Downtown

"I do not support the use of tax dollars to improve privately owned property. "

Why has Shirl LeBaron made this sentence the mantra of his mayoral campaign? It's like saying, "I do not wear orange stripes with red polka dots." Of course he doesn't. And neither does anybody else.

I like Shirl, but I need him to fix his mantra.

Listen to his statement, and you think the question is, "Is it better to spend money on downtown or on recreation?"

But this is not the question, and throwing money at downtown is no kind of answer. The objective is for downtown to produce -- not to consume -- tax revenue.

I'll say one thing for this mayoral hopeful. His misunderstanding is nothing if not representative. It is symptomatic of a city-wide misunderstanding of the downtown problem.

The real question is: What kind of political support can the city give to reverse the decay in our central business district?
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We all know downtown is a problem.

During the summer of 2003, I led members of the Greenwood Neighbors Initiative on a walking tour of the downtown. It was 7:00 on a Friday evening, a time when a healthy downtown should have been bustling with nightlife.

But our downtown, that night and every night, was a ghost town. It was so empty, it echoed.

Just ahead of us on Main Street, a car came screeching to a halt. The driver of the car had recognized her mother, who was walking with us. She got out and said, "Mom, WHAT are you doing HERE?"

Nobody asks that question of the pedestrians in downtown Provo, Salt Lake, or Cedar City.

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These are the true dimensions of the problem:

1. American Fork's downtown is suffering from a cycle of disinvestment. Businesses leave. Rental rates slip and property owners have less to invest in their buildings. Main Street takes on a shabby, uncared-for appearance, and it becomes even harder to attract new businesses.

2. The resultant blight spreads to the surrounding neighborhoods and becomes a breeding ground for crime.

3. The negative image is felt city-wide. Prospective businesses opt for some of our more attractive sister cities.

4. Tax revenue, which might have supported public infrastructure and quality of life programs, decreases.

Adding insult to injury, the current city government -- with the exception of Council Member Juel Belmont, who serves on the Board of Downtown American Fork -- has downgraded its response from apathy to antagonism.

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Here is the solution:

1. End the antagonism. Economic development is one of the three basic trusts of city government. American Fork City needs to step up to the plate.

2. A traditional commercial district, like a shopping mall, requires management. In this case, management could come from a city economic development director or from a merchant's association.

Downtown management has three focuses:

• Find an anchor store or business to serve as a magnet for consumer traffic. (I advocate the Harrington as the ideal home for this anchor -- but that's another story.)
• Seek out niche businesses that complement but don't compete with the big box retailers. Specialty boutiques, bagelries, bookstores, the like. Market our downtown to potential matches, the same way a realtor markets a home to potential buyers.
• Provide support for these small businesses. Offer customer service seminars or window display workshops; help small businesses locate grants and low-interest loans.

3. Learn from the successes of programs in other communities. Here are just a few: Provo's downtown alliance; Ithaca, New York's Ithaca Downtown Partnership; Main Street Silicon Valley; and, grand-daddy of them all, the National Trust for Historic Preservation's National Main Street Center.

This outline has been the focus of my colleagues on the board of Downtown American Fork since its inception.

Please note that none of these items involve the use of tax dollars to support privately owned property.