Doing One Thing, Thinking Another

I'm posting pictures of the two scarves I painted with the new dyes, which both need more work somehow, though I am more than satisfied with the quality of the black background. Yay for expensive, concentrated dyes. Also the two big Jell-O flowers I have completed, though there is a lot happening on the Jell-O front which I will talk about in another entry.

While I've been working with my hands, my mind has been on this situation downtown regarding the possible closure of 8th Street on Saturdays in order for the farmers to expand their footprint into it. I have much more to say than I can in this or any forum, due to the last few years I've spent sitting at their board meetings taking minutes. I do consider many of the farmers to be my friends and as I said in my last entry, I think there is an elegant solution regarding their site issues, which shall be found in group discussions to come, if we get to hold some. So far, they have decided to push for this change on their own, without working with us at all.

Our common goal, the two organizations that set up across the street from each other, is to thrive. Saturday Market started the Farmers' Market to ensure that fresh produce always would be a part of our scene, and to support local producers of food, and over the years there have been many commonalities and differences which would fill several pages. We had a "gentlemen's agreement" that our organization would not sell produce, and theirs would not have restaurant booths, or sell crafts. Several years ago LCFM let us know that the agreement was over, and they started their food booths.

It was a unilateral decision and we didn't have a way to alter it. Clearly they felt it was necessary for them to thrive, and it has indeed shown to be a good decision for them. Our Saturday Market International Food Court is a solid and respected destination which has no equal, so it didn't turn out to be that much of a big deal, in most respects. However, it eroded the trust when the decision wasn't made cooperatively, and it set up several situations that have now started to really grate.

It is well known that most of the public attendees do not see us as two markets, but assume we are one entity. There are several important differences, however, and they are becoming part of a bigger issue, that of whether or not we can work together. Let me be clear that as individuals, many of us do indeed work together quite well, and there are lots of things going on besides this one decision on whether or not 8th St should be closed to traffic. But this is a big deal.

One difference between the two markets is that we at SM have one basic tenet, that the Maker is the Seller. All of our members make their own products, and we are there to tell you all about it if you want to know. We have had our hands on each thing you buy. Many of the farmers are also there in person, but their guidelines allow employees, and direct agents. So you may be served by a retail clerk over there, someone who is being paid a wage to sell to you, who may or may not have any direct connection to the product. That's why you see one of the biggest breweries in the state, and bakeries who have storefronts in other parts of town. As local food producers, their businesses squeak into their guidelines even though the owners/makers of the products are seldom present.

This might not seem to be a concern, but the value of our niche is priceless. There are very few handcrafted markets like us, in the world. We cherish that and work hard to protect it. So when our guidelines don't extend across the street, that is a smallish problem, but when our guidelines don't extend to a booth right next to another booth (such as would be the case if they had booths in the street right behind ours) that is a big problem for us in keeping our niche and our identity clear.

Another of our tenets is equality. Everyone gets an 8x8, or a 4x4 if they choose. The farmers use 10x10s, and they can occupy one, two, or three, and they also have those "truck spaces" on Park, which are 10x20 or longer. This has created different classes of vendors, and their equality of membership is skewed. This also confuses our customers, who don't notice any difference, but then tend to see us as small, and less powerful little businesses, instead of the equal little businesses we in fact are. Again, not a big problem, but in the new space would their booths get even bigger? It just doesn't seem compatible with our village.

Furthermore, at SM we all pay the same, $10, plus 10% of our earnings, (on the honor system, btw). That way, if I do well, the Market does well. When I do well, this fee structure gives us collectively the money to provide things that are important to us, such as member and customer services, our fabluous staff and infrastructure, upgrades in our equipment, and to do future planning, have savings, and to be in a stable financial situation. It also makes our market friendly for people just starting out, getting smaller, or trying to make it on the financial edge. We're a business incubator, and there are literally thousands of small businesses and artists who have started at SM, some of whom are still there. Like me, a 35-year member. When we had our bigger manufacturing business, I was still able to sell at Market, as long as what I brought to sell was the portion of my stuff that I actually did make myself. You don't have to leave when you get big, but you can't send your employee down so that you can stay in the factory and manage things. You have to be there in person.

It has been a rough decade for the farmers, and they are just pulling out of it to a more stable place. Last winter, though, they changed their fee structure to a flat fee of $40 per 10x10. That means when someone does well, they take it home with them. If they do badly, they take somewhat of a loss, particularly if they make only a few hundred dollars, which many do. The bigger produce people often make thousands, so their market fees are low, and they're happy, but many of the smaller ones are struggling even more. Not my problem, but it disturbs me.

This fee change has resulted in some happy vendors (the big ones), but no surplus of funds for many of the services they previously enjoyed. Some haven't been missed, but the result of others is that in practice, Saturday Market is paying these costs for them. We are doing the vast majority of promotions and advertising, bringing those customers down reliably for both markets. We are working our Sustainability Committee to bring durable flatware (forks and spoons), locally made canvas bags, and the fabulous garbage sorting system that has kept tons and tons of compostable garbage out of the landfill, and that is really popular in Eugene and with the tourists. We have hired security to handle the problems that just come up with the volume of people who attend, we have worked on strategies to minimize the negative impact of some of the activities at the Courthouse Plaza, and we have worked to have excellent relationships with the City, County, and our neighbors so that everyone can thrive through our efforts. We even powerwash the Park Blocks and clean the Free Speech Plaza. They don't.

So LCFM has, in my opinion, been skating for the last few years. Possibly they are in the process of stepping up to the plate on some of these things, and in any case, they get to make their own decisions about what to spend their money on. But this is part of the simmering discomfort we have with them, and a few reasons why the possible giant increase in their footprint is problematic. Will they begin providing these extra services, or we will get even more things to pay for to take up the slack? I'm complaining, as an individual, that I don't want to pay their way. I don't want my identity muddled with their corporate booths, and I particularly don't want them right next to me.

So there, I said some of the things that are below the surface of this issue that is mostly about parking spaces and access and loading problems. Like the parent of a teenager, I want this offspring to mature. I want them to pull their own weight and look around them at the problems they are or might be causing. I'm not saying they have to buy into all of the things we think are important on our side of the street, but they have got to see that moving into closer proximity with us has its problems. Either we cooperate better, and get more of our decision-making onto the same page, or we are going to have increasing divisiveness. This will not be good for any of us.

We have over 600 members in our organization. We can't all set up at once, and we have limited our physical growth for some carefully considered reasons. We don't want to grow too fast or too large to keep in place the things that have shown themselves to be important for our longterm health and prosperity. We haven't survived for 40 years by rushing into lovely fantasies that seem like good ideas on the surface, and then try to fix them later when the problems turn out to be knotty. Change comes slowly to our market, and that has worked really well for us. It took many years for us to make the move from the Butterfly to the Park Blocks. Lots of people had to agree to it, from the top of City government to the last blanket vendor, and had to be willing to pay for it.

Sorry if I've said too much, but most of my twenty or so readers already know how I feel about most of this stuff. I'm going back into my land of Jell-O art and painting plants, so have a lovely weekend, everyone. If we have more of this warm weather, hallelujah, but if it rains I won't mind. I fertilized all of my gardens this week and it would be good if it got watered in. It's almost time to plant peas!