Behind the Six P’s–The reputation of Holt avenue in Pomona goes beyond the Indian Hill Mall. Everyone in the surrounding cities knows about it.
The street is known for unhoused people, sex workers and street vendors.
Its reputation is a shadow looming over the officials running the city and now the city council and the mayor want to turn Holt into a Business Improvement District to improve its conditions.
According to the US Department of Transportation, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) are privately-directed and publicly-sanctioned organizations that supplement public services within geographically defined boundaries by generating multi-year revenue through a compulsory assessment on local property owners and/or businesses - which basically means - BIDs are privatized public places that use funds to: BIDs are privatized public places that use funds to:
Promote business and events within the boundaries
Patrols it with private security
Keep the area clean.
The function of a BID is to monetize gentrification and criminalize loitering, by keeping unwanted individuals from the area. Under a BID, the funds, generated from increased taxation on property located in the district, are set aside for promotion, security and clean-up, and are managed by a selected board of directors.
Lisa Marie Alatorre from the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness described the work of BIDS as “Jim Crow laws” and described them as a way to promote “discriminatory policing practices to simply remove people deemed unwanted from certain parts of town.”
Downtown Pomona is currently operating under a BID until 2028 under the management of the Downtown Pomona Owners Association (DPOA). From 2021 through 2022, DPOA spent $306,373 on private security, even though the area remains covered by a police force that operates with 49.8% of the city’s budget. Private security cannot arrest an individual, but they can call the police on any 'suspicious' activities, according to American Global Security.
From 2021 through 2022, DPOA spent $306,373 on private security. The area is still covered by a police force that will be given 49.8% of the city’s budget for the new fiscal year. Private security cannot arrest an individual but they can call the cops on any “suspicious activities,” according to American Global Security.
In regards to dealing with the problems of Holt, the city of Pomona wants to adopt a BID in order to hire a professional ‘rat’ to call the cops on any activity that a business owner deems 'suspicious.' Creating a BID on Holt will give property owners major influential power. Typically, a BID board of directors includes the district’s property owners.
Creating a BID will also give major influential power to property owners. The board of directors for BIDs typically includes property owners of the area. The tax forms from 2022 indicate that the DPOA board of directors includes two members of the Tessier family.
The tax forms from 2022 indicate that the DPOA board of directors for downtown Pomona includes two members of the Tessier family who run Arteco Partners, the current owner of the Progress Building and its basement art gallery; the Founder's Building; the Union Block; the Fox Theater; the Glass House; Acerogami; the Oxarart Block; the Wright Brothers Building; the Wurl Building; the Armory Lofts; the Tate Building; the Opera Garage; the Civic Center; and the School of Arts and Enterprise. Arteco Partners have a negotiating deal with the city of Pomona to buy more land in the downtown area and build more apartments that would only serve to increase their monopoly of downtown Pomona.
The Arteco Partners have a negotiating deal with the city of Pomona to buy more land in the downtown area and build apartments to complete their monopoly of the heart of Pomona.
Not only will a BID on Holt Avenue pass the problem to someone else, it will give property owners the power to increase rent on the local businesses and drive them away.
To quote “Mad Max: Fury Road,” "Where must we go, we who wander this wasteland, in search of our better selves?"
The city of Pomona claims that its mission is to improve the quality of life for its diverse community, yet the changes its officials want to make will only drive the diverse community into the Wasteland known as Victorville and sell their soul to vegan milkshakes and spa water.
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