The Healdsburg City Council got an earful of good news last week, as an economic conditions report and a summary of the results of a community survey both indicated overall satisfaction with life in Healdsburg and economic success factors, even as the survey offered mixed reviews of hotels, tourism and the community’s direction.
The Healdsburg economy
On Monday, March 19, Dr. Robert Eyler, a Sonoma State University economist, wore his consultant hat as he delivered a summary of his: “Healdsburg Economy: Context and Balance” report.
The city has hired Eyler in the past to analyze, summarize and deliver economic insights to the council. This year’s report cost was unavailable at press time, but Healdsburg City Manager David Mickaelian said it was between $5,000 and $6,000. (A specific figure was not readily available, as Mickaelian and the rest of the administrative team were relocating their offices this week into the expanded city hall annex.)
Overall, Eyler told the council that Healdsburg has a more balanced economy than the outward indicators would suggest. According to the report:
“In short, Healdsburg is not reliant on tourism industries for its businesses or its city government to thrive. Diversity in Healdsburg mirrors the industrial mix in Sonoma County overall, and its per job taxable sales are higher in Healdsburg than Sonoma County. This suggests that Healdsburg does more with fewer jobs to help city finance than Sonoma County overall.”
Eyler outlined a diverse business and employment base, saying that his research says that 25 percent of local jobs are related to the wine industry and 18 percent of jobs in Healdsburg are related to tourism and retail. “Over 57 percent of jobs are not related to wineries,” the report said.
In terms of threats to what he described as a healthy and balanced economy, Eyler pointed out that more people work in Healdsburg than are able to live here. “There are more people working here than there are houses for them,” Eyler said.
Traffic in and out of the community was highlighted when Eyler said that about 80 percent of Healdsburg’s employed workers leave town to work, yet Healdsburg “imports” 83 percent of its workers at local employers from other places.
What can Healdsburg do to retain and promote its existing business mix? “If you like the business diversity you currently have … you should not divorce economic development from workforce development,” Eyler said.
Eyler also said that housing costs are a burden to residents in Healdsburg, just as they are elsewhere in the county.
When it was time for the city council to ask questions and comment, the reaction was mostly satisfaction, with a little skepticism. Councilmember Shaun McCaffery said, “the report gives me some assurance that there really is diversity in this town. It’s nice to hear that we really don’t have all our eggs in one basket.”
Councilmember David Hagele said he appreciated the report because, “it helps differentiate between perception and data, it helps to see that we are more diverse than it appears.”
Councilmember Leah Gold said, “the idea that Healdsburg’s economy would be gutted as a result of the loss of tourism is hyperbole. Would it hurt? Of course.”
Mayor Brigette Mansell was enthusiastic in her thanks to Eyler, but seemed to reject his assertion that Healdsburg’s economy fares well in comparison to other communities. “You can’t compare this town,” she said.
Community survey
Later that evening, the city council heard the results of a $30,000 community survey, conducted to gauge resident attitudes about city services and development.
Conducted by FM3, a firm the city has used in the past, the survey attempted to poll all households and ended up with 536 responses. David Metz from FM3 said all households were contacted and every “qualified” response was accepted.
In general, “people really enjoy living here,” said Metz, “some of the highest numbers in the state.”
Despite page after page of positive results to questions about city services, interactions with city employees and quality of life, not all is well in paradise.
Housing costs were cited by 33 percent of respondents as the top problem facing the community, about the same as the next four categories combined (road construction 12 percent, too much tourism 10 percent, parking downtown 7 percent and too much growth 5 percent).
Not many saw roads, overcrowding, local taxes and public education as problems, but 43 percent said Healdsburg is “on the wrong track” at the moment, a concern that Metz said is “not unique to Healdsburg.”
(To be fair, it should be noted that 32 percent said Healdsburg is going in the right direction and another 26 percent said they don’t know or had no opinion.)
The “wrong track” sentiments varied by length of residence in the community, with just 35 percent of those who have lived here four years or less answering “wrong track” and 41 percent of the same group answering “right direction.”
Those who have lived here 21 years or more expressed the greatest dissatisfaction in answering the question, only 22 percent answered “right direction” while 49 percent answered “wrong track.”
Recent arrivals were also more likely to be satisfied with city services, with 58 percent saying city services are excellent or good, while those with 21 or more years residency gave an excellent or good answer 45 percent of the time.
Length of residency was key to survey results on the topic of development, namely tourism. “Those who have been in the city less than five years are more likely to say that the tourism industry has had a positive effect on their families,” Metz told the council.
The survey suggests that most think tourism has benefited the community economically, but hotels were unfavorably reviewed by most survey respondents, with 57 percent of those who have lived in the community less than four years saying that the rate of hotel growth is too fast. That number leaped to 80 percent in those who have lived in the community more than 21 years.
At the conclusion of the survey presentation, city councilmember Shaun McCaffery was quick to point out an area where the previous economic report and the survey agreed.
“The common theme is staring us in the face and it’s housing,” said McCaffery. “You look at the concerns here and housing is the top four.”
Later in the city council, meeting and again at the council’s goal-setting discussion on March 19, McCaffery hammered home his concerns about housing and urged the council to think about another attempt to modify the city’s growth management ordinance, this time with a narrow emphasis on allowing multi-family (apartment) projects.
To see the economic report and survey results in greater detail, click on the links at left.
