On Fourth of July Celebrations

Rick Parker apparently likes holding people’s feet to the fire when it comes to spending accountability and that’s a good thing. I’ve already mentioned I’m a great fan of transparency in government; however, I’m an even greater fan of small government.

So while I agree with Parker’s assessment of the city’s promotional arm, the Chamber of Commerce and the Main Street Association shouldn’t be held to any higher standard than our civic leaders who benefit most from their relative successes.

Again I was scanning the Chamber of Commerce’s webpage and was dismayed by the lack of business involvement. Where are the roundtable discussions, the lunch and learn opportunities? Why is it that the majority land holders who view, and maybe rightfully so, the downtown as their own to do with or not as they please aren’t equally taken to task?

Martinez wants a parade? Then in the words of Larry the Cable Guy “Git R Dun”. It would appear to me that the downtown property owners should have an even greater interest in stimulating business. After all they are the folks left holding the bag on vacant storefronts.

Perhaps discussing the merits of redevelopment would be easier if the citizens of Martinez weren’t rightly concerned with abuse. Where are the new business incubators, the mentors, the individual leaders who recognize their moral obligations to a town that has benefited them so greatly?

Frankly due to this vacuum in leadership I too am against a redevelopment plan that includes shoehorning in high density living space in what currently is industrial space. It doesn’t take a prognosticator like Karnak the Magnificent to see the potential downside. All one has to do is look at San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point. That’s a gritty example of what can go terribly wrong when a city takes an area that is marginally desirable and drops in vast numbers of folks who already feel disenfranchised.

Maybe if the business community in San Francisco was engaged in mentoring and small business incubation, demonstrating their desire to help people excel beyond their preconceived limitations, the outcomes might have been different. Hindsight may be 20/20 but Martinez has the benefit of foresight if it will step up and do the hard work – first. But that will take her business community becoming engaged in more than just hegemony.