A new system devised by the city to more effectively communicate with Downtown businesses and property owners on issues that affect them will soon be tested, officials said Thursday.
In March, the Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency (MRA) said it collected the email addresses of more than 500 owners or their representatives in a door-to-door canvass through the heart of Downtown. Now in a database, the emails will be used for alerts on street closures (due to events, construction or security incidents), TV and movie filmings that could affect parking, new business openings, MRA incentive programs, and information about city departments.
The canvass was led by Arlana Gottwald, the operations manager at Sister Bar, with help from Aaron Nieto, formerly the city outreach associate in the Office of the Mayor. The two also recruited a group of students at Siembra Leadership High School to assist. To make the project easier to tackle, boundaries were limited to businesses and properties within Broadway Boulevard to the east, Eighth Street to the west, Lomas Boulevard to the north and Coal Avenue to the south.
MRA director Terry Brunner said the initiative is important because communication with the core group of Downtown businesses and property owners hasn’t always been great.
“We can start sending out information because the problem we have Downtown is just a lot of bad information and people wanting to know why this happened or why that happened,” Brunner said. “Hopefully we can get ahead of that.”
Brunner said many don’t know which city department to call depending on the respective issue they’re having — Solid Waste for graffiti removal, for example, or what situations involve Code Enforcement, or an event organized by Arts & Culture.
One of its first uses, Brunner said, will be to provide construction updates on long-awaited work being done at the pedestrian tunnel at First Street and Central Avenue — the “First Central Crossing” — which began demolition work this week to bring it to street level.
“Or the Duke City Marathon is coming Downtown, or we’re closing Civic Plaza, or there’s an update on some construction,” he said. “Things that businesses need to be aware of and that are practical.”
Brunner said he and his staff have learned through hosting the MRA’s “Heartbeat of the City” open house events, that parking-related complaints are a frequent source of frustration.
“So we can say, this block of Sixth Street is going to be closed for this type of parking situation,” he said. “Because that’s the thing that makes them really angry is they’ll see a bunch of orange ribbons or bags on the parking meters and wonder why. Why is the city doing this? When very often it is related to a TV or movie shoot. They don’t know who to call and how to find out, so we’ll communicate about it.”
As the summer months approach, Brunner said to expect more communication about street festivals, music events like ¡Globalquerque!, which is returning to Downtown this year, and other high-volume shows that take place at the KiMo Theatre.
“It’s great because it’s drawing people in that want to eat before they go to the concert,” Brunner said. “And we’re considering doing block parties again. When we move food trucks around, that’s always a big one.”
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