|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
As a small business owner in downtown Pleasanton, I protest the planned increase of taxes to fund the Pleasanton Downtown Association. As a 25-year resident of Pleasanton, I would love to see downtown Pleasanton revitalized.
Here are five reasons why giving more money to the PDA appears to be the wrong approach:
1. PDA activity has been exclusively focused on increasing foot traffic to restaurants and retail stores on Main Street. There are 500-plus businesses who are mandatory members of the PDA, and many aren’t located on Main Street; even fewer are on street level. Second-floor and service businesses are invisible to the PDA.
2. The PDA provides no accountability. While I employ detailed lead-tracking and can prove that I have generated zero clients (or leads) from PDA membership, I have yet to see meaningful statistics from the PDA on how they have helped to “revitalize” downtown or actual numbers that prove a conversion from foot traffic to sales.
3. The PDA has been doing the same things for years, and instead of “revitalizing” downtown there seems to have been an increase in open storefronts. Maybe what the PDA is offering isn’t what downtown Pleasanton needs? My clients (and leads) come almost exclusively from referrals and online marketing. I don’t need the PDA’s help to generate business. Foot traffic isn’t the solution.
4. Having worked out of a historic building in downtown for four years, I believe that what’s eating downtown Pleasanton is not an inability of local businesses to attract their own clients (that’s frankly insulting). Rather, it is old buildings that are hanging on by a thread. PRIMM Boutique is a prime example of building owners being allowed to let their properties fall apart to the detriment of talented entrepreneurs.
Local businesses need functional spaces to do business in (we also need proper signage). Maybe more storefronts would be filled if there were higher demands put on building owners to maintain them? It’s exhausting to have to fight for things like A/C or a working elevator on a regular basis.
5. PDA membership dues are simply an unfair penalty on service businesses downtown. Service businesses like mine generate foot traffic to other downtown stores. Many of my clients eat, drink and shop downtown before or after seeing me for therapy appointments. Some of my clients come from out-of-town and some have experienced downtown Pleasanton for the first time.
In a nutshell, PDA membership should be voluntary. And, city of Pleasanton, please find a solution to keep our downtown buildings functional or more businesses will have to move somewhere else.
Editor’s note: Natascha Thomson is a licensed marriage and family therapist who offers psychotherapy at her praxis in downtown Pleasanton.
I appreciate your perspective, but I respectfully disagree with the increase in assessment. As a downtown business owner, I’ve always seen supporting the Pleasanton Downtown Association not as a way to directly benefit my own business, but as a way to strengthen the entire district — a rising tide lifts all boats. (I run a service business off Main Street.) It is unrealistic to expect the PDA to generate business for 550 diverse businesses in the district. Instead, it’s up to each business owner to take the attention the PDA brings downtown and use it to benefit their own business. That includes engaging with the board and staff to share ideas that might also support service businesses off Main Street.
Downtown Pleasanton is a special place for our community, and many of us chose to locate here because of that appeal. With BID assessments currently ranging from a minimum of $50 to a maximum of $350, I don’t see it as a burden. The BID has existed for 40 years, and its purpose has always been about supporting the overall vitality of the district — not guaranteeing a direct return for each individual business.
I agree that building conditions are an issue. The structures are old, and sometimes, property owners are absent. If we truly want “all boats to rise,” then property owners must invest in their buildings to make them usable rather than pushing that entire burden onto tenants. Having leased two different spaces downtown, I can say firsthand how much tenants spend to make a space usable. I’m not suggesting all property owners work this way, but too many do. They are essentially absent and indifferent to their impact on the entire district.
As a resident who is concerned with how our downtown is faring, this point of view is very interesting for its important perspective from a business owner. I hadn’t considered enough how much business around Main St. is not on the street level. I can appreciate how increases in PDA fees would affect similar business owners.
Downtown is borderline blighted.
I have never understood what the attraction is, or was.
I mean, cattle drives, trains with their noise.
I also did not know there are businesses second level.
The second level should not be charged the same rate as the street level.
It should be something much less.
As a chiropractor with a practice on First Street for nearly 20 years and a longtime Pleasanton resident, I strongly support Natascha Thomson’s opposition to the PDA fee increase. It’s fundamentally unjust to mandate that service businesses, located off Main Street, fund an organization that provides no benefit to us. The PDA’s focus on Main Street restaurants and retail ignores the diverse needs of the majority of its 500+ members, who aren’t in those categories. We generate our own clients through referrals and targeted efforts, not PDA events, yet we’re forced to pay revenue based fees because of our downtown address.
Forcing membership in an unaccountable organization that doesn’t serve our interests violates the principle of fair representation. The PDA offers no transparency or data proving value for service businesses like mine, yet demands our financial support. As a resident concerned about Pleasanton’s fiscal health, I also question whether city funds should subsidize an organization that primarily benefits a small subset of businesses. The City Council should reject this fee increase, make PDA membership voluntary, and reject allocating taxpayer money to an organization that doesn’t equitably serve the broader downtown community. True downtown vitality comes from supporting all businesses, not just a select few, while ensuring responsible use of public funds.
Dear Ptown Resident:
I appreciate that you joined the conversation. I wonder what is behind your decision to post anonymously. It took courage for me to put my opinion out to the public as I know that people have strong feelings on our Downtown.
I don’t feel that you heard what I wrote:
I don’t need the PDA to generate more business for me.
I am all for „let all boats rise“ but I have no proof that the PDA is „rising up“ any boat as there is no accountability. Where are the numbers?
I don’t think the PDA has been or is able to revitalize Downtown. Please prove me wrong by showing me numbers / empirical evidence.
Having said that, I question why small businesses like mine are responsible for floating up other businesses. Why wouldn’t that fall to all residents of Pleasanton?
If the city asked my business to contribute money to an organization that could help revitalize Downtown, I would voluntarily donate money. But the PDA hasn’t proven to be that organization. Now the PDA is not only asking for higher fees but also starting a foundation that is soliciting additional funds from us.
And as daviddebo stated so well above, PDA fees are revenue based. Hence, the more “boats” the PDA can “float”, and the higher the PDA can “float all boats”, the more they will collect in fees. By truly revitalizing downtown, the PDA would automatically be able to increase their income instead of raising our fees.
Last, I take offense to the assumption that local businesses (and I) aren’t trying to work directly with the PDA.
I have attempted to partner with the PDA since first becoming aware of them in 2022 when I started my praxis downtown. My first year, I barely broke even as there were many expenses and my assessment fee for the PDA was $80.
When I asked the then President of the PDA what to expect in return, her verbatim answer was: „What do you expect to get for $80?“.
Despite this experience, I reached out to the new PDA President mid September to open a dialogue, sharing all my concerns listed in my guest opinion above. I pretty much got no response until my guest opinion was posted last Thursday. A few hours after publication, the President emailed me, stating an interest in „not escalating this further“.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the city hall meeting on October 7, 2025 where the increases will be discussed. I hope others can go. Or fees will be doubled and tripled.
I am who I post I am.
It has been my opinion since day one.
“Anonymous posters have no credibility.”
I supported your opinion.
You believe I am anonymous?
The PDA reminds me of scams.
Michael, I appreciate your comment. Thank you. You clearly identified yourself; I was not referring to you. Apologies for any misunderstanding/ confusion.