMI)
10. Parking Meter Increase
11. Downtown Retail Advocate
12. Retailer Update
13. Disabled Parking Task Force
14. Development Committee
1.
Clean & Safe Security Update
Recurring
problems with drug dealing at Fourth Avenue and Washington
Street caused police to target the area with a drug mission
in March. The Mobile Police Precinct was staged nearby to
directly monitor the situation and provide officer support
in the area, and area property owners provided viewpoints
for police observation of undercover buys. One officer was
approached by a brazen drug dealer and asked if police would
leave as 'it was messing up his business.' Clean & Safe security
and the embedded police bicycle officers were integral in
this operation, and reports from area business owners who
had recently experienced frustration have been overwhelmingly
positive. Fifty-three indictments for 41 suspects have been
issued and are being served, and the police plan to continue
being vigilant to avoid shifting the problem to another location.
Clean
& Safe identified and captured two serial car prowlers last
month. One had broken into six vehicles in downtown structures.
This suspect attempted to flee and was captured with evidence
of the break-ins on his person. His parole officer was notified
and he was returned to custody for 56 months in prison. The
other car prowler was followed from a structure by Clean &
Safe unarmed security and was subsequently detained by police
and arrested. This suspect's parole officer was also contacted
and the suspect was returned to the penitentiary for 13 months.
The reduction in car prowls in parking structures also reduces
car prowls on the street. The actions these Clean & Safe officers
took in identifying the suspects and their consistent dedication
to crime reduction in the Business Improvement District (BID)
is exemplary.
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2.
Clean & Safe Maintenance Program
In preparation
for September's arrival of the new MAX lines on SW 5th and
6th, the Clean & Safe maintenance workers have received safety
training in dealing with the presence of trains, buses and
vehicles on the Mall. On May 24, the Mall will open to buses.
 Cleaning
Supervisor Matt Bellet was recently recognized with the Public
Hygiene Lets Us Stay Human (PHLUSH) Cleaning Hero Award. Matt
does an excellent job of supervising our Homeless to Work
Program through Central City Concern and well deserves this
award. He wishes to pass this recognition to the people that
are actually doing the hard work on the street. Great job,
Matt, and thanks for all you do to make downtown a better
place.
The Cleaners
reports the following:
- 2,405
graffiti tags removed- Public/Private and Tri Met
- 1,727
bags of trash
- 942
citizen cleaning responses
- 113
needles
- 53
items of drug paraphernalia
- 1,802
restroom inspections and cleaning
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3.
West Side Community Court
The community
court placement officer reports there is a possibility of
court interruptions as the court restructures to save funds
in the next few months. The importance of community court
is recognized and the court currently remains in place.
The West
Side Community Court reports in March that:
- 225
defendants' were ordered to community service
- 87
defendants were in compliance
- 96
defendants working toward completion
- 42
defendants unsuccessful and facing additional court sanctions
- 136
jail days saved by the program
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4.
Neighborhood District Attorney Update
The Neighborhood
District Attorney reports reviewing 176 cases for March and
issuing 167. Two cases were referred to felony District Attorney
units.
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5.
Community Work Crew
March
crew results:
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6.
March Crew Comments
Two former
crew workers stopped by the crew offices and said to pass
along to Judge Evans that they had been clean and sober since
their crew experience. They plan on never returning to a courtroom.
A former
crew member stopped and said that he appreciated having been
treated like a human being during his crew experience and
that he is concentrating on moving forward with his life.
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7.
Theft Accountability Class (TAC)
TAC remains
at a 78 percent success rate and is very successful in diminishing
the numbers of people that re-commit shoplifting types of
theft. We are always seeking retail loss prevention employees
to assist with the three-hour class. If interested, email
Clean & Safe Director Norm Sharp to volunteer at: nsharp@portlandalliance.com.
This month's
TAC statistics:
- 97
sentenced to attend
- 55
successful completions (79 percent)
- 16
failures resulting in jail sentences
- 26
open cases
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8.
Sidewalk Ambassadors
In March,
the Ambassadors spent time contacting small business owners
to speak with them about the program and how they can utilize
it to help their business during the current economic climate.
The Ambassadors report the overall feeling of these retailers
about their business is more upbeat than anticipated, and
the business owners told them that more people are currently
out shopping than in previous months. There is also an excited
anticipation of the changes on the Transit Mall starting in
May. With business picking up, the Ambassadors work hard to
make sure they are aware of downtown offerings and provide
assistance and knowledge of the city to shoppers and visitors.
Ambassador
Marcus Marchand recently made a project out of identifying
and contacting nearly every pastry chef in the Business Improvement
District to learn about their business so he and the other
Ambassadors can promote it to downtown patrons. This proved
so successful that he plans on researching a different business
type every month to share with his team. This is an innovative
approach to helping retailers, so please shout out your thanks
to Marcus and the other Ambassadors when you see them downtown
in their distinctive green and white uniforms!
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9.
Downtown Marketing Initiative (DMI)
The Downtown
Marketing Initiative (DMI) launched a new prix-fixe dining
promotion, the Delectable Downtown Dining Deal, in
partnership with the Indie Wine Festival. Similar to "Restaurant
Week" events in other cities, the Delectable Downtown Dining
Deal featured 11 downtown restaurants that offered a three-course
dinner for only $20.09 for four weeks, from March 17th - April
9th. This new promotion is aimed at offering value to diners
while also supporting downtown Portland's culinary and wine
industries. As an added bonus to the promotion, diners who
purchase the Delectable Downtown Dining Deal also received
a $20 discount on a ticket to the 5th Annual Portland Indie
Wine Festival in May.
