Randy Pastor stands outside his gas station convenience store at the corner of Old Auburn Road and Sunrise Boulevard. // CH Sentinel
By Randy Pastor– Citrus Heights businesses are in serious trouble right now, and in the foreseeable future.
We, small businesses, struggle daily to keep operating with conditions such as they are, as hundreds in the region have been forced to shut down temporarily or permanently since March. This has left thousands of people without a job and spiking local homelessness.
There has never been a worse time to impose an enormous local sales tax in Citrus Heights, and I am pleading you to oppose Measure M.
Pastor’s Commercial Center, which operates Pastor Auto Care Center and Pastor’s Valero, has been a family run business since 1975. Now in our third generation, we employ 22 people whose families depend upon our business –- many, due to the pandemic, live paycheck to paycheck.
Speaking for myself and my family, it is a crazy idea to impose a new one percent sales tax on Citrus Heights business and residents. Some may think one percent is nothing, but it is HUGE!
The pandemic created a 65 percent drop in our business during those first months, and even now we are still well below what our normal business should be.
I have observed consumer behavior for decades, having operated through the economic downturns following 9/11 and the Great Recession – I see that during times of fiscal stress that cash sales go down, while EBT and credit card sales climb steadily. This is exactly what I see happening now.
And with Measure M designed to last forever and providing no guarantee that it will be spent on anything for which it is promised, this is the worst of all times to punish the residents of Citrus Heights.
Based on the Citrus Heights business owners with whom I interact and have spoken, the overwhelming majority do not want Measure M. That’s because if it passes, our sales tax will be higher than our neighboring cities. Why would a customer shop and do business with us in Citrus Heights when they could easily go to Roseville or Folsom and save money due to lower local sales tax?
Sunrise Marketplace businesses, which make up over 400 businesses along Sunrise Boulevard, did a survey recently and found that a clear majority of business owners who responded are opposed to Measure M.
The sad truth of the matter is that even if things opened back up fully tomorrow, our businesses still have a long road ahead to get our community back to anywhere close to normalcy.
A much publicized report released this month by Yelp determined that around 60% of business closures since March are actually permanent – a staggering statistic.
Citrus Heights may have a problem with their budget that needs to be fixed. But, our local businesses expect the City of Citrus Heights to tighten their own budget and try to look inwards to find solutions, just as we are having to do.
Asking the Citrus Heights taxpayers for more tax money during this COVID-19 crisis is extremely poor timing. Please join with me and oppose Measure M.
Randy Pastor is the owner of Pastor’s Commercial Center in Citrus Heights, located at the intersection of Sunrise Boulevard and Old Auburn Road.
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Randy Pastor stands outside his gas station convenience store at the corner of Old Auburn Road and Sunrise Boulevard. // CH Sentinel
By Hazel Ford–
Randy Pastor and his wife, Karen, are the managers and owners of their long-time family business at the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Old Auburn Road in Citrus Heights. What began as a small gas station in the 1970’s run by Randy’s father, Steve Pastor, has now grown to include a wide range of services, with RV rentals, a car wash, and an auto service center .
We sat down with Randy for an interview on a recent Thursday to ask him about his business, background, and what it’s like to run a gas station.
Do people often ask where the name “Pastor’s” came from?
RP: Everybody asks that — they’ll say, “Are you preachers, or something?” Although my dad is a pretty devout Christian — he has been for a number of years — he chose to call our business this because our family name is Pastor.
How did you start your business?
RP: In the 1970’s the gas station on this corner was called “Steve Sunrise Texaco,” which later became an Exxon. In 1998, when the oil companies Exxon and Mobil merged together, they had to sell the assets in California, and my dad was finally able to buy this gas station. At the time, he was 63 or 64 years old; he was ready to retire but he’d been waiting for this chance for a long time.
I was working as an auto mechanic in an old-fashioned three-bay gas station at the time. I told him, “Don’t worry about it, we can do it.” I didn’t know what I was getting into, I’d only been an auto mechanic for about 13 years up to that point.
When we first started, we were always here. It was my mom, my dad, my wife, myself, my brother, and his wife — all of us. There were times I slept on the floor here when we first opened up. I ended up putting a cot in my office and I slept there for about two weeks.
What have some major milestones for your business been?
RP: When I first started the station, just being able to open it was a major milestone. But I would also say that starting the car wash was a big one. We opened in 2001, and in 2003 when I went to build the car wash, a lot of people complained. We had to work through the issues, but finishing that project was great.
