Anonymous “Urgent” letter from State St. Businesses

19 demands . . . and while they say some of the right words, their safety section is the same old, same old and they are still trying to chase people without homes out of Peace Park because its become “undesireable”.

What is up with people not putting their names on the letters.  First the police union, now State St. businesses.  Names please!  And still . . . they want more police . . .

Gotta hand it to them, they are good advocates for themselves.  Their safety section still reeks of white supremacy and the whole letter reeks of entitlement.  I’d like to see similar letters for all the other issues our city is facing – housing, homelessness, etc and then compare how many of the things on each of the lists the Mayor and Alders jump to accomplish.

LETTER

June 22, 2020

Save State Street

To Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, Madison City Council and city department heads;

We come to you from a place of compassion for and dedication to our community and with the desire to help heal State Street in a way that will allow it to bounce back stronger than ever and better for everyone. The spirit of State Street is so much bigger than one street or one city. It is the heart and soul of Madison and an iconic symbol of the entire state of Wisconsin. It is quite literally our state’s street and we must all recognize its significance and work together to save it.

State Street continues to exist in a state of emergency. Businesses and our entire community have sustained devastating blow after devastating blow this year. The pandemic was catastrophic to businesses even before the riots began. Then during the rioting, we watched, and many of us tried to intervene, as our and our neighbors’ stores were destroyed, looted and set aflame over a tumultuous three day period, putting not only buildings and businesses at risk, but also many lives. Unfortunately, since that three day period of unrest, reports of threats, fear and intimidation have continued along State Street.

Our once vibrant, eclectic, iconic street has transformed into a plywood Band-Aid. The temporary art commissioned by the city to cover our boarded storefronts is beautiful. It’s symbolic and has a wonderful, unifying message. However, State Street should now be fully open, not just open for viewing the art gallery that’s hiding the destruction and despair on the other side of the plywood of the owners, our staff and our community who all rely on State Street businesses and who deserve a better and safer experience from this city.

It’s time for State Street to bounce back. We want to keep our businesses here and for everyone to succeed in our beloved downtown. However, at this point in order to do so we need your help. We need you to help us save State Street.

Several dozen State Street business and property owners, of whom many wish to remain anonymous for the safety of their employees and businesses, have come together and compiled a list of what we believe the City of Madison needs to do in order to save State Street after the pandemic, riots and continued unrest have crippled it. The following list of suggestions and demands is a result of weeks of extensive and numerous meetings, conversations and reflections on best courses of action that will allow State Street to transform once again into the thriving street it once was, but in a better, more positive and more inclusive way. As all items in this list are very important, please note that items are not necessarily in order of importance apart from safety, which is the highest priority, and assisting with strategic leasing of vacant stores, which is the second highest priority. This list is categorized into 4 primary topics – rebuilding, safety, economic support and communication.

Rebuilding:

1. Fill vacant stores by subsidizing commercial rents on State Street for a limited period of time.

 After COVID-19 hit and after the riots were allowed to continue for three nights and cause as much destruction as they did, it is estimated that at least 25% of all businesses along State Street will not be able to recover and are now out of business. State Street store vacancies have reached an unprecedented high, and the number of business closures will only continue to increase. Vacant storefronts serve only to encourage undesirable activity. Empty stores also tend to cause a domino effect in additional store closings. When neighborhoods garner a reputation as being economically depressed ghost towns that are devoid of retailers, potential customers avoid those areas, and the few remaining businesses are forced to shut down.

Let’s keep the heart of this city alive and vibrant, fill the shuttered storefronts with a diverse variety of businesses from unique entertainment spots and service shops, to retail and restaurants, and assist in the creation of additional revenue and jobs, rather than the inevitable opposite. The money the city will invest in helping to fill vacant State Street stores with businesses will be returned many times over in additional sales tax revenue generated by these new businesses, as well as from future property tax payments that will be paid in full, rather than landlords needing to seek property tax revaluations due to vacancies.

2.     Specifically support and encourage black and other minority-owned businesses to fill the vacant commercial spaces by utilizing the city’s temporary State Street subsidized rent program.

