At their last meeting, the Hollister City Council received a consultant's report that concluded the downtown area was underperforming economically and the city was losing significant retail sales to other venues; this is called leakage. The consultant also noted that a number of downtown enterprises were being run like "hobbies" and the mix of offices on the ground floor did not promote browsing. I can't argue with any of those conclusions, but I'm going to assume that the members of the council knew all of that years ago.
The consultant went on to present data estimating that the leakage was of enormous value and that the nation's biggest consumer companies would be just tripping all over themselves to capture this market if we'd only give them a chance. He mentioned that we would reap 1 percent of those sales for the city.
Ok, I have problems with that last part. I don't think the city's citizens have agreed to make the emergency 1 percent sales-tax increase permanent. The consultant acknowledged that harvesting this potential for economic growth would take years. So, where did he get the idea that the "emergency" sales taxes would still be around? Let me guess - from the members of the city staff who plan to pressure the council to support making it permanent
Second, in several important cases, the numbers gleaned from the database do not appear to agree with reality, why? I learned early on that when computer generated outcomes and reality clash it's a bad sign and you had better check it out because reality rules!
A perfect example is the category of gasoline stations within a 10-mile radius of downtown. According to the report, there is the potential for $54 million in additional sales at gasoline stations. Where would you put those gasoline stations, at the end of everybody's driveway? Remember, this has to be within the city limits. Due to capital costs and environmental concerns, the number of gas stations, nationally, is going down. More importantly, gas costs 20 cents more a gallon here than on the nearby commute route. If you want more of that market, get the price down where it belongs. Why isn't the city council investigating that?
For a few years, folks have been trying to tell the city council the same thing the consultant's report tells them; discretionary shopping is an experience, it's not like needing a lawn sprinkler part on Saturday morning. You have to provide the experience or you're not going to get the commercial traffic you need. That's why malls have anchor stores and other attractions; it all works together.
However, as a Type A personality, I too have my moments of self-doubt. I was wondering if I could be wrong and I was discussing Hollister's economic woes with a civic-minded local when he told me he'd recently taken his family a few towns over for entertainment and spent more than a few bucks. He followed it up by saying, "We just had to get out of Hollister." There it was, right from the horse's mouth - we are not offering what the customers want or need.
The city council needs to stop patting themselves on the back over the wastewater treatment plant; they provided the leadership, but the citizens are providing the money. You're only as good as your last economic decision and this council's last economic decision was a $200,000 disaster. They have lost sight of the goal, the new treatment plant was not the goal; it was only one step. The goal was having the city prosper economically and to that end, the council has done very little over the last year.
Now that the city has had an expert tell them the same thing scores of people have been telling them for years, perhaps they will consider the advice to have some value. Quoting directly from the consultant's report, "regarding any revitalization effort specifically in the Downtown...time is of the essence…" I certainly hope the members of City Council read that part too.
Marty Richman Got a question or a comment? Send us an email.
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