What background do you have in this line of work?
RP: I started working at gas stations on this corner with my dad when I was 12. I came from a gas station in Roseville, where I started at age eight. I was just a little kid and all I wanted to have was a uniform — I don’t know why.
What’s it like running a gas station in 2018?
RP: Very, very difficult. I never would have realized, back in 2000, that I would be babysitting trash cans and bathrooms. The last five years have been very tough dealing with some of the drug-using population that want to hang out in the bathrooms and leave their needles behind and waste behind that we have to go back and clean up. I hadn’t realized how bad that was going to be. The gas station part by itself is easy — all we have to do is pump gas.
What’s the biggest difficulty you’ve faced as a business owner?
RP: Like I said, it’s the drug users who turn-up in our bathrooms. I’ve had to start locking our bathrooms and babysitting the doors. They shoot up in our bathrooms and get blood all over the walls, or defecate everywhere. I can’t even count how many times they’ve been in the dumpster area. Padlocking my dumpsters was never something that would have occurred to me.
What’s your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
RP: Surviving 18 years. I think that’s it.
What do you think of the proposed Arco gas station down the street?
RP: I’m not one to stand in the way of anybody’s business, because I’m a businessman myself. The proposition does seem strange though. If an Arco is a good idea for that shopping center, then it would have been constructed there back in the ‘70s. Oil companies are very good at finding the perfect corner for their gas stations.
I feel like this Arco is really unneeded. If there were lines of people fighting to get to the gas pumps, then I think it would be necessary. But we have three gas stations right here.
Where is most of your consumer base located?
RP: Well, 75 to 80 percent of my customers are local. I’ve figured that out through observation — the main giveaway is Sunday. On Sundays, you don’t have commuters zipping up and down Sunrise Boulevard; the main customers are the people who live right here. On Sunday, our sales are always 20 to 25 percent lower than a normal weekday.
What do you think of the latest gas tax increase in California? Does that impact your business?
RP: It doesn’t affect the business, because like any other tax we pass it right through to the customer. But I’m a customer myself. I’m all about good roads, but I’d like to see that gas tax money being spent on fixing those roads.
What do you think of electric cars? Do they threaten your business?
RP: I think they’re great. They’re super cool. They can’t always drive far though. There is currently a wave of gas stations installing charging stations. For that expense, I don’t think I’ll do it until the electric cars become more popular. I don’t see them as becoming a threat to my industry — at least in my lifetime.
Do you own the Carl’s Jr. at the corner too?
RP: This Carl’s Jr. is currently owned by a large franchisee. When I first initiated contact with Carl’s Jr. about putting a restaurant in this lot, it was owned by the actual CKE Restaurant Incorporated… The Pastor’s family owns the entire lot though. There’s three separate parcels totalling three acres.
On the front of the convenience store, etched in stone, is a Bible verse. Could you share the story behind that?
RP: That was my Dad’s. It says, “With God, all things are possible.” I had an Christian upbringing, but my Dad has a good faith. I’ll tell him, “Dad, this is happening, or, this is going on…” He’ll always say, “The Lord will provide. I put all my faith in Him, and He always provides a paycheck.” I always feel like it’s not that easy, but he’s a real true believer, even to this day.
Besides running your business, what do you like to do in your free time?
RP: Being an auto mechanic is hard on your body. I love to play golf — that is, I used to love to play golf — but then my body said, “No more,” so I’ve had to find other things to do. I’m definitely afraid of heights, but over the past couple of years I’ve been working on getting a pilot’s license. Doing that at over 50 with a fear of heights is pretty crazy, but I wanted to conquer that fear. I really fell in love with flying.
What does the future look like for you?
RP: You never know in business. You always plan for the worst and hope for the best.
I would like nothing better than my kids getting involved in running the business. My succession plan is to have my daughter and son-in-law come in and take over for us so that I can retire and they will basically assume the roles that my wife and I do now in the day-to-day operation.
I would like to see my grandkids dusting things and stocking shelves in the store, when they become of age and can do what I did working with my dad at age 12.
Randy Pastor, 53, currently resides in Granite Bay with his wife. The couple have two daughters and four granddaughters.
A neighboring business owner speaks out at a Jan. 18 community meeting against a proposed ARCO gas station at Sunrise Blvd. and Sungarden Dr. // CH Sentinel
About 40 residents and business owners gathered in the community room at city hall Wednesday night to discuss strategy for opposing a proposal to build an ARCO gas station and convenience store at the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Sungarden Drive in Citrus Heights.
