How the City of Middleton fails its business community (II)
In the first issue of Middleton e-View (July 8), I wrote about the failure of Middleton's city government to develop a substantial aid program or package for Middleton's struggling businesses. Unlike Middleton, other cities in Dane county (Fitchburg, Sun Prairie and Verona, for example) have shown some 'out-of-the-box' thinking, created loan and grant programs, and come up with other creative and meaningful ways to help their businesses. Middleton is still mostly talk - if that.
After the Common Council, on May 5, shot down an attempt by senior City staff to create a financial assistance program involving the Middleton Area Development Corporation (which wasn't all that keen on becoming involved in the first place, making people question its role in the community), and the Community Development Authority made a half-hearted attempt in early July at encouraging people to eat out in the public green spaces downtown, City Hall has gone silent.
It is worth noting that all these initiatives came from City staff. Middleton's elected officials have done close to nothing to help the local business community. Not a single Council member has publicly brought forth even the shadow of a hint of an idea to help Middleton's businesses through the pandemic. Mayor Gurdip Brar is proving, once again, that he is out of his depth in an emergency. He makes for an enthusiastic cheerleader for the city in good times, but when he encounters problems that cannot be solved with hollow cheerfulness, then he quickly reaches the limits of his competence. It doesn't help that, even after a dozen years in local government, he still doesn't understand municipal finance.
The failure of our elected officials to even have an in-depth public discussion about the plight of the local business community is stunning.
On July 23, I sent several questions about this topic to all eight alderpersons and to the mayor:
I have a few questions for you (and the other Council members), and I will publish your answer:
Several cities in Dane county have created financial programs of various sorts to support their local businesses (Fitchburg, Sun Prairie, Verona). Others, like Madison, have taken other initiatives, like closing streets and expanding outdoor seating for restaurants. Middleton on the other hand has done nothing.
Why do you think that is? As an alderperson, do you think it is the City's (and your) responsibility to help its local business community? Would you be willing to bring a proposal along the lines of the other cities to the Council? If not, why not?
Please note that I am talking about substantial support, not painting colorful circles on the grass or putting up picnic yard signs.
By noon on August 1, five alderpersons had submitted answers: Kathy Olson (district 1), Robert Burck (district 2), Emily Kuhn (district 4), Susan West (district 6) and Dan Ramsey (district 7). Mayor Gurdip Brar and Council members Katy Nelson (district 3), Luke Fuszard (district 5) and Mark Sullivan (district 8) have not even acknowledged receiving the questions.
Following are the responses received so far (not edited for content).
Kathy Olson, district 1:
Individually, we all have a role to play in curbing this pandemic but helping businesses that are experiencing financial hardships needs to be addressed at all levels of government: national, state, county and local.
You have asked specifically how Middleton compares “along the lines of the other cities” (Fitchburg, Sun Prairie, Verona, Madison).
Like Middleton, each of the cities you listed have different available resources which has resulted in each of them finding different ways to support their local small businesses.
As far as financial programs, Verona was able to establish a $200,000 grant program for Small Business in May and recently authorized an additional $100,000 grant program for bars and restaurants. Verona was able to implement these two programs by using Economic Development funds that were in part a result of the 2016 closing of a TIF district that encompassed the EPIC campus. Unfortunately, Middleton is not in a financial position to implement a similar grant program.
On the other hand, Sun Prairie and Fitchburg established small business loan programs. A similar loan program was proposed at the May 5, 2020 Middleton City Council meeting. For several reasons, the city council decided to defer action on the small business loan program and prioritize the use of funds. Unlike Sun Prairie and Fitchburg, Middleton is still recovering from the devastation of the 2018 flood and the direct impact it has on city finances. Due to covid, Middleton is facing an unforeseen but substantial decrease in tourism room-tax revenue and additional related expenditures to name but a few.
At the request of the Downtown Middleton Business Association (DMBA), the Middleton Community Development Authority (CDA) recently committed $4000 to assist with marketing efforts through the remainder of 2020.
Also, Middleton, like Fitchburg, has undertaken an initiative to waive sidewalk café permit fees. This helps struggling restaurants have a viable means by which to serve customers under the Forward Dane capacity limits. But unlike Madison, the Middleton downtown businesses did not support street closures to expand outdoor seating. Instead, to help with additional seating, the CDA partnered with Parks and Recreation and were able to install picnic tables at the Stone Horse Green and the open space next to city hall. A cleaning company has been hired to disinfect these tables daily and the CDA has approved funding for sanitation stations at each of these locations. Another initiative currently being explored is designating several parking spaces for curb-side pick-up.
It is worth noting that Middleton’s City Administrator Mike Davis has done an excellent job supporting the business community by disseminating information on available covid-19 relief programs. While not every business qualifies for each loan or program, he is very thorough in providing links and information as soon as they are announced.
In conclusion, I don’t feel that it is fair to say Middleton has done nothing to support the business community. I wish we could do more but local government resources are stretched very thin and Middleton is no exception. I, as alderperson for district 1, would enthusiastically welcome ideas from the local business community to help them with challenges they are currently facing due to the pandemic.
