First, I want to take a moment to remember Amit's Birthday. Today, August 30, Amit would have turned 34 years old. He was a good man, he had a smile and a kind word for everyone and always wanted to leave a person having a better day then before they met him. He has left our lives better for having known him. Happy Birthday Amit, Look out for your angels and know you are always in our hears and minds. *****I also need to take a moment to discuss a very serious matter, the Farmer's Market. As some of you may or may not know, City Council members and business members of the Garden Walk area, as well as the Douwntown Chico Business Association, are attempting to move the Saturday Chico Farmer's Market to 4th and Flume...Not only is this location poor for traffic and parking, it is significantly smaller. Estimates show that many of the farmer's would have to park elsewhere and haul all their produce to their market spot AND the market would have to eliminate at least 15 Food Vendors. If this relocation takes place, 15 food vendors will be eliminated from the market, by my estimates, that means a majority of the food vendors will lose their place in the market. Fifteen families will lose a significant means of income that supports their families. I worry for Deepika and how she or any other food vendor will be able to make ends meet if their place in the Saturday Market was stolen away by the DCBA and Gardenwalk businesses.
Below is the text of a flyer that was put out to the Saturday Farmer's Market vendors and MOST IMPORTANTLY, there is a list of the Chico City Council member's email addresses and their PO Box. I am begging all of you to please pass this information on to Everyone you know. This attempt to relocate the Saturday Farmer's Market, which has been in the same location for going on 30 YEARS, is a BAD Move. It will be bad for the market organization, it will be bad for the Chico downtown businesses that benefit from the farmer's market traffic, it will be bad for all teh farmer's market vendors who will lose traffic to their booths, and it will be absolutely terrible if not devastating for those vendors that are eliminated from the market altogether. PLEASE HELP! Pass this information on and write the Chico City Council and tell them what a terrible idea this move will be to everyone.
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Saturday, August 29, 2009 Chico CA The Board of Directors of the Chico Certified Farmer's Market has requested that the City of Chico continue efforts to improve the safety, expansion, and the functionality of the Saturday Farmer's Market currently located in Municipal Parking Lot 1.
We have discusses the possible move from Municipal Parking Lot 1 to the City Hall Municipal Parking Lot at our August 1, 2009 board of director's meeting and at many board of director's meetings over the last couple of years. Our current position is that such a move would not be in the best interests of our farmers, customers, or the Chico community.
As you may have notices our Saturday Chico Farmer's Market has received a great deal of attention in the last couple of months as we are being asked to once again consider moving our Saturday CHico Farmer's Market to the City Municipal Parking Lot located at 4th and Flume. The proponents of this move are the Garden Walk Businesses, Downtown Chico Business Association (DCBA), and City Council members Andy Holcombe and Jim Walker. The Garden Walk businesses believe that we are taking their parking lot and making it unavailable for their customers. The DCBA, Andy Holcombe, and Jim Walker agree with the Garden Walk businesses and believe that a more appropriate place for our market would be the City Hall Municipal Parking Lot.
In all fairness to the opponents to our current market location, our management team and board members have extensively measured and reviewed the City Hall Municipal Parking Loat and found that in a best case scenario that we would be able to accomodate a total of 71 farmers and 13 of them would not be able to have their trucks in their space with them and would have to park their vehicles either on teh street or in Parking Lot 1. We are currently accomodating 85 vendors in our current location, which means that 14 of our current vendors would not be able to participate any longer in Saturday market in downtown Chico. It is unknown at this time who the 14 vendors would be or how that would be determined.
Our organization and members have a lot of risk here if we are forced to move from our current location. 1. Losing the visibility from 2nd street (loss of present traffic coming to market and more importantly, loss of future traffic), 2. Loss of produce sales due to public not aware of move, 3. Loss of revenue to the market organization.
Our Saturday Chico market will celebrate its 30th year next year in downtown Chico. Our market has become a great success story and a Saturday morning downtown Chico destination due to this very centralized and visible location, teh participation of our members, and the Chico community.
Please consider contacting the Chico City Council and let them know how important this market and its location is to your livelihood and the the future growth of our Saturday Market. THe following is the address for the Chico City Council and their council email links:
Ann Schwab (mayor) aschwab@ci.chico.ca.us
Tom Nickell (vice mayor) tnickell@ci.chico.ca.us
Mary Flynn mflynn@ci.chico.ca.us
Scott Gruendl sgruendl@ci.chico.ca.us
Andy Holcomb aholcomb@ci.chico.ca.us
Larry Wahl lwahl@ci.chico.ca.us
Jim Walker jwalker@ci.chico.ca.us
Chico City Council
P.O. Box 3420
Chico, CA 95927
Thank you on behalf of the Chico Certified Farmer's Market Board of Directors and your market management for your time and consideration of this important matter to your organization.
