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LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0559 | Speaker 1: Next item police.
Speaker 0: Report from City Manager Recommendation to receive an expanded grant funding from the Knight Foundation to implement the outdoor office in Harvey Milk Park in Equality Plaza District one.
Speaker 1: Councilman, Councilwoman Gonzales.
Speaker 2: Yes, that's our staff report.
Speaker 9: Yes. Our deputy city manager, Arturo Sanchez, will present this report.
Speaker 2: Great. Thank you.
Speaker 12: Good evening. Vice Mayor Lowenthal and members of the city council that you have before you is a had a grant that was given to the city in the amount of $301,400 for an 18 month period. The grant is from the John S and James L Knight Foundation, which is based in Miami. Long Beach is one of 26 cities which is eligible to compete in a night city's challenge. The ideas submitted must focus on one or more of the three drivers of city success, talent, retention, economic opportunity and civic engagement. The foundation based in Miami, Florida, has designated 26 night cities challenges challenge cities, of which we are one. As I indicated, the night city's challenge in particular is in its second year of operation and received over 4500 submissions. Of those 158 advanced to finalist. And of those, 37 were selected as winning ideas. Our concept, which was a concept, was was one of the 37 winning submissions. The concept the core idea of our winning submission is to enhance a public space for those who live and work downtown, to engage in a collaborative and creative work in an outdoors and work in an outdoor setting. Building on the ideas of connection, creativity and openness, the concept seeks to activate downtown and bring together people from all backgrounds and walks of life. Amenities such as wi fi, seating, shade, charging stations and programing will be added to the space in order to enhance its usability. Of course, for the city is paramount of paramount importance because of this park and its namesake is that we continue to work on the park to be a memorial for Harvey Milk and it work in conjunction with our LGBTQ community leaders. So realizing that this concept will require close collaboration with our partners from the Harvey Milk Park Committee, as well as the surrounding community. The committee, which takes great care in selecting names of LGBTQ leaders to honor in Harvey Milk Park and holds events at the park will be a key partner in the development of this project as we move forward. It is the first park in the nation named after Harvey Milk, and at this point in time, the only park in the nation that is named after Harvey Milk. And as such, we must we must take great care to maintain that identity and to make sure that anything that we do at the park is folded into that history and that identification that has been created at this park. And so the amenities and the concept that we are pursuing will do so in such a way that it will respect that history. At this point in time, staff recommends that the Council receive and grant authority to the city manager to negotiate the terms of the grant agreement so that we can begin working on this great project.
Speaker 1: Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 2: Yes. Thank you. I want to thank your goodwill and our city management staff for being very open through this process. I want to thank as well our Harvey Park Committee for being here and being very patient with us through throughout this night. But also just for the two meetings we've had so far, the open discussions that we've had. I really want to thank you as well as us. Do you want to love and I know Michael is here as well. We really appreciate the synergy that's been happening. I know that this is a beautiful grant that will be added to. Yes. One of the most amazing parks in the whole city, in the nation, and also a space for our LGBTQ community to come together. We just recently had a vigil to host, you know, many of the community members there, but to also recognize the tragedy that occurred at in Orlando. So it's more than just a park. It's really a meeting space for so many community members. But I do ask going forward and I know we've been through this, that any additional grants that would happen in the district, in the city, that hopefully we can get more communication going, that's more streamlined from the city to the council to our community members. But I do have a just an an amendment to add to the recommendation is I certainly want to go ahead with authorizing the city manager to to move forward to expand the grant. But I'd also like to ask that we come back for to include any necessary documents, agreements, including the scope of work for the project to come back July 19th. So that way we're all clear on what the details are of the scope of the project. And so there are no.
Speaker 0: Uh.
Speaker 2: You know, mis communications. Everything is just out in the open, and we can certainly understand where the project is headed with this $300,000. Couple of questions that I have is that the 18 months to complete the project, is that, uh, when does that begin? Exactly.
Speaker 12: My understanding of the 18 month time period would begin once we've executed the contract.
Speaker 2: As soon as it's executed. So then 18 months from there. Okay. And then the second question I had was in reference to the $40,000 from the redevelopment project area, which is also generated from 75% of the proceeds from the downtown project area. So how do we calculate that 40,000? How did we get that to that number?
