DDA audience tutored
Retaining and recruiting downtown businesses
Business managers and property owners recently heard what other cities have done to retain or expand existing downtown businesses and to recruit new businesses, and how Royal Oak might apply other cities' experiences.

Lecturing to and interacting with his audience during a 4-hour session held in City Commission Chambers, Scott Day, of San Antonio-based Urban Development Services, drew from existing DDA-conducted marketing studies to add substantive Royal Oak-focused specificity to round out his generic information. In no particular order, here are examples of what Day told his audience.

• One way or another, develop an overlay of your downtown and color code the major locations by type of activity: retail, professional, vacant, whatever. Then "Match your wish-list against available locations.

• Many cities would envy Royal Oak's downtown density and its vertical growth.

• Quantify downtown-area residential in terms of 5-minute and10-minute walks to specific retailers.

• Dynamic downtowns can benefit from recent changes in consumer retail behavior. Between 1980 and 2000: The number of trips to malls per month dropped from 3.1 to 1.6. ... Stores per trip have decreased from 7 to 3.3. ... Average hours spent in malls declined from 10-plus to 1.6. It is not coincidental that malls are renovating themselves to look more like downtown.

• Only about 3% of retail sales is via Internet. ( The audience's guesses ranged from a low of 25% to a high of 50%.) The Internet is used much for pre-shopping and as the new format for catalog shopping.

• Help existing businesses round out their management and marketing skills.Offer group seminars and in-house tutoring.

• The DDA website should tout such things as "20 Award-winning Restaurants" and the number and style of clothing stores, and  the like.

• Take advantage of Royal Oak's "Bike Nights" to attract a Harley Cafe or equivalent.

• Develop retail clusters which bring compatible offerings close to each other.

Day stressed that the DDA/Main Street Manager must hit the streets daily to stay in touch and to learn the specific needs of existing businesses. [The DDA has recently filled the Manager position: Stephanie McIntyre.] He repeatedly praised the DDA's market study and suggested that although it appears on the city's website, it should also appear on the DDA website, at least in easily accessed topical segments. -- 19 Mar 08

20 Feb 08
DDA approves 3-year contract for downtown maintenance
Highly praised for its first-year performance in maintaining Downtown Royal Oak -- including rave notices for the summer-long freshness of flowers, both planted and in hanging pots -- Worry Free has been granted a 3-year contract by the Downtown Development Authority. The new contract includes the use of a vacuum "instead of tweezers" to pick up cigarette butts; power-washing in selected areas as needed; rather than everywhere each time; special attention to not removing, or replacing, bricks during power-washing; and a winter cleanup.

With DDA directors Bill Harrison and Jim Domanski and Chairman Kevin Kalcynski doing most the the talking in this meeting, "maintaining the streets" was stressed as "an important DDA responsibility." Other business conducted:

□ Responding to a DDA phone call, City Engineer Elden Danielson came from his office to discuss progress relative to seeking bids for renovating the Center Street Parking Structure. Some conditions which may be imposed during private sector bidding cannot be demanded when seeking public sector bids, the DDA was told by Staff. Among the options to be employed to reduce parking shortages during construction are ways to encourage long-term parkers to use other parking locations, especially the under-used structure on Lafayette, which is frequently mistaken to be the private parking for the adjacent bank.

□ Responding to concerns expressed by retailers during Public Comment, the DDA agreed to recommend that CITCOM address the issue of sidewalk sandwich signs. The signs bring in business, the board heard, and there were questions about why the ordinance is now being rigorously enforced and about why Valet Services seem to be allowed to use such signs, "even in the street. Our sidewalk signs don't interrupt pedestrian traffic." Director Shirley Smith worked on creating the existing ban and agrees that the time has come to reconsider, with appropriate attention to specifications about size and the like.

[In separate conversations, retailers have told VersagiVoice that it would make no sense to use sidewalk sandwich signs if the signs inconvenienced or irritated potential shoppers.]

□ During the review of the DDA's website, being redesigned and updated, it was announced a coming feature will be a listing of available properties.

