Last updated on 2013.07.07
I think we're winning... and the LAIC may help us.
No, Bulldog Media has not taken over the Madville Times. I maintain the opinion that the Lake Area Improvement Corporation, Lake County's quasi-private economic development corporation, has wasted perhaps millions of private and public dollars over the last several years on failed projects, bloated salary, and unaccountable expenditures.
However, what I heard last night during the new LAIC exec Julie Gross's budget request to the Madison City Commission makes me think the LAIC might be ready to lead on downtown economic development.
Gross submitted the LAIC's request for $260,000 from the city in the 2013 budget. That's the usual $140,000 just to pay Gross's and Kari Blom's salaries and run the office, plus $120,000 for Forward Madison 2, the LAIC's second five-year plan for making Madison magnificent. Right now, that Forward Madison money is designated for marketing the city.
Commissioner Nick Abraham balked at appropriating $120K for a single line-item that just says "marketing." He expressed distaste for appropriating $140K to pay salaries with no city oversight or control. He wants more detail and more accountability, just as he has pressed the LAIC throughout his tenure on the city commission.
But the difference last night was that other commissioners expressed agreement that the LAIC has not been sufficiently accountable in its use of city funds. Commissioner Dick Ericsson, the godfather of the modern LAIC, said there has been a "disconnect" in the LAIC office. Ericsson acknowledged that the LAIC has been far too secretive.
Gross acknowledged that the LAIC doesn't need to spend all of the city's Forward Madison contribution on marketing and suggested it could be used for other projects. Dr. David Borofsky, DSU interim president and LAIC board member, noted that the Forward Madison brochure declares "retail development in downtown" as one of its goals and says the LAIC will pursue that goal.
Gross also promised that she would offer the commission quarterly updates on how the LAIC is spending the city's money. She said she will come to the commission on October 8 with a more detailed budget to support the LAIC's budget request. Commissioner Mike Waldner welcomed those updates. Commissioner Scott Delzer indicated that the LAIC hired Gross with the directive to do what she does well: to communicate. He praised her promised e-mail updates on LAIC activity as a welcome change. (And permit me to jump for the moment on that communication backwagon: Gross sent out her first LAIC e-mail update yesterday. A friend forwarded it to me; I e-mailed Gross and asked if she would add me. She replied and added me to her distribution list in six minutes.)
So I'm hearing the LAIC exec, LAIC members, and the city commission all saying the LAIC will be more open and accountable. I'm seeing the LAIC exec make a greater effort to be more accessible, even as she takes on a new job where she's still learning the ropes.
And then to top it off, in the midst of his remarks, Dr. Borofsky, whose welcome to Madison included some rough blogging from me, complimented the comment I made to the commission earlier about following the Main Street program. He said that back in New Hampshire, he worked for the Chamber of Commerce. His town looked very hard into doing the Main Street program. It would have been great for their downtown, but, he explained to me after the meeting, the only reason they didn't do it was that they didn't have an economic development office with a staffer to coordinate the program.
We have an economic development office. That office has requested $120,000 from the city for Forward Madison 2. That office admits it only needs $60,000 for marketing... meaning it could use the other $60,000 to hire a full-time coordinator for a serious Main Street program.
Does any of this sound familiar?
We could be two meetings away from launching a Madison Main Street program: one city budget meeting to designate funding with firm downtown strings attached, one LAIC board meeting to authorize... and holy crap! We could do this thing!
Now please understand, I feel like FDR and Churchill deciding to throw in with Stalin to beat Hitler (I will not let Dick Ericsson outdo me in hyperbole). When I imagine total victory for my conception of downtown development, I envision Ashley Kenneth Allen ousting Mayor Hexom, dissolving the LAIC, pouring all previous LAIC funding into a new city economic development office, and appointing my wife and me as co-czars (just say it: co-czar!) in charge of downtown revitalization.
In the real world, we're not going to get an additional city office, let a lone a thrilling coup d'état. In the real world, where compromise and pragmatism rule, the best result we can practically achieve may be that Julie Gross decides to put her stamp on the LAIC by taking it in a new, active, downtown direction. The LAIC board, hearing the public clamor and tells Julie to go for it. The LAIC brings on a new staffer, holds real public meetings (key word again: World Café!)...
...and in five or ten years, I write a blog post saying, "Holy cow: the LAIC helped us build a better downtown and a stronger sense of community. Good work, Julie... and good work, Madison!"