This will create a more diverse, inclusive and equitable State Street where all people will feel represented, welcome and safe. A large number of State Street businesses are already minority and immigrant owned, representing ethnicities from all over the world. We’ve already seen the positive change that has come to State Street in recent years and we’d like to continue the neighborhood’s positive evolution. We ask that the city creates a new program or works with an existing organization to create a program that will effectively help black and minority businesses start and succeed on State Street.

We also ask that the city expands its recently announced program to allow minorities to not only purchase buildings, but to lease commercial spaces and start businesses. This should be allowed in at least the first year of the new program. Buying property is out of reach for most people even with city help. People need to be given an entry opportunity and expanding the purpose of this program would do just that.

3.     Temporarily transform State Street into a pedestrian mall, help us cover the expense of additional fencing and tents required to expand existing sidewalk cafes (merchant vending) and allow retailers to participate in the Streatery Program.

We support converting State Street into a Pedestrian mall Thursdays through Sundays. Providing more walkable space along State Street by closing the street to traffic, other than an emergency vehicle and bike lane, and moving buses to cross streets, will give our community the opportunity to practice proper social distancing while the COVID-19 threat continues to loom and still be able to take advantage of everything that State Street has to offer, weather permitting.

The retail study indicated that there is not ample space on State Street to properly accommodate the visiting and resident population before any increased spacing requirements resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. We ask for this pedestrian mall provided that business deliveries are not affected. There’s already been dramatically reduced ridership on Metro and reduced general traffic on streets. We know Madison Metro has no objection to this proposed plan and have been waiting for the order to proceed.

We’d also like the city to consider adding a free trolley to escort visitors up and down the length of State Street, which will add an attraction and convenience that may be lost due to moved bus stops. We believe these changes will help make State Street a more desirable place to be.

We also ask that the city expands the Streatery program to allow not just restaurants and bars, but also retailers to participate in the Streatery program. Retailers were just as hard hit by the pandemic as bars and restaurants, if not harder hit, and were the biggest targets of the destruction and looting that occurred during the riots. Even before these two events, retailers were in a difficult place due to the nature of changing consumer habits. Let’s give retailers an opportunity to thrive once again on State Street and include us in this new program.

Please also allocate extra funds toward the purchase of additional fencing and tents so use of the extra space is less weather dependent. This will allow everyone to fully take advantage of the opportunity.

Safety:

4. Inform us on how you are addressing State Street community safety now and in the future.

We understand that the future of law enforcement will look different than the past and we look forward to positive reform. However, safety must still be the city’s #1 priority. Please provide us with your plan for police presence and also police presence accompanied by other deescalation-trained workers on State Street now and moving forward. We believe it’s in everyone’s best interest to respond with social workers present when calls are regarding drug addiction, mental health and homelessness along State Street.

We have heard continuously that people, regardless of race, age, sex, etc., do not feel comfortable or safe on State Street with the current state of affairs. That perception is unlikely to change unless the city actively works to change it. Neighborhood officers should be peacefully present, walking State Street and pleasantly interacting with people in an attempt to rebuild relationships and trust with community members. Officers should not be working unseen or quickly driving down State Street only when necessary in unmarked vehicles. That style of policing does nothing to ease tension and serves only to make police more unrelatable and unapproachable to the general public.

We must repair relationships and broken trust and that takes presence and listening. That takes stopping into stores, saying hello to people on the streets, shaking hands (once COVID-19 is over!) and having genuine face-to-face conversations.

Additionally, many community members who’ve ventured down to State Street, employees and ourselves continue to be threatened by aggressive people. Some reported and many unreported events continue to occur downtown. There has even been at least one official report of extortion (and perhaps more unreported), where people have harassed others on the street and inside businesses, then demanded money in order to stop. We’ve been told the city and police cannot do anything about this. We’re also getting nearly daily reports of incidents involving everything from employee tip jars stolen, to threats of violence when boards are removed, to shots fired, to a strong arm robbery. Everyone has the right to safety and security. Everyone, equally, should be able to visit or work downtown without fearing for their safety. The reality is that everyone is worried and not enough has been done by the city to address these concerns and appease that unease.

5.     Add cameras along the entire State Street corridor from the 100 to the 600 block.

Currently, cameras are located just at intersections and they do not even properly cover those intersections, especially the older cameras. In order to deter future crime or assist in potential future investigations, cameras that give full view of events occuring on State Street should be installed on the 100-600 blocks. This will assist in accountability and transparency of both police and community members, deter crime in the State Street area and make it a safer, more desirable place to be for well-intentioned visitors.

