Clear and Focused Goals

I was just forwarded a recent email from City Councilor Michael Karp, addressed to "Citizens" that in my opinion, punctuates the one major point that is more or less the root of most all other reasons our Retail Marketplace pales in comparison to so many communities in Southern California and the greater region (destination resort communities) that have showcased their Merchants, Restaurants and Lodges to attract shoppers and visitors from a very wide region. The increased retail activity resulting from effective marketing of the new retail offerings generate jobs, incomes, community pride and the needed sales tax revenues that provide budgetary growth allowing local governments to provide community infrastructure improvements that we all seem to desire. Some communities call this an ‘economic development plan’.

That one point Mr. Karp divulges is that 'Retail' is viewed by more than just a few, as nothing but a backdrop for our Alpine Recreation Sector and the City's bottomless residential property tax well and is not given the respect it deserves as a major source for economic growth, adding jobs and providing incomes for locals that will not require any additional impact of the forest we all enjoy.

But without a strong unified voice, and clear and focused goals for improvements to our Marketplace, Big Bear Retail Businesses can only expect that the status quo will surely prevail and not much will ever change. If we simply leave it to the City Council, City Employees and those that many of us think are 'in charge' of such decisions and policy that could successfully enhance a retail business climate and allow prosperity and growth for our many struggling shops and restaurants, we can expect no more than we currently have.

Like Mr. Karp, I too urge Retail Business and Property Owners, their employees and families to attend the visioning meeting on Aug 31, and speak up for our ailing Marketplace. We should all seek to make real improvements that will truly benefit our community. Don’t allow our goals to be bogged down with a lot of new and restrictive ordinances that have been the source of so much disinvestment and disappointment over the past 20 some years of slow, painful and inadequate retail development in our commercial districts. Business and property owners must join forces and lend their collective experience to the efforts at hand that can shape our future, and see that well intended politicians understand what elements actually drive a retail marketplace and to set, and meet, clear and focused goals.