Letter to the Editor: Downtown Easton After the NID
Easton city councilman says property owners need to share ideas on "how to bring more life to downtown."
The City of Easton has two incredibly successful programs that have helped shape and redefine our downtown over the past few years – the Easton Main Street Initiative and Easton Ambassadors.
Overall, the downtown community as a whole has come together during the programs’ tenure as we have come to embrace a bright and hopeful future for our downtown.
However, this concept was recently, and I believe only temporarily, lost somewhere in the dark. We unfortunately saw our downtown community splintered over the concept of implementing a Neighborhood Improvement District (NID).
The proposed NID would have implemented a fee on property owners to help keep a dedicated source of income directed toward the Main Street Initiative and Ambassadors programs for many years to come. The idea was those who paid into the district would inevitably benefit from a safe and clean downtown community in one way shape or form.
Many progressive cities across Pennsylvania have utilized this tool and like-minded districts for their own revitalization efforts. For some, it was a brave and new initiative that would have allowed residents and businesses to take ownership of their community. For others, it was a financial burden and inconvenience.
It is now a foregone conclusion that the voting property owners, with great help from a wealthy businessman who propagandized the issue, have indicated a no-go on implementing the NID. Some are disappointed. Some are elated. Some are in the middle. Yet in the end, the voters have spoken. It is now time to go back to the drawing board and determine how we can financially save our Main Street Initiative and the Ambassadors for many years to come.
It is also a critical time for the downtown Easton community to come together again and continue with our forward progress and movement. We should not allow the many issues surrounding the NID to divert us from our task at hand, which is creating a better downtown for our residents and our business community.
I ask our downtown property and business owners to continue being civically involved. Continue to share your ideas and concepts on how we can bring even more life to our downtown.
Participate in community meetings. Talk to your members of city council and the administration in an effort to bring an added voice to community redevelopment. Easton has come a long way for the better, and I believe with everyone coming together again we can truly go even further.
-- Jeff Warren, Easton City Councilman
Randi Kaplan Dellavechia
9:35 am on Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Business and property owners do not want to pay for services they are not getting - Especially in today's economy. You are not going to pay for a newspaper subscription when the paper will not deliver to your house. What has been said over and over again is that Main Street only focuses on about 25 tourist related businesses of the 270+ businesses. (Main Street lists that number in one of their brochures.) Their promotions, events and efforts focus on less than 10% of the downtown merchants - by their own doing. So the other 90% who are ignored should not have to foot the bill to support Main Street.
If you want the support of the downtown merchants, Main Street needs to change their focus and make all their programs and events available to all downtown shops. They need to eliminate their committees that hand pick which merchants they allow to participate and just offer their programs to everyone. Main Street also needs to offer an olive branch to all the downtown businesses they have alienated over the past few years. They need to stop using the phrase "We don't want businesses like that..." and be receptive to all of them.
The other option is to charge a membership fee, like Bethlehem's highly successful DBA. Those that want to be a part pay the fees and their programs are offered to all their members. If you don't want to participate, you don't join. We are running businesses in downtown Easton - maybe someone needs to start running Main Street like a business.
Tom Adams
2:01 am on Thursday, December 22, 2011
this sounds lile a personal issues and not a common complaint. I visit downtown a lot and yes I spend money there. I see Main Street and the Ambassadors all doinga really good job of promoting the downtown. But they can only do so much. The merchants need to use their programs to improve their business and add to their sales volume. If you were in a mall location you would be paying regardless of the services you take advantage of or not take advantage of. It seems like many of the naysayers are businesses stuck in their ways that they open their door and say okay I am here come on in. It doesn't happen like that anymore. You need to use the cooperative servics offered and participate in the promotions to lure customers. It seems to me that prorasm like this can only lure people to the downtown but you need touse those programs then to lure people to your business. I am just one person but if it wasn't for these programs and their positive promotions I would have never ventured back to the downtown. Now you need to give me a reason to get to your store and post like this doesn't do it.
Amend Wun
10:12 am on Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Saying that main street only focuses on certain tourist related businesses is inaccurate and misleading. Main streets goal is capacity building. Period. Sure, we could fill the downtown with cigarette shops, bodegas and social service agencies, but that doesn't seemed have helped thus far. The fact is that certain businesses chose to work with main street while others look for hand outs. Our business pays to be included in main street activities, not because we feel that we'll gain directly. rather, because we realize the importance of the program and support our community. Nothing is stopping anyone from participating with main street. Those businesses simply chose not to. It's grass roots. It's community minded. That means you grt out of it what you out in. You either believe that or you don't.
Amend Wun
10:14 am on Wednesday, December 21, 2011
That was meant to read, "you get out of it what you put in". Sorry. Typing on my phone.
another point of view
9:51 am on Thursday, December 22, 2011
These discussions amaze me, particularly this one.
A merchant states her reasons for objecting to the NID. She has some issues with Main Street. I suspect that she did not support the NID and registered her objections. A NID supporter says that she is all wrong. Maybe she is and maybe she is not. The problem is that the answer given by the NID supporter does not address her complaints. Does she vote for another NID proposal? Highly unlikely! At the end of the second game or the third the score will remain the same and NO NID will win again. If there is to be any hope for a NID it has to begin in addressing the complaints and questions property owners have. To dismiss every objection and question as being uneducated or dumb does not win any support. You may think that you have won this skirmish but you are losing a bigger battle. If you want a favorable action you need to begin looking at statements such as this and see if there is really community support for what this merchant is saying.
My only complaint with Mr. Warren's letter is his use of the word "civically". He should have used the word "CIVILLY" to describe how we should interact on this issue. If the tone of the debate continues as is there will never be any favorable outcome for anyone. It is time for some of us to sit back and just listen.
Amend Wun
11:41 am on Thursday, December 22, 2011
I'm confused as to how I didn't address this merchant's issues. She says main street is only about tourist based businesses. I say, no it's about capacity, that my business actually pays to participate in main street activities. She asks what's in it for her. I say, it's grass roots and community based, that you get out of it what you put in to it. If the progress seen in the last 7 years that the program has existed hasn't shown her the benefit to the community, no amount of pacification will. This merchant could easily have chosen to work with main street the way other merchants have, but they haven't. That's not the fault of main street. Heck, there are facade grants that include monies for awnings. Has her business taken advantage of that opportunity? How about a downtown banner program or even something to do with selling Easton flags? I'm not even in her industry and it only took me a couple of minutes to think of how main street could benefit her business. I get that you sympathize with the objectors, but that doesn't make their position more "correct", and I don't think those in support of main street need to bow to the opinions of every objector; especially when their objection are build on a faulty foundation.