Chris Bernardo

Downtown Cleveland property owners back renewal of special improvement district

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Property owners in downtown Cleveland have thrown their support -- and their wallets -- behind renewed efforts to make the center city clean, safe and attractive to businesses.

Cleveland's City Council could begin voting this month on legislation to reauthorize a special improvement district, in which property owners pay to support street-cleaning crews, marketing programs and safety escorts for workers and residents. The district, created in 2005 and set to expire this year, runs from West 10th to East 18th streets and from Front to Carnegie avenues.

The Downtown Cleveland Alliance, a nonprofit group that reports to property owners, has been collecting more than $3 million a year from the district. The reauthorization would maintain the district from 2011 through 2015.

Despite the challenging economy, many owners are willing to keep paying. The fees, levied on all owners in the district, are based on property values and the length of property lines. They range from about $45 to $130,000 a year.

Developing Downtown’s central nervous system

As an ambassador with Minneapolis’ new Downtown Improvement District, Tia Florenz has spent much of her time answering questions about the city — what bus routes to take, where the best happy hours are, what restaurants serve the best breakfast.

Between the inquiries she’s dispatched emergency personnel, coordinated messages to Downtown security staff, filed graffiti reports, scanned the weather and local news, kept track of area events and much more, always with her eyes on the streets. With more than 30 cameras focusing on 120 square blocks in the core of Downtown, she’s got a killer view.

Though she wears the same, now familiar, bright-yellow uniform as her colleagues, Florenz is not a typical ambassador. She’s one of a few specially trained to work in a tiny new room in the 1st Precinct dubbed the Fusion Center.

Broken Windows

By James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling

March 1982

In the mid-l970s The State of New Jersey announced a "Safe and

Clean Neighborhoods Program," designed to improve the quality of community life in twenty-eight cities. As part of that program, the state provided money to help cities take police officers out of their patrol cars and assign them to walking beats. The governor and other state officials were enthusiastic about using foot patrol as a way of cutting crime, but many police chiefs were skeptical. Foot patrol, in their eyes, had been pretty much discredited. It reduced the mobility of the police, who thus had difficulty responding to citizen calls for service, and it weakened headquarters control over patrol officers.

Many police officers also disliked foot patrol, but for different reasons: it was hard work, it kept them outside on cold, rainy nights, and it reduced their chances for making a "good pinch." In some departments, assigning officers to foot patrol had been used as a form of punishment. And academic experts on policing doubted that foot patrol would have any impact on crime rates; it was, in the opinion of most, little more than a sop to public opinion. But since the state was paying for it, the local authorities were willing to go along.

Pedestrian decoy program begins in southern N.J. communities

Is that a pedestrian in the crosswalk -- or a police officer posing as one? The answer could cost drivers who don't yield more than $100 and a couple points on their licenses.

Hoping to beat back an increase in deaths on New Jersey roadways this year, state traffic safety officials today brought their pedestrian decoy program to more than a dozen southern New Jersey communities to raise awareness about the laws protecting people in crosswalks.

Billings, MT – Business Improvement District

When the initial plans in the Framework were sketched out just over a decade ago, visionaries saw the potential to create a clean, safe, and friendly downtown where businesses would thrive and where people would love to live, work, and play.  The Business Improvement District (BID) is so proud to have served downtown for 3 years now!  

The most visible element of the Clean and Safe programs of the BID is the men and women in purple uniforms known as the Purple People.  The BID has had a measurable impact on the 18 block district as evidenced in not only a cleaner and safer district, but in a friendlier downtown.  It is not uncommon to see a BID ambassador handing out parking tokens and directories, giving directions or a personal escort, or helping a homeless individual to a resource agency.  The Purple People are daily committed to achieving a higher standard in the delivery of services offered in the BID work plan.

Seaside Heights tries to beautify image

For generations, those two words bring back memories of sneaking cigarettes, sharing bottles and discovering some things under the boardwalk. It's always been a place where adolescence ran a little wild, taking baby steps out of innocence. Packs of boys and girls, from different Jersey places, collided and co-mingled on the narrow plank road lit by flashing neon. It was exciting, it was dirty, it was liberating, it was the Jersey Shore.

Over the years, though, things changed. The kids grew up faster, and lived more recklessly. The boardwalk businesses, knowing the summer cash was flowing no matter what, got a little rundown. Worse, some landlords and hotel owners in Seaside Heights, rather than doing the seasonal renting dance, started taking the sure thing: year-round government money for Section 8 housing. With 43 motels in a town less than a square mile, Seaside Heights became Ocean County's welfare hotel; 67 percent of the county clients lived there.

