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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Second Saturday Synergy 2.0
by Marion Millin, published on September 15, 2010 at 2:37 PM
Storyline: livability
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(please note: For the purpose of this overview, "downtown" and "central city" are used in the traditional sense of designating the urban business core AND including the area bound by two rivers and two freeways, which includes Midtown)
Gallery owner Michael Himovitz brought Second Saturday to Sacramento two decades ago, to "educate and connect people through discussing art." He advocated coordinating individual efforts into an event that benefited all the galleries, their customers, local culture and the community. It worked.
The synergy resulted in a Second Saturday tradition where art lovers gallery hopped, enjoyed artist receptions and mingled with lively crowds in different parts of town. Cooperating galleries increased their visibility and attracted new customers.
In the aftermath of the September Second Saturday shooting, it may be time to honor the legacy and maintain the event, by creating Second Saturday synergy 2.0.
The death of Victor Hugo Perez Zavala and shooting of three others place a sense of urgency on addressing issues that neighborhoods, city officials and business groups have been working on for years.
There is a call for a task force and study of best practices to address these issues, when such a Midtown task force has existed for over a year.
If we work with what we have, drawing on the existing efforts that are underway, we build that synergy. Especially during drastic budgetary times, this makes sense.
Despite attempts to intellectually distance the after-party from Second Saturday, "night life issues" from "Second Saturday issues" and the earlier crowds from "the criminal element," it is the combination of all of the above that resulted in the shooting.
In recent years, existing residents and businesses of Midtown were descended upon by development interests that turned neighborhoods into a perpetual Mardi Gras and Second Saturday into a street fair.
Now, all the various voices and stakeholders - who value the Second Saturday event, the interests of businesses and residents and our shared quality of life - have a choice to make: to create a healthy synergy or continue with a toxic one.
Some groups of businesses, associated with the above-mentioned task force, are already working on coordinating public relations, parking information and guide/security teams.
That type of synergy may be extended to a broader area, including business districts that may currently be perceived as rivals. A vision like the one Michael Himovitz had, extended over the entire downtown area, potentially benefits the businesses, residents and community within and beyond the central city.
Sacramento is famous for its rivers and trees and for its diversity. The "vision" of previous city management that brought people downtown with the lure of alcohol and a singles bar scene was short-sighted and unsustainable.
That demographic needs to be part of a broader mix that attracts families, theater goers, diners, music lovers, all ages, locals and tourists, to events that are not over-concentrated and over-inebriated.
There is a general consensus that one simple and immediate solution to Second Saturday congestion is to spread out events that attract large crowds. This fits with neighborhood association studies and recommendations for placing events in appropriate venues: appropriate for audience size, crowd control, noise, parking, garbage, alcohol consumption and other significant impacts.
Recognizing the interdependence of different types of businesses, in order to draw a diverse demographic to the central city, also makes sense.
One Midtown resident and business owner responded to a recent business association survey by advising them to "quit creating drunkfests" where the only businesses that benefit are "the ones that sell booze."
A Second Saturday Synergy 2.0 may include:
- incorporating the existing and ongoing city/resident/business task force work on Midtown night life and Second Saturday issues
- new city management and planning for sustainable development to "bring people downtown" while maintaining quality of life aka livability
- recently implemented plans to enforce the 10:00 p.m. curfew, open 20th Street between J and K (and enforce traffic laws for crossing J Street?) and provide additional police presence on Second Saturday.
- new regulation or reduction/removal of street vendors and bands outside
- spreading Second Saturday and other crowded events over broader space and/or time
- implementing current task force plans for street guides and security provided by the business association
- implementing existing plans for improving parking regulations to ease excessive negative "night life" impacts on neighborhoods
- challenging over-emphasis on singles bar scene, "drunkfests" and street closures as a Midtown draw - including on Second Saturday
- requiring existing "nightlife" businesses to prove compliance with existing codes, noise ordinances and conditions of city Entertainment Permits and state ABC permits
- returning Second Saturday to an event that gallery owners, artists, art lovers and residents want to participate in!
Artwork: Skinner www.theartofskinner.com; Fred Dalkey; Nathaniel Stewart http://www.nathanlewisart.com/
Photos: Marion Millin; Michael Zwahlen http://www.zwahlenimages.com/index.php
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Add the following to your Second Saturday Synergy 2.0:
What are the Mayor and Council Members doing to actually address the issue of gang violence within their districts?
A shooting victim’s blood will look the same on any street in Sacramento whether residential or business district.
May Victor Hugo Perez Zavala rest in peace!
Perhaps you could help by working on your own contributions to Sacramento Press or the ongoing meetings on these issues.
In reality, this incident had nothing to do with Second Saturday; it has everything to do with a prevalent subculture of gangs & violence.
People are shot, stabbed, beaten and murdered all over the place, in many locations, throughout our country.
Until our society makes the definitive decision to deal with the medias manufactured and/or naturally evolved gang/violent subcultures that exist in America, nothing is going to change - and the reality is that as a country we are neurotically politically correct and culturally sensitive to our own detriment- so NOTHING is going to change - and random acts of violence will continue their pace -
Your rant in this thread is also "unrelated to when and where it happened to take place."