Speaker 9: You might recall that the city council designated when we sold our old redevelopment agency sites through the successor agency properties. We get for every dollar that we sell, we get $0.21 back in the dollar because that would be the waterfall effect that would come to the city of Long Beach. So the city council voted to direct that money to come back to basically 25% of any money that we get. After an escrow from the sale. The successor agency property would be able to be utilized citywide, all 52 square miles. Cities determine where the City Council or Economic Development and property management determines that needs to go. 75% of the money of the 21% would come back into the project area where the where the development is being sold or the properties being sold. So in this case, this would be some of the sales that are being sold in the downtown, the properties, the success or agency properties that have been sold. The 75% of the of that sale price that goes back into the downtown project area is being utilized for that $40,000.
Speaker 2: Okay. I just wanted to be clear because just to ensure I was getting the figures right and ensuring that the park was getting as much as it could in addition to the grant. So thank you very much. I appreciate it. And I know our I believe we have some committee members that will come up and speak as well. But I want to thank our city staff again, thank our committee as well as Studio 111 for being very open, as well as Tony Shoshoni, who's the city place owner. I know that there'll be some, some great movement going on and some great marriage between the two ideas. So we look forward to that. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Councilman Andres. Oh, you were a second. Are you just supporting a fabulous Councilwoman Price?
Speaker 2: Thank you. I think this is going to be a really great project and I'm looking forward to it. I just I did have a question on page. Three of the staff report. What is the grant match of $100,000? Where does that come from?
Speaker 12: The grant matches the 40,000 that was just described by the city manager is coming from the waterfall monies that are coming into the district.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm sorry. What is the 100,000?
Speaker 12: Oh, the Bloomberg folks are providing additional moneys to enhance the grant monies. It falls underneath the Bloomberg initiative in the I-Team work that they're doing. So they're providing additional funds to help this project move forward a little more.
Speaker 2: So is that part of the 3 million grant.
Speaker 12: Of the 300,000 that we're getting from Knight City's Foundation now?
Speaker 2: Okay. So I guess I'm.
Speaker 12: Part of the $2 million that were that they had set aside for their I-Team work. It's part of that subcomponent.
Speaker 2: Oh, okay. Okay. I see. Okay, great. Do we have a list of other projects that we're working with Innovation Team on citywide in terms of grant allocations from the 2 million? Or it was actually 3 million because we put a million of general fund dollars.
Speaker 5: Correct.
Speaker 2: So do we have a list of the projects?
Speaker 12: I do not have that available, but if we need to, we can provide tff if if possible.
Speaker 2: That would be wonderful. Think I'm just curious what other projects were funding with that grant. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 4: Thank you. My remarks will be quick. I just want to congratulate Councilmember Gonzalez, all the community innovation team. 3111 Everyone has been a part of this project. But what I want to note is, you know, what city manager just mentioned the fact that this is a second cycle of RDA dollars coming back. The money is being looped around. This is important that those dollars that have been invested from that community, the proceeds that are generated from that are being reinvested in that community to do amazing work. And the fact that we were able to leverage that to do something fantastic. I just think that that's tremendously important. And I want to congratulate city staff on following up on this and making sure that this is recognized here, the 75% of all proceeds from former RDA sales. So congratulations, council members and to the community.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 2: I just wanted to recognize Porter as well, because I see him in the audience. And I want to thank you as well for all of your work at Harvey Milk, too.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Is there any member of the public that wishes to address the Council on Item 13?
Speaker 5: Good evening, Vice Mayor. Members of the City Council, City Staff. My name is Roland, Norway. I'm the chair of the Harvey Milk Park Committee and the Equality Plaza Selection Committee as well. I'm joined by other committee members, Ernie. Deborah, Vanessa and Ron. We're all here in support of this agenda item and the substitute motion. First, we want to thank the city for their continued support that you've given to the LGBT community. We have been very fortunate to work with Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez, Arturo Sanchez and the city. The committee's hope is that this council will continue to work with us and the greater LGBT community supporting this motion again and substitute motion as it has in the past. In the continued spirit also of honoring Harvey Milk and our local LGBT heroes. So thank you very much again. I know. Invite another committee member if he or she would like to speak. If not. Thank you for your attention and your time.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Vanessa Romain. I just wanted to say thank you to Lina and to Arturo. They've done a tremendous job in bringing the committee together. Tremendous job. And making sure that we are heard.
Speaker 0: Not only of our excitement.
Speaker 3: Our frustrations, our anger and all of that involved.
Speaker 0: So, again, it was a trying time, but I believe that the two of them pulling us together and saying we want to hear what you have to say has.