"I'd say the '90s, were the low point," said Bob Pizzuti, the retired Montclair fire chief, who is now a weekend code enforcer in Seaside Heights. "Since then, things have been going upward, but we still have a ways to go."

Pizzuti has been going to Seaside Heights "since I was a kid" and now has his five kids and his 13 grandchildren coming and going all summer. "There's room for everybody" in his house.

Like all the people in a new alliance to improve Seaside Heights, he is invested in the place in both ways you can be invested. Emotionally and financially.

New Programs Make Downtown Santa Monica More Inviting

June 12, 2009 – Downtown Santa Monica should become a more welcoming and cleaner place after the Bayside District officially launched two new programs this week bankrolled by a new $3.6 million assessment district.

Some two dozen ambassadors hit the streets to greet visitors, answer questions and generally point the way. They also will help keep an eye on the street to discourage wrongdoing and anti-social behavior.

When their day is done, cleaning crews will scour the area, hosing down sidewalks, alleys and parking structures.

“This baby’s finally walking,” Kathleen Rawson, executive director of the Bayside District Corporation, which runs the Downtown, said during a press conference Tuesday. “It’s taken a long time to come down this road. It’s all coming together today.”

The enhanced services are the cornerstones of a new assessment district approved by Downtown property owners last year that marks the first major management overhaul for the district in two decades.

The new Downtown management now oversees $3.6 million generated by assessments based on a property’s size, type of use and location. The money will be used to boost maintenance, enhance marketing efforts and create an “ambassador program” to inform visitors and help keep the streets safe.

The $1.2 million in additional maintenance will both increase the frequency and expand the area cleaned by power-washing crews, Bayside officials said.

Ambassadors Set to Hit Downtown Streets

May 8 -- A family on the Promenade needs help finding the movie theater. A tourist on Second Street can not find the way to his hotel. A merchant on Broadway needs guidance with an aggressive panhandler. A large crack has appeared in the sidewalk on Sixth Street, and graffiti is popping up in the public parking structures. Who’s there to help?

Beginning next month, Downtown’s new ambassador guides will take care of handling these sorts of situations. As Downtown's ambassadors on the street, the guides will cover the district on foot and Segway, scheduled to start June 1, 2009.

The goal of the new program is to provide Downtown users with a friendly resource that will enhance and promote the entire district, Bayside officials said.

“The ambassador program will make a huge impact in Downtown,” said Andrew Thomas, operations manager for the Bayside District Corporation (BDC). “It brings in a hospitality element that currently doesn’t exist.

“It will bring eyes and ears for reporting maintenance issues and enhance safety and comfort Downtown by reporting quality of life concerns,” he said.

Times Square Alliance – Public Safety Officers

The Public Safety Officer is the public face of the Times Square Alliance. PSOs work to carry out the mission of the Public Safety & Quality of Life Division on the street, and in doing so have three areas of responsibility:

• Contribute to public safety in the District.
• Observe and report conditions and problems in the District.
• Provide helpful and accurate information to visitors.

PSOs work to provide and enhance public safety by providing a visible presence that is a deterrent to crime, and by reporting criminal activity or disorderly conduct. PSOs also support counter-terrorism activities by remaining alert for suspicious activity. PSOs respond to accidents or other emergency situations and are responsible for notifying and aiding as necessary New York City emergency personnel. PSOs also assist with crowd control, at both planned and unplanned events, and during emergency situations.

While on patrol PSOs are responsible for monitoring the aesthetics of the District by reporting unsightly conditions or any condition that is unsafe or hazardous. As part of their routine duties PSOs make follow-up observations of reported conditions, contributing to their speedy repair.

PSOs are expected to maintain a helpful and courteous demeanor with the public. A primary responsibility of PSOs is to provide visitors (and residents) with information about the District, such as directions to a specific location, establishment, or event.

PSOs are the Alliance’s eyes and ears on the street and are expected to observe and report any changes or interesting, unusual, or suspicious activity. For example, PSOs are expected to notice and report new businesses or construction activity. While on patrol, PSOs monitor street activity for compliance with city regulations, reporting those in violation and taking corrective action if possible (for example requesting illegally positions vendors and peddlers to move). PSOs collaborate on programs to work with the homeless and people who are emotionally disturbed, and monitor their presence in the District.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Public Safety

• Conduct daily patrol on post as assigned by the sergeant.
• Provide a visible public safety presence, reporting disorderly conduct or criminal activity.
• Be vigilant in the observation of suspicious behavior and carry out anti-terror patrol duties.
• Respond to accidents and emergency situations, make appropriate notifications, and assist NYC emergency personnel at the scene.

