A note from the president
Friends,
First and foremost I want to call your attention to the very exciting news that the Downtown Alliance is hiring an additional staff member. The new position, the Director of Safety Strategies, will play a critical role in helping to launch and run a downtown Safety Communication Center (Fusion Center). The Fusion Center is the first of several initiatives that will be part of the Saint Paul Downtown Improvement District. You can read more about the position below, and please share the post far and wide with those who may be interested or qualified.
Second, I want to take a moment to thank all of our community members who have come together the past few months to help us bring some positive engagement and energy back into downtown. From Lowertown residents like Bill Hanley and Brigette Anderson, to community organizers like Lee Ann LaBore with Friends of Mears Park and Rachel Wacker and Tara Weatherly of Rage to Order, to business owners like the Bulldog's Jeff Kaster and Big River Pizza's Steve Lott - it has taken considerable time and dedication from these and so many other folks to bring together events like Lowertown Local and the Lowertown Art Market. We're grateful to get to work with all of you. More details on these and other upcoming events are below.
I'd also like to give a quick shout out and congratulations to our friends at Wellworth Co-Working who are celebrating their second anniversary today. Wellworth's own community manager Rena Rasmussen also happens to be performing tonight at Lowertown Local so be sure to say hello if you're there.
Finally, today Mayor Carter delivered his 2021 Budget Address via video to share the highlights and themes of the budget proposal he submits to the City Council for their consideration. His priorities included no increase in property taxes, maintaining the city’s reserve funds, and managing retirements and attrition to avoid staff layoffs. In the days and weeks ahead, we’ll be digging into the specifics of the budget proposal. Given the challenges we’re facing downtown, and the importance of downtown to the overall economy and to the tax base (downtown pays over $60 million in property taxes each year), we’ll be working to make sure downtown has the resources we need. This will be imperative to facilitate and accelerate our recovery so as more workers and visitors eventually are allowed back, we come back better and stronger than ever before.
Take care,
Joe Spencer
President
Saint Paul Downtown Alliance
