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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCORRESPONDENCE - WS-A 3Mitre - Ramirez, Norma From: Huizar, Maria Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 4:38 PM To: Mitre - Ramirez, Norma; Trujillo, Rose Ann Subject: FW: Wellness District - Please distribute to city council and city executive team Categories: RFCA, Correspondence Our first "ecomment" user!! From: Melissa Saenz [ Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 4:26 PM To: eComments @santa - ana.org; Huizar, Maria Subject: Wellness District- Please distribute to city council and city executive team Dear City Council Members and City Manager, I am writing as a resident and SAUSD teacher who lives in the Lofts on Bush and 3rd street. I am writing in regards to the wellness district proposal that is on the agenda for tonights Meeting. I am greatly concerned about how this proposal will affect my community and strongly believe that there are many other organizations that help the community and are not being utilized. First and for most am thankful for your time in considering this proposal and would like to to state my concerns as a resident and teacher. I would like you to know that I work at Heninger Elementary and walk to and from school everyday. As I walk I have seen the wonderful community our city has to offer since moving in 2004. My first question is why is there so much effort to change what is working so well in the downtown area? People are walking and riding bicycles now, events are occurring on the weekends which promote different things for all the varied people who live and work here. Secondly, I do not support the recommendation of changing the name of 4th street to Calle Cuatro in order to pull in tourism dollars, like a Chinatown or Olvera street. Culture should not be construed as a tourist attraction. What message does it give our students to have to sell our Culture as a stereotype in order to accommodate tourism? We should see our culture in all things either Latino or American because our students are products of both communities. Latino Health Access has a park on 4th street that is not always open and has restrictions in order to attend such as completing an application form. How is that inclusive for all children? Why don't they open up the park to all families? If they are going to open up Micro Farms will they require the same forms to be completed. My parents do not feel comfortable completing forms because of the information that is asked such as insurance verification. As a Santa Ana resident we need to promote wellness and have current organizations such as the City Parks and Recreation community classes, Elite Fitness Downtown which offers free classes, the Zumba classes at the church and Payan at the field. Since we have businesses and organizations which currently promote wellness why must we start a new proposal? Garfield community center is a sight at the Elementary school that is never utilized and I would like to know why since the boxing facility adjacent has students running on the sidewalk when the community center is closed to visitors. Closing facilities like the park and Garfield community center sends a message that we don't want to promote community, because they would be open if we wanted the community to engage in wellness. Regarding Events which are part of the resolution item 8 supporting community events. When we moved into the community we were so excited to have the Cinco de Mayo and Fiestas Patrias which brought live music, food and community together. As the years progressed the events also brought unwarranted problems such as trash, fights amongst groups and loitering in our loft area. I have 4 year old and don't feel comfortable taking him to the events because there are always troublemakers who want to start a fight. I feel like all those events place an undue burden on our residents because of traffic, littering, detours to our houses and is affecting our overall day to day routines. I want to add that we should focus on having resources for our teenage students and families because they are a group that can need positive role models in order to stay away from gangs and violence. Why don't we focus on mentorship by community members to promote the new businesses and events where students can shadow mentors in the community. We also need to think about our residents and having family friendly events, like including more pocket parks, and family outdoor events. I always ask myself why do I have to go out of Santa Ana for the best family events. Thank you for your time, Melissa V. Saenz Mitre - Ramirez, Norma From: Huizar, Maria Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 5:14 PM Cc: Cavazos, David; Flores, Alma; Garcia, Jorge (CMO); Lawrence, Mark; Sandoval, Jose Subject: FW: Council Agenda item 'The Wellness Corridor" Categories: RFCA, Correspondence Mayor and City Council Correspondence for your review and consideration. From: Tim Rush [ mailto:timrush @bhhscaprops.com] Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 4:52 PM To: Huizar, Maria Subject: Council Agenda item "The Wellness Corridor" Honorable Mayor & Councilmember's; I urge you to oppose the adoption of the proposed Wellness Corridor. As you know there is a great deal of over - heated rhetoric floating around on this matter. It seems the proper course given that there is no mandate that the City take a position is to simply sit this out. The facts are; 1. That Wellness and good health should be celebrated city wide, not just along Fourth Street. 