Quality of Life

• Report and monitor deteriorated physical conditions, both those which are hazardous and those which negatively affect the appearance of the District.
• Following procedures, follow up with conditions that have been reported earlier by checking to see if they have been repaired.
• Observe and report changes in the District, especially looking for new business establishments or new construction activity, and report these according to procedure.
• Help manage and direct crowds, for both planned events and unplanned situations.
• Monitor street activity for compliance with city rules and regulations, reporting those out of compliance, such as illegally positioned vendors and peddlers.
• Report any unusual or noteworthy situation or condition.
• Respond appropriately to homeless and emotionally disturbed people.

Providing Information & Serving the Public

• Provide helpful and accurate information to visitors to the District.
• Maintain an up-to-date and accurate understanding of information which is of interest to visitors and others, in order to provide helpful and reliable information when asked questions on patrol.
• Assist lost individuals, and help with lost or found property.

General Responsibilities

• Participate in problem-solving activities, identifying emerging issues and concerns in the District and working on proposals to address these problems, working with the sergeant and other Division staff. 
• Maintain helpful and courteous relationships with businesses and residents in the District, soliciting and responding to their public safety and quality of life concerns.

Ambassador Program Defined

Downtown Jacksonville Ambassador program

Making Downtown Jacksonville Safer and Friendlier Ready to give directions, answer questions, provide assistance, or walk you to your destination, the Downtown Ambassadors are Jacksonville's Downtown safety and hospitality team. Ambassadors are easily identified in their bright orange shirts and pith helmets as they walk and bike throughout Downtown Jacksonville, day and night.The Downtown Ambassadors began operation in October 2001, and have made a tremendous impact on Downtown Jacksonville. Downtown Ambassadors are available to assist you Monday through Thursday from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. The Ambassadors are an extra set of eyes and ears on the street, and work closely with the Jacksonville Sheriff's office and the city to improve Downtown Jacksonville.

10 Ways the Downtown Ambassadors Can Make Your Experience Downtown More Pleasant:

• Provide you with useful directions and maps.
• Escort you to your destination.
• Help you locate a business or service.
• Call for medical assistance if you need it.
• Provide information on parking Downtown.
• Provide social services information to people in need.
• Identify and report hazards. Report cleanliness issues.
• Share a smile and a watchful eye.
• Contact the police if you need help.

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Downtown Denver Ambassadors

The Downtown Ambassador Program is an exciting endeavor inspired by similar programs in other prominent cities, including Seattle, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. The program is funded by the BID with support from the City and County of Denver, the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, and a federal Drug Control and System Improvement Program (DCSIP) grant. It joins other efforts to enhance the safety and vibrancy of Downtown Denver.

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"Dressed in easily recognizable bright yellow shirts, Downtown Ambassadors are a uniformed, welcoming presence and serve as "roving concierges" for Downtown tourists, conventioneers, workers and residents. They patrol the 16th Street Mall and key surrounding areas on foot seven days a week. Although unarmed and without enforcement authority, they support the Denver Police Department by acting as additional "eyes and ears" and focusing on quality of life issues such as aggressive panhandling and graffiti. They also lend a hand to struggling citizens by connecting them with appropriate social services."

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The Downtown Ambassador program features a team of individuals who serve as monitors of the 16th Street Mall and its key surrounding areas, including Skyline Park, which will be completed this summer, and the Colorado Convention Center, which will unveil its expansion at the end of the year. Although unarmed, the Ambassadors provide additional support to the Denver Police Department by focusing on quality of life crimes such as aggressive panhandling and graffiti, while also serving as liaisons between struggling citizens and social service agencies. In addition, the Ambassadors act as a welcoming presence and a helpful information resource for Downtown tourists, conventioneers, workers and residents.

For people on the Mall who have questions or concerns, the Ambassadors are identifiable by their signature yellow jackets and shirts, accompanied by straw gambler hats in the summer and purple stocking caps in the winter. The BID logo, as well as other identifying information, is also visible on their garments. The Ambassadors are employed and managed by Service Group, Incorporated (SGI), the BID's maintenance contractor, and can be found on the Mall every day, especially during peak periods of pedestrian activity. The training process for the Ambassadors included topics such as radio communications, police codes, Denver history, local tourist information, conflict resolution, social service outreach, public relations, data collection, and first aid/CPR.

The Ambassadors are an addition to the BID's two Downtown Service Representatives (DSRs). The functions of the DSRs include ensuring contractor compliance for firms doing work on or around the Mall, in addition to assisting the City and County of Denver by reporting problem issues such as graffiti, broken traffic lights and illegal vending.

