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Thanksgiving Thoughts: “Still and Clear”
Since this is the November Edition, I
assume I should write about all the things to be thankful for.
Now, no one has ever accused me of being a “glass
half-empty” kind of person, but to be honest with you, even I had
to stop and think about what we can be thankful for.
I landed on one of the last things my Dad
ever shared with my Mom before he passed away.
His words, which are still written on the chalk board in
the kitchen, were “still and clear.”
Odd words, but words that can carry a lot of meaning.
In this tough economy, still and clear can
be translated into “there is still no clear picture in the
economy.” When I look
though my crystal ball to get a glimpse of the economy, the clouds
of uncertainty obscure my vision.
As business professionals we must learn
how to be careful and still be clear when we are dealing with
customers, clients and other business associates.
Many of us are so wrapped up into the
day-to-day running of our business we forget about our goals,
professional and personal.
For those who work and volunteer at PPSC, we have a mission
statement that we recite often.
This allows us to go back to the core values that have
always been the beliefs of the agency.
It is important you take stock, get clear on those beliefs
that still hold true for you to be successful professionally.
No matter the size of your company or business, you should
remember and understand that in difficult situations, there are
always choices. Do not
let your fears become reality; have courage to take it one step at
a time. Aristotle once
said, “Courage is the first of human qualities, because it is the
quality which guarantees the others.”
One thing I’m clear on is that we still
have to rely on each other to survive tough times.
Take a look around your company and neighborhood, and see
if you can’t find someone to help.
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
The clouds in the crystal ball will clear
soon and all of us in Petaluma will still have each other to rely
on as clients, partners and neighbors.
Oh, and we don’t really know what Dad was
saying when he wrote still and clear 10 years ago.
It may have meant that it was still snowing and clear up to
the rooftop, or it could have been that we still have each other
and that is the one thing we are all clear on.
Have a wonderful and thankful season.
Dear Petaluma Chamber of Commerce:
I hope the Petaluma Business Expo was a
great success. Blood
Bank of the Redwoods had a great turnout with over 30 donors
attending the drive.
Your support is greatly appreciated.
In total we collected 18 life-saving units. Each unit can
impact as many as three lives when the blood is broken down into
multiple components including red cells, plasma, and platelets.
This means your drive can impact as many as 54 lives.
Currently, we are supporting multiple patients including a
leukemia patient that has used 51 units of blood to date.
Your support is priceless.
I look forward to working with you again.
Andrea Casson, Account Coordinator
Blood Bank of the Redwoods
The City asked the Chamber for its
priorities for the City in the upcoming year, and the Board was
certainly not bashful in its recommendations. As noted on page
one, the Board first pointed out that the City needs to get its
act together regarding processing applications.
The Board used the phrase “horror stories”
to describe the cumulative impact of delays, stalls, pigeonholes,
and what have you that have reined new business in this town
almost to a standstill. One of the reasons that this situation has
happened is that there is no clear focus, no general agreement in
City Hall as to what the City is trying to accomplish with its
various policies. Which leads us to the other major priority
recommendation from the Board – development of a City Economic
Strategic Plan.
The Chamber Board has been stumping for
this Plan for more than a decade and up to now, with little
success. Now, we learn, City Manager John Brown is in the process
of creating such a plan, and the noise you hear from Chamber
quarters is applause.
At the same time, there is cause for
caution, for such a plan could also be twisted to become a tool to
keep business from happening. What is needed is a clear vision of
what the City should be and what the City and its entire
population needs, and sufficient data to develop a reasonable,
workable plan.
The vision should be that of creating a
sustainable economy for Petaluma. That means everyone who lives
here has the opportunity to work here, and everyone who shops has
the opportunity to find what they need in Petaluma shops. That is
the ideal. Although the out-commute is not nearly as fierce as it
was in years past, it is still substantial. And, our drain on
retail shopping dollars is so embarrassing as to put Petaluma in
danger of becoming a bedroom community.
Whether anyone likes it or not, City Hall
needs business in town to create the revenues needed to provide
the vast range of services and expenditures demanded by a healthy
community. Those revenues come from property tax, sales tax, and
developer fees. A
central part of an economic strategic plan is to identify how much
revenue a city is going to need next year, the year after, and so
on into the foreseeable future, and then lay out a strategy to
secure that business-based revenue.
As it is, the City is in the embarrassing
position of raising developer fees substantially and then stalling
that very development that would supply badly needed municipal
funds.
Unfortunately there is a vocal component
in this town that wants no retail development and not much else as
well. These voices seem to think the Petaluma economy can do quite
well thank you with some quilt shops and coffee and biscotti
emporiums and leave the tax revenues generated by large corporate
retail to other communities who are not quite so picky.
Unfortunately, those voices have been
pretty effective as of late, particularly since decisions are
being made with little hard data to support them. There have been
volumes written and spoken about what this town wants, but no one
has really gone to those people who are spending 50% of our
shopping dollars out of town and asked them what they want.
That is what economic strategic planning
is all about. It is knowing what our City needs, and our entire
community’s desires, and getting good, reliable data to help us to
secure what our community needs and wants.
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