Plan Outlined for Pomona's Revitalization : City planning: Consultants find crime and education problems. But their report says Pomona could become 'the cultural center of the east San Gabriel Valley.'

By MIKE WARD

March 18, 1990 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

POMONA —

The city should turn its fading downtown into a lively, Latin-flavored cultural and shopping hub, establish magnet schools and pare down its management-heavy city work force, a consultants’ report recommended last week.

“Pomona is the only real city in this area,” said Trevor A. Campbell, who coordinated the city-commissioned strategic planning study by the Center for Leadership Resources in Granada Hills. “Most of the adjoining cities tend to be largely bedroom communities. Pomona goes beyond a bedroom community . . . Pomona can be the cultural center of the east San Gabriel Valley.”

Campbell conducted the seven-month, $60,000 study along with Eduardo M. Ochoa, associate professor of economics at Cal State Los Angeles, and Lukman Clarke, a management expert.

The team surveyed public opinion, interviewed community leaders and examined the city’s social and economic conditions to devise a five-year strategy for economic growth.

Some of the researchers’ findings were expected. They noted, for example, that Pomona, with a population of about 120,000, lags behind neighboring cities in education and income levels and leads in violent crime.

But there were some surprises too.

In a telephone survey of 434 households in Pomona, the consultants found that most residents said they feel safe in their neighborhoods. Only 9% said crime was out of control. Nearly three-fourths said crime was either a small problem or no problem at all.

However, Ochoa said the response may reflect the way the question was phrased. If residents had been asked whether crime was a serious problem in Pomona, he said, most would probably have said yes, but not in their own neighborhoods. The city had 44 murders last year, the highest total ever reported in the San Gabriel Valley.

The survey also found that most residents pay little attention to city government. Half of those surveyed said they never follow the activities of the often-contentious City Council, and 80% said they have had no occasion to deal with City Hall in the past year.

The City Council commissioned the study to develop a strategy for promoting economic development and making government more effective.

Some of the recommendations--such as magnet high schools, job training for residents and programs to help small businesses--would entail substantial costs. The report does not attempt to calculate costs or explore in depth how the money might be raised.

Councilman Tomas Ursua, who proposed the study, said many approaches could be taken. Substantial state and federal grants exist for job training and cultural programs, he said. But some of the money could come from a shift in priorities.

He said the City Council has thought nothing in the past of giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in redevelopment funds to subsidize the purchase of property for developers. He said this report suggests that the city might gain more by putting that money into job-training and other purposes instead of giving it to developers.

“What we have here is the beginning of a new way of thinking,” Ursua said, “and it’s going to take time for it to become a reality.”

Specifically, the consultants suggested that Pomona look to Santa Ana as a model of self-improvement. Both cities have high Latino populations and residents with similar education levels. And both have large numbers of old commercial buildings, the consultants said. But Santa Ana has revitalized its economy, whereas Pomona has fallen behind.

Ochoa said Santa Ana has adopted a Mexican theme for its downtown area “with small quaint shops, restaurants and so forth, and they have managed to tap into a market that is right there. I think that strategy could work here.”

Downtown Pomona was the region’s retail center years ago, but it now houses a single department store, Buffums, and an odd mixture of other establishments, including antique shops, an osteopathic college, storefront churches, furniture stores and thrift outlets, along with a significant number of empty buildings.

The consultants said the city also should promote the arts in its downtown area. They suggested sponsorship of outdoor music festivals and art shows, establishment of a playhouse theater in cooperation with local schools and colleges, and the development of a multiplex movie theater that would show art-house films.

The report also recommended that the city promote construction of condominiums instead of apartments near the downtown area, and encourage the use of downtown buildings as artists’ lofts.

Bob Dahms, president of the Central Business District in Pomona, said downtown already has a little-noticed but growing artists’ colony. He said he has not read the consultants’ entire report but agrees with portions he has seen.

On the education front, the consultants recommended that the city work with the school district in establishing an arts magnet program at Garey High School because it is near downtown.

The report also proposed a health sciences magnet at Pomona High School to tie in with the growth of Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center and other medical facilities. Finally, it suggested establishment of a business magnet at Ganesha High School.

Such magnet schools offer intensive training in specialized areas.

Irv Moskowitz, superintendent of the Pomona Unified School District, said he has not seen the report, but he said district staff members have recently begun assembling information for a new long-range plan for the district. Moskowitz said magnet schools are one of many options.

In their analysis of city government, the consultants concluded that the city is overstaffed with managers and has been hampered by weak executive leadership.

The consultants found that one-fourth of Pomona’s municipal work force is classified as management, compared to 10% in most cities. The report says that some workers were probably promoted to management classifications because there was no other way of rewarding employee performance.

The consultants suggested that the city reorganize its classifications so workers can advance monetarily without being promoted to a management-level salary. The city could save $500,000 to $600,000 by reducing the number of managerial positions, the report said.

City Administrator Julio Fuentes said he has not examined the staffing claim. “I’m always open-minded and will look at that,” he said, “but I don’t have anything to say about it at this point.”

The consultants said the city has many strong individual managers and employees, but “they are frustrated by a system that undercuts innovativeness and teamwork.”

Finally, the consultants’ report also suggests raising residents’ job skill levels. They noted that while Pomona has more jobs than neighboring cities, many of these jobs are held by people who live outside the city. Pomona residents have trouble competing for jobs in their own city because of low education and skill levels, the report said.

The consultants recommended that the city, schools and colleges cooperate on programs to upgrade job skills, and that the city adopt a policy of requiring any business with city contracts to first interview Pomona residents when hiring.

LIFE IN POMONA

The Center for Leadership Resources conducted a telephone survey of 434 households in Pomona in September. These were among the results.

Which best describes the crime situation in your neighborhood?

Not a problem: 37%

Small problem: 37%

Serious problem: 17%

Out of control: 9%

Which best describes the effectiveness of police services in your area?

Excellent: 13%

Good: 39%

Fair: 22%

Poor: 10%