□ The recent adoption of the new DDA logo, prominently introduced on the DDA calendar mailed to all residents and businesses, has generated the need to print new stationery and to redesign the light-post-mounted banners and some signs which direct traffic to public buildings.

□ The pending newly retained Downtown Manager will not have a contract directly with the city. Instead, apparently after legal advice, the DDA decided to use the services of a third party.

□ On the recommendation of City Manager Tom Hoover, the DDA decided not to send the new Downtown Manager to the 2008 National Main Street Conference. During the discussion someone commented (paraphrased): "She's just coming on-board and needs to spend time getting acquainted with people and places in Royal Oak, not attending a national conference." Alluding to the less-than-successful integration of Main Street Oakland's programs in Royal Oak, someone else said, "We need to mold her in our image, not in the Main Street Image."

[Coincidentally, VersagiVoice had recent occasion to chat about something completely unrelated to Main Street or DDA with an individual who happens also to be Main Street Oakland source. The source asked, "Encourage your DDA to talk to us."]

As happens at CITCOM meetings, DDA deliberations occasionally become unfocused as individuals attempt to provide explanatory detail to their fellow-members or to use camera time to educate the viewing public. A director, becoming aware that he was beating one point to death, asked aloud, "Am I double-talking?" He was.

That said, this particular session was easily the most straightforward and productive DDA meeting in years. Kudos to Kalcynski.

12 Feb 08
Special Meeting to address Court Debt Service issue
In quiet-yet-contentious debate, the DDA:

• Rejected City Hall recommendations and voted to hire independent counsel -- but not the firm about which conflict-of-interest concerns had been raised.

• For the second time, postponed making a decision about whether or how to grant the City's request to pay the annual debt service of the 44th District Court.

The overall tone of the meeting was worrisome, with almost tangible ill-will being exhibited by some of the same individuals who were cordially joshing each other during the half-hour wait for Chairman Kevin Kalcynski to fight his way through the snow storm.

City Manager Tom Hoover, who did not attend the 23 January meeting (see below), opened with a review of the overall situation as seen by the Administration and the City Commission. Hoover suggested that there is no need for spending money on independent counsel, since the city's long-time bonding counsel had reviewed the legalities concerning the Court and agreed with City Attorney Dave Gillam that the DDA has authority to fund the court's debt service.

Kalcynski countered that he had (a) checked with the Tomkiw Daltonfirm and that Dalton assured him that there would be no conflict-of-interest in Dalton's serving as independent counsel. However, Kalcynski continued, given the public expression of concern about the issue, he reached out to yet another attorney, whose hourly rate is $120 and who offered a not-to-exceed fee of $1,000 after hearing what would be required of him.

DDA Director Pete Webster vigorously discounted Hoover's suggestion that the city's bond counsel would be appropriate, asserting that both the bonding counsel and the city attorney are representing and speaking for the City.

The Board voted to retain the Kalcynski-recommended attorney, with Hoover voting no.

Webster then guided the group into a discussion of whether and how the DDA should take on the court's debt service, in the event that the independent counsel agrees with the findings of Royal Oak's city attorney and  the city's bonding counsel.

Once again, the recitation of dozens of dollar amounts and the references to multiple sheets containing spreadsheets and tabulations led to (1) the glazing over of many eyes and (2)  vigorous expressions of doubt, bordering -- from an outsider's viewpoint --on the suspicion that the Administration's financial information was less than straightforward. Director Bill Harrison led the charge, joined after a while by Kalcynski and finally by an admission of remaining confusion by Director Jim Domanski.

Planning Director Tim Thwing, who serves as the DDA's executive director, had brought the extensive documentation requested during the 23 January meeting. During the hard-to-follow exchanges with the questioning directors, Thwing contained the exasperation he must have felt, and he made the mistake of over-explaining when asked to clarify. So convoluted and contentious was the dialogue that even I found myself unsure what the question really was and whether it had been answered satisfactorily.

At issue through all this was -- assuming that the final legal opinion is that the DDA has the authority to pay the court's debt service -- can the DDA financially afford that obligation? If so, for how long, for how many years at a time? Agree to only this fiscal year? To a year and a half? To 3 years? To the year 2024?

The debate closed with another request from the DDA for more financial information from the Administration and with the motion to postpone making any decision.

