CONCORD — A half-million dollar pilot program that drastically curbed complaints of crime and grime in its historic Todos Santos Plaza in the wake of the pandemic is rapidly running out of money.
Failing to privately secure enough cash to last past May 11, downtown business leaders are now imploring local, state and federal officials to help cobble together nearly $12,000 to continue covering just half of the program’s monthly bills.
The Todos Santos Business Association (TSBA) launched the Downtown Welcome and Cleanliness Program in May 2023 to restore vitality to the historic 2.5-acre plaza in the heart of downtown. By servicing the plaza morning to night, the TSBA hoped to encourage more people to return to the once-bustling city block — where shops and restaurants line a lush park with picnic tables, benches, a children’s playground and free Wi-Fi within walking distance to BART.
In June 2023, the program’s uniformed, unarmed security officer logged 82 calls from local businesses complaining of illegal activity and other disruptions downtown. That number dropped to 73 and 40 the following two months, according to the TSBA, while only three calls were made last month.
Bankrolled by a one-time $458,000 grant — awarded from Concord’s $6.5 million pot of American Rescue Plan Act funds — and a private $50,000 endowment from the Brenden-Mann Foundation, the pilot also funded a day porter, who spent almost 5,000 hours picking up trash and cleaning grafitti since the pilot’s inception; nearly 600 full trash bags were discarded within the last year.
Additionally, workers spent more than 200 hours pressure washing sidewalks near storefronts in an on-demand service TSBA provided through its grant funding.
This daily, hands-on staff made a stark difference for the plaza’s commercial tenants like Justin Crossley, a TSBA member and owner of The Hop Grenade, a popular taproom that opened on Salvio Street more than a decade ago.
“Any gap in funding could get us right back to the drawing board,” Crossley said, presenting on behalf of the downtown business association during the Concord City Council’s Jan. 28 meeting. “Not only did we create this successful program, we found the right people to run it.”
Tim McGallian, board chair for the Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce, said one of the biggest complaints he fielded coming out of the pandemic was how downtown businesses struggled to hire and maintain staff.
“We know this program is working because nobody’s talking about the bad things that are happening downtown — quiet means success,” McGallian said, emphasizing the economic impact that stems from small changes, such as safer parking lots. “Please continue this program. It really has a huge impact.”
Sharing concerns voiced by Vice Mayor Laura Nakamura and others during the pilot’s formation, Crossley said that he and other TSBA executives personally helped interview candidates to hire someone who could effectively establish a rapport and de-escalate situations, especially involving vulnerable people in the plaza, while being mindful of the commercial and civic community’s needs.
“We really didn’t just want somebody there harassing people for being citizens or sharing the park,” Crossley said. The program’s lead security guard, Israel Leiva, has largely avoided tapping local law enforcement for support through a friendly, non-confrontational approach — establishing rapport through face-to-face conversations and Leiva’s go-to “thumbs-up” selfies. “It was important to us that this (reduction in crime, blight and disorder) happened in such a way that fit our ideals here in Concord.”
Technically, much of this work duplicates responsibilities assigned to Concord’s public works staff and police department, but Crossley said the TSBA’s security guards and porters are “just an added hand” to help cultivate trust and relationships that keep the peace downtown.
The financial viability of this “slam dunk” pilot program, however, is still uncertain.
Crossley said fundraising efforts have been hampered by two dilemmas: many local businesses — including members of the TSBA — are still hesitant to invest as they struggle to stay afloat, and pots of government funding awarded to help ease financial strains during pandemic have largely dried up.
Some last-minute “creative bookkeeping” preserved the program’s security through May 11, but that reallocation forced the TSBA to prematurely end its daily porter service, which started at 8 a.m. and cost $10,000 each month. If the association doesn’t meet its $11,600 fundraising goal in the coming months to save the security guards, he warned that “it will be back to just Concord PD and any of us local businesses who are trying to do it ourselves.”
Concord City Manager Valerie Barone said more information about funding opportunities will be available Feb. 11, when the council is slated to discuss the city’s current fiscal year budget. The city previously chipped in roughly $300,000 for new trash receptacles, which were designed to reduce wind-blown litter and dissuade people from emptying out the bins.
“We know that money’s tight, and the federal ARPA funds that helped us do this in the beginning are gone,” Crossley said, adding that the TSBA would commit $1,000 each month to the program. “That’s a small fraction of what we need, but we are willing — and trying our best — to stay involved and contribute to this, because we see the value.”