2. Fourth Street was never known as Calle Cuatro, that is not a historic name in any sense for Santa Ana. You will find no references to this name in any of the books well known to historians about Santa Ana. Jim Sleeper and Diann Marsh never mentioned it in any of their publications. 3. This document is meant to be discriminatory and not inclusive, hardly a position that should be supported in any official way by the City Council. Just as the downtown morphed and changed in the 60's, 70's & 80's it is yet again re- inventing itself. We have an opportunity to capitalize on this economic wave and goodness knows Santa Ana needs the sales tax revenue after being starved of it for so long. I encourage you to not embrace this document that is anti - American, anti business and will be divisive to our citizenry. Thank you for your consideration. Tim Rush, 1225 South Broadway Street, Santa Ana, CA 92707 714 -299- 4455 r,�J 440µ BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY HomeServices California Pioperties - Attitude means nothing without Aptitude - Confidence means nothing without Competence - Credentials mean nothing without Credibility - Ability means nothing without Ambition - Personality means nothing if you can't be Personable - Direction means nothing without Drive Berkshire Hathaway Home Services California Properties Timothy D. Rush Senior Vice President 18000 Studebaker Road. Suite 600 Cerritos, CA 90703 -268o timrush(&bhhscapro s.com Direct Line (562)207.273o Fax(562)86o -2895 Mitre - Ramirez, Norma From: Thomas Shimanek <tlshimanek @me.com> Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 5:35 PM To: eComment Subject: Wellness District Categories: Important As a downtown Santa Ana resident and business owner, I would like to express my thoughts on the "Wellness District" proposal. It is my belief that rebranding the downtown area as "La Calle Cuatro" and branding it as solely a Latino marketplace area will be devastating to the progress we have made in recent years in bringing new business to the area that is actually successful, generating profits, and bringing new visitors to our downtown. The attempt to bring in younger Latino residents to shop here and away from big box stores is fruitless and will not work. These stores cannot compete with the big box retailers in price or in quality of offerings. The best economic future for our city is in embracing the artisan food hub that Santa Ana is becoming. This has fueled recovery from the Great Recession, and helped our property values (and your property and business taxes!) soar. If we are going to improve Santa Ana in other areas, like the much needed education, we need this income from the upscale eateries. It is not my hope that Latino culture be erased from Santa Ana, by any means. But I would love to see our downtown as a multicultural hub of life and activity. I believe there is a middle ground and a balance to be found here that will encourage new growth, leaving behind outdated business models, but keeping the Latino culture alive and well in Santa Ana. This proposal is not that middle ground and will hurt the future of Santa Ana. Sincerely, Thomas and Sarah Shimanek Mitre - Ramirez, Norma From: Huizar, Maria Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 6:08 PM Cc: Cavazos, David; Lawrence, Mark; Flores, Alma; Garcia, Jorge (CMO) Subject: FW: Wellness District Categories: Correspondence Correspondence received and entered into the record. - - - -- Original Message---- - From: Thomas Shimanek [mailto:tlshimanek @me.com] Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 5:35 PM To: eComment Subject: Wellness District As a downtown Santa Ana resident and business owner, I would like to express my thoughts on the "Wellness District" proposal. It is my belief that rebranding the downtown area as "La Calle Cuatro" and branding it as solely a Latino marketplace area will be devastating to the progress we have made in recent years in bringing new business to the area that is actually successful, generating profits, and bringing new visitors to our downtown. The attempt to bring in younger Latino residents to shop here and away from big box stores is fruitless and will not work. These stores cannot compete with the big box retailers in price or in quality of offerings. The best economic future for our city is in embracing the artisan food hub that Santa Ana is becoming. This has fueled recovery from the Great Recession, and helped our property values (and your property and business