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. Fairfield Downtown Association 1000 Texas St. Suite D Fairfield California 94533 Phone: 707-422-0103 Fax: 707-422-1256  garsondesign.com
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to main newsletter page FAIRFIELD DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER April 2002 New FDA Office Open The Fairfield Downtown Association Board of Directors is pleased to announce that the office has moved to 1000 Texas Street, Suite D (Texas St at Madison (adjacent to Pietro's). All phone numbers remain unchanged, and the office is ready to serve you. Weíll hold an Open House on Friday, May 10th from 4pm until 6pm to give merchants and other interested community members a chance to enjoy refreshments and see the new space. Our thanks to John Lind (Downtown Paint and Wallpaper) and George Fernando (Redi Office Emporium) for paint and supplies and to Jones Brothers Carpet One for donation of new vinyl flooring for the restroom. Joe's Buffet provided lunch for the volunteers on painting day and moving day. Special thanks to our spouses and children who helped with the painting and moving. Russell Low, Don Trujillo, Rick Violette (R & D Bodyworx), Katelyn Trujillo and Tim Trujillo gave many hours and much perspiration to get the new office ready, then moved all our furniture and equipment. We owe thanks as well to Brad Cunningham (Design Conspiracy) and Curt Johnston (City of Fairfield) for encouraging the City to donate surplus office furniture to complete the office. The FDA staff especially appreciates the generosity and cooperation of our new property owner, Arthur Garben (Arthur Garben Real Estate). Downtown Day for Youth Fairfield Downtown Day for Youth, held in conjunction with the third annual Solano Bicycle Classic, brought several thousand people to Downtown to share information, hear school bands, adopt a pet, teach children about bicycle and household safety, take advantage of sidewalk sale specials and basically enjoy a beautiful spring day. A number of merchants and restaurants reported record days. Although Texas Street was closed, many folks took advantage of the free shuttle bus service and parked their trusty cars at Armijo High School or the Community Center to be chauffeured to the event. The following merchants pooled their resources and donated two Ray's Cycle bicycles that were awarded to children in the Walk About contest: Tony Brantley (Brantley's Taekwondo), Brian Colla (Access Avenue Insurance), John Dutcher (Collector Books), George Fernando (Redi Office Emporium), Nino Giacalone (Fusilli Ristorante), Cathi Jasso (Pac Cal Realty), Richard Lockwood (Touch of Faith), Paul Manzo (Family Attic), Stu Reid (Kitchen Tune-up) and Mimi Weddington (Stamp Heaven). Help a Boy Scout Earn Eagle Rank The Fairfield Downtown Association has been asked to help Kendell Marquiss with his Eagle Project. Kendell has plans to host a bicycle safety rodeo at Cleo Gordon School on June 15, 2002. Kendell is a member of Boy Scout Troop 481, which has provided volunteer assistance for a number of Downtown events over the years, including the Independence Day Parade. His family moved to Fairfield three years ago, and enjoys our festivals. Following is a brief article Kendell wrote to tell us about himself and his project. "I began my scout history when I was eight years old. I started as a Cub Scout, then later became a Boy Scout. In Cub Scouts I got to do fun activities. Every month I looked forward to the pack meetings where I always got an award or two. Every other Wednesday I was working hard to earn my arrowheads or rank advancements. My mother helped me do everything. She encouraged me to get my religious award, Faith in God. When I entered Webelos, I earned every pin possible. Again, my mother was helping me and inspiring me to earn all of these awards. When I became a Boy Scout, I had a special meeting where I wore all of my awards. My uniform was so heavy, I was glad to take it off afterwards. "When I started Boy Scouts, I was very excited. I worked hard to get my Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class. My father helped me a lot with this work. After I earned my First Class, I had to start to earn merit badges to advance. I earned my star six months after my First Class, as soon as it was possible. I went to Scout Camp, and it was a lot of fun. We earned merit badges during the day and at night we played games with other troops. I had lots of fun as a first year camper. "I worked hard until the next scout camp. My Mother was a great help to me. I worked so hard that time flew by and suddenly it was time for scout camp again. Another scout and I were gone all the time, and barely had enough time to hang around or go canoeing. At the Court of Honor, we were asked to