23 January 08
DDA Meets
Despite a thorough introductory review of spending priorities and a suggested plan of action by Chairman Kevin Kalcynski, the Downtown Development Authority could not come to agreement on how -- or whether -- to accommodate the City Commission's request for the DDA to pay the annual debt service of the 44th District Court. A decision was postponed at least until the group's February meeting. In the meantime, Staff was directed to come up with a potpourri of information and spreadsheets to aid in making the decision.

26 December 07
DDA closer to retaining downtown consultant
The Downtown Development Authority committee responsible for screening applicants for the vacant Downtown Manager/Consultant position has interviewed eight persons, all of them "first-time applicants." At the December DDA meeting, committee chairman Jim Domanski reported that the committee had decided on one person for the full DDA Board to interview, but the other directors made it clear they wish to interview more than one applicant, preferably three. Domanski, who normally speaks rapidly, was deliberate and cautious while touting the committee's unnamed choice. Using terms like "this person" and "this individual", instead of conventional personal pronouns, the chairman seemed to be concerned with withholding the gender of the committee's choice.

DDA meets in Room 309, out of TV view
Those citizens sitting in front of their TV set at 4 p.m. on 16 August waiting for the meeting of the Downtown Development Authority to begin saw an empty commission chamber. Then the lights went out, and WROK began showing the July 2006 DDA meeting.

Following up, one heard two explanations: First, the public agenda was really short, and it was followed by the legally appropriate executive session where land acquisition issues are addressed. So, rather than move to the commission chamber, Chairwomen Barbara Bos opted to conduct the entire meeting in Room 309. Second, since the executive session was the last item on the agenda, there was no need to begin the meeting elsewhere than in the commission chamber, and Bos prefers to conduct all discussion out of the public eye when she can.

Proponents of both explanations are waiting to see if the corporate culture of the DDA changes after Bos's term ends in December. Street talk has it that she intends to leave the Chair after more than a decade of service. -- 23 Aug 06

Briefly

• Add Garden City to those cities which are looking at changing the operation or structure of their Downtown Development Authority, primarily to redirect some of  the DDA's revenue to the city's operational needs.

• In the1990s, Clawson had a tiff with its DDA and disbanded it. Reactivated in 2002, Clawson's DDA is looking to expand its boundaries.

Reading your articles about the DDA makes my blood boil! 
I was in charge of the Main Street Design Committee for a few years from its conception. The one thing that really bothered me was the involvement with the DDA in that they rarely ever participated in any events themselves! How can the DDA function without being involved and really understanding the needs of its own jurisdiction?

The members of the DDA are supposedly business owners within the Central Business District but what I don't understand is how they could care so little about the CBD and the issues that matter.  Are their own personal businesses thriving? Is that the reason they couldn't care less? The only DDA members that I believe are truly valuable are Jim Domanski, Shirley Smith and Ilene Hill. They are the only ones I have ever witnessed getting involved in community service in past events such as "We Dig" and really getting involved in Main Street.

I believe it is time for a new DDA.
Do not dissolve it but reorganize it. Get some fresh blood in there to see things in a new light! That being said, Barbara Bos must go. Her need for control has done nothing but stall this group and about the only thing she can do anymore is run a good meeting. I have yet to see her ever getting her hands dirty and same for many of the other members of the DDA. Yet what is funny is how this group continues to nominate her for chair. Probably because no one else really wants to put forth the effort.  How sad.

I am a major advocate for a Downtown Manager. The one thing that Jerry Detloff had right was his involvement with the retailers and business owners. He not only knew them all by name at one point, but could tell you things about them as individuals that always fascinated me. This man believed in the possibilities in Royal Oak. He made anyone working with Main Street believe it as well. He played a major role in orchestrating Main Street and coordinating it with the DDA.  Why is he gone?  Because the DDA does as it pleases including stalling development of anything, be it property development or Main Street development. They cast a shadow over everything which does nothing but stall anything they touch.

