Fairfield officials present feasibility study for downtown improvement district; residents press on homelessness and oversight

Fairfield officials and a consultant from New City of America presented a feasibility study for a proposed downtown improvement district and solicited input from property owners and residents at a town meeting. City staff said the study is informational and that any district would be created and funded only if downtown property owners widely support it.

The presentation, led by Dave Zellers, Fairfield’s director of community and economic development, outlined how a property-owner-funded assessment could pay for additional cleaning, landscaping, security, marketing and other "special benefits" beyond what the city’s general fund covers. "This district would be driven by those property owners that would pay that assessment... It's not something that the city creates by fiat," Zellers said.

Marco Lemandri of New City of America, the consultant hired to run the feasibility work, explained how districts operate in California and summarized the project’s current data. He told the meeting organizers have mailed the survey twice and held steering-committee meetings; early returns show limited…