HomeMy WebLinkAboutREDvarious1farmersRED FIL E
MEETING AGENDA
PAT J //ITEM #IFrom: Russ Lovell [SMTP :RLOVELL99@YAHOO .COM ]
Sent :Monday, May 17, 2010 6 :19 :50 P M
To :Council, SloCit y
Subject :Support for DBA managing farmers marke t
Auto forwarded by a Rule
Just wanted to say that I support the decision to allow DBA to manage this importan t
weekly event. Two points : 1) you need one point of contact managing this (too man y
chefs spoil the soup). 2) This event has grown way beyond "farmers market" so you nee d
to make sure the businesses that line the market on Higurera have been accommodate d
and that can't happen with too many mgrs . with different priorities ... There will always b e
an outllet for the farmers should DBA get off track . After it is a market and the farmer s
need to be taken care of too . DBA has shown that they will not throw the farmers unde r
the bus .
Russ Lovel l
Business owner ffA2~ceY 6-m a
L COUNCIL 0 CDD DI RLong time SLO resident I &AeCIry (r162 D''FIN DI R
Et-AeAe rip f -FIRE CHIE F
['ATTORNEY ErPW DI R
From : Pete Evans[SMTP :RIKI77@GMAIL .COM]IICLERK/ORIC C'POLICE CH F
Sent : Monday, May 17,2010 7 :05 :29 PM D
ERT,~'I EAD C'!'REC DI R
To : Council,SloCity ErUTIL DI R
Subject : Farmer's market !T 72(&(K)-ErHR DI R
Auto forwarded by a Rule /1.r 1 '7717165 . COLE A.2Ct L,
C~T`t Y %C2
SLO City Council,
Jeez . How long are you going to sit on your hands? It looks like th e
DT Association via Deb Cash has not been cooperative in resolving th e
issues as you suggested/ordered months ago . This is ridiculous . I wil l
bet you any amount with any odds over 90% of your constituents suppor t
the farmers and not that evil group you have given carte blanche t o
run things .
It's way past time to stand up for the citizens in how our publi c
property and facilities are used . Its time to tell the DTA to stan d
off, back down, knock off the power grabs .
And we don't want to hear about commitments, contracts an d
obligations . Your only obligation is to us . If you feel tied up b y
prior agreements with the DTA you can certainly threaten them wit h
future sanctions if they don't cooperate now . If they have the lega l
power now you can easily withdraw that when it expires, you can d o
what you want .
You should have assigned someone to monitor the deliberations, an d
report back to you long before now as to how things are going . We
expect much more than it appears we are getting .
Pete Evan s
From :Brandi Glenn[SMTP :BLUJELLO@EARTHLINK .NET]
Sent : Monday, May 17, 2010 8 :11 :46 P M
To :Council, SloCity
Auto forwarded by a Rul e
am a customer of the farmers on Thursday night .I have grown very fond of all o f
them .I only go to the market to b uy from them .Not all that other extra stuff j ou have
added through the years . and I have been a farmer's market shopper here in 510 fo r
going on 20 years. They have been here for a long time and deserve to keep contro l
of their part in the market . We need to support our local farmer's as much as possibl e
they are part of this county more then any other business can think of.Irom hone j
to wine, we are verj blessed to have such wonderful fresh grown produce and if yo u
can not see the value in that, that is verj sad .And considering the farmers know thei r
customers more then j ou folks it makes since to me it should be left in the hands o f
those who are there and know what we want .I Just don't believe their hearts would b e
in if j ou come in and take over . am a voter and would not vote for this and do no t
want vote for people who are not going to support them . If this has something to d o
with changing to a more festival type Thursda j night then ma j be SLO should host a
festival instead and keep the market a market .
feel strongl ,9 about supporting local business and j ou should be too !
5randi Glen n
Los Osos c a
805-440-870 3
From : Philip Langston[SMTP :ZEAMAIZE@YAHOO .COM ]
Sent : Monday, May 17, 2010 9 :55 :35 PM
To : Council, SloCit y
Subject : Farmers Market Issu e
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Dear Mayor Romero and Honorable Council Members ,
I am writing to you because I have been informed of the special counci l
meeting that will be held tomorrow, May 17 at 4 o'clock .
I think it is important for you to know that the main issue at hand i s
keeping the Farmers Market Association a viable organization within ou r
community .
The loss of the Thursday night market to our Association represents th e
loss of one-third of our yearly operating income . This loss will also
impact not just the Thursday night market, but also, the smalle r
markets that are run by our Association . The smaller markets such as ,
the Wednesday market in Arroyo Grande, the Morro Bay Thursday afternoo n
market, the Saturday Village of Arroyo Grande market, operate in par t
from the revenues that the SLO Thursday night market generates . Th e
loss of income will adversely affect our ability to maintain thes e
other markets .
Since our February 2, 2010 meeting with the City Council, where yo u
mandated us to work things out with the Downtown Association (DA), w e
have openly, sincerely, and continually tried to resolve our issue s
with the DA to no avail . We have met with them time and again ,
casually, privately, and formally . We have gone through the mediatio n
process . We have tried to let the lawyers broker a deal .
Unfortunately, we have met with resistance from the DA the entire time .