6.     Remove all rocks in planters, around trees and elsewhere on State Street and surrounding streets in the downtown area. Secure planters and anything that is not already bolted to the ground.

Much of the damage and injuries that occurred downtown on May 30th, May 31st and June 1st was caused by throwing easily accessible materials such as loose rocks and gravel from city rock beds and broken cement pieces from tipped cement planters. Please remove all rocks, not just the large ones.

Please also offer to remove rock beds from private property downtown. Replace rocks with mulch, manufactured drainage slabs or a similar material that cannot be used as projectiles. Please remove anything that can be used to hurt people or property in the event of future unrest.

7.     Expedite the 400 block Visitor Center’s glass replacement, remove the plywood and clean up and maintain Lisa Link Peace Park.

The boards must come off the Visitor Center and it must be reopened and staffed as quickly as possible. Lisa Link Peace Park has become an undesirable area due to illegal activities and harassment, as well as to the Visitor Center’s closure and lack of staff presence. The city must lead the way in board removal and positive, activated presence in order to encourage other State Street businesses and properties to follow suit. Lisa Link Peace Park must also be better maintained and cleaned throughout the day in order to create a welcome environment for all who visit State Street.

8.     Create a program to provide community members with free, regularly scheduled implicit bias and de-escalation training.

We believe this will help all community members alter subconscious patterns of thought with the goal of eliminating discriminatory behaviors. Ensure police also regularly receive extensive training in this regard.

Economic Support:

9. Modify, expand and promote the city’s Co-pay Graffiti Removal Program

Private and public buildings and pavement continue to be tagged on a nightly basis. Unfortunately, the city has set a precedent with its lack of graffiti deterrence, sending an unspoken message that continual tagging of buildings and streets downtown is permissible. We’ve heard the argument that if the city removes the graffiti now, it will just continue to happen. Studies show the opposite – graffiti begets more graffiti. Immediate and daily graffiti removal deters further vandalism. The city needs to step up and immediately stop this from its nightly recurrence and better assist us now and long-term in graffiti removal efforts.

We understand that the city has a Co-pay Graffiti Removal Program, though most of us were not aware of it until recently as it is not promoted. We now understand we can apply to city building inspection and pay a $100 fee to remove graffiti from the entire property. We ask that the city removes the graffiti on public buildings and pavement immediately and continuously. We also ask that the city expedites the Co-pay Graffiti Removal Program process, waives the application requirement, suspends the $100 fee, and promotes the program’s availability.

New York has a successful graffiti removal program (Graffiti-Free NYC) that is free to business and property owners. The program “partners with social services organizations that help train, employ and rehabilitate segments of the city’s population.” We’d like the city of Madison to consider expanding its program, such as New York has done, to include partnering with social services organizations and making the graffiti removal program into a community service/training/rehabilitation project.

10.  Keep A-frame (sandwich board) sidewalk signs and sidewalk cafe signs fee-free permanently.

We’re currently charged a $100 annual fee to place an A-frame sign in front of our stores or to put a sign on our sidewalk cafes (which we also pay steep fees for). A-frame signs are inoffensive, help with business promotion and add to the eclectic nature of State Street. Little things such as this should not be assigned fees so long as we follow specific guidelines and do not block walkways.

11.  Make “no parking curbside pickup” spots permanently free and eliminate special events parking fees.

These metered parking spots that have been converted into free pickup spots have been business savers throughout COVID-19 and the business disruptions caused by the riots. Curbside pickup and delivery will only continue to be more and more popular as time goes on. This is now part of our collective culture and way of life and we must all adapt to the evolving times. Not having these free spaces available for people to quickly pull in and leave causes two major problems – blocked traffic and congested roadways that occur when people cannot find parking and pull over on the side of the road or park illegally in handicap spots to run into a store quickly for pickup, and also loss of business due to the perception and reality that parking downtown is impossible if you just need to make a quick stop.

