Downtown community convenes to propose Downtown Action Organization

With the reunification of Courthouse Square, a number of property and business owners along with the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors have discussed the need for an organization to manage the Square and promote Downtown as a vibrant and safe center of our City. What follows is the result of those discussions: the creation of a new organization, named the Downtown Action Organization (DAO), that would undertake those tasks.

The DAO has four main objectives:

• Make downtown safe, welcoming and accessible to the community
• Maintain Courthouse Square
• Market downtown as the vibrant core of our community
• Manage Courthouse Square events, vendors and activity

DAO funding will come from four sources: property owners, through the creation of a Property Business Improvement District (PBID); businesses, through the creation of a Business Improvement Area (BIA); the City of Santa Rosa, though contracting existing funds spent on downtown maintenance to the DAO; and marketing funds from the already existing Tourism BIA.

The current goal to create the DAO is to bring city council petitions signed by 50% plus one of those who would pay the assessments to create the PBID sometime in March. We are working to contact downtown property and business owners to make them aware of the proposals.

For questions contact Janet Rogers at janetr@santarosachamber.com.