We honestly need your help to resolve this issue . We have run out o f
ideas of what to try to do to resolve this problem with the DA . Th e
Farmers Market Association has the support of the San Luis Obisp o
community, and we ask that you give us back control of the Thursda y
night farmers market .
Sincerely ,
Philip Langsto n
Presiden t
San Luis Obispo County Farmers Market Associatio n
From : ShalMayan[SMTP :SHALMAYAN@YAHOO .COM ]
Sent : Monday, May 17, 2010 11 :26 :36 P M
To : Council, SloCit y
Subject : Farmers Market to the Farmers !
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Dear Mayor Romero and Honorable Council Members ,
I feel I need to write to you to convey my feelings about the return o f
the control of the Thursday night farmers market to the farmers wh o
bring people into your city every week .
These farmers work hard and diligently every day to provide for thei r
families and each Thursday night a fee is collected to support th e
running of the market system . This fee collection helped support th e
SLO County Farmers Market Association as a whole, and has done so fo r
the past (almost) 27 years . This is a non-profit organization . They
provide food for your constituents and for you at several farmer s
markets during the week .
Unfortunately, in my opinion, due to a power struggle between certai n
parties (who run both sides of these associations), and the DA's
realization that they COULD take over operations of the farmers market ,
a takeover was made . With the takeover of the market downtown, the fee s
now collected go into the Downtown Associations pockets, no longer
supporting the farmers efforts .All of this problem might have bee n
avoided, but unfortunately this is how it is .
I feel it is up to you, Mr . Mayor and dear Council, to take a mora l
stand and listen to your constituents who have already spoken to you a t
your meeting of Feb . 2, 2010 . What I heard at this meeting, and th e
City residents of San Luis Obispo heard was, that almost to a perso n
(there was ONE exception in the emails you received), that the peopl e
want the farmers to be in charge of their side of the market .
Listen to the people and show the people that you have a heart and it's
not all about the money . Show them with your wisdom and votes that yo u
care about what is right .
Give the farmers the control of their market and allow them to collec t
the fees to keep their markets running in all areas of this county .
Sincerely ,
Nancy Langsto n
Farme r
From :Linda Seeley[SMTP :LINDASEELEY@GMAIL .COM ]
Sent :Monday, May 17, 2010 11 :58 :19 P M
To :Council, SloCit y
Subject :Thursday Farmers Marke t
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Dear Coucil ,
Please remember why people come to Farmers Market :To Buy Good, Fresh, Wholesome, Home -
Grown FOOD!Please support the farmers, not the Downtown Association .
Sincerely,
Linda Seeley
San Luis Obisp o
From :Sandra[SMTP :SANDRA@CREATEABANG .COM ]
Sent :Tuesday, May 18, 2010 7 :35 :34 A M
To :Council, SloCit y
Cc : Peter Janka y
Subject :Farmers' Market and Downtown Associatio n
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Dear Council Members ,
Thank you for your time in working with the SLO County Farmers 'Market Association .
The negotiations have broken down and it is time to fix it . We will not be going away and let thi s
travesty from Debra Cash go unnoticed .
We appreciate the time you spent 3 months ago listening to us . I t's time to end the charade an d
get back to business . The farmers have spent thousands of dollars defending what is rightfull y
theirs .
It is a sad day that we must come back to the council to correct a wrong . Please end this
nightmare and let the farmers get back to farming .
Sincerely,
Sandra Dimon d
Sandra Dimond, Managing Directo r
North County Farmer s 'Market Association, Inc .
805 .748 .110 9
www .northcountyfarmersmarkets .com
Sandra(l createabang .co m
From :Paul Deis[SMTP :PDEIS@ATT .NET]
Sent :Tuesday, May 18, 2010 7 :57 :11 AM
To :Council, SloCity
Cc : Paul Dei s
Subject :Farmers Marke t
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I come to SLO from Paso to attend the farmers market for the produce . Keep the farmers
incharge of the farmers marke t
Paul Dei s
From :Craig smith[SMTP :CRAIG .SS .SMITH@GMAIL .COM ]
Sent :Tuesday, May 18, 2010 8 :43 :10 A M
To :Council, SloCity
Cc : 'Philip Langston'; 'ShalMayan '
Subject :Farmers Marke t
Importance :Hig h
Auto forwarded by a Rul e
To : SLO City Counci l
The Double SS Ranch, (Carpenter Canyon) is a 40+ year participant in SLO County Farming . Th e
Double SS Ranch future and our next generation's future is sustainable farming . Farmers Marke t
is a historic and important economic outlet for sustainable farming .
Farmers must control Thursday night Farmers Market;
•for a long term sustainable Farm Marke t
•for farming's future in SLO Count y
Please support The Farmers Market Association and help them regain control of the Thursda y
Night Farmers Market in Downtown SLO . Please call me any questions .
Many Thanks for your support .
Craig Smit h
Manager, Double SS Ranc h
1166 Carpenter Canyon Road, HWY 22 7
Arroyo Grande, C A
805-598-3105 Cell Phon e
craig .ss .smith@gmail .co m
From :stella lopez [mailto :stella .lopez72@gmail .com ]
Sent :Tuesday, May 18, 2010 8 :34 A M
To :Lichtig, Kati e
Subject :Help Farmers Marke t
Please give back to Farmers Market the decision making and income that rightly belong s
to the Market .
Thank you ,
Stella Lopez, Realtor