explain how we earned our merit badges more than anyone. I earned my Life Rank advancement and then I was permitted to work on my Eagle Rank. "I got the idea for my Eagle Project from the principal of Cleo Gordon School where my sister is a student. There are many students who do not wear helmets, and their parents don't speak English. It's hard to explain the importance of wearing a helmet and riding a bike safely. I hope to teach them the right things to do on a bike. I have the project approved by the Chief Solano Scout District, and now I'm working very hard to get it finished. If you would like to help me or come to the rodeo, please do. It is at Cleo Gordon Elementary School, 1950 Dover Avenue, on June 15th, from 9am until noon. I hope to see you there. Kendell Marquiss" Kendell would like to have a raffle to help earn money for Cleo Gordon School and to draw more parents to the event. He may contact merchants to solicit donations for the raffle. In addition, we will add the information about his event to our flyers and posters for the Peddlers Fair. Kendell expects to distribute specific flyers to the other schools and businesses around the school. Peddlers Fair Back by popular demand, the Peddlers Fair and Sidewalk Sale returns to Downtown on Saturday, June 15th, from 10am to 5pm. Plans are well underway: bands and other entertainment are booked, craft vendors are signing up and advertising is confirmed. Please call the FDA office and let staff know if you are planning specials for the day. We¹ll provide colorful flyers AND volunteers to pass them out the day of the event. Public Safety Contacts PRINT, CLIP AND POST! Public Safety Contacts Non-Emergency Police Calls. . . . . . . . . . . . . 428-7300 Code Enforcement: Michelle Lu Visi. . . . . . . . 428-7762 Code Enforcement: Tim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428-7587 Downtown Beat: Mike Johnstone. . . . . . . . . . 428-7610 Traffic / Parking: Reva Hutson. . . . . . . . . . . .428-7610 Traffic Safety: Ed Gebing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428-7318 Fire Marshall: Steve Johnson. . . . . . . . . . . . .428-7550 Resource Officers: Liz Gresham. . . . . . . . . . .428-7354 ...........................Craig Rooney. . . . . . . . . ..428-7706 ...........................Dan Pilcher. . . . . . . . . . ..428-7705 ...........................Don Schneider. . . . . . . . ..428-6285 ...........................Joe Uchishiba. . . . . . . . .. 428-7707 Gang Officers:.......Christina Golez. . . . . . . ...428-7598 ...........................Alex Valdez. . . . . . . . . . . 428-7358 Sign/ Zoning Code: Debbie Barnes. . . . . . . . . 428-7648 Public Safety At the Board Meeting on March 21st, Sgt. Dan Pilcher and Officer Joe Holecek of the Fairfield Police Department joined us to answer questions about safety issues downtown. We discussed the homeless / panhandling issue, skateboarders and general safety concerns, including parking and traffic flow. Here is a summary of our discussion: There are eight police districts in the City of Fairfield, and eight full time police officers assigned as "beat cops" to those areas. However, the beat officers work a variety of schedules, and they cover for each other when the need arises. Our beat officer works the 6pm to 6am shift Sunday through Tuesday and every other Wednesday. In the greater scheme of things, in a city of 100,000 people, homelessness and skateboarding downtown are low priorities for any Police Department, even though they are very high priorities for the individual merchants who have to deal with the problems on a day-to-day basis. Given this reality, there are still resources and strategies available to us. First, keep calling the Police Department and report every encounter with a homeless person. Don"t just witness the problem and go about your business. If we call every time there is a problem, the issue will become a higher priority. Remember, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." Next, call your Solano County Supervisor (Duane Kromm- 421-6136). The Board of Supervisors has the power to establish more comprehensive programs to assist with the homeless issue, including a new "homeless day center," which would ease the burden for downtown merchants. Essentially, there is little or nothing the police department can do to control the flow of the homeless people who frequent our area. There is no law against being homeless, and there is no law against carrying one's belongings in a mobile container. "Hanging around" is not a criminal activity. However, if a homeless person becomes verbally abusive, is seen stealing plants from landscape beds or is seen performing actions that are illegal, a call to the Non-Emergency phone number or to the Code Enforcement officers is appropriate. It is against the law