Nearly a month after Hanford city leaders committed themselves to creating a workable vision for downtown east, they have created an 18-member steering committee to drive the process for the next three months.

The Hanford City Council created the key committee, appointing a group of individuals representing a cross-section of downtown interests. The kick-off meeting for the committee is set for Aug. 29 at 9 a.m. in the Training Room at City Hall, 319 N. Douty St.

Among the key appointments made Tuesday were the following eight business and property owners from the project study area, which encompasses the east side of downtown between Harris Street and 10th Avenue:

--Steve Banister, Art Works owner. Banister is a National Main Street member and a Taoist Temple Preservation Society member.

--Miya Farms, Inc., which owns the old Keller Motors property on East Seventh Street.

--Pauline Hershey, All Valley Printing owner. She is involved in the previous downtown visioning process.

--Wyleen Luoma, Temple Theater owner. Luoma is a member of the Kings Players Board of Directors.

--Robert Lowe, a property owner and an architect. He is an Instructor at Westwood College in Anaheim.

--Steven Oliveira, a property owner. He is a Knights of Columbus member.

--Raymond Sandoval, a homeowner. He is a Babe Ruth Little League coach and vice president of Carpenters Local 1109.

--Arianne Wing, Imperial Dynasty owner. She is president of the Taoist Temple Preservation Society and a member of the Kings Regional Health Foundation Board.

Richard Aguilar, owner of a Seventh Street autoshop, has been named an alternate.

Four others were appointed from the Business Improvement District outside the study area: Jim Olivas, Chas Rhoads, Matthew Stoll and John Zumwalt. Sandra Dawson was named an alternate for those members.

Joining the steering committee will be Hanford Mayor David Ayers and Councilwoman Sue Sorensen, as well as representatives from three of the city-funded business promotion organizations, Main Street, the Hanford Chamber of Commerce and the visitor agency.

The Lemoore Naval Air Station will also be represented in the process through Roman Benitz, community planner and liaison officer.

In July the City Council hired consultant M.W. Steele to facilitate the study and planning process for a section of the historic downtown district that officials say has been underutilized. Establishing the steering committee was the first order of business in the public process.

For the first meeting on Aug. 29, the consultant is expected to present his first report on the inventory and assessment of existing conditions of properties within the study area. The committee, as well as members of the public, will participate in a "table-top" exercise to brainstorm a range of development possibilities for the area, said Deputy City Manager Hilary Straus.

This will just be the first of a series of meeting to be held.

The steering committee will meet four times and two public meetings will be held over the next three months, according to plans released by the city.

(Aug. 23, 2009)