Fairfield's Rep
Originally published March 15, 2007
There was an interesting article in Tuesday's Daily Republic that dealt with Fairfield's image and whether or not it would hurt our city officials in their quest for federal dollars in Washington, D.C.
While Washington is certainly too consumed with the Bush Administration's many scandals to care about Fairfield's image, our fair city's reputation does need polishing.
Let's be real, cities do acquire reputations. Once a city gets a reputation, it's hard to change it.
If I say Berkeley to you, you're probably thinking crazy, smoked-out, left-wing, socialist nut jobs. If I say San Francisco to you, you think of a gay, terminally politically correct, nutty, liberal paradise. When you hear Oakland, what comes to mind? Crime? Murders?
What about Fairfield?
The biggest thing Fairfield has going for it is its location. It's why I've always thought it was wrongheaded to try to market Fairfield as a destination for tourism. Yes, we have the Jelly Belly factory. We have Travis Air Force Base. But no family is out there planning a vacation to Fairfield, California. We'd do well to sell ourselves as the best waystation in Northern California.
We're half way between San Francisco and Sacramento. Not many places can boast being an hour's drive from three international airports. In a three-hour radius we've got museums, numerous concert venues, amusement parks, beaches, mountains, wine country, camping, the state capital, skiing and seven professional sports franchises.
And we've got stuff here, too. We've got plenty of places to eat and shop all right off of Interstate 80. We soon may have a Wal-Mart Supercenter, and we're the first city in America to get a Green Bean Worldcafe coffee shop. We've got big-name acts performing at Pepperbellys. And between the Hilton Garden Inn, the Marriott Courtyard and Cordelia, we have lodging along the I-80 corridor.
We've got a lot to offer travelers and potential new residents. That is, if they're not frightened away.
First, there's the weird stuff. We're the city that made national news with our crop circles, a man who cut off his own penis in a drug haze, and we've had not one, but two residents keep the mummified remains of their mothers in their homes.
Then you have the political shenanigans. We had then-Mayor Pettygrove injure himself while intoxicated that required major medical attention.
We followed that up with the Councilman John English methamphetamine circus, the Paul Randhawa election eve fraud bust and finally Councilman Frank Kardos' arrest for suspected domestic violence.
During the height of the English fiasco, John swore to me that his case didn't damage the city's reputation at all. Uh huh.
Finally there's the crime problem. We've got shootings, an ambush killing and an off-duty police officer shot to death in broad daylight among crimes in recent months. Before it used to be Richmond and Vallejo known for their crime. Now, it's us, too.
Now it's true that our image may not matter in Washington, D.C. But it matters to residents here. It matters to potential new residents looking for somewhere to raise a family and start a business. We're kidding ourselves if we think it doesn't.
Reputation important for a city
By Kelvin Wade
There was an interesting article in Tuesday's Daily Republic that dealt with Fairfield's image and whether or not it would hurt our city officials in their quest for federal dollars in Washington, D.C.
While Washington is certainly too consumed with the Bush Administration's many scandals to care about Fairfield's image, our fair city's reputation does need polishing.
Let's be real, cities do acquire reputations. Once a city gets a reputation, it's hard to change it.
If I say Berkeley to you, you're probably thinking crazy, smoked-out, left-wing, socialist nut jobs. If I say San Francisco to you, you think of a gay, terminally politically correct, nutty, liberal paradise. When you hear Oakland, what comes to mind? Crime? Murders?
What about Fairfield?
The biggest thing Fairfield has going for it is its location. It's why I've always thought it was wrongheaded to try to market Fairfield as a destination for tourism. Yes, we have the Jelly Belly factory. We have Travis Air Force Base. But no family is out there planning a vacation to Fairfield, California. We'd do well to sell ourselves as the best waystation in Northern California.
We're half way between San Francisco and Sacramento. Not many places can boast being an hour's drive from three international airports. In a three-hour radius we've got museums, numerous concert venues, amusement parks, beaches, mountains, wine country, camping, the state capital, skiing and seven professional sports franchises.
And we've got stuff here, too. We've got plenty of places to eat and shop all right off of Interstate 80. We soon may have a Wal-Mart Supercenter, and we're the first city in America to get a Green Bean Worldcafe coffee shop. We've got big-name acts performing at Pepperbellys. And between the Hilton Garden Inn, the Marriott Courtyard and Cordelia, we have lodging along the I-80 corridor.
We've got a lot to offer travelers and potential new residents. That is, if they're not frightened away.
First, there's the weird stuff. We're the city that made national news with our crop circles, a man who cut off his own penis in a drug haze, and we've had not one, but two residents keep the mummified remains of their mothers in their homes.
Then you have the political shenanigans. We had then-Mayor Pettygrove injure himself while intoxicated that required major medical attention.
We followed that up with the Councilman John English methamphetamine circus, the Paul Randhawa election eve fraud bust and finally Councilman Frank Kardos' arrest for suspected domestic violence.
During the height of the English fiasco, John swore to me that his case didn't damage the city's reputation at all. Uh huh.
Finally there's the crime problem. We've got shootings, an ambush killing and an off-duty police officer shot to death in broad daylight among crimes in recent months. Before it used to be Richmond and Vallejo known for their crime. Now, it's us, too.
Now it's true that our image may not matter in Washington, D.C. But it matters to residents here. It matters to potential new residents looking for somewhere to raise a family and start a business. We're kidding ourselves if we think it doesn't.
Comments