Royal Oak needs another Jerry Detloff.  Royal Oak needs a new DDA. -- Brandon Becker

DDA cancels decision to hire Downtown Manager
The Downtown Development Authority, during its 17 August 2005 meeting, reversed its decision to hire their previously selected candidate for Downtown Manager. Passage of the rescinding motion was subdued, probably reflecting the uneasiness generated by the tardy discovery of (a) problems in the candidate's background and (b) an apparent city hall misstep in the hiring process. -- 21 August 2005

Another dimension has been added to the DDA/Downtown Retailer dialogue
One result of the recent to-ing and fro-ing about the DDA/Main Street/Retailers/Downtown Manager/Marketing Coordinator/City Hall imbroglio is that the city's Planning Department has asked to hire another full-time employee, Planner II.

That addition to the city's payroll is a) justified or b) the usual bureaucratic power-grab, Voice has been told.

Those who oppose adding a full-time employee say, "DDA talks a lot but does very little." Some of them add, "Planning Director Tim Thwing also serves as DDA's chief executive manager or CEO or whatever. He's using that DDA position to generate make-work for Planning . . . "

Just as vehement are those, also mainly business owners or managers who watch city hall and maintain, "Even if DDA didn't exist, so much development is going on in Royal Oak these days that the Planning Department is overwhelmed." 

Both camps are waiting to learn about the practical impact of proposed restructuring of DDA/Main Street.

DDA continues to dawdle about working with downtown retailers
Even as the Downtown Development Authority takes positive steps to improve its operation (see immediately below), the group seems unable or unwilling to address its relationship with assertive downtown retailers who (a) complain about what they see as a lack of planning and activity by DDA's Promotions Committee and (b) offer to meet with that committee or with the DDA to suggest improvements reminiscent of the old DROA days. That was when independent retailers, generating their own funds as a subgroup in the Chamber of Commerce, mounted multiple promotional events for several years. For internal political reasons, the Chamber dissolved the DROA and absorbed its funds.

VersagiVoice sat in on at least one meeting of the Promotions Committee and separately worked with a group of frustrated retailers. Simply, the committee spent too much time in rambling talk about plans and possibilities. In contrast, the retailers defined specific projects and events and only need official approval and funds to implement them. Here, paraphrased, is the picture as seen by several retailers:

• The inability of DDA's Promotions Committee even to gather a quorum month after month suggests its members are not focused on, or have no interest in, what needs doing to improve the retailing environment in downtown Royal Oak.

• The root cause of DDA's inactivity may very well be that it is a government-operated activity, so -- from dynamic retailers' perspective -- "moves at a snail's pace." One easily identified retailer who served in government suggests that government "often moves no faster than a dead animal."

• That same point was made in another conversation when someone pointed out that "It took six months for DDA to hire someone to power-wash the streets last year."

• Funding, if and when it is available, is very, very slow. The DROA was able to move quickly and flexibly to fund small, spontaneous promotions. "Now, there is no DROA, and getting money through a government-run program like Main Street is like trying to run a race through muck."

The retailers are getting discouraged. Publicly and privately, retailers -- and now restaurants -- are closing, on the ropes, or for sale. The retailers took a flyer at forming another independent association, unaffiliated with either the Chamber or with the DDA, but it didn't get off the ground.

As a management consultant who knows and respects many of the individuals involved -- DDAers and retailers -- I remain puzzled by what strikes me as a lack of force, of enthusiasm, of commitment from DDA simply to meet formally with the closely knit retailers and get a few things going.  Personality conflicts may play a role, but I suspect that the multi-layered structure of the DDA (being reconsidered, see below) is the problem: You have the DDA doing a lot of its own committee work; you have/had/will again have a Downtown Manager; you have a contractor serving as Marketing Coordinator; you have apparently mandated, volunteer-staffed, Main Street Committees, including the much maligned Promotions Committee. Bureaucracy, Red Tape, anyone? -- FJV 28 February 2005

DDA Meeting: 23 February 2005
* The downtown holiday lights will be left in place as long as is operationally feasible, given the city's current and coming workload. At the same time as the lights are taken down, all the pole-mounted promotional banners will be taken down.

* There remains a bit of fine-tuning to do on the 696/Fresard/Schostak development agreement, but the final document for DDA approval should be ready for the group's March meeting.