Special events parking fees discourage everyone except for event goers from frequenting downtown businesses and do not allow for quick trips to State Street for pickups since very few are willing to pay $8 for a 5 minute pickup or a quick bite to eat. The city needs to make parking as easy and financially feasible as possible for everyone and not take advantage of people by capitalizing on parking during downtown events. At the very least, please make the first hour of parking regular priced during special events.

12.  Temporarily cap third party delivery fees at 15%.

Although city staff was actively researching this issue after having meetings about it before the riots, downtown restaurants need the 15% cap to be implemented as quickly as possible. Third party delivery companies such as GrubHub, DoorDash, Uber Eats and Eatstreet take an average of 30% of every sale. On top of that, many of them also charge additional delivery fees and service charges to the end customer. Restaurants operate with an average of 5%-10% profit margin during good times. A 30% cut of sales is unsustainable, especially without high volume of dine-in and takeout sales to balance those hefty fees. As COVID-19 has progressed and as the riots have forced many of us to lean heavily on delivery to survive, since dine-in and takeout are very restricted, our already slim profit margins have completely evaporated. Many of us are hemorrhaging money right now due to these delivery fees in our feeble attempts to keep our doors open and keep our staff employed.

These delivery companies have refused to adjust their fees and are profiting immensely off a public health crisis and off of restrictions placed on small businesses due to the civil unrest that is occurring nationwide, while restaurants and their employees are suffering. Many major cities throughout the United States (NYC, LA, DC, San Francisco, Seattle and more) have already capped third party delivery fees at 15%. Most of these fee caps expire 90 days after the last emergency orders and phased reopenings are lifted, which means they will be in place for quite some time yet.

13.  Refund the fees we have paid for 2020 special occupancy licenses (fire), food and drink licenses, liquor licenses and other annual required operating permits.

Our occupancy has been severely restricted since the beginning of the year, as have our food and drink, liquor and merchandise sales. Forgiving sidewalk cafe fees and merchant vending fees, though we are grateful for the act, will not be sufficient enough. Most of us have been unable to use our sidewalk cafes or outdoor merchant vending spaces, or unable to use them at full capacity or don’t utilize sidewalk cafes or outdoor merchant vending at all. Delaying licensing fees to later dates will not be enough. We continue to be in a state of emergency on State Street and business will not catch up this year to warrant the steep fees we are charged to operate. State Street businesses need to be allowed the chance to first survive, then catch up.

14.  Please expedite and expand the Downtown Recovery Program and Madison’s Central Business Improvement District Emergency Fund processes in order to assist us as quickly as possible with paying our insurance deductibles and paying store damages that we’ve incurred that are not covered by insurance.

We appreciate the very generous fundraiser put together by our local Madison Boys and Girls Club and we are looking forward to additional help from the city’s new Downtown Recovery Program.

We are all facing rising insurance costs due to the vandalism and looting. We local small business and property owners are unable to absorb these rising costs on top of the damages and loss of business we’ve dealt with this year. Fewer insurance companies want to do business with us in the downtown area due to the rioting and civil commotion. Insurance companies drop businesses with continual claims. Many of us are facing the very real threat that our insurance companies will not renew our policies and we will be dropped. This happened in the 1970’s when it was nearly impossible to insure businesses on State Street after the riots and business damage that occurred in the late 1960’s, and it will happen again now. Helping to pay our insurance deductibles, which range from thousands to tens of thousands of dollars, will be a tremendous gesture of goodwill from the city after the allowance of three nights of destruction and looting forced many of us to make claims to our insurance that we would never have had to make.

Additionally, many of us have been told by our insurance companies that our policies have a riot and civil commotion exclusion and that our damage and loss of business will not be covered. Others have been told that while our insurance may cover some damages, other damages will not be covered.

Some city leaders publicly promoted the notion that insurance will cover damages and downplayed the severity of the situation, which may have encouraged the destructive behavior that occurred on State Street. However, insurance does not cover everything. We are grateful for the gracious help to cover the expense of some deducibles and exterior damages that our insurance refuses to cover, and we’d like the city to expedite the funds distribution process. We are hopeful the city will also help us find a creative solution for loss of merchandise and to offset loss of sales (business interruption) not covered by insurance. We also ask that the city expand the Downtown Recovery Program to help small, locally owned businesses and properties, including locally owned national franchises, cover not only the damages directly caused by the riots, but also facade damages such as window and door frame holes, stone and brick damage, etc., that occurred as a result of having to preventatively board our windows and doors.