to camp overnight in public areas (bus shelters, alleys, etc), and the Police Department will arrest those who camp in those areas IF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT IS INFORMED OF THE INCIDENT. The Police Department has distributed flyers to the various homeless shelters and encampments, and there are flyers in the FDA office for you to post in areas where your business has experienced camping. These flyers not only describe the No Camping ordinance, they list shelters and assistance services. Once the area has been posted, you can call the Non-Emergency phone number and have the "camper" removed from the premises. If you do not want to confront a homeless person to ask them to move on, pull out your camera or video recorder and take pictures. Many of the homeless people have already had contacts with the Police Department. An officer can recognize the person and an arrest, if necessary, can be made with that evidence. If we make downtown an uncomfortable environment for the homeless by continuous calls to the appropriate agencies, eventually they will move to a new location. The skateboarding problem is similar to the homeless problem in many respects. There simply are not enough officers to supervise the area, and the school resource officers have their hands full. The area has been posted for No Skateboarding for so long that every kid in town knows that skateboarding is not permitted. Even though the signs seem to disappear as soon as theyíre mounted on streetlights, there is no excuse. Sgt. Pilcher had a number of recommendations for us. First, keep calling the Police Department to report problems, even if you find yourself calling several times a day! Next, pull out that trusty camera. Take photos or video of the offenders and give them to the Police Department. The Department will have the school resource officers take the pictures to the school principals who can generally identify the students. At that point they (and / or their parents) will be cited for failure to adhere to the No Skateboarding ordinance downtown. Any person can make a "citizen's arrest." If you feel comfortable with that, get the name, address and phone number of the skateboarder creating the damage or problem and give the information to the resource officer or a police officer. However, if you are uncomfortable with a confrontation, or if you are afraid of reprisal, take a photo and present it to the Police Department. Twelve-shot disposable cameras are not expensive. Pick one up and keep it handy for "photographic" evidence. With effort from every one of us we can beat these problems. We all need to make the connection with the Police Department and communicate our needs on a constant basis. Board Chair George Fernando suggested that we invite our beat officer, Mike Johnstone, to walk the district with us one day to meet the merchants. Staff is working on a date. George reminds everyone to be extra cautious and lock your vehicles, keeping a lookout for people loitering in district parking lots. Don't hesitate to report anything suspicious. Certified Farmers Market Thursday, May 2nd marks the much- awaited return of the Fairfield Certified Farmers Market. The market will return to the 1000 block of Texas Street (between Taylor and Madison Streets), from 4pm until 8pm. In addition to the usual array of regional fresh produce, we will feature an assortment of local crafters and food. Myers Barbeque, Gold Rush Kettle Korn and Pirate Pat are all on the list of returning members, and we will have weekly children's arts and craft activities coordinated by Jennifer Faulkner, City of Fairfield Visual Arts Coordinator. Market manager Joan Taramasso has lined up terrific music for the market and Concerts in the Courtyard! Date................Musician May 2nd. . . . . . .Bob & Sharon- Classic Country May 9th. . . . . . . Diego Jameau May 16th. . . . . . Innersoul May 23rd. . . . . . .Earl Oliver- Walkin' Blues Man May 30th. . . . . . Silver Spur June 6th. . . . . . .John & Glen (our Celtic music favorites) June 13th. . . . . .Rodriguez High School Jazz Combo June 20th. . . . . .Aloha Fedora June 27th. . . . . .Oscar Reynolds July 11th. . . . . . Garry Waggoner July 18th. . . . . . Hurricane Sam & the Hotshots July 25th. . . . . . Bob & Sharon Aug 1st. . . . . . . Diego Jameau Aug 8th. . . . . . . John & Glen Aug 15th. . . . . . Touch of Jazz Aug 22nd. . . . . .Earl Oliver- Walkin' Blues Man Aug 29th . . . . . .Strange Brew S ep 5th. . . . . . .Garry Waggoner Sep 12th. . . . . . Oscar Reynolds Sep 19th. . . . . . Souled Out Sep 26th. . . . . . Rodriguez High School Jazz Combo Oct 3rd. . . . . . . Fred McCarty Concerts in the Courtyard, held on the third Thursday of each month and on May 30th and August 29th, are brought to you through a grant from the Fairfield