The SDA Roars Back

Meeting generates new ideas for local business and a plan to expand the business improvement district beyond downtown

Downtown Sebastopol beneath a buttermilk sky. (Photo by Laura Hagar Rush)

(Note: In addition to being co-owner of this newspaper, the author of this article is a temporary contractor for the city of Sebastopol and coordinator of Relaunch Sebastopol, a program created to increase economic activity and community vitality in town.)

Last night the previously quiescent Sebastopol Downtown Association (SDA) roared back into life at a big meeting at Copperfield’s about the future of downtown and business in Sebastopol.

Now headed by bootmaker and former councilmember Michael Carnacchi, the SDA had invited local business owners to a gathering called “Sebastopol Businesses Imagining Our Cohesive Future.” Twenty-five owners of local businesses showed up to share their ideas.  

The SDA is the representative body of Sebastopol’s Downtown Business District. It’s funded by a tax that business owners within the downtown area pay when they pay for their business license. The city funnels all that money directly to the SDA board. That funding comes to approximately $7,000, which in the past has been spent primarily on print and radio ads.

Now Carnacchi is on a campaign to expand the business district to include all businesses in Sebastopol. And many of the businesspeople in attendance, some of whom were from beyond the downtown, seemed supportive of that idea.

Here’s the rub (and the reportorial conflict-of-interest alert): the city already has two PR groups - Holly Hansen and my company, Townie Media - acting as PR people for the city, but Carnacchi says he wants someone to represent the interests of business, not the city government, which he feels is out of touch with the needs of small local businesses.

Ideas to increase local business

Another board member of the SDA, Adam Bulbulia, who owns Bridging Worlds (a therapy company), began the meeting with introductions, then asked people to share their ideas for a more vital business community.  

Some of these included: getting the SDA, the Chamber of Commerce and Relaunch Sebastopol working in unison; downtown beautification; creating a tourist guide and map to Sebastopol; creating a nightlife in town by having stores stay open later on some nights (perhaps with a First Friday concept, building on Chimera’s current First Friday open house); creating a communication channel for local businesses; urban planning for walkability; and many others.

Ultimately, Carnacchi introduced the idea of expanding the business district to encompass all Sebastopol businesses.  He estimated that an expanded district would throw off roughly $60,000 to $70,000 a year, which he said would allow the SDA to hire its own PR and marketing person to market Sebastopol businesses to the Bay Area and beyond.

As president of the SDA, Carnacchi declined to be interviewed for this story, feeling it was premature. He said that he thinks the real news will happen at the next SDA meeting in September, where the assembled group will decide on which of their many good ideas to focus on first.  

That meeting will be on September 13 at 7 pm at Soft Medicine, 186 N. Main St, Sebastopol, and all local business owners are invited to attend.