taxes!) soar. If we are going to improve Santa Ana in other areas, like the much needed education, we need this income from the upscale eateries. It is not my hope that Latino culture be erased from Santa Ana, by any means. But I would love to see our downtown as a multicultural hub of life and activity. I believe there is a middle ground and a balance to be found here that will encourage new growth, leaving behind outdated business models, but keeping the Latino culture alive and well in Santa Ana. This proposal is not that middle ground and will hurt the future of Santa Ana. Sincerely, Thomas and Sarah Shimanek Mitre - Ramirez, Norma From: Huizar, Maria Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 9:09 PM To: Mitre - Ramirez, Norma; Trujillo, Rose Ann Subject: FW: A message for the City Council regarding Section 1 and Item B.6 of the Wellness District resolution Categories: Correspondence Please enter into the record, if you haven't already. From: Bob @PlaygroundDTSA.com [mailto:Bob @PlaygroundDTSA.com] Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 3:02 PM To: Huizar, Maria Subject: A message for the City Council regarding Section 1 and Item B.6 of the Wellness District resolution Greetings: I would appreciate an opportunity to weigh in on tonight's proposed resolution to create a wellness district along Fourth Street. We, the Quinn family and our Playground businesses, all of which lay along Fourth Street between Spurgeon and Bush, are very excited to see a growing focus on wellness. We are aware of the statistics regarding the health of our neighbors and of many of the causes of poor health. We are proud to offer group health benefits to all of our full -time employees (most of our 125 employees are full- time). We are also committed to nutrition education and look forward to making use of the facilities in the 4th Street Market to educate school children about nutrition, foods that would be great alternatives to snack foods and to the art of cooking. So much as the draft resolution relates to these causes, we're very excited and you can count on our support. I am not supportive of the goal to rebrand Fourth Street and I am highly dubious about the goal to create — in the words of Voice of OC — "a Latino business corridor that focuses on bringing back customers who, despite living so close to the downtown, have been lost to big -box retailers." First, rebranding: Branding will not bring customers; compelling content will. Branding will not revive history, although it may honor it. I understand and respect the area's history. However, I think those who fail to recognize that El Calle Quatro is history, i.e., the past, are wishful thinkers. Those shoppers abandonned the downtown long before we became involved here. For example, our restaurant Playground sits in the former location of Mariscos Tampico, a restaurant that catered to the local, Hispanic consumer. When we first stepped onto the corner of Fourth and Spurgeon and wondered if this could be the home of our future restaurant, Mariscos Tampico had two employees, one who served customers and one who cooked and cleaned the dishes. I understand that the restaurant was far, far behind in paying its rent and I can't imagine how it even paid for insurance and other costs of being in business. I have not heard that the restaurant was particularly good or bad, but it is apparent that its customers — the same customers the City now wants to attract back to downtown — had abandoned it. Likewise, the space next to Playground to the south was empty, for lack of a tenant who could believed he could make a living selling to the paucity of paying customers. I would also argue that branding is not the purview of city management, but of the businesses who invest in the area. Governments are notoriously bad at business, whereas those who make their livelilhood on the streets generally do abetter job; if they don't, they fail. Also, governments who try to influence commerce with anything other than taxes or incentives can greatly damage the status quo. I have personally invested substantially everything I've worked my whole life to build my businesses in Downtown Santa Ana, and I have built a brand along one block of Fourth Street. I shudder to think what the impact on my businesses would be if you step in to force a change in the flavor of downtown. Second, commercial reality: Wishing it will not make it so. Even if you rebrand it, I doubt you'll see the change you're hoping for. The Hispanic customers abandonned the Spanish speaking merchants along Fourth Street. The reasons for this are no doubt complex, and my understanding is no doubt incomplete, but it is gleaned from speaking to my neighbors along Fourth Street. They talk about salad days when Spanish speaking immigrants sought merchants who spoke their language, understood their tastes and culture and offered products from the home they'd been compelled to leave and missed. The merchants, who had a monopoly on this growing market, were not always fair with their pricing and