Community Services Foundation Cultural Arts Award Program. Each of the musical groups has helped in this program by accepting less than their normal performance fee. If you are planning a special occasion where musical entertainment is appropriate, please consider using one of the bands that assisted us with our concerts. Remember that as a member of the Association you are entitled to a free booth space at the market. You need only call or email Joan at 707-254-1954 or jtaramasso@aol.com to reserve your space and make arrangements. The Downtown Association may even be able to loan you a 10x10 foot canopy and a table! Please take advantage of this forum to advertise your business or sell your products. Ed & Connie Tualla (Teams By Design, Suisun City), have donated 100 canvas shopping bags imprinted with a full color Farmers Market logo. The bags will be sold for $8.00 to help offset the advertising expenses for the market. Call the FDA office to reserve your bag. These bags will make great market bags as well as terrific souvenirs or gifts. Theyíre bound to sell fast, so reserve yours right away! Enrollment in the FDA medical and dental programs is still open. Registration materials are available at the FDA office, or by calling our insurance broker, Carlos Badell at 800-870-4510 Independence Day The parade committee has been hard at work as well. This year's theme is, "Hooray for Freedom-Celebrate America's Diversity." Entry forms were mailed to last year's entrants the first week in April, and several have already been returned. The Rodriguez High School Grad Nite committee will host the barbeque on the Court House Lawn. Tomato Festival Plans for the Eleventh Annual Tomato Festival are well underway. This year's festival will be a single day event. Texas Street will be closed Friday afternoon, permitting the vendors to set up their stalls through the evening. The festival will open at 10am and close at 5pm. Plans include two stages for musical entertainment: one located near Taylor Street, and another at the Jefferson Street intersection. Linda Tenbrink (Tenbrink Farms, Suisun Valley) has planted forty varieties of heirloom tomatoes that will be ripe in time for our August 10th festival. Sue made arrangements for a tomato-basil artisan bread as exclusive Tomato Festival bread, and weíre working with two creameries to make tomato ice cream. Trader Joe's will return, and several other gourmet tomato product companies are lined up to bring specialty items for tasting and sale. The Fairfield Aquatics Club will host the wine and beer garden in the FCCA courtyard as a fundraiser for its many swimming programs. The Armijo High School Band Boosters Club will have an exclusive to sell Coca Cola products, including Coke, Diet Coke, Dasani Water and lemonade. Carole Warren will coordinate the tomato contests and Fairfield Women in Action will coordinate the tomato-cooking contest. Contracts are being prepared for the musical entertainment, including Sacramento's #1 Salsa band!. Candy Festival Following a very successful first year, the Candy Festival will return on October 12th, Sweetest Day weekend. Plans are already being made. Some of the musical entertainment is booked, and interactive family games are reserved. We've booked famed San Francisco performance artist/ clown Owen Baker- Flynn, who will bring his very funny family show to the Festival Stage. FDA Board Meeting Schedule The FDA Board meets the third Thursday of each month. Meetings start at 8:30am in the meeting room at the FDA office and adjourn before 10:00am. These meetings are not limited to Board members. All FDA members are encouraged to attend and make their opinions, wants and needs known to the Board. Fairfield Downtown Association Board of Directors 707-422-0103 Chair: George Fernando Redi Office Emporium -426-2659 capocsgm@aol.com Term expires June 2003 Vice Chair: Rev. Darryl Carter Carter's House of Bar-B-Que - 427-3940 darryl@carters-bar-b-que.com Term expires June 2003 Treasurer: Nino Giacalone Fusilli Ristorante - 428-4211 ninonapa@aol.com Term expires June 2003 Mimi Weddington Stamp Heaven - 425-6464 stampheaven@aol.com Term expires June 2002 Cathi Jasso Pacific California Realty - 428-1105 paccalcat@jccomp.com Term expires June 2002 Richard Lockwood Touch of Faith - 425-3393 Term expires June 2003 Tony Brantley Brantley's Taekwondo - 429-3744 Term expires June 2002 Brian Colla Allstate Insurance- 399-3880 Term expires June 2004 Paul Manzo The Family Attic- 399-9640 thefamilyattic@telocity.com Term expires June 2004 George Romero (Associate Member) HiTec Cellular & Paging- 421-2189 hitec@computronix.net Term expires June 2004 Tim Sieferman (Associate Member) Bank of the West - 422-6800 tsieferman@bankofthewest.com Term expires June 2003 Bob Reich (Ex Officio Member) Fairfield