An important staff shift at City Hall

In a memo this afternoon, City Manager Katie Lichtig told city employees that current Assistant City Manager Shelly Stanwyck will be moving to the position of Acting Director of Parks and Recreation and that the current recruitment effort for that position is now suspended. Lichtig pointed to Stanwyck's strong leadership experience and the need for someone who could "help lead the department from day one." The City will soon begin an internal recruitment process for the position of acting assistant city manager.

Finally some good news on TOT tax

Although one month isn't exactly a trend, the just-released March Transient Occupancy Tax figures show the first increase in almost two years. The March 2010 numbers, which reflect the gross revenue of city hotels and motels, was up 12.6 percent compared to March 2009. Part of this increase is probably attributable to March 2009's horrible decline of 25 percent compared to March 2008. Fiscal year-to-date TOT revenue is down about 8 percent — that's slightly ahead of projections. During this interesting time, any TOT number north of zero is something to be thankful for. Tourism has a direct impact on about 20 percent of the SLO economy.

Schwab doubles SLO office

SLO's Charles Schwab office will soon be moving into downtown with an office about twice the size of their current Pacific Street location. Insiders report that Schwab and CoastHills Federal Credit Union are separately in the final stages of negotiating leases on parts of the 775 Marsh St. complex. Both are reportedly very close to signing.

Restaurants on the move

Insiders report that a well-known county restaurant could soon be opening a second location in the recently vacated Baja Fresh store at 1085 Higuera St. They restaurant is very close to a deal on the building owned by Rob Rossi. Meanwhile, Muzio's, a downtown fixture since 1888, has finally opened its new eatery in the renovated Wineman Hotel building. The Wineman has also signed Sprint Communications to take one of the smaller spaces for a retail location.

Miner's Ace Hardware opening set

While it took longer than expected, one of the most eagerly anticipated store openings is finally happening. SLO Chamber members will be invited this week to a special May 19 sneak preview of Miner's Ace Hardware with the official grand opening a few days later. In January, Miner's announced its intention to open a store at the former Pacific Coast Home and Garden Center on Santa Barbara Street in SLO in March, but the extensive remodeling took a few months longer than expected. The 20,000-square-foot store will carry about 50,000 different items, about twice the inventory of the previous store.

Quick Links:

Slo-business.com | Slochamber.org | Visitslo.com |  Business Directory

To unsubscribe to this and other Chamber e-mails, click here and e-mail your request.
Include the e-mail address you wish to unsubscribe.