The proposal was submitted by Barghausen Consulting three months ago and resulted in enough vocal opposition and questions that the mayor previously called a special community meeting in November to address some of the concerns. The plans submitted include demolition of the existing multi-story office building on site, construction of a 3,000-square-feet AM/PM convenience store, installation of a 42-feet-by-110-feet covered area for eight gas pumps, and the addition of a small car wash.
Since November, the group has continued to organize and mobilize opposition, with Wednesday’s meeting staffed with check-in tables at the door to keep in touch with attendees, signature sheets circulated for a petition opposing the proposal, and a plan to fight the ARCO project all the way to the top.
The Jan. 18 meeting featured a series of speakers addressing various reasons for opposing the gas station. Speakers cited concern about increased crime, loitering, lighting, traffic, location, proposed liquor sales, and whether there was a need for a new gas station and 24-hour convenience store in an area they argue is “saturated” already.
“We’re not fighting city hall, we’re not fighting the planning commission, we’re not even fighting [the developer],” said resident and speaker Fred Sullivan. “We’re fighting this project… to have a voice in the destiny of the City of Citrus Heights.”
Sullivan said the ARCO might make business sense, but called the proposal “a public nuisance.” He primarily addressed the aspect of liquor licensing and said the state’s Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) authorizes up to three liquor licenses in the area of the proposed ARCO, but he said the area already has double that number of licenses.
Although setting license limits based on census tracts, ABC allows local jurisdictions to approve additional licenses on a case-by-case basis through a “letter of public convenience or necessity” that is voted on by the city council.
The group also gained support from Bill Van Duker, a former planning commission member who has been called the “godfather” of Citrus Heights for his role in leading the fight for incorporation 20 years ago. Van Duker called the proposed ARCO “the wrong activity at the wrong site,” and promised the group that he would “do everything I can to help and support you.”
“This never has been a commercial site; it’s been a business and professional site,” said Van Duker, noting the location has been used as an office building.
The site is zoned “SC” commercial for shopping center use and is located in the Copperwood Square Shopping Center, along with FoodMaxx, Dollar Tree, and several other businesses and restaurants. Opponents argue that the center is surrounded by homes and is not fitting for a gas station, which requires a special use permit to operate in the location.
Several nearby business owners also spoke out against the project, with Randy Pastor, owner of Pastor’s gas station at the corner of Sunrise Boulevard and Old Auburn Road, stating another gas station would pull customers away from his business.
Pastor also told residents that the ARCO would bring in homelessness and loitering to the area, noting that his gas station deals with homeless issues “constantly.” He said used needles, panhandling, and vandalism are commonplace at his location.
Kyle Hasapes, a local resident and county prosecutor, called the project “very concerning” and said he was concerned about crime associated with alcohol sales. He said the proposed late night liquor sales and loitering would “bring the kind of people we do not want around our families [and] neighborhoods.”
“It’s not a matter of if crime is going to increase, it’s a question of how much,” Hasapes said.
Nancy Graham, who organized Wednesday’s meeting and is president of the neighborhood association the proposed project is located in, said she was pleased with the meeting’s turnout, in light of heavy winds and rain that night.
The neighborhood president expressed concern that nearby homes would be subjected to glaring lights at night, as well as sounds of car doors slamming, car wash noise, people talking late at night, and “joy-riders coming up with radios on full blast.” She also noted a Montessori school in the shopping center, as well as a nearby daycare.
Asked to respond to community concerns about the gas station, the project’s architect, Dan Goalwin, said impacts would be mitigated by conditions imposed by the city, as the project requires a conditional use permit. Goalwin said he was not authorized to comment further about the project and said no one else was available to respond to questions on Friday afternoon.
City Planning Division Manager Colleen McDuffee, who was not able to be reached Friday, previously told residents at the Nov. 28 community meeting that the planning commission can impose conditions of approval on development projects and often reviews recommendations on conditions like hours of operations restrictions and delivery times.
The convenience store at the nearby Pastor’s gas station had hours of operation restrictions imposed by the city to close by 11 p.m., according to the owner, while the 7-Eleven at 6882 Sunrise Blvd. is open 24-hours.
Graham said her group is planning several more meetings in advance of the proposal reaching the planning commission.
