These are tough economic times and lots of programs are being cut back or eliminated altogether. We bailed out the mega-banks, but we don’t seem to have enough money left to spend on good stuff like the Washington State Main Street Program.
We’ve written a lot about Timothy Bishop and the Ellensburg, Washington Downtown Association, and how they’ve been fighting the good fight to revitalize their shopping district. The most recent was “Associations that Truly Associate,” about how they use MySpace, Facebook and Twitter to get the message out.
Dark Clouds on the Horizon
Well, now Ellensburg (and Kitsap and Gig Harbor and Port Townsend and tons of other small communities in Washington state) are all facing a huge challenge. They are facing a complete cutoff of their funding.
It’s sort of predictable. Times being what they are, there really is a big crunch when it comes to how states will spend the money they don’t have (just ask California).
But small communities, cities and ‘burbs of Washington are fighting back by tweeting, Facebooking, and MySpacing in order to reach the folks who hold the purse strings – the state legislature. And, it seems to be working.
They found the support of two state Representatives, Dean Takko and Bill Hinkle (one Democrat and one Republican), to sponsor a bill to save Main Street programs. Just shows you what those folks can do when they work together.
The result was a 91-7 vote in favor of the bill in the House. Now, though, it heads on to the Senate – and that’s a tougher sell.
Gonna’ Bet Against Them?!!
Where does your money go when it’s spent on buying up car companies and propping up the big banks? I know, sometimes it seems to go to bigger and bigger bonuses for the even bigger doofuses who created the mess in the first place. And, you might not be wrong.
But, guess what? The money spent on small communities and their bedrock businesses pays you back many times over – creating 11,810 jobs and 3,721 new or expanded businesses in Washington State alone. Not bad! Timothy Bishop tells us that every dollar spent in downtown renovation multiplies around 100 times in private investment.
Which is why you’ll find Timothy working the streets, the back rooms in Olympia and typing away on his social media pages – carrying the message. There are good ways for the legislature to spend your money – and this is one of them.
By the way, that article we mentioned at the top of this blog post? It said:
“Grassroots efforts to save the Washington State Main Street Program are generating bipartisan support among legislators during the 2010 legislative session.”
Nice job, Timothy, and all the other folks who are rallying around investing your money – instead of spending it.
7 comments ↓
Michael,
Thanks as always for the kind words.
This has been an exciting effort by a great many individuals. Where still in crunch time but cautiously, optimistic.
Given that this year’s legislative session is just 60 days in Washington State, our ability to mobilize and communicate with constituents and Main Street Supporters in districts throughout the state at a moments notice has been essential. Tool like our Facebook page “Supporting Main Street in Washington State”, twitter, and good old email lists, have allowed us to move quickly and rally the troops at each step along the way.
Thank you for sharing our story. We’ll let you know when we schedule the victory party
In Port Townsend, we’re celebrating our 25th anniversary as a Main Street Program, one of the five pilot programs in the state. We’re excited to host the Washington State Main Street Conference here May 19-21 and encourage those interested in revitalization strategies to come. I’ve spent the past 11 years in the Main Street world, working alongside dedicated colleagues like Timothy Bishop and hundreds of others. We have seen the Main Street process work first hand, contributing to the success of our communities. Thanks to all who are working to save the Washington State Main Street Program. It’s a great investment in our state and local economies.
Thanks Timothy,
The only thing I can say to readers of this blog is do a search on our blog for either Ellensburg or “Timothy Bishop” and you’ll learn a lot, not only about how to use social networking, but about perseverance, pluck and leadership.
Oh, and if you live in Washington State – write your congressman!
Thanks Mari,
It’s amazing how many folks out there are “Fans of Timothy.”
If you follow Mari’s link you’ll land on the Port Townsend Main Street Program’s web page. At the bottom of that page is a link to their Facebook Fan Page. Good work. And, thanks for the comment.
Thanks for the update, Michael. And to my friends in Ellensburg, keep fighting the good fight! The only thing more powerful than focused attention and ingenuity are focused attention and ingenuity leveraged by technology.
Thanks Mark,
Shall I say that the only thing more powerful than a Mark Sanborn is a Mark Sanborn using social media? He’s too modest to talk about it, but you can read about Mark and Ellensburg by searching for “Mark Sanborn” and “Ellensburg” right here on this here blog. Simple, huh?
Michael,
Thank you again for the great post. Just a quick update: Friday afternoon the Governor signed SHB 2704 officially saving the Washington Main Street Program and moving it to the Department of Archeology and Historic Preservation.
The budget for Main Street is still uncertain and we won’t know that until the legislature concludes the special session that starts on Monday.
It’s been an amazing advocacy campaign to share with our legislators just how important Main Streets and the Main Street Program are to our state and local economies, and as Mark noted above, our success has been fueled by a lot of great people with a lot of passion leveraging powerful new tools to share our message.
Thanks for helping tell our story and sharing our success.
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