Terry Givens
Market Manager
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Tell Chico City Council why this attempt to move the Chico Saturday Farmers' Market is a bad idea:
1. Depriving at least 14 or 15 families of a prime source of income and means of supporting their families. They would be deprived of a segment of their livihood.
2. Loss of traffic in general to the market would result in loss of income to every market vendor that depends on this Farmer's Market for their livelihood.
3. Loss of visibility will result in further loss of income to vendors
4. Loss of traffic as a result of the public not aware of the move and/or where the market moved to, again, further loss of income to all market vendors.
5. This move is bad for downtown Chico as well. The farmer's market brings hundreds of people to downtown Chico. These customers not only shop at the farmer's market, by virtue of being downtown and close to the downtown Chico businesses, frequent these businesses as well, this includes the Garden Walk businesses. If you take away the farmer's market, you take away many of the customers/patrons of the downtown Chico businesses.
6. This is bad for the community. The Chico Saturday Farmers' Market is an opportunity for the Chico community to come together, share food, share ideas, share conversations, share political ideas, bring comfort and solace to those who have suffered losses in the community. Moving the Farmer's Market and eliminating market vendors is a bad move, for everyone.
Please pass this on and help save and protect the Chico Saturday Farmer's Market location and all the vendors that depend on this market for their livelihoods, their families.
Thank you.
This is a response I received from Andy Holcombe after I sent emails to the City Council. In it he mentions an instructor at CSUC responsible for an evaluation of the market and encourages that we share our ideas with her as well. PLEASE DO SO.
ReplyDeleteHere is his response:
The City Council does not want to make the market move.
As a service to the market and our community, I hope you will do what you can to correct any message to the contrary. People rightfully may be upset, or not participate in the "market dialogue", if they feel a decision has already been made.
I have attached a copy of a reply I previously sent to a market vendor. It addresses most of the issues or concerns you raise, or perhaps have heard from others.
What the city Council wants to do, or what it has asked to be done ( the only "decision" made on the subject) is to objectively study the pros and cons of our market where it is, the pros and cons of the city lot a block away, and based thereon, try to reach consensus, descision on how to best improve/nurture the market.
That's it. Quite simple. And what should be a quite supportable process.
As per my suggestion in the forwarded e-mail, I hope you will participate in whatever surveying takes places, and make your concerns known to the surveyors.
Thank you for your interest and participation.
Andy Holcombe
City Council
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> Greetings...
> Thanks for your input.
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> Inspite of what you may have heard, or been told, no decision has been made to move the market. Nor might I add is there any agenda or subterfuge to get the market moved, so as to facilitate a parking structure thereafter. Unfortunately, when I was at the market this Saturday, those gathering "keep the market" signatures were solliciting signatures by incorrectly stating the contrary on both points (?ie, stating a decision had been made to move it, and that it was a scheme to get a parking structure there.) That is unfortunate because it undermines the credibility of the message those signatures might otherwise have. (also unfortunate that no apparent willingness to even listen to any other viewpoint)
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> Unfortunate too because it detracts from the isue at hand: what are the pro and cons of staying/expanding where market is now, and what are the pros and cons of moving and expanding at a new site...? The Internal Affairs Committee asked that the foregoing questions or topics be studied. That is all. No decision to move. No precursor to a parking structure. The one specific parameter to the substance of the study was that the market be downtown.
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> The study is to be undertaken by a planning class at CSUC, taught by Dr. LaDonna Knigge. (lknigge@csuchico.edu). Procedurally, the one parameter set was that there be public input/public meeting as part of the study. I suggest you send your comments directly to her too.
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> I believe there will be study and survey of what works at our current market, what are its needs and wants, what works well and what doesn't work well, what are community needs/wants, and ...?? What works well at other downtown markets in other communities? Of what works at current site, what is transferable to another site downtown? Of what works well in other communitites, what is transferable to current site or elsewhere downtown? How to eliminate or improve on what doesn't work well?
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> I am a supporter of making the market the most vital and best downtown market it can be.
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> I believe an objective study of pros and cons of options with that in mind can only benefit our community, whether the outcome is to stay as is and where is, stay where?is but?expand or reconfigure there, or move and grow a block away, or move and reconfigure and grow somewhere in the heart of downtown.
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> Like your delicious bread, lets rise to the occassion and taste the possibilities. And only?then plan the menu.
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> Thanks.
> Andy Holcombe