Speaker 3: Been the only thing that I can believe that has helped us come together on this Harvey Milk project. So thank you, Arturo, and thank you to Lina. Great.
Speaker 1: So anyone else? I think we have a couple of others.
Speaker 5: My name is Ernie Vila. I'm also a member of the First District. I've been around a long time and I've seen. A real involvement in our and our council about what is important to your constituents. At one time, my being a student here, I had no idea what was working or how it worked or anything. But since since then, I've really developed a very strong attachment and belief that we work as a unit. And even though we may have our differences, we also have the ability to compromise and to look forward any movement that's necessary for the development of our beautiful city. Harvey Milk Park is a gift not only to our our our community, but it's also to the gift to our state and to our beautiful country, a beautiful city. And with this new project, we're going to work very diligently to make sure that what is being asked of us through the grant has also been with the favor and the diligence of the gay and lesbian community to make sure that Harvey Milk is honored, as we have done in the past. So thank you so much for allowing us to move forward with this project.
Speaker 6: Hi, Ron Sylvester. Just want to say thank you to the city for allowing us the opportunity to make a better and more dynamic Harvey Milk Park as well, and to create a space that will house.
Speaker 5: And welcome our LGBT members.
Speaker 6: And all members of the community. And again, thank you to Lena and to Arturo for all their hard work. And of course, we can't forget Mayor Garcia, who was the one who envisioned this through the first place. So thank you all.
Speaker 0: Hi. I'm Deborah. Thank you, Lina. Thank you. Council members and total. Thank you for hearing our voices, too. This is a great opportunity. I. I live in the second district on the promenade. So this is we are excited and president. And I know that the residents are excited. As a member of the Harvey Milk Committee, this is a great opportunity to bring all communities together, especially in this time that we need to have this. Thank you all.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Michael.
Speaker 5: Good evening, Vice Mayor and fellow council members. My name is Michael Bond. I'm senior principal with Studio 111 and a partner with our partner firm, Berkowitz and Roth Architects. I wanted to also think Arturo and Lena for their support on this. They've done a great job in taking a lot of complicated issues and working them together and having their support. That's really important. As some of you know, both of our firms are actually moving one building away from this site. And we will bring about 130 new folks to this area. And everyone within our company is very excited about this grant. We're very excited to help use this park and support the park. And what was interesting is I talked to a lot of our younger staff about Harvey Milk, and I'd say 75 to 80% of them had never heard of them. So I think this park will be a great opportunity for our folks to learn more about him and his mission. And I also wanted to add that we're all very excited about the Knight Foundation grant and using this grant to not only further activate the park, but enhance the message of Harvey Milk and all of us at our firms. Hope that you will support staff recommendation tonight and move this grant forward. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Michael. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 8: Dennis. Dennis done well, as usual. There's been generalizations and specific civic ideas of how the park should be developed. Except one use books and it doesn't work out. They had a used bookstore. At the pike. $1 for, well, no matter what condition it was in $1 for any book, no matter how big or how small it was and went out of business. Bookstores. The bookstore in Belmont. Your small one is on the verge of going out of business and have plaintive signs in the window saying Support us work. Small businesses accounts. Bookstores do not generate revenue and bookstores have not been very successful. I would like to suggest a few ideas that I think might be successful that had been broached upon, and that I daresay won't be used because they're so radical. However, I would suggest that they have a petting zoo for youngsters there. I would also suggest that they have a waterfall and lake. That has been done with much success. One of the parts I didn't share part, but I'm not sure. But they have a wonderful waterfall, a little river and and a lake. And maybe you know the name of the park. I can't recall it. I just recall it being outstanding as far as one of my dates were concerned. And I loved it, dude. Just gorgeous. I would also suggest because aerospace so dynamic we have. Yeah, the aerospace facility in Long Beach generated so many jobs and had been so innovative. The Douglas Aerospace facility and manufacture of airplanes that they have a jet airplane mounted in the center of the park to a jet airplane being decorative and being an inspiration for youngsters. In the future, this would be at little cost because there are many used airplanes available. The military is trying to get rid of it, get it practically at cost. We're not talking about $1,000,000 or anything like that. We're talking about at cost, even lower than $1,000,000, I suspect. But know those are the suggestions. I have specifics, not just generalities, not just a park of green grass, which we have all all over the place, but something that would really enchant tourists and suggest that Long Beach is really on the go and an adventuresome city that they can have some fun and.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Dunn.
