Hollister
– The Hollister Downtown Association’s board of directors
gathered Thursday to take stock of its accomplishments and look to
the future. The consensus?
Hollister – The Hollister Downtown Association’s board of directors gathered Thursday to take stock of its accomplishments and look to the future. The consensus? They’re doing a pretty good job.
The HDA developed a three-year plan in 2006, and Executive Director Brenda Weatherly said the group has accomplished many of its first-year goals, including supporting a “local first” shopping campaign, expanding its event schedule and taking over the Hollister Redevelopment Agency’s Facade Improvement Program.
“There’s a lot of really neat things happening right now,” said HDA Vice President Rick Maddux, owner of Maddux Jewelry.
Weatherly said the group’s biggest priorities for the coming year, and one of its biggest accomplishments this year, is getting the ball rolling of a new downtown strategy. The HDA has selected a firm to prepare the plan and is looking for the needed funding, Weatherly said.
“(The plan) is going to be taking up most of our time,” she said.
Board member Gordon Machado, who owns Rustic Turtle Embroidery Works, said he’s glad the strategy plan is moving ahead. Machado said he’s spent years pushing the HDA to do a better job of preparing for the construction of the Highway 25 bypass, which is scheduled to open by December 2008, and the strategy plan is exactly what he was looking for.
“All these things are happening,” Machado said. “We’re just trying to define them so that they’re a little clearer.”
The preparation of the plan is one of the reasons the HDA hasn’t met one of its goals – developing a comprehensive marketing campaign. It makes more sense to develop the campaign after the plan can point the HDA in the right direction, Weatherly said. Of course, it doesn’t help that the organization – which has an annual budget of around $170,000 – lacks the funds for a big marketing push, she said.
“(These things) need to happen at some point, but maybe this isn’t the time,” Weatherly said.
Don Alvarez, owner of The Elegant Touch Restaurant, said he’s been impressed by the HDA’s improvement over the past year. The HDA has become more aggressive in organizing events and getting downtown businesses involved with those events, Alvarez said.
“So far, there are no complaints,” he said. “”I do have a couple of issues with downtown, but it’s not with the HDA.”
Namely, Alvarez said parking continues to be a big problem downtown, as there are drivers who ignore the two-hour time limit and park their cars in front of The Elegant Touch for the whole day.
However, Weatherly said the HDA is working on that too. She said the HDA has been talking to Police Chief Jeff Miller about improving enforcement, and she’s hopeful the new strategy plan will point toward solutions to meeting the parking needs of both employees and customers.
“We’re going to advocate for good parking for everybody,” Weatherly said.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
