Under a new program, neighborhood “ambassadors” will be a regular presence in the Chinatown International District in an effort to improve safety and help businesses, Mayor Bruce Harrell announced on May 14. The Chinatown-International District (C-ID) Ambassadors Program is a joint effort from the Mayor’s Office, the Asian American Foundation (TAAF), Amazon, and the Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area (CIDBIA).
A similar Ambassadors Program has been implemented in Ballard and Downtown Seattle. Nationally, Seattle is a “pilot city” for this type of program.
“Seattle was chosen as a pilot city in this initiative because of its history as a major cultural and economic hub, with a strong and vibrant AANHPI community,” said Georgette Bhathen, Chief Officer of TAAF during the announcement.
When the program starts in June this year, ambassadors will walk around the community, prepared to intervene and help the neighborhood stay safe, and will provide support to small businesses.
This includes “deterring disruptive behavior, responding to quality-of-life concerns, and helping business owners and entrepreneurs access city services and support networks,” according to a City press release.
“We’re coming together to invest in neighborhoods like the CD not as problems to fix but foundations to build upon,” Bhathen said.
Amazon made a $250,000 commitment in addition to TAAF and Friends of Little Saigon, totaling $1 million dollars towards safety in the CID.
When asked about the long-term sustainability of the program, Harrell said that the results from the initial Ambassador program will determine future investments.
“We’re going to demonstrate that this is a good investment,” Harrell said. “We’re going to demonstrate [to] corporations out here that we’re looking [at] the economic vitality. My executive team is looking at sustainability streams and we think we’re going to make a good case with this.”
To address longstanding public safety issues and assure real change, Harrell said the City “look[s] at the data.”
“The fact of the matter is that crime rates are down across the board 18%,” Harrell said. “The fact is that homicides are down in our city 27.5%. The fact of the matter is that violent crimes are down 12.5% The fact of the matter is that shots fired are down 22%.”
In addition to the ambassador program, the plans include support for small businesses. According to Laura Clise, CEO and Founder of Intentionalist, the activation efforts will support 35 small businesses. In addition, on May 17 the Intentionalist put together a “small business pass”, where customers can enjoy discounts at any of the 35 stores in the program.
“Thanks to the Asian American Foundation, the cost of all of the discounts is covered, which means that the deals that we enjoy won’t come from the small businesses that we love,” Clise said.
One of these business owners, Yenvy Pham, looks forward to the ambassador program. At the press conference, she shared that someone overdosed in front of her store just last week.
“I just saw how sad it was and how easy it is to ignore,” Pham said. “So what is the ambassador program? The ambassador program is to engage, to actually care for each other, and to see if everyone is doing okay.”
The success of this program will be measured with “quarterly surveys with the businesses, the residents, as well as visitors to the neighborhood,” said Tuyen Than, Executive Director of CIDBIA.