Insurance will not cover damage that resulted from taking necessary precautions.

It is likely, and we believe inevitable, that the amount proposed for the Downtown Recovery Program will not be nearly enough. When city funding is exhausted due to need outstripping availability, we ask that the city replenishes those funds.

15.  Refund 2020 property taxes for all small, locally owned businesses and property owners who request the refund and who are located along the State Street corridor from the 100-600 block and within one block off of State Street.

Since the beginning of March, all of our businesses have taken severe hit after severe hit. COVID-19 forced many of us to operate with business reductions of 70+ percent and forced many of us to close entirely for months. Then the riots came and forced us to board up our storefronts, frightening away what few customers were left and driving down business even deeper. All summer events that we rely on to sustain our businesses through the winter, when most of us operate at a loss, have been cancelled. The PPP and small local grants, which many of us did not receive, was not and will not be enough. Delaying property tax payments is not enough. Business will not catch up this year. In light of everything that has happened this year we request a one time property tax refund, which will help to slow the free-fall of business closures along State Street.

We understand that the state constitution uniformity clause and statutes require an act of state to issue property tax rebates. Therefore, we ask that the city lobbies the state legislature and governor to allow this to happen. State Street is a very important corridor to the entire state of Wisconsin due to its proximity to the capitol building and it is an iconic symbol for the entire state. State government should therefore provide as much assistance as the city of Madison to help rebuild State Street.

16.  Freeze property tax increases for all small, locally owned businesses and property owners who are located along the State Street corridor from the 100-600 block and within one block off of State Street for 5 years.

Businesses along State Street are already reeling and property tax increases add additional burden to the already suffering stores that pay the property tax as part of their triple net leases. Increases also force landlords to pass on the property tax hikes via increased rents to the few tenants who are not on triple net leases. State Street businesses cannot absorb further property tax hikes and will not be able to for several years. This is especially true in light of the fact that property values historically decline with increased numbers of vacant properties and increased crime rates, both of which are already at or quickly approaching historic highs for the State Street area. Please also lobby the state legislature and governor to freeze property taxes.

Communication:

17. Provide us with your plan to meet demands driven by the movement, let us know how you will balance all needs within the community, and provide us with twice-weekly progress
18. Investigate and report back with ways the city is able to utilize county, state and/or federal government funding to help our city and all of us

One idea is to lobby Dane County to use part of its $95M Federal Cares Act funds to help provide funds to accomplish the requests set forth in this letter and save State Street.

19.  Assign a specific city employee to act as liaison between business and property owners and the city to ensure our requests are addressed in a timely manner and resolutions are implemented immediately.

Alder Verveer has been tremendously helpful throughout our COVID-19 struggles and since the riots have occurred. He has been readily available regardless of time of day and has been actively assisting business and property owners as well as other community members. However, he is the only alder or city employee who has been trying to help all of us (some of us are not even located within his jurisdiction) and he needs more assistance since a single person is unable to provide all of the help and communication required by such a large number of businesses and property owners who rely on him downtown. For this reason we need a specific city employee temporarily assigned to act as liaison between State Street businesses and property owners at least until our requests have all been addressed and implemented and State Street returns to some form of normalcy.

Please respond to us as a group via the email savingstatestreet@gmail.com by Friday, June 26th, 2020 with written details on how each of our requests will be handled, any additional questions you may have for us, names of specific individuals who will be working on each request and specific dates by which you anticipate each individual request will have a response.

We are small businesses and small families who do everything we can for our employees, their families, our customers and our community as a whole. We are your average next door neighbor. We are both new immigrants trying with every fiber of our beings to realize our American dreams and generations-old mom and mop Madisonians carrying on our family traditions in service to our beloved community. We are not wealthy elitists who are disconnected from reality, immune from strife and financially able to persist through some of the worst destruction in Madison history. That is not us. We’ve done everything we can for many years to support this city. Now we need you, the City of Madison, to recognize State Street’s current predicament and return that support.

We genuinely appreciate your help and we look forward to working with you to save State Street. Sincerely,

Your concerned local State Street business and property owners