Dear PDA Council,
With Master Plan voting happening in under a week, it’s worth taking a moment to share thanks from The Pike Place Market Constituency and greater Pike Place Market Community for the PDA’s continued thought and investment into the future of the Pike Place Market. The Market Constituency membership of 400+ persons has expressed both support and concern regarding the provisions of the 50-year plan. The Constituency believes there was a rush to conclude the plan, with the final draft not benefitting from the vetting of the broader Market community. While each member reserves the right to make a separate comment about the Master Plan, the Constituency has voted to send this letter.
Since its founding in 1907, much effort has gone into ensuring the Pike Place Market is a welcome place for all — but especially a place for farmers, locals, buskers and craftspeople to conduct business. It’s this special character that has drawn the interest of tourists, and as a result the Market has evolved into the duality of the public market and tourist attraction that it is today. Protecting the local nature of the market now includes necessary planning for the millions of visitors that reach the Market every year.
We recognize that, next to financial planning for the PDA, solving the above was at the heart of what this Master Plan set out to accomplish. The Constituency and Pike Place Market Community recognize the complexity of this task, and it is for that reason we’re submitting to you our formal position on the next week’s voting and the terms of adoption around the Master Plan for the Pike Place Market:
Executive Director performance must be decoupled from Master Plan execution in its present form — there are simply too many complex projects that are untested and which require additional vetting not to allow for tolerance in this new leader’s performance and incentives structure. Instead, the Constituency believes that the execution of the Master Plan should be assigned to the PDA Council and its subcommittees, who would assign tasks to PDA staff and make evaluations accordingly.
Adopt explicit language around the Master Plan as a list of opportunities to further evaluate and execute. Provide clear guidance to the PDA and Pike Place Market stakeholders that there is further due diligence to be done on projects like: The Augmented Reality Tour, POS overhaul, and Local Delivery Service and that the dialog will continue around whether or not anchor restaurants benefit the Pike Place Market.
Additionally, The Constituency would love to see:
Greater investment to ensure that farmers can and will succeed in the Pike Place Market
A deeper commitment to ensure that we are attractive and friendly to our locals
An understanding that world-class craftspeople and one-of-a-kind retail fronts are run by individuals who care about what they do more than how much they make and deserve support
A greater commitment to preserving the historical character of The Pike Place Market
Lesser emphasis on Food Life “finished food experiences”
The PDA Charter spells out these desires clearly. We recognize that caring for the farmers and the locals means us all coming together with better solutions for these locals and tourists and see the Master Plan as an effort in this. However, it should come as no surprise that, for The Constituency, it is important to us that our communities come first.
Pike Place Market Constituency