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Downtown San Diego Ambassadors

The Safety Ambassador team is contracted through Service Group, Inc. A primary goal of the Safety Ambassadors is to complement the City of San Diego's Police Department. Using Sprint cell phones to communicate in the field and compile information as they patrol on foot and bicycle, Ambassadors act as an extra set of "eyes and ears" for law enforcement and property owners. Safety Ambassadors pro actively engage homeless individuals, providing them with useful information about the various social services available and where they can be found. The Safety Ambassadors serve to:

• Deter quality of life nuisance crimes such as aggressive panhandling
• Work with the Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) to provide social service outreach referrals
• Assist visitors with directions and information
• Add a presence in downtown to prevent undesirable behavior
• Maintain open communications with police to report on-going issues
• Conduct routine patrol of downtown parks

For more information check out: http://www.sdcleanandsafe.org/

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Downtown Vancouver Ambassadors

The Ambassadors patrol both on foot and by bike, Monday to Friday from 7 am to 10:30 pm and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 am to 10:30 pm. Look for the program to expand to 24/7 service starting this Summer

The goal of the program is to address "quality of life" issues such as panhandling, litter, illegal vending, and graffiti with the understanding that these issues not only affect the general quality of life in the downtown but also the overall crime rates.

The primary roles of the Ambassadors are to:

• assist the public with directions and inquiries about the district, its businesses and its services
• respond to calls concerning specific incidents (suspicious persons, tourists with special needs, first aid situations and similar events)
• provide an effective street presence, monitoring and deterring criminal activities in parking facilities and other areas accessible to the public
• report crime and "quality of life" concerns to appropriate agencies and assist in mitigating these from taking root
• complete accurate and concise daily incident reports on issues attended to and follow-up with other agencies to effect resolution of problems
• a walking service (safewalk) to escort employees and visitors to their vehicles, where safety might be a concern, and where feasible

Equipment
The Ambassadors are equipped with the following:

• two-way radios 
• digital cameras
• cell phones
• bikes
• hand-held Casio computers (in partnership with the Insurance Corporation of BC these computers track all stolen cars)
• first aid kits
• visitor information including maps, brochures etc.

Management
The program is co-managed by the DVBIA and Genesis Security, a private security firm. The DVBIA is responsible for program development, supervision of policy and procedures and monitoring of crime issues through its Consultant, Crime Prevention Services. The contractor is responsible for hiring, basic security, training and managing personnel.

Training
Ambassador training includes:

• a thorough orientation about the DVBIA, its role and goals
• general instruction, role playing, videos and guest speakers
• an outline of acceptable conduct, attitude, etiquette, rules and regulations
• awareness training that addresses community sensitivity and cultural diversity
• first aid and CPR
• familiarity with equipment and its use (cell phones, radios, computers, bikes, flashlights, video and digital cameras and identification)
• safety and crime prevention monitoring techniques
• detailed knowledge about downtown, its attractions and activities
• legal parameters of the role, including the management of incidents such as crimes in progress, violence, disorderly conduct or vandalism
• hospitality and customer-service skills
• knowledge of the Vancouver Police Department's Stolen Auto Recovery program (SAR)
• conflict resolution and mediation
• incident-reporting procedures and report-writing

Budget
The Downtown Ambassador® and Loss Prevention programs are funded exclusively by the DVBIA. The budget for 2007-08 is $961,140 or 59% of the DVBIA's programming budget of $1,620,198.

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Downtown Portland Sidewalk Ambassadors

• They’re knowledgeable.
• They’re friendly.
• They’re eager to assist and entertain.
• They' re the Sidewalk Ambassadors of downtown Portland, and they’re eager to be of service to those seeking directions or other information about downtown.

The Ambassadors are easy to recognize in their green and white Columbia jackets adorned with an “i”. The Ambassadors stroll the streets of the Downtown Business Improvement District Tuesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. ready to be of assistance.

When the program was established in 1988, it was designed to enhance the safety and security of the downtown area. Since 2002, the Sidewalk Ambassador team has focused on hospitality.

They have been trained in the history of Portland, its retail establishments and attractions, city transportation and more. The Ambassadors also make an effort to keep the downtown area safe and are prepared to be of assistance in the case of an emergency. Some have received training in basic first-aid and food, shelter and crisis intervention services. They report any illegal activity or mischievous behavior they witness. All of the Ambassadors carry first-aid kits and two-way radios to contact 911 if necessary.

The next time you are lost or in need of information, look for a friendly face in green. The Sidewalk Ambassadors will help make your downtown Portland experience a fun and memorable one.

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