THE CORTE MADERA TOWN CENTER/

BARNES AND NOBLE DEBACLE

by CCSIB:  Citizens Concerned about Strengthening Independent Bookstores

FINALLY - ACTION!
FEBRUARY 7, CORTE MADERA TOWN COUNCIL - AGENDA - CCSIB - YOUR CONCERNS, OUR CONCERNS

PLEASE COME.  THIS IS YOUR OPPORTUNITY - WE NEED ALL CONCERNED FOLKS THERE
Corte Madera Town Hall, 300 Tamalpais Drive
Corte Madera, California 94925


7:30 p.m.  (We thank the Town Manager and staff and the Council for making this possible)

!!!   !!! We have the major Agenda Item.  It is a Presentation Agenda Item -   "The Topic of Commercial Uses at the Town Center."
Five of us will be making the organized Presentation. We will be focusing on the major issue as quoted and on our request of the Council that at their next Council meeting, they will place the following resolution on the Action Agenda:

"AGENDA ITEM"

"Submitted by Konnilyn Feig, for the Concerned Citizens for Strengthening Independent Bookstores"

" We are requesting a Town Council resolution that would do the following:
1. Create a task force to recommend an ordinance or other policy to restrict or control the opening of large retail stores under circumstances where such stores would threaten local diversity, balance, and community life - and would undermine the viability of locally owned businesses. Direct this task force to report back to the Town Council in three months.

2. Place a three-month moratorium on the leasing, construction, major remodeling of any space of 20,000 square feet or more for any single retail store."

After that, members of the audience can speak for as long as 3 minutes on any part to the general presentation Agenda item.

COME AND EXPRESS YOUR CONCERNS - ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AND ABOUT HOW IT HAPPENED. THIS IS OUR OPPORTUNITY.   IT IS OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR COUNTY.  We want SHARED GROWTH AND SHARED SURVIVAL in our living space.

PLEASE CONTINUE YOUR RELENTLESS EMAILS, LETTERS, PHONE CALLS.  EASY ACCESS TO THE CALL/EMAIL LIST HERE
CAN WE IN CORTE MADERA MAKE A DIFFERENCE? OF COURSE WE CAN HAVE AN IMPACT IF WE AS CITIZENS GET ON THE PHONE, EMAIL, MAIL - NOW.  OF COURSE WE CAN!

If you can help and write or call, we are keeping an email list of letters and of folks who would like to help.  Just go to our new email here <citizensofmarin@yahoo.com> and list your name and email or phone number.  If you get a written response, send it to us also if you have time.  We may not respond, because we are full time professionals and a full time mother and we are almost drowning! we are getting such a large response!

JANUARY 25:  MadisonMarquette and Barnes and Noble Announce the Lease of Town Center site to Barnes and Noble
And the words of the "New Resident " of  Corte Madera :   Barnes CEO Stephen Riggio:

The Corte Madera Town Center (Corte Madera, Ca.) and Barnes and Noble are joining forces to locate Barnes within a block from Book Passage, one of California's premier INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES. With the goal of at least doubling the size of its sagging national fiction book sales (in a stable market), Barnes has finally announced it is going to the Town Center.  

And the latest CCSIB collection of brilliant assurances and "analysis" by the Deciders (Madison Marquette and the New President of the Corte Madera Chamber of Commerce) :  "BOOKSTORE AS HARDWARE STORE"

But Enough of That Foolishness - This is Dead Serious Business.  Lets remember 4 "things":

LET'S GET TO WORK NOW - TAKE CHARGE - THE BEST THOUGHTS AND ACTION BY ALL OF YOU

Phase I (January 10 when we began and January 24, When Barnes finally announced) - By CCSIB and all the Concerned Folks  - The 5 accomplishments in at least 6 ways:


a. Highlighted the INDIFFERENCE and DOWNPLAYING of a range of decision/influence makers.
b. At least got the game of "keep it a rumor," over.  Now we can deal with it.  Before, the IJ and Pacific Sun, and TV media et al. said they could not allow editorials, etc. because it was a rumor.  Councils and elected officials said the same.  It was an effective play by Madison Marquette and Barnes but that is over.
c.  Flushed out all the delusionary thinking and the "strategic" defenses, and highlighted the "heads in the sand" commitments. The horrendous verbage continuity of Madison/Hoffman/Officials.
d.  Got the issue on the February 7 Corte Madera Town Council Meeting at 7:30 p.m.
e.  Got news articles in all Marin newsprint except Pacific Sun
f.    Began the national spread of national news.  For example, see Publishers Weekly Here.
g.  Highlighted some broader economic and plan issues for Corte Madera and Marin County.