Speaker 5: Vice mayor. Council members.
Speaker 6: Thank you. My name is Cameron Andrews and I'm here tonight on behalf.
Speaker 5: Of City Place. We support Harvey Milk Park and the Knight Foundation Grant. Harvey Milk Park in Equality Plaza is a dream important to the downtown core city. Places adjacent to Harvey Milk Park and the Knight Foundation grant will provide opportunities to further promote the life history of Harvey Milk and the LGBTQ movement in the community, as well as.
Speaker 6: Increase activation in the park and the surrounding areas.
Speaker 4: We look forward to working with the city.
Speaker 5: And the community on this project and thank you very much for all your hard work.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Members, please cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Let's take item 15.
Speaker 0: Did you want 15 or 38 to 15? | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all necessary documents and agreements, and any amendments, to receive and expend grant funding from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for an amount up to $301,400 for the period of July 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017, to implement the ‘Outdoor Office’ in Harvey Milk Park and Equality Plaza;
Increase appropriations in the General Fund (GF) in the City Manager Department (CM) by $40,000, offset by revenue received from the Downtown RDA project area’s 75 percent share of the proceeds from the sale of former RDA property for a transfer to the General Grants Fund (SR 120); and
Increase appropriations in the General Grants Fund (SR 120) in the City Manager Department by $341,400. (District 1) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0560 | Speaker 1: And then we'll do 38.
Speaker 0: Report from Development Services Recommendation to Adopt My Brother's Keeper, Long Beach Local Action Plan Receive and expend funding from the Long Beach Unified School District and execute an MRU with community partners that are needed to implement the six milestones in My Brother's Keeper Local Action Plan Citywide.
Speaker 4: Councilmember Richardson Thank you, Vice Mayor. Tonight, I'm proud that we're adopting our My Brother's Keeper local action plan. I want to just start by acknowledging everyone who's come come out and waited for this item and and we apologize. We have business to get to. But we are here now as chair of our Federal Legislation Committee. I first heard of the My Brother's Keeper Community Challenge directly from the mouth of President Obama two years ago at the Congressional Black Caucus Conference in Washington, DC. I was inspired by those words and I thought it was a very worthwhile initiative. In October 2014, we asked the City Council to adopt a resolution for consideration. In January 2015, we formally accepted that challenge and in fact, we were one of the very first cities in Southern California to formally accept challenge with council action. In fact, following our acceptance, the city created My Brother's Keeper Task Force comprised of community leaders, partner organizations and city staff to build this action plan. I attended all the task force meetings. We were inspired by the passion and commitment from our task force members to ensuring better outcomes for our boys and young men of color of our city. We were also able to advocate for funding in the 2016 budget to complete this action plan, which proved our city's continued commitment to My Brother's Keeper. We've had on numerous occasions. We've traveled to D.C., met with Michael Smith, Special Assistant to MBK Broderick Johnson National MBK Task Force, and on numerous occasions we've advocated and updated on the status of this project, and they've been acknowledged that this plan that we submitted tonight is one of the top tier plans in the nation. Tonight we are one of the first in our region to adopt this action plan that covers all six milestones. This couldn't happen without partnership from Long Beach Unified School District and others. So I do want to acknowledge Dr. Felton Williams, who's here with us, who's been with us along the entire step of the way. There's also more work to be done, but we have a number of innovations at every step of the milestone. One in particular I want to highlight, which I'm really proud that made it into this plan, was the PATH program. We worked for 18 months to make sure that we are providing innovative approaches to support our young adults. And it was included in this plan. Now, the plan doesn't stop today. I know that there were concerns about the efforts not going. So as far as people would like, but there's more work to be done and there is a next step, which is implementation, where a lot of those concerns can be integrated into this. So we have to make sure that at that step we're inclusive of of all all different demographic groups. Just early this afternoon, I received my application from city staff for the My Brother's Keeper mentorship call to action. So I myself am participating and look forward to continuing this important work by becoming a mentor. So at this point, I want to acknowledge our entire city council, particularly our signers Councilman Austin, Councilman Ranga and Councilman Councilmember Gonzalez for signing on this initially. But the entire city council and city staff for really committing to this this plan. We also want to thank our our technical advisors, Bloomberg and policy link, but particularly my fraternity brother Mark Philpott and thank you to reinvent communications for a well laid out, well-designed plan into the members of the 40 members of the task force who worked tirelessly for months of this. The development creation is planned. Without you, this would not be done. That says it's my honor to move this item.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Alston.