You're right, nothing is going to change unless closed minds (apparent since you didn't respond to the actual article, just went off) like yours open up and you join "our society" in creating a better way, whether it is on a dreaded "task force" or community meeting or other constructive means.
I really want to hear - from ANYONE how to stop, reduce or reverse a culture of gang violence... good luck - oh and even if you had a decent solution, it will never happen in this country.
There is violence expressed in your attitudes and comments. Start where you are to reduce violence.
" ... to deal with the medias manufactured and/or naturally evolved gang/violent subcultures that exist in America ..."
If you were engaged with your community on these issues, one benefit might be a more informed awareness of the causes and circumstances of these "subcultures." You might come to view others as people, rather than distance yourself behind the notion that these "subcultures" are "medias manufactured and/or naturally evolved" cartoon characters.
"I really want to hear - from ANYONE how to stop, reduce or reverse a culture of gang violence... good luck - oh and even if you had a decent solution, it will never happen in this country."
You have again insisted on making the thread about your focus, rather than engaging with what the article actually says. If you feel so strongly and don't want to cooperate with others, maybe you can write your own article and start your own discussion.
You will surely find voices here that will help educate you on "how to stop, reduce or reverse a culture of gang violence" and the fact that it was not created by "the media."
As for Gang violence, It is a problem and that this tragedy could have happen anywhere. Gang related deaths occurs too often in certain neighborhoods without the strong reaction it received over this Second Saturday act. '
With that said, the reason this act of violence occurred does have a correlation to Second Saturday. The Event's reputation as a place to hang out, art watch, people watch, and enjoy what Midtown businesses have to offer attracted these negative people who committed the violence. No question.
However, this is is not the first death or act of violence in Midtown either related to the nightlife or not related, but because it occurred on a Second Saturday and issues surrounding the event were already building steam through the summer, it created a strong media and community reaction. I just hope we can learn and grow together as community from this event as your article entails.
I wouldn't agree the issue was "left out" but it wasn't hammered either and maybe required some reading between the lines that "The Parrhesiac" would not do. This piece was sent as an open letter to the City Council, intentionally stripped down to a peaceful discussion and list of potential solutions, including these relevant to "the criminal element":
-- incorporating the existing and ongoing city/resident/business task force work on Midtown night life and Second Saturday issues
-- new city management and planning for sustainable development to "bring people downtown" while maintaining quality of life aka livability
-- recently implemented plans to enforce the 10:00 p.m. curfew, open 20th Street between J and K (and enforce traffic laws for crossing J Street?) and provide additional police presence on Second Saturday
"In reality, this incident had nothing to do with Second Saturday; it has everything to do with a prevalent subculture of gangs & violence."
That's not reality. As you noted "this act of violence occurred does have a correlation to Second Saturday." Wherever we each place different values on different aspects of this, certainly the size of the loitering Second Saturday crowd at that hour had something to do with the fact that the police were inside the business and outside on either side of the business and the shooter got away undetected.
It seems like looking at all the aspects of the reality of the situation will help us "learn and grow together as community from this event ."
On the other hand, "The Parrhesiac" has strong views on "a prevalent subculture of gangs & violence," which maybe s/he will write about on SacPress one day.
As I posted on facebook earlier this week, I polled students Monday in my five high school government classes on whether they had heard about the shootings in midtown. In every class at least four or five kids volunteered that they were actually there hanging out...and many were still there quite late. They very clearly are still under the impression that they were out for Second Saturday. I asked about curfew sweeps, they said they saw them, but had no worries because there are never enough police on hand to corral all the underage kids. One told me she and her friends just kept their heads down by the Marrs Building and waited for the police to blow by. Some quietly confirmed that there is heavy underage drinking going on because alcohol is very easy to come by on the street, whether you bring your own bottle or not...just walk around and folks will offer.
The scourge of gang-related violence may have indeed resulted in the murder of Victor Zavala...obviously, we must do more--much more-- to prove we're serious about getting at the underlying causes of gang and youth violence both here in Sac and beyond. But the kids in my classes who volunteered they were there are not involved in gang activity...AND they too--all underage-- were roaming the streets of midtown well past midnight, along with hundreds of others their ages, give or take a few years.
Marion, thank you so much for this proactive dose of reality in the wake of this tragedy. Your ideas here represent exactly the type of conversation our local electeds and community and business leaders should be fostering. Instead, we've had days of incantations that Second Saturday and the craziness of the afterparty scene are unrelated. Now, more recently, it seems to be morphing into attempts to explain away the horrific event as a random manifestation of " the prevalent subculture of gangs & violence." Breton tells us this morning to "shut up" until Sac manages to pass an anti-gang tax (not likely any time soon), while Parrhesiac says there's really nothing we can do here in our town in response to these dangerous conditions until all of American society changes. What madness.
Thank you again, for giving us a glimpse of what compassionate, inclusive leadership forward might look like.