PHASE II STARTS NOW

We have certainly learned a great deal, have we not.  The Age of the Enlightenment - a short period from January10 to January 25.  Or  "Fifteen Days in Marin." Every day,  we learned more by digging and pestering.  Every day, a wide range of folks in Marin and elsewhere began to realize that something was really wrong.  To increasingly wonder why the subterfuge, the secrecy, and more important = where was the transperancy to which we in Corte Madera have become so accustomed?  We kept digging and begging, begging news media to put aside the fabricated "Only a Rumor" strategy and try to help.  The form letters and responses to citizens sent out by the MM Manager and then emailed by citizens around Marin, were helpful.  Because even to the most unknowledgeable about the struggles of small busnesses, the statements symbolized by the President of the Corte Madera Chamber of Commerce seemed bizarre and ridiculous - and finally, simply untrue.  And the repetition of the untrue increased concern that moved in 15 short days to despair and then to real anger and ENLIGHTENMENT.

This "village" has for some time enjoyed a warm relationship with the Town Center, and a congenial relationship with the varied business community.  And it took time to see what was happening.  How many times did they have to hear that this situation was none of the citizens' business and that the impact of the move was Zero, and that negotiations always had to be in confidence. before even some of the most rigid among us said, "wait a minute."  As one leader shared with us, "we were manipulated and scammed."  Some started to do their own searches and found that such a major impact by malls is not always done in secrecy elsewhere and that public discussion and debate has been "allowed" elsewhere. Some began to understand that placing a major inbox bookstore a block from symbolic remarkable community institution such as Book Passage would be catastrophic - because when they read and searched, they found it was always catastropic.  Some recalled that the "ordinary" independent bookstores in Marin were all gone - and their minds jumped from pictures of A Clean Well-Lighted Place to a range of others "no longer her." One poignant emailer reminded us "that to have a free press, it must have free access, not secrecy - so that it is able to function."

And once good minds begin to move, they tend to look forward.  Can big boxes and small business live together?  Of course.  Marin has done well generally with its careful placement.  Do we need both?  Some of us believe -"Of course" The Home Depot may have driven Yardbirds out, but not Jackson's, Ace Hardware, Tamalpais Paint stire.  But if HD had been placed in the Corte Madera park area, neither Ace nor the Paint store would now exist.    And as one emailer pondered, "If the Cheese Factory had moved into the space with the Gazebo on Tamalpais and addjoing property, not only would the two restaurants there been annihilated but others down the row in Larkspur - especially if it had opened from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and offered "all you can eat" for $8 for lunch every day .  Or better yet, if it had located in what is the space in the hotel down the street, how many of the Town Center restaurants would have remained. Would Maxs still be there."  Well, his imagination did score a point.  And the location "across the freeway" was important to the "sharing of appropriate space," that seems to have generally evolved in the county. Either by design, or by some intuition, Marin and Corte Madera seem to have found an interesting and vital balance.  

But a bookstore is not a hardware store or a restaurant. It is a place of learning and discussion, and exchange of ideas, and confrontation with the thinking of a range of the most important ideas and thinking of individuals from around the US and the worlds.  Why? Because words, ideas, writing is one essential component in the development and the enlargement of culture , and the strenthening of Civil Society in a democratic country.  We urge that in Iraq and Uzbekistan and South America, and we learned we are in peril if we forget that importance in just a few "small" places like the Corte Madera village and the Marin County.  And when we forget it, of course, not only does the range of catalysts to our thinking go down, but our real estate values as well.

So what now?  In Phase II, we are asking citizens to write to the Madison Marquette regional managers listed on this Web Page.  And to anyone else they wish.  THIS ISSUE IS NOT DONE.  It has too wide an impact, and as one remarked, "it challenges our assumptions about where we live." We are also asking YOU to help us expand our actions, concerns, and also think ahead what we are beginning to realize that we must have here.  We will be asking for serious analysis and a moratorium to change our approach in this town and even in this county to reaffirm shared growth - or if you will, shared survival.  Some folks will be calling for the creation of a Citizens' Alliance.  Keep up the intense efforts.  And join us at the public "things" we will be setting up and the involvent of regional media.  WATCH HERE FOR TIMES AND PLACES.

