Downtown as Charlie Brown again

It's August, and the weather is perfect. But a rain cloud once again appears to be moving in over downtown Santa Rosa and its ongoing efforts to put more "there" there.

For the past five years, despite financial challenges, date shifts and some ill-timed cloud bursts, local cycling enthusiasts have worked diligently to keep downtown a central part of the Amgen Tour of California race. Volunteers raised $175,000, without city support, to host the stage this year. Santa Rosa's own Levi Leipheimer donated $60,000 raised from his GranFondo bike ride in October.

By any measure, their efforts have been a success -- for the city, for downtown, for local tourism and for cycling. The 2006 and 2007 events brought an estimated 30,000 people downtown. The city estimates the 2009 event, despite the general sogginess that year, generated $1.4 million for the local economy including $28,000 in sales and lodging taxes.

Then there's the untold value of Santa Rosa's exposure year after year from this nationally televised event.

But now a 10-member committee is looking at moving the finish line out of downtown, possibly to someplace such as the A Place to Play fields on Santa Rosa's West side.

Why? Apparently because the event is too disruptive on downtown traffic.

I almost choked on my Cheerios when I read that Thursday morning.

Isn't this the one time out of the year downtown isn't devoted to the concerns of traffic? It's a cycling event. Can't we be concerned about cars the other 364 days of the year?

Committee members say they still want to have the race cut through downtown. They're just hoping that by moving the finish line and podium where winners are celebrated, they'll avoid replicating the gridlock that apparently happened this year.

Certainly, a lot of people were inconvenienced this year. Consider all the things that were new. The race was moved from February to May. The finish happened on a weekday for the first time. And it ended up being a rainy day which compounds traffic problems.

Still, I can't help but wonder whether we're about to mess up a good thing. Will crowds really show up at A Place to Play, especially on a weekday? Moreover, what motivation will people have to come downtown if they know they'll be seeing the peloton but will have no view of the grand finale or post-race activities?

And since downtown streets will be blocked off anyway, how much of the traffic problem will really be diminished?

My family and I have fond memories of hanging out under umbrellas and clanging soggy cow bells at riders we don't really know. But I ask these questions more as a fan of downtown -- and of making the right moves to restore the vitality of the Santa Rosa's core area -- than of cycling.

It just seems that every time the city starts moving in the right direction in creating something that works for downtown, the complaining and tinkering begins.

Santa Rosa Main Street, a business group formed eight years ago to breathe more life into downtown, closed shop last year after losing funding from the city. The Courthouse Square reunification project looks like it's going nowhere. And now the partnership between Amgen and downtown is about to get a stick in the spokes.

Bernie Schwartz of California Luggage was quoted in the story by Bob Norberg as saying the idea of moving the finish was "stupid." When I ran into him on Thursday, he worried about whether that was too harsh. I assured him it wasn't.

He told me he had been encouraged by some of the attention City Hall had given downtown in recent years, and he appreciated the Amgen Tour. It's one time of the year when people find that although they may have to park a few blocks away, downtown is pretty accessible even on crowded days.

"I don't sell a lot of luggage on those days," Schwartz acknowledged. Still, people come downtown "and see what's available. They get to know the area better."

Pete Mogannam, owner of 4th Street Market & Deli on the corner of Mendocino Avenue, had a similar response.

"I'm not in favor of it," he said of moving the finish line. He, too, acknowledges he doesn't do extra business on race days, unless they fall on a weekend or a holiday. Nevertheless, the benefits of bringing people downtown, even on a weekday, outweigh the drawbacks.

"It's good for downtown," he said. "It's good for the whole city, and the national publicity we get is terrific. I hope we keep it."

But never underestimate our ability to mess up a good thing.

As I walked back to the office after talking to merchants, I passed by one of those 4-foot statues of Lucy Van Pelt. It's fitting that she's the theme of this year's "Peanuts on Parade paint-off." Downtown, it seems, is Charlie Brown -- about to see the football pulled away again. I hope not.

The local committee has until Aug. 13 to submit its proposal for the race next year. My advice is simple: If it's not broken, please don't fix it.

Paul Gullixson is editorial director for The Press Democrat. E-mail him at paul.gullixson@pressdemocrat.com.