Robert Burck, district 2:
The City of Middleton is working to help our local business community during this pandemic. Because we are trying to be good stewards of the tax money that is raised within the city, we had debated, but ultimately voted against, creating a program to provide money directly to ailing businesses. Funding any new program with our limited tax funds, even for a good cause, still needs to be weighed against the other programs that would have to be defunded to compensate for this change in spending priorities.
The City is working with small businesses to try to find solutions to their specific problems. The City is always ready to work with individual companies, and together try to determine how the city may best remove some of the burdens from those business. In some cases, the City has been willing to delay taxes and interest to allow a company to get back on their feet. In other cases, the City has directed businesses to seek supplemental funding from federal programs or other sources (such as the Paycheck Protection Program, the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans, and the Dane County grant program for small businesses). Additionally, I know that the Middleton Tourism Department is spending much of their budget to advertise local businesses, hopefully garnering more business for them.
Middleton's elected officials, City staff, and volunteer committee members do not always know what individual businesses need, and I will admit that the City can do more to be more proactive in asking businesses for their input and needs. I know that not all business owners are in alignment, and there is sometimes disagreement between business owners as to what actions might be the most helpful to them, but with more communication between the businesses and the city, we can hopefully find some solutions that provide assistance to Middleton's businesses.
I know that this is not a situation any of us wanted to be in, and there is always more that can be done. If people have solutions that they would like to explore, I hope they will reach out to me. The city certainly does not have all of the answers, but we are willing to listen, and if the right solution presents itself, we are willing to take action.
Emily Kuhn, district 4:
I thought there was a program in place for restaurants to request an exception for outdoor seating. While this is not a resolution, it seems reasonable. I would be interested in hearing how many restaurants are aware of the request option or how many requested to date (total requests and percent of total restaurants). I also encourage all residents in the Lakeview Park area to call ahead at restaurants in the district and across the city and bring it back home or take to the local park to eat. Taqueria Gonzalez’s manager told me last week that orders and walk-in traffic are down and we need to get the word out to come back in. I am guessing this is happening at all the restaurants; so everyone, it’s time to pick up the phone and make your order!
As for businesses, we initially discussed the concept in Council, I asked that we wait until we have more budget data in July. I also recall pointing out that there were a lot of federal, state, and county financial programs for businesses for both small and large businesses.
Steps that we could take: consider having a point of contact for businesses to call for an overview of these programs, possibly already occurring through the chamber of commerce. One idea that I have is that we work with the downtown business association and the chamber of commerce to encourage a buy local program and create an opportunity to walk to downtown on the Third Thursday events by closing half of University [Avenue] from 5:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. (like a 5k race closes streets) one day a month to ask residents to walk or bike to downtown. It would get people out and about the city and provide social distancing as we walk or bike. Traffic would be affected, however, with some prior messaging may be minimal. We would need to work with our local police to help provide lane closures and public safety. A pilot month or two could be a great opportunity to see if foot traffic is up in downtown businesses that day as compared to other weeks of the month. I think coming together, we can find some fresh ideas to support local businesses.
Susan West, district 6:
The covid-19 pandemic has been difficult for individuals, businesses, and governments in many diverse ways: immediate problems for individuals or businesses (i.e. loss of wages or inability to pay rent or mortgage payments) or future problems for the City itself (i.e. lost revenue from reduced room tax revenue and in future years from loss of state aids). Early in the pandemic, the City did receive a substantial request from one developer for TIF funds to aid his tenants who were struggling with rent payments. Our City attorney advised that this would not be an appropriate use of TIF. Additionally, this would not be fair to those businesses not located within TID 3. Early on the City approached the Middleton Area Development Corporation about the possibility of working with the City on a loan program for small businesses, but the request was declined. Our City administrator has written numerous letters of support for businesses that have applied to WEDC loans. The City is beginning budget discussions early this year and assessing non-purports tax revenue projections for both 2021 and 2022. I personally am committed to maintaining City services at their current level; if additional funds are available, I could consider a loan program to help qualifying businesses.
Dan Ramsey, district 7:
The success and stability of Middleton’s business is vital to our city’s overall success and stability.
As you know there are two specific organizations established many years ago, whose stated goal is to aid and support local economic development: MADC (Middleton Area Development Corporation) and CDA (Community Development Authority). I am encouraged by and very supportive of the ideas proposed at the June 11 CDA meeting. I would like to see more action however from the MADC organization. At the May 5th, 2020 Council meeting I specifically questioned why MADC chose to not participate with the City in a business loan/grant program, when this is the stated purpose in their long standing charter.
When approached, the City has been receptive to specific needs from local business. For example, a temporary permit was expedited for a downtown restaurant so they could quickly expand their outdoor seating. At the April 21 Common Council meeting a local hotelier requested a deferral of the room tax payment for the first and second quarter for 2020. This was approved. At that same meeting the Council made its position clear - we are receptive to any requests for this type of assistance. The business owners know best what their individual needs are and we on the Council are always willing to listen.
If local businesses are favorable, the License & Ordinance committee could consider a possible ‘revolving permit’ for Stone Horse Green - whereby a restaurant could sponsor and/or cater a specific picnic day in the plaza. This would extend to establishments not located downtown an opportunity to utilize the city green. It is even possible for a non-food retailer to partner with a local eatery in sponsorship and catering.
Essentially, Middleton City alderpersons and City staff are interested in working in collaboration with our business community.
They are the experts and we look forward to hearing their good ideas.