 Today, January 26m One of this county's more prestigious thinkers and involved citizens paved the way with this proposal.  Please think about it carefully:

"Marin Needs a Comprehensive Policy to Promote Local Businesses and Protect Local Communities"

Over the last few weeks it has become painfully clear to us that Corte Madera and Marin County badly needs an effective policy to protect local diversity and promote local businesses. Without such a policy, there is nothing to prevent the type of arbitrary decision-making that allows big-box chainstores to come into the community under circumstances where they pose an unfair threat to viable local businesses. As the owners of an independent bookstore with deep roots in the community, we feel this need very deeply. But it seems clear that what is happening in Corte Madera right now could happen to any business in Marin County and could undermine the type of communities that we are trying to build.
It is astonishing that local communities in Marin County do not have policies to protect their core retailing base, because there are so many other communities throughout the country that have such policies. It seems clear to us, the owners of a business most directly at risk at the moment, that we have been too complacent in Marin County. Most of us have believed that Marin would never turn into just another suburban mall with nothing to distinguish it, but that could happen unless we become more vigilant in protecting our community and its institutions.
The examples of what to do can be found in communities across the country. Santa Cruz has an ordinance requiring new retail stores over 16,000 square feet to obtain a special permit, and only stores that add to a balanced and diverse mix of downtown businesses are allowed. Greenfield, Massachusetts requires new retail stores to undergo a special review if they exceed 20,000 square feet or generate more than 500 vehicle trips per day. Bennington, Vermont, requires proposals for stores over 30,000 square feet to submit to a community impact review conducted by an independent consultant chosen by the city. Boxborough, Massachusetts, limits the size of new retail development to 25,000 square feet. Homer, Alaska, has a community impact review process for proposed retail developments over 15,000 square feet. There are many other examples nationwide.
What's right for a particular community? That's for the residents to decide. But the first step is for a community to realize that it has the power to control its own destiny. It's easy to get bowled over by large out-of-state landlords that only want to deal with national chains. That's what is happening in Corte Madera right now, and it will continue to happen until the people of Corte Madera and Marin County decide the to exercise the power they have to control their own community.
We believe that Corte Madera needs to do what Easton, Maryland, did in 1999. There, the city placed a 3-month moratorium on development of stores larger than 25,000 square feet until the Planning Commission studied the effects of large-scale retail stores, held a series of public hearings, and issued a report. We think that type of cooling off period is needed here while the citizens of this community decided what type of community they want.

"the Site created on January 10 by four professionsls, full time jobs, when we discovered the Looming Debacle and formed our larger group made up of ordinary citizens, teachers, mothers, professionals.  Since that date, we have received copies of over 500 emails sent to friends and acquaintances on local emailing lists, and expressions of outrage and mounting letters to editors and reports of phone calls to deciders, small meetings, grass roots plans, and so on.  We are just seeing the tip of the iceberg. And we do need all the help and ingenuity that exists in this great community.  We need folks to ACT - and they are.  This is not a town of Indifference by its citizens. By the CCSIB - Citizens Concerned about strengthening Independent Bookstores.

Our new email:  <citizensofmarin@yahoo.com> .  If you can help and write or call, we are keeping an email list of letters and of folks who would like to help.  Just go to our new email and list your name and email or phone number.  If you get a written response, send it to us also if you have time.  We may not respond, because we are full time professionals and a full time mother and we are almost drowning! we are getting such a large response!


BREAKING NEWS , "Cutting Edge Info", and Announcements ! !  Well the news is 10 days old, so it is Kinda "Old"

1.  The Hoffman Soap Opera HERE - We asked Book Passage to let us put on our site the carefully drawn challenge to Mr. Hoffman's oft-repeated comments to the Media that he had "broken his back" offering BP space in the center.  We thank them for their "yes. " "In one of our meetings with him, Hoffman pulled out a folder and started to show lease correspondence to prove that the problem was simply that BP would not accept all the generous leases Hoffman had offered.  I said that Lease acceptance depended on 2 factors:  Availabillty and Appropriateness.  In all but one instance, the BP had a lease with at least 2 years to run.  In the Marshall situation, the space offered was abominable.  Both Mr. Hoffman and I agreed that such "info" was not appropriate or germaine to the situation.  Clearly Mr. Hoffman forgot what he agreed with me. " <one of our CCSIB members>
2.  "Book Passage and the Local Economy" - Click HERE
Again, the impact of independent bookstores in their communities.  See also different article in #3 below, by a global payments analyst.
3. CCSIB Presentation to Corte Madera Town Council, Tuesday night, January 17. Click HERE for the statements made at that meeting.
4.  "The Andersonville Study on Retail Economics"  - one of several important Core Studies .  Click to the WEB
5.  Hot Off the Press - News Articles and Letters  HERE
6.  The Corte Madera General Plan - the Official Document About the Hopes and Concerns About this Community.  HERE

THE ISSUES
First  - and then -----
I.    THE "DECIDERS"
II.   THOSE WHO GOVERN US
III. THE MEDIA
IV. MADISON MARQUETTE PROPERTIES - THE TOWN CENTER MANAGERS - THEIR WEB SITE

THE ISSUES

The Corte Madera Town Center's decision to show mainstay 20-year tenant Marshalls the door because it did not bring in enough "Marin-appropriate" traffic to the other mall stores is an affront to the economic diversity of the Corte Madera community. Even more importantly, the property management firm, Madison Marquette Retail Services (MMRS), is about to compound its indifference to serving both the Corte Madera and wider Marin community by finalizing the decision that it will be the new marquee anchor addition that MMRS so callously says will "thrill this community." MMRS is sorely mistaken.

