Stockton's Miracle Mile Gets 5-Year Reprieve After Difficult Year
STOCKTON (CBS13) — It's been a tough year for Stockton's Miracle Mile Improvement District, from store evictions to embezzlement charges against its director.
But now things are slowly turning around as the Stockton City Council voted on Thursday to keep its doors open.
The council unanimously voted to approve the district's contract, and now some business owners say the real work begins.
For the last several weeks, Stockton barber, Terrance Fields has been concerned over the future of his business which sits in the middle of the Miracle Mile.
"It is scary, you know, it's just a matter of time before the lack of maintenance and the lack of security catches up," said Fields of Cal-Pine of the Ave.
The future of the improvement district has up in the air since the summer, but now that the Stockton City Council has voted to keep the office open for at least five more years, Fields says the future looks brighter.
The contract expansion means the miracle mile improvement district will continue to provide maintenance and security for businesses along Pacific Avenue. Even though, half of the business owners say they don't need the help.
"Well, we'll make the best of it. In some ways, I think I am the conscience of the board. There was a speaker up there that said, that I'm the probably because I harass the executive director, well I call them out in the meetings when they do things without proper process or procedure," said business owner Peter Martin.
The district also organizes events to get foot traffic to storefronts and helps with advertising. Business owners are hoping they can be more involved with district decisions.
"We want the voice of the stakeholders to form the direction that MMID takes, and we're willing to accept what that is," he said.
Business owners say with the new contract; they hope they can be more involved with district decisions.