I'd really like to write that blog post... and maybe write it from the sidewalk table at Mochavino as I look out at folks competing for parking spots out front of ten new downtown retail stores. Last night's city commission meeting gives me hope that I might get to write that post.
* * *
After the meeting, I learned one more bit of important history relevant to Madison's downtown development. Dick Ericsson said that back in the day (1960s? 1970s?), banker Ed Dirksen owned at least seven buildings downtown. The moment one of them went vacant, Dirksen hustled to bring in a new business. He charged relatively low rent and lost money on his buildings. But he built and maintained good Main Street buildings because he believed in downtown. He didn't want business leaking away to the highway or the edge of town. He apparently shared the belief that Main Street is the heart of a community. If it's in good shape, if you have people who are willing to fight to keep it in good shape, then your whole town is in good shape.
We need someone, some group, maybe the whole dang town, to be the contemporary Ed Dirksen. LAIC, that ball's in your court. Call the meeting!
It was refreshing to have many of the Commissioners and Mayor admit that we have not had a focused downtown plan for years. Admitting the problem is the first step in fixing said problem.
I appreciate that we are finally having a conversation rather than having the Madison power players yell at me to go create my own damn retail store.
The one thing I tried to get across last night is that we cannot have a city government that simply "votes" on issues brought to the table. We need city LEADERS that have a vision for the future and work to steer the community in that direction. I have tried to bring attention to retail and the downtown area for a few years now. After what occurred at the meeting last night, I believe we are finally starting to see some positive actions. I am hopeful that our tax money being spend on economic development will be used more effectively going forward.
However, we need a strategic plan before we spend one dollar. We need a professional study done, we need to have an economic forum with all Madison residents, and we need to prioritize our needs. Throwing money blindly at "marketing" will not get us there.
We need to make our limited resources work for us, not the other way around. $100,000 on marketing is foolish, spend half that and get yourself a really good community organizer and publicist in house and they can do much more with social media then any traditional media we have seen before.
If this all fails in the next two years, I am still ready to start a new development corporation that focuses on the downtown area. Just like Vermillion, Brookings, and Sioux Falls have all done in the last 10 years.
Thank you Cory for the excellent coverage. I hope the traditional media (radio and paper) will explore this issue as in depth as your blog has done.
By the way... Mayor Allen huh? You must be dreaming.
So, if you were hired as czar would you actually move back to Madison permanently. I know I would move out of Madison permanently. As much as I love to listen to someone who has a job in another community explain what this community is doing wrong...
Sure, this year the LAIC has a nice little budget that they could actually cut up and hire some people to do this with, but what about the following years when that money actually needs to be spent on actual projects. Suddenly you have the LAIC asking for more money, because they need to have a "social networking" employee...where does this budget for these employees come year after year if the LAIC is still suppose to be productive and looking to enhance the community? Honest questions for a blogger that has an issue with how much money the LAIC already receives and what they do with it...your statement directly says you would have them "staff up" and give them more of our money every year. Do we really have the population to handle such a large LAIC group?
John,
I would be that Julie Gross does not make what the last executive director. The difference in salary is probably enough to handle another staffer that can be tasked with lots of different things, from managing the downtown project, to public relations. It does take people to get things done. One overpaid person didn't get it done, but a couple fairly paid people might be the solution. Time will tell.
John, I go where the work is. Madison doesn't pay for my talents; Spearfish does. A guy's got to eat. That said, I believe my 39 years of living here, my ownership of property in Lake County, my experience living in a community with a relatively healthy downtown, and the fact that I give a damn qualify me to contribute my thoughts on what Madison can do better.
John, developing downtown is an actual project. Gathering the community, gathering their collective knowledge, and allowing them to act as collective decision makers is not just a social networking; it is an exercise in both practical problem solving and community building. I believe, as I think Ashley suggests above, that the LAIC could do downtown development within its current budget, maybe even less.
And if we don't bog down a million dollars in a thrift store, we'll have even more money available to support a more comprehensive, inclusive, and effective downtown development project.
By the way, John, where do live? What do you do for a living?