MMRS tells that it cannot tell us for a month who will go in there! Now we finally have confirmation from  a Barnes manager - but upper level Barnes still refuses to confirm.  The refusal  continues to reinforce the Barnes strategy to make the decision known later when it is a fait accompli. This kind of action is almost as disturbing as the decision to select Barnes and Noble. As interesting is the question we have raised with MMRS: Who owns the Town Center? The DBA (Doing Business As) is "770 Tamapais Drive Inc. " No one in Madison is willing to release the "real owner's name yet.  But we have been told from a range of independent sources that the Florida State Retirement Pension System (FRSPS) owns the Town Center.

Corte Madera and Marin County are the proud home to one of the nation's and the Bay Area's liveliest premier independent bookstores. Book Passage became in reality the Corte Madera Community Center - giving wide-ranging service to our community in unique ways that no other business can match. Book Passage is in fact Corte Madera's de facto community center. It hosts scores of book clubs and groups for adults and kids; the industry's premier mystery writers and travel writers and photographers annual conference; and multiple writing workshops and classes ranging from travel, art, and cooking to history, children's books, publishing, book sales, and marketing - and of course the national speakers and the national conferences, workshops, classes. Book Passage's staff of more than 50 booksellers finds books for customers that computers cannot!

Over the past 10 years, hundreds of independent bookstores in the US have been driven out of business by the rise of giant discounters like Barnes & Nobles, Borders, Amazon, and yes, even Wal-Mart. In our free market economy, Book Passage has demonstrated it is a strong competitor and a survivor, despite severely compressed margins. Our community has been the beneficiary of their strong business acumen and will and range of "free" services.

Relocating the Barnes & Noble bookstore in the Corte Madera Town Center will put a giant challenger right at  the gate (a block away) of an important Independent Book Store - and risks yielding a crippling blow to this beloved Marin business and community center. Barnes & Noble is already trading at 20.5 times estimated earnings per share for 2005. As a community, we believe we are sufficiently contributing to Barnes & Nobles economics at its current location across the freeway.

WHY THE CONTINUOUS SUBTERFUGE?  WHO MAKES THE DECISION (AND WHO KNOW WHAT SEEMS TO HAVE ALREADY BEEN DECIDED) On Leasing the Marshalls' Space? And WHO KNOWS WHO REALLY OWNS THE TOWN CENTER? The DBA - "Doing Business As" is "770 Tamapais Drive Inc. " Several sources insist it is owned by the Florida State Teachers Retirement System ! ! !

The Most Immediate Issues:

1.   What happened to the Principle of Transparancy - giving Marin citizens and leaders the opportunity for a concentrated, concerned discussion? As one citizen called it: "The 3 Ss - Sleaze, Slime, Subterfuge."  Others have asked, "Did not we have a right to an honest public discussion?"
2.  When is Barnes and Noble going to come clean and announce its decision publicly in the TV and news medium?  and when is  Madison going to share the decision on Barnes and Noble? Barnes and Noble is playing the public "we know nothing about it" game, and Madison says it will announce what it seems to already know in 1 month.  This "DENY-DECEIVE-DELAY MANTRA" seems to be a familiar BN strategy and plan of action.
3.  Will the community have "time" to take action?

4. What steps have been taken to alter and redo the current Marshalls' space.?  Plans go first to The Corte Madera Center's Design Group. Apparently this is an outside contracted evaluator. After plan approval, the Center must apply to the Corte Madera Town Planning Committee and then Town Council for approval. It has not done so yet. We are in the process of trying to find out who this Design Group is and how far along the plan is.

5. Who owns the Town Center? Madison's position is that their client pays them to take care of the TC and does not need to be involved. Of course, this information is public and with effort can be ascertained. If it is owned by the FSRPS, we would be surprised if that organization for teachers and public employees knew that Barnes and Noble's and Madison's decision would impact on one of the remaining and one of the most important Independent Booksellers in Northern California and such a major supplier of educational and civic services and involvement in Marin County Education. We intend to contact officials in Florida who might be willing to help in the event that FSTRS is involved without its knowledge.

Site prepared "quickly" by the CCSIB - The Corte Madera Citizens Concerned about  Strengthening Independent Bookstores.