were known to take advantage of their market power. When the likes of Target and Wal Mart wised up to the size and spending power of the Hispanic market, they began advertising in Spanish, hiring Spanish speaking clerks and carrying products that they believed would appeal to Hispanic customers. Given their purchasing power and their need to compete for these customers, these big box stores were able to undercut the pricing available on Fourth Street. Things got tough for the Fourth Street businesses. Even though their rents were in most cases unthinkably low by today's standards, they struggled to make money. Many failed. Many more languished. I am not aware of any that flourishes. Third, what are we trying to accomplish? Why are we considering changing the character of Fourth Street? Nostalgia? Or do we really want to make the city stronger, safer and commerically vibrant, and enhance the quality of life of our citizens? I understand that many miss the way things were along Fourth Street and I'm genuinely sorry at their loss, but things change naturally. They evolve. Just as the character of Fourth Street as it was a few generations ago gave way to a Hispanic commercial corridor, the Hispanic character of downtown is now giving way to something different. If I have anything to say about it, this new thing will be inclusive and welcoming to all. But it won't be distictly Hispanic any more than it will be distinctly whatever it is I am. I believe that the new Santa Ana can be stronger, safer, commercially vibrant and create opportunity for all of our citizens. As I mentioned above, with our new projects in the 4th Street Market, we now have 125 employees. A majority of our employees bear Hispanic surnames, and even more live in Santa Ana. All of our employees earn more than minimum wage, all have access to a 401(k) plan and most are eligible to participate in our group medical plan. All have the opportunity to learn and grow and flourish within our organization. A son of Mexican immigrants is the chef de cuisine at Playground 2.0 (recently named one of the top 100 restaurants in America). Another is a kitchen manager at Lunchbox by Playground. Another is assistant general manager of our 4th Street Market projects, and several are chefs at Playground. All of these earn a good salary, have the benefits I've mentioned, plus paid vacations and great futures. When was the last time you could say any of those things about any business on East Fourth Street? Jobs and economic opportunity are what I believe build strong cities. Nostalgia, however, does not. It's not just jobs that are created with the type of economic growth you're seeing along Fourth Street. You're also seeing opportunity for local entrepreneurs. Consider the story of Juan ( "Johhny ") Gonzalez, a young man from Santa Ana who has a passion for making hand - crafted soaps and related products. Before the opening of the 4th Street Market, he would spend his days making the soap and his nights at Farmer's Markets trying to sell them. Today Johnny has a section of Honor Roll, our specialty food store in the 4th Street Market, where we sell his exquisite soaps. We can't keep them in stock and Johnny's business is taking off. Leanne Herrera is seeing even greater success with her teas and accessories. And when local food vendors begin taking advantage of the East End Kitchens in the 4th Street Market, we'll see a real spurt in the growth of these businesses. Businesses like the 4th Street Market are also increasing the number of places where Hispanic consumers can shop and commune. We are very happy to see that a decent portion of our guests in the 4th Street Market are Spanish speaking families. I cannot express the joy I feel when I see the smiles of a Hispanic family digging into an eight -piece serving of Jason's Santa Ana fried chicken, which is breaded in a Southwestern flavored dredge, fried and then drizzled in an agave - lime sauce. It may not taste like anything mom ever made, but it is affordable, delicious, perfectly cooked and familiar. I've seen more than a few Hispanic guests try their first bowl of Khao Soi, a spicy northern Thai noodle soup. Judging from their empty bowls it was well received. And we are probably not the most successful business in the 4th Street Market vis -a -vis Hispanic consumers. Mar (seafood), Dos Chinos, Kitchen DTSA and Chunk -n -Chip all seem to do a great business with the Market's Hispanic clientele. The point is, while Hispanic consumers don't have three taquerias within a stone's throw as they did a few years ago, but they still have one or two and they have a bunch of new options. Please don't force the flavor of our neighborhood by rebranding it. Allow it to develop naturally. The businesses that succeed will breed additional success, and all of it will create jobs and opportunity for our city's citizens, and the sales tax and business license fees to fund important programs and improvements. Bob Quinn (949) 725 -0113 (fax) (949) 292 -6280 (mobile) They Honor Roll and Lunchbox by Playground 