Since we will not get an in-house Economic Development Director at City Hall and we will probably never get funding for a separate Downtown Development Corporation....here is what I am proposing:
Hire a super smart go-getter at the LAIC for about $35-40K per year with a 5 year contract. Use the city's money that is being given toward the 5 Year Forward Madison 2 campaign to pay for this individual's salary. Use the rest of the money for fixing up buildings, incubating retail business, marketing downtown, etc. Put this person in charge of all downtown development and retail development. Because the Executive Director of the LAIC has many roles to play, this project would be best served with a full-time dedicated employee. Someone that really understands the community, someone that has excellent organizations skills, someone that can be a sales person for Madison, someone that can produce results, someone that needs a "big win" for their resume.
It just makes sense.
Boy, Ashley, that sure sounds like an actual project to me.
Using existing Forward Madison money to hire someone to coordinate a Main Street program makes lots of sense. It is a big project that requires dedicated attention and skills.
Our man Jon Hunter agrees that studying other communities and doing the Main Street program are really good ideas.
A Main Street program could be a good idea, and I never said it wasn't. As well as I never said it wasn't an actual project. "budget that they could actually cut up and hire some people to do this with, but what about the following years when that money actually needs to be spent on actual projects" was relating towards the extra staff you want to include for this project.
The only declaration I was making in my comment, was that you are taking a 5-year program cutting it in half and putting that towards another program. I understand that "downtown retail development" is expressed throughout the mission statement of Forward Madison. What you're doing is asking the LAIC to make another division solely committed to a "downtown retail development" project. Well, really in a sense, you're asking them to fund a "Forward Madison" division that should have half of its focus on the downtown area.
Again, I do not, and never stated I have a problem with this. Basically, just exactly as Ashley pointed out, the only way to actually successfully do it would take more money than what you were suggesting. Ashley is just stating that the Forward Madison 2 project should be abolished, which isn't surprising since Ashley wants to abolish the LAIC itself apparently.
I leave on the thought that a "super smart go-getter for 40K a year" would rather go make more money then commit to a 5 year deal at that. I say this only because the only chance of getting anyone worth something would be a "go-getter" out of college, or someone with experience. Both those candidates, would rather make the money they deserve somewhere else.
Welcome to trying to convert the LAIC into a downtown funding program.
But there's the thing, John: theoretically, this isn't some conversion or splitting of Forward Madison. As Dr. Borofsky noted at the meeting, and as you recognize, downtown development is part of Forward Madison's mission. We're not talking about changing the mission; we're talking about the tantalizing possibility that the LAIC would actually carry out its mission. Heck, we may simply need to redo whatever happened oh-so-briefly in 2008, when the LAIC hired Tammy Jo Zingmark to do "Main Street and More" (see link in original post, at "sound familiar"!), but this time actually do it. A Main Street program isn't some radical reorganization or diminution of Forward Madison or the LAIC. A successful Main Street program would make Forward Madison 2 instantly more successful than Forward Madison 1 (which achieved... what, again?). It might even build confidence that the LAIC and its new director aren't going to repeat the wheel-spinning mistakes of the past.
So what are we waiting for? Do you have a better idea for the Forward Madison money?
And John, if you work at Bulldog Media, shouldn't you and Dan Buresh be excited about seeing more downtown development around your office?
It's great to see that Madison is having this conversation about future of it's Main Street. If you are looking for a resource on the Main Street program, I'd recommend talking to Eric Ambroson at 3rd District in Yankton. Several years ago, Eric was a part of an effort to develop a statewide effort to support Main Street programs. I don't know if his involvement today, but I think a conversation with him would be helpful.
Great suggestion, Mike! We'll need some experts on Main Street... and we'll need some folks who are good at facilitating community conversations. Hmmm... know anyone like that, Mike? :-)
Did you even read my post, Cory: Once again, you refuse to openly communicate and instead chose to be a troll (google internet troll) and cause tension during an open forum. Yes, as I stated, it is PART of Forward Madison's mission to improve retail development in the downtown area. However, just as I stated you can not simply cut a 5-year program in half to fund another 5-year program. Then, on top of it just expect the LAIC to add another employee or two (which would be doubling its current employment) without any flux in budget.
Even though you thought it was necessary to reference my employment and co-workers, which in no way has placement in this forum other than obtrusive slander (Heidelberger's BMG witch hunt), in an attempt to belittle my opinion; I'll indulge you.
Cory, again you took my post, and I don't know if it's just some weird way of how you read, but you don't actually read it. I have no issue with downtown development. I love the idea, I would love to help with the idea in any way I could. All I have done is pointed out that you are trying to set a whole new program upon LAIC, if you want it to be PART of Forward Madison, do not expect it to get it's own employee or two and have half of the Forward Madison budget.