Center for Creative Arts - 428-7760 rreich@ci.fairfield.ca.us Main Street Program Coordinator: Emily Low- 422-0103 emily@fairfielddowntown.com Staff:Sharon Trujillo & Sue Violetta- 422-0103 mail@fairfielddowntown.com City Liaison: Rich Atkins - 428-7572 ratkins@ci.fairfield.ca.us FDA Board Elections It ís that time of year again. Our fiscal year ends June 30, 2002, so itís time again for Board elections. The terms of Mimi Weddington, Cathi Jasso and Tony Brantley expire. The bylaws call for an eleven member Board of Directors, allowing up to four of those positions to be filled by Associate Members. Currently, George Romero, Tim Sieferman and Brian Colla serve on the Board, leaving one Associate position possible. Tony Brantley has expressed interest in continuing his board service. However, nominations are needed, and elections must be held by May 31st to allow time for counting of ballots and placement of the results on the City Council agenda in a timely manner. Please call any Board member or the FDA office if you are interested in serving with the merchants who work with the City and the community to chart the course of downtown. This is really an exciting time for downtown- with Solano Countyís Government Center coming within the next two years (construction is scheduled to start by November of this year)- the FDA has an opportunity to shape downtown for many years to come. Join the Board and share your experience and vision. Chamber of Commerce and FDA Host Russian Business Delegation On Monday, May 6th, from 9:30am until approximately noon, a delegation of Russian retail professionals will join us for a tour of downtown, including visits to retail businesses. The program is hosted by the Center for Citizen Initiatives, and is part of the Productivity Enhancement Program (PEP), a project to increase retail businesses and profitability in Russia. We will start at the FDA office, then walk along Texas Street to show our visitors the various retail businesses as well as the new construction. The Center for Citizen Initiative has provided us with packets of information on the program, including samples of frequently asked questions and guidelines for conversing with the Russian delegates through interpreters. The packets even include a glossary of basic Russian and English phrases to help us communicate better with our visitors. If you would like to share your retail experiences with the delegation, please call the FDA office so we can add you to the schedule and provide you with an information package. More information on the program can be found on CCI's website at www.ccisf.org/psc/ . Business Recruitment Program The Business Development Committee, with financial assistance from the City of Fairfield, help from Rich Atkins and a significant donation of services and time from Steve Garson (Garson Design Services), has designed a handsome, professional Business Recruitment Package. An initial mailing to potential downtown business has been sent to companies targeted through the Strategy formulated with Jeff Eichenfield last spring. Moderately priced clothing stores, craft shops and yogurt or ice cream shops are among the list of businesses that would complement the mix already found downtown, and these are our first targets. If you have ideas on what kinds of businesses would round out our offerings, or if you have a specific business in mind, please let us know so a package can be mailed. If youíd like to see the final product, drop by the FDA office. Solano County Government Center In conjunction with the preparation of the Business Recruitment Package, Solano County provided an update on its plans for the construction of its new facility. The center includes a new County Administration Center office building with approximately 300,00 square feet of floor space, along with a Public Plaza and a new parking structure to accommodate approximately 1,000 parking spaces. The project also proposes a Probation Department building of approximately 40,000 square feet. When construction is complete, 900 County employees will have a new working environment, and downtown businesses will have 900 new customers (plus new visitors to the Probation Department). The Project Environmental and Public Approval process have been completed. By November of this year, the specific plans for size and configuration will be completed. Shortly, solicitation will begin to find the Design/ Building team. That selection process is should be completed quickly, and construction should begin by November 2002. It is expected that the center will be ready for occupancy by December 2004. For more information on the County plans, visit the Solano County website at www.solanocounty.com Hooray! Back to main newsletter page . |
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