201 E. Fourth Street Santa Ana, CA 92701 www.LunchBoxDTSA.com (Now open in the 4th Street Market) Dough Exchange by Playground 201 E. Fourth Street Santa Ana, CA 92701 www.DoughExchange.com The Playground and Playground 2.0 220 E. Fourth Street Santa Ana, CA 92701 (714) 560 -4444 www.PlaygroundDTSA.com Mitre - Ramirez, Norma From: Huizar, Maria Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 9:09 PM To: Mitre - Ramirez, Norma; Trujillo, Rose Ann Subject: FW: A message for the City Council regarding Section 1 and Item B.6 of the Wellness District resolution Categories: Correspondence Please enter into the record, if you haven't already. From: Bob @PlaygroundDTSA.com [mailto:Bob @PlaygroundDTSA.com] Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2015 3:02 PM To: Huizar, Maria Subject: A message for the City Council regarding Section 1 and Item B.6 of the Wellness District resolution Greetings: I would appreciate an opportunity to weigh in on tonight's proposed resolution to create a wellness district along Fourth Street. We, the Quinn family and our Playground businesses, all of which lay along Fourth Street between Spurgeon and Bush, are very excited to see a growing focus on wellness. We are aware of the statistics regarding the health of our neighbors and of many of the causes of poor health. We are proud to offer group health benefits to all of our full -time employees (most of our 125 employees are full- time). We are also committed to nutrition education and look forward to making use of the facilities in the 4th Street Market to educate school children about nutrition, foods that would be great alternatives to snack foods and to the art of cooking. So much as the draft resolution relates to these causes, we're very excited and you can count on our support. I am not supportive of the goal to rebrand Fourth Street and I am highly dubious about the goal to create — in the words of Voice of OC — "a Latino business corridor that focuses on bringing back customers who, despite living so close to the downtown, have been lost to big -box retailers." First, rebranding: Branding will not bring customers; compelling content will. Branding will not revive history, although it may honor it. I understand and respect the area's history. However, I think those who fail to recognize that El Calle Quatro is history, i.e., the past, are wishful thinkers. Those shoppers abandonned the downtown long before we became involved here. For example, our restaurant Playground sits in the former location of Mariscos Tampico, a restaurant that catered to the local, Hispanic consumer. When we first stepped onto the corner of Fourth and Spurgeon and wondered if this could be the home of our future restaurant, Mariscos Tampico had two employees, one who served customers and one who cooked and cleaned the dishes. I understand that the restaurant was far, far behind in paying its rent and I can't imagine how it even paid for insurance and other costs of being in business. I have not heard that the restaurant was particularly good or bad, but it is apparent that its customers —the same customers the City now wants to attract back to downtown — had abandoned it. Likewise, the space next to Playground to the south was empty, for lack of a tenant who could believed he could make a living selling to the paucity of paying customers. I would also argue that branding is not the purview of city management, but of the businesses who invest in the area. Governments are notoriously bad at business, whereas those who make their livelilhood on the streets generally do a betterjob; if they don't, they fail. Also, governments who try to influence commerce with anything other than taxes or incentives can greatly damage the status quo. I have personally invested substantially everything I've worked my whole life to build my businesses in Downtown Santa Ana, and I have built a brand along one block of Fourth Street. I shudder to think what the impact on my businesses would be if you step in to force a change in the flavor of downtown. Second, commercial reality: Wishing it will not make it so. Even if you rebrand it, I doubt you'll see the change you're hoping for. The Hispanic customers abandonned the Spanish speaking merchants along Fourth Street. The reasons for this are no doubt complex, and my understanding is no doubt incomplete, but it is gleaned from speaking to my neighbors along Fourth Street. They talk about salad days when Spanish speaking immigrants sought merchants who spoke their language, understood their tastes and culture and offered products from the home they'd been compelled to leave and missed. The merchants, who had a monopoly on this growing market, were not always fair with their pricing and were known to take advantage of their market power. When the likes of Target and Wal Mart wised up to the size and spending power of the Hispanic market, they began advertising in Spanish, hiring Spanish speaking clerks and carrying products that they believed would appeal to Hispanic customers. Given their