During
March, CBS Radio Group (KINK-FM), provided radio campaign
schedule, on air announcements, and on-air interviews with
several restaurants and wine makers. E-blast, the Downtownportland.org
and Travel Portland's web site GoSeePortland, and the Artists
Repertory Theater also provided support. Public relations
efforts yielded coverage in The Oregonian, Willamette Week,
NW Palette, The Mercury, KPAM, KEX Radio, KINK, and KGW.
DMI's
efforts in April and May will shift to support Spring Fashion
and partnering with the Downtown Retail Council and other
downtown businesses on their scheduled promotions.
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10.
Parking Meter Increase
Bernie
Bottomly, Vice President of Government Relations for the Portland
Business Alliance, spoke at the March Downtown Retail Council
meeting about recent advocacy efforts conducted on behalf
of downtown businesses, including a proposed increase in downtown
parking rates. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT)
faces a $6 million shortfall and is exploring options to fill
the budget gap, including increases to parking rates both
on street and in the Smart Park garages, extending the hours
of paid parking, and possible budget cuts to the Downtown
Marketing Initiative (DMI).
The Downtown
Retail Council voted to support the following recommendations
to the PBOT Budget Task Force:
- A $0.25
increase (new total $1.50 per hour) in on-street parking
fees to generate $2.2 million. An added $0.10 would be supported
if the DMI were funded by that increase.
- A parallel
increase in short-term garage parking rates ($0.25 increase)
to generate $1.5 million. Retailers support a small differential
between on street and garage rates to help drive people
to the garages.
- If
extended meter hours were necessary to generate additional
revenue, instead of expanding paid meter hours from 7 to
9 PM as proposed by the city, the DRC preferred adding Sunday
paid parking as an alternative, from noon or 1PM, citing
most employees park on-street on Sundays and resulting in
no turnover of parking spaces.
- Retailers
would like the disabled community to contribute to meter
fees but that is not a condition of their support.
Retailer
support for these increases is contingent upon the city's
guarantee that a portion of the revenue generated goes to
support the Downtown Stewardship Plan, including TriMet Mall
maintenance, the Downtown Marketing Initiative, Downtown Retail
Advocate position, additional cleaning for the Smart Park
garages, and additional pavement maintenance in downtown.
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11.
Downtown Retail Advocate
 In
March, Cori Jacobs began her role as the Downtown Retail Advocate;
the position was recently vacated by Allyson Reed's return
to her hometown of Boston. The Downtown Retail Advocate position
was created as a result of the 2007 Downtown Retail Strategy
Update and is funded through a partnership between the City
of Portland, the Portland Development Commission and the Portland
Business Alliance. The position aims to recruit targeted retailers
and restaurants, provide business outreach regarding financial
incentives and leasing opportunities and support the retention
of current downtown retailers.
With 15
years of experience in the retail and real estate industries,
Cori is well prepared to help guide prospective retailers
through the location scouting and leasing process. Cori was
the Vice President of Real Estate Strategy for The Gap Corp.,
which included eight brands (Gap, Gap Kids, Baby Gap, Gap
Body, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Outlet and Forth & Towne)
with about 2,900 locations in the United States and Canada.
She was responsible for working with each brand to develop
store growth strategies and market plans, as well as providing
oversight and guidance for the end-to-end real estate pipeline
process.
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12.
Retailer Update
Zell Brothers
recently announced that their parent company, Finlay Corporation,
will be closing their downtown location in August. Zell Brothers
had been in business in Portland for 97 years. Finlay Corporation
owns several store brands including the Bailey Banks and Biddle
nameplate, which operates as Zell Brothers in Portland. Finlay
acquired Bailey Banks and Biddle in November of 2007 from
Zale Corporation; the recent economic downtown has hit the
jewelry sector hard, particularly the moderate side of the
business.
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13.
Disabled Parking Task Force
The Final
Report from the Disabled Parking Task Force, established by
the City of Portland to develop recommendation for city council
on the implementation of Oregon State Senate Bill 716, was
recently completed and goes to City Council for a vote in
June. SB 716 allows Oregon cities home rule authority to determine
on-street parking privileges for those with a regular disabled
parking placard; currently there is no fee and no time limit
for on-street parking by anyone in valid possession of a disabled
parking permit. The majority opinion of the Task Force supports
no change to the current system; the minority opinion requested
that disabled parking permit holders be required to pay for
on-street parking after a four-hour period.
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14.
Development Committee
The Development
Committee, a subcommittee of the Central City Standing Committee,
has joined the Urban Land Institute to create a Commercial
Development Strategy. The purpose of the strategy will be
to inform the Central Portland Plan Update on how to maintain
and improve the market position of the central city as a competitive
location for commercial activity to:
- Encourage
and enable commercial development in the central city;
- b)
Support retention of market share in the central city, and;
- c)
Stimulate the demand for central city office space.
The joint
committee meets generally every other week to address specific
topics impacting development and will generate a draft by
the end of June 2009.
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