Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Not So Grand
The Business Improvement District fees charged by the Downtown Business Association of Escondido were contested by a pair of business owners at the May 5 city council meeting.
Greta Kurtz, a business owner for 25 years, told the council that the business association promised downtown merchants that the “necessary increases” would benefit them. In one instance, they were told that the fees would help pay for a shuttle service for employees.
“The shuttle was short-lived,” said Kurtz, who owns a travel agency. “But the fees are still here. These fees have created a hardship for many small merchants.”
According to Kurtz, a seamstress with a shop on Grand Avenue was expected to pay $400 to the business association. “People are forced to make a choice between paying their overhead or the [Downtown Business Association].” After not being able to pay her fees, a business license was not issued and a code enforcement officer showed up to try and collect the money.
“We feel that it all comes down to the money and not what’s best for the merchants,” said Kurtz. She referred to the business association’s description of where the fees are spent as vague, misleading, and inflated.
Vivian Doering, who operates a law office and has been a resident of Escondido for over 40 years, said, “I am not exactly sure what the value is of the BID to me…. I was told there would be more trash cans, that there would be better lighting. However, I know it hasn’t happened.”
Doering also questioned the need to pay for both a business license and fees when little improvement has been done downtown.
“When you walk around downtown, you can see there’s a lot of empty space.”
Here's something you might be interested in.
Not So Grand
Not So Grand
The Business Improvement District fees charged by the Downtown Business Association of Escondido were contested by a pair of business owners at the May 5 city council meeting.
Greta Kurtz, a business owner for 25 years, told the council that the business association promised downtown merchants that the “necessary increases” would benefit them. In one instance, they were told that the fees would help pay for a shuttle service for employees.
“The shuttle was short-lived,” said Kurtz, who owns a travel agency. “But the fees are still here. These fees have created a hardship for many small merchants.”
According to Kurtz, a seamstress with a shop on Grand Avenue was expected to pay $400 to the business association. “People are forced to make a choice between paying their overhead or the [Downtown Business Association].” After not being able to pay her fees, a business license was not issued and a code enforcement officer showed up to try and collect the money.
“We feel that it all comes down to the money and not what’s best for the merchants,” said Kurtz. She referred to the business association’s description of where the fees are spent as vague, misleading, and inflated.
Vivian Doering, who operates a law office and has been a resident of Escondido for over 40 years, said, “I am not exactly sure what the value is of the BID to me…. I was told there would be more trash cans, that there would be better lighting. However, I know it hasn’t happened.”
Doering also questioned the need to pay for both a business license and fees when little improvement has been done downtown.
“When you walk around downtown, you can see there’s a lot of empty space.”
Comments