purchasing power and their need to compete for these customers, these big box stores were able to undercut the pricing available on Fourth Street. Things got tough for the Fourth Street businesses. Even though their rents were in most cases unthinkably low by today's standards, they struggled to make money. Many failed. Many more languished. I am not aware of any that flourishes. Third, what are we trying to accomplish? Why are we considering changing the character of Fourth Street? Nostalgia? Or do we really want to make the city stronger, safer and commerically vibrant, and enhance the quality of life of our citizens? I understand that many miss the way things were along Fourth Street and I'm genuinely sorry at their loss, but things change naturally. They evolve. Just as the character of Fourth Street as it was a few generations ago gave way to a Hispanic commercial corridor, the Hispanic character of downtown is now giving way to something different. If I have anything to say about it, this new thing will be inclusive and welcoming to all. But it won't be distictly Hispanic any more than it will be distinctly whatever it is I am. I believe that the new Santa Ana can be stronger, safer, commercially vibrant and create opportunity for all of our citizens. As I mentioned above, with our new projects in the 4th Street Market, we now have 125 employees. A majority of our employees bear Hispanic surnames, and even more live in Santa Ana. All of our employees earn more than minimum wage, all have access to a 401(k) plan and most are eligible to participate in our group medical plan. All have the opportunity to learn and grow and flourish within our organization. A son of Mexican immigrants is the chef de cuisine at Playground 2.0 (recently named one of the top 100 restaurants in America). Another is a kitchen manager at Lunchbox by Playground. Another is assistant general manager of our 4th Street Market projects, and several are chefs at Playground. All of these earn a good salary, have the benefits I've mentioned, plus paid vacations and great futures. When was the last time you could say any of those things about any business on East Fourth Street? Jobs and economic opportunity are what I believe build strong cities. Nostalgia, however, does not. It's not just jobs that are created with the type of economic growth you're seeing along Fourth Street. You're also seeing opportunity for local entrepreneurs. Consider the story of Juan ( "Johhny ") Gonzalez, a young man from Santa Ana who has a passion for making hand - crafted soaps and related products. Before the opening of the 4th Street Market, he would spend his days making the soap and his nights at Farmer's Markets trying to sell them. Today Johnny has a section of Honor Roll, our specialty food store in the 4th Street Market, where we sell his exquisite soaps. We can't keep them in stock and Johnny's business is taking off. Leanne Herrera is seeing even greater success with her teas and P accessories. And when local food vendors begin taking advantage of the East End Kitchens in the 4th Street Market, we'll see a real spurt in the growth of these businesses. Businesses like the 4th Street Market are also increasing the number of places where Hispanic consumers can shop and commune. We are very happy to see that a decent portion of our guests in the 4th Street Market are Spanish speaking families. I cannot express the joy I feel when I see the smiles of a Hispanic family digging into an eight -piece serving of Jason's Santa Ana fried chicken, which is breaded in a Southwestern flavored dredge, fried and then drizzled in an agave - lime sauce. It may not taste like anything mom ever made, but it is affordable, delicious, perfectly cooked and familiar. I've seen more than a few Hispanic guests try their first bowl of Khao Soi, a spicy northern Thai noodle soup. Judging from their empty bowls it was well received. And we are probably not the most successful business in the 4th Street Market vis -a -vis Hispanic consumers. Mar (seafood), Dos Chinos, Kitchen DTSA and Chunk -n -Chip all seem to do a great business with the Market's Hispanic clientele. The point is, while Hispanic consumers don't have three taquerias within a stone's throw as they did a few years ago, but they still have one or two and they have a bunch of new options. Please don't force the flavor of our neighborhood by rebranding it. Allow it to develop naturally. The businesses that succeed will breed additional success, and all of it will create jobs and opportunity for our city's citizens, and the sales tax and business license fees to fund important programs and improvements. Bob Quinn (949) 725 -0113 (fax) (949) 292 -6280 (mobile) They Honor Roll and Lunchbox by Playground 201 E. Fourth Street Santa Ana, CA 92701 www.LunchBoxDTSA.com (Now open in the 4th Street Market) Dough Exchange by Playground 201 E. Fourth Street Santa Ana, CA 92701 www.DoughExchange.com The Playground and Playground 2.0 220 E. Fourth Street Santa Ana, CA 92701 (714) 560 -4444 www.PlaygroundDTSA.com A