Rather than demonize youth and expend all their energy shifting blame or avoiding liability/responsibility for conditions their policies created .............. what if those "local electeds and community and business leaders" saw an opportunity for creative ideas about developing more family oriented events and cultural opportunities, that gave those underage more options than finding free booze on the street or looking forward to when they turn 21 to come to Midtown to get drunk and disorderly in the bars.
This tragic event, the injuries and death, provided an opportunity for leadership. It looks like it's up to the community to help the leaders find some vision and imagination to break out of their dependence on alcohol as the only way to "bring people downtown."
Great piece, MM...
Maintain an art reception event where the galleries are and take the street fair to another time and/or another place altogether.
Thanks for putting some thought into possible solutions and getting the conversation started.
But really this is the same issues of youth congregation that we have always had in Sacramento and elsewhere. In my generation in the 80's there was cruising at Broadway and at Sunrise Mall. Some (myself included) would find a secluded side street and we'd pound beers from the trunk. Over time the scene would explode with hundreds of youths from all over, neighbors would complain, trash would be strewn and meanwhile the gang element would take notice and arrive in larger numbers each week. There would be fights and occasional gunfire. Police would adopt a zero tolerance policy with helicopters hovering overhead and blocked off streets., Soon the scene would be shutdown and the youth would regroup elsewhere. I remember at one as I moved into adulthood and out of that activity there were large "street parties" happening on the nearly abondoned streets around the wrecking yards on South Sunrise. The drag racing at Del Paso Blvd which had been going on since the 50's suddenly turned into a street party and was shutdown.
My point (other than a trip down memory lane) is that the 2nd Saturday situation is by no means unique. Many of you from many generations experienced or were part of the same kind of scene. In general no 16 year old or 19 year old is going to hang out at a city sponsored youth event (or late night basketball leagues etc etc).
The answers are simple here. The police will do what is always done, come in with overwhelming presence, zero tolerance, and helicopters and shut the late night scene down. The youth will simply congregate somewhere else but the activity will not change. Maybe 2nd Saturday will revert back to an art event, maybe not.
Perhaps the 2nd Saturday situation is a bit unique because is drew kids and young adults from many areas of the city (much like the Broadway cruise in the 80's). This probably raises tensions, especially if various gang factions are at the same place. In this regard it is probably better if going forward the kids do their beer drinking a bit closer to their own neighborhood. There is no place like home after all.
So in summary Marion, you have some constructive ideas. But the reality is that the police will clamp down hard on the outdoor drinkers, the underage, and the loiterers at 10pm. The kids will move on and do the same thing elsewhere, sometimes including the gunfire. And then we will see what becomes of 2nd Saturday
Please do not overlook the fact, that the reason that Second Saturday the time and Midtown the place, became the current ground zero for this behavior is city and business management policies over the last several years, that intentionally created an overwhelming climate of singles bar and drunken street partying in Midtown neighborhoods.
Residents and neighborhoods have been working diligently with city and business leaders to try to maintain quality of life and address problems BEFORE Second Saturday reached the level that it would be shut down as Thursday Night Market was.
I completely disagree. I do see 'regular' bars and restaurants, quite a few I frequent often. Its one of the reasons I bought a home in Midtown. There may be a bad egg in the bunch, but dont lump all businesses together. The culinary experience and nightlife in Midtown are simply amazing, I would hate to lose any of it because of an isolated event. Violence happens. Its an awful, terrible, shitty fact. Lets agree to treat our fellow brother and sister better. Teach our kids that violence is never the answer, and most of all set a good example and follow through.
"Please do not overlook the fact, that the reason that Second Saturday the time and Midtown the place, became the current ground zero for this behavior is city and business management POLICIES over the last several years, that intentionally created an overwhelming climate of singles bar and drunken street partying in Midtown neighborhoods."
There is history here and a public record, much of it on SacPress, if you want to be more informed. If you want to participate in meetings and help build solutions, that would be great too.
I understand the point you are making and it's agreed. You are missing the bigger picture, which is what my statement was about. "I would hate to lose any of it because of an isolated event" just presents more false choices and assumptions.
You may notice at the top of the list of possibilities, "A Second Saturday Synergy 2.0 may include," a reference to work that is already being done and NEW city management which presents an opportunity to NOT continue the short-sighted, unsustainable policies I mentioned. This serves the community as a whole, not just drunks and disruptors or "the criminal element."
" -- incorporating the existing and ongoing city/resident/business task force work on Midtown night life and Second Saturday issues
" -- new city management and planning for sustainable development to "bring people downtown" while maintaining quality of life aka livability"
Also, something at the end of the list that will serve the whole community, in the spirit you brought up. It will level out the demands on Midtown businesses, rather than some having to jump through all sorts of time- and money-consuming hoops, while other businesses get away with ... illegal behavior, reflected in their operation and the behavior of their customers and impacting residential neighborhoods.
" -- challenging over-emphasis on singles bar scene, "drunkfests" and street closures as a Midtown draw - including on Second Saturday
" -- requiring existing "nightlife" businesses to prove compliance with existing codes, noise ordinances and conditions of city Entertainment Permits and state ABC permits"