* A new job description for Downtown Manager was approved. Once cleared for ultimate legality by Human Resources, advertising and electronic distribution of Royal Oak's search for filling the position is expected to generate numerous applications.

* Tim Thwing, Royal Oak Planning Director who serves as DDA's executive officer, introduced a restructuring plan for the DDA's review. A major focus of the proposed restructuring is to reduce the number of committees and subcommittees. Instead, ad hoc tasks will be assigned to the four basic Main Street Committees.

* Mailing lists are never perfect, but work is being done to assure that property owners, as well as tenants and owner-occupied premises receive appropriate informational mailings and surveys.

* Before any large informational meeting is held concerning a proposal to establish a Principal Shopping District (PSD) in Royal Oak, the Organization Committee will meet with interested and concerned DDA members to address such practical questions as whether unused basements or second floors used for storage would be assessed any related PSD fee.

Permitting extended dialogue about each matter as it arose, DDA chairwoman Barbara Bos several times reigned in the participants and summarized the discussion to a point of conclusion or formal resolution. And there was confusion or contention about some matters which Bos acknowledged but kept from getting out of hand.

One bit of confusion had a happy and funny ending. Apparently listening over a loudspeaker in his office across the hall, Deputy City Manager Tom Trice bounded into the City Commission Room to explain  that while unionized city workers can appropriately take down all pole-mounted promotional banners at the same time as they remove the holiday lights, it would not be appropriate for them to get involved in selectively taking down some banners and moving some to other locations.

Listening to the questions and answers about why and for how long certain expenses are being charged to DDA left VersagiVoice uncertain about the the problems are. In fairness, though, it must be stated that VersagiVoice made no effort to seek clarification.

Perhaps the most serious issue which seems to be hanging in the air s the suspicion that the proposal to explore a PSD, which apparently was not mentioned when an approved survey was designed, was being presented at the meeting as a fait accompli. That uneasiness led to questions about who and how the participants in related focus groups were selected.

And there was uneasiness expressed about possible local impact of the State's attempt to provide municipalities with more flexibility in granting liquor licenses.

Other topics of discussion at the DDA meeting were: interfacing more effectively and timely with the Farmers Market Committee; finding out what other cities are doing to create pedestrian friendly downtowns; parking; the risk of informal breakfast sessions legally becoming meetings because a quorum is present; the need to involve interested retailers informed about, involved in, the work of the Main Street Promotions Committee, about which dissatisfaction continues to be expressed.

All in all, a substantive two hours.

21 December 2005 Meeting

The meeting opened with three Public Comment speakers urging the DDA not to put parking meters in the Farmer's Market parking lot. As it developed, the Parking Study summary presented by a consultant suggested techniques for using that lot for paid parking without obstructing it with parking meters: Gate access or several "multi-stall" stations located strategically and relatively unobtrusively.

Minutes for special and regular DDA meetings, May through October 2005, were approved.

Chairwoman Barbara Bos mentioned doing some downtown Royal Oak shopping and encouraged others to promote more downtown shopping. As the meeting progressed, a couple of the directors felt it necessary to apologize for having shopped in Birmingham or Troy.

Despite the inevitable small glitches which seem to accompany all electronic presentations, Marketing Consultant Peggy Goodwin showed clips of extensive coverage by the major TV channels of Royal Oak's Holiday Magic Parade. Among proposed improvements for next year will be more music and volunteer training.

The first pass at the Parking Study was impressive. The consultant touched on everything from  color-coding parking meters to tearing down and replacing the Center Street parking structure, from issuing increasing parking fines (from $5 to $8) through issuing "courtesy tickets" made possible by computerized hand-held devices which make it possible to track license plates.

Director Bill Harrison, who had apparently spent time reviewing the report, asked questions and made suggestions for perhaps 35 minutes and presented some of his concerns in writing to the consultant. Bos commented that Harrison had done the homework for the entire DDA, who had only scanned the report, and they will have the consultant return for a longer, detailed, dialogue.

The DDA hopes to conduct two or three work sessions early in 2006 to address such issues as the empty Downtown Manager slot, the Parking Study, a Market Analysis, and a Master Plan.