After obviously not reading my views, I'll just go ahead and leave this right here for you....
I think downtown needs help.
I think it would be great for the LAIC to follow through with the mission of Forward Madison.
I think it would be great for Forward Madison to have involvement with downtown revitalization.
I do not believe Forward Madison should commit to giving a downtown revitalization project half of its money every year.
I do not believe that 60K a year would get you a single 'go-getter' employee + cost of projects to really make an impact.
I do believe if the LAIC or ANYONE setup a downtown program that had the right effort, thought and direction put into it, there are funds the LAIC could use to help.
I believe that you mean well, but the only way you know how to communicate is to be an internet troll (again, reference above or just google it).
I do not believe that you are a very good communicator.
I do believe I should have never even commented on this blog. I was hoping to have a discussion, not argument. At the beginning of my original comment, I said I don't believe you should write about a community you don't don't live in full time, just as I'm sure you could post a link going back to criticizing Chapel for living out of town while working at the LAIC. Alas, it opened the door for your usual tactics of slander and skew.
I want to point out that if the city commits to Forward Madison 2 that there will be over a half million dollars of taxpayer funding in five years time. That is in addition to the normal funding they get. We are talking over $250,000 a year for the next five years. That is only a portion of the total money for the new campaign. The goal was to raise 1.8 Million dollars for the campaign. I am unclear if that dollar amount included public funding or just private dollars. At any rate, that means if we split the money and give half to the downtown/retail project we would have around $900,000 to invest. If you hire a full-time person to direct this part, you will spend about $200,000 in salary (at 40K a year). That leaves $700,000 for doing real studies, forming a plan, fixing infrastructure, helping new retailers setup shop, and more. Plus, if we hire another full-time person, they should know how to write grant applications, apply for federal funding, work toward historical preservation funds, and more.
As for your assertion that no one will work for $40,000 dollars a year, tell that to all the people working at manufacturing plants here in town for $11.00 an hour and make $25,000 a year. Tell that to all the teachers that make $30,000 a year. Many people in the public and private sector make between $10-20 bucks an hour. These people work hard, many have college degrees, and many are go-getters. I bet you would have tons of qualified people apply for a job that pays $40,000 a year. Your comments seem to be out of touch. Look around you. How much do you and your co-workers make a year? Do you work hard? Are you smart? Stop trying to put up barriers for doing something big on mainstreet. It takes people and resources. Volunteers cannot do it all.
The fact is, you need full-time resources to handle these programs. The "salesman/consultant" named Met Kent that I met at the Annual LAIC meeting this past winter, who was apparently being brought in to assist with the Forward Madison 2 campaign and justify the Forward Madison 1 campaign came off as an "out of touch and hungry to stuff money in his pockets and run back to where he came from" type of guy. If he is still involved, we need to send him back to where he came from and hire someone that is from South Dakota and that understands mainstreet. I bet we spent way more money on having smarmy Met Kent and NCDS come to town then it would cost to have hired someone for 5 years. Stop outsourcing this work. Hire someone local and let's get it done.
According to the Daily Leader:
-- "The program will facilitate workforce attraction in partnership with local businesses. This initiative provides an opportunity for the community to attract a broad cross-section of new businesses."
-- "Retail development in downtown will attract new spending, resulting in increased sales-tax revenues and improved quality of life for Madison residents."
-- "Forward Madison 2 recognizes that Dakota State University is one of Madison's key resources. The LAIC remains committed to identifying corporate expansion opportunities that match the qualifications of graduates from DSU."
To fund the program, LAIC officials plan to raise $1.8 million during a five-month campaign.
Chapel was accompanied by Met Kent, a project director for National Community Development Services. NCDS was hired to collect information about the results of Forward Madison 1 and the possibility of holding a second campaign.
http://madisonet.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20469036&BRD=1302&PAG=461&dept_id=181987&rfi=6
Google the "Delphi Technique" for information on how public meetings can be stacked by a facilitator to generate a pre-determined outcome. It sounds like that may be happening in these meetings. You will also find practical information about how to resist and turn their own techniques upon the facilitators.
John, you guys at Bulldog Media seem committed to polluting this comment section with personal attacks to distract us from discussing Madison's real problems. I read your original post and responded accordingly. Stop playing word games with me.
Cindy, great point! Every system can be abused. I will have my manipulation meter set on high sensitivity.