Speaker 10: Thank you. And it is my honor to support my brother in seconding this item. I think Long Beach has a lot to be proud of. I had the privilege to to represent our city in DC just two weeks ago at the task force and working with Bloomberg and many of other cities across the country. And we unveiled our local action plan there and it was it was well received. And I was very proud of the work that that our city is doing, our city staff business, this councilmember, this council leadership, our mayor, everybody has supported this 100%. And this is really about changing outcomes for for boys and men of color. And that includes a lot of people in the city, probably more than 60% of our population. But in terms of at risk youth, this this provides us a leg up. And my hope is that there will be hopefully some some grant opportunities, some funding opportunities to to address some of our social ills in an effort to to reach the six crucial milestones. And I want to I'm sure staff will outline what those are. But, but, but it's going to require a full court press and partnerships from, from all of our public agencies and all of our city departments to to to make make this happen and to be successful, it's going to require a lot of help from our regional partners, our county agencies, as well as our state. It's going to require, like I said, a full court press to, uh, to make this happen. And so I'm very proud to say this and I look forward to supporting it and hear from staff.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilmember Andrew.
Speaker 12: Yes, thank you, Vice Mayor. You know, I also think this is an extraordinary program. And I want to thank Councilman Richardson and Austin and as well as Amy voting as her staff works so hard, you know that this is put into effect. This is something that I think our young men of color needs to think that the best things we can do is to move it forward and to continue to support this milestone. And thank you, Richardson, Austin and Councilman Gonzalez, thank you again.
Speaker 1: Councilwoman Mongeau.
Speaker 11: Yes. I was very fortunate to sit beside our our city team and I chair of the Federal Oversight the Federal Legislative Committee. Councilmember Richardson and Vice Chair Lena Gonzalez. When we went to the White House this year to talk about My Brother's Keeper and the projects and initiatives that have come from it, and I'm very proud that our project is really, according to the White House, one of the top, if not the top, most comprehensive, the only plan in the country that has all pillars. I mean, we should be proud of that. We should be proud of the prevention work that's being done. I'm a big thanks to the chair of the Federal Legislative Committee, Rex Richardson, and a big thank you to the city staff that have worked tirelessly to put that report together. It is very impressive and data driven and and a remarkable start down a path of prevention and keeping people on the right path towards a good quality of life and out of the jail system. So thank you.
Speaker 1: Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 2: I just want to send my congratulations to the city team as well as Councilmember Richardson in Austin. I know that this was a lot of hard work and I'm also very impressed at the document that was put together, because when we are saying that we're a city that really represents and supports young men, especially young men of color, we actually are backing it up with this this document because it's got a lot of great material in here that we can shop around when we go to the federal legislative committee or even to state legislative committee up in Sacramento, we can really speak to the many different metrics that we're providing for not only those stakeholders , but just for our residents internally. So great work on this all together and I look forward to this progressing and being an evolving document. And so, again, great job. Appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Sir, any member of the public that wishes to address the Council, please come forward. Dr. Williams.
Speaker 5: By Samir Lowenthal, members of the Long Beach City Council staff. I want to extend greetings on behalf of my fellow board members, our superintendent Chris Steinhauser, teachers and staff in the district. And just a little background on the district's involvement in My Brother's Keeper, someone on separate but parallel tracks with the city and the fact that we have joined forces because it's absolutely necessary to make this thing work. But the council, the great city schools I serve on the executive committee of that organization, basically, he had initiated the pledge quite some time ago calling for its member school districts to support students of color throughout the schools that they represent. A little background on the council. The council is an advocacy organization that represents 72 of the nation's largest urban school districts, with a combined enrollment of 7.2 million students. And some of the districts that are members. San Diego, L.A., Fresno, Sacramento, San Francisco, on and on have rather large student populations, ethnic student populations. They're all members of the council, the great city schools. The council engages in extensive policy development on behalf of its members. It conducts major research on key issues facing urban school districts throughout America. We formally partner with Obama, President Obama and becoming part of My Brother's Keeper. And in 2014, the district approved the pledge, the resolution to become part of the My Brother's Keeper. From that point on, we we rolled out our portion of the pledge here in Long Beach through a town hall, and we pulled together a cross-section of members of the community to help plan that event, to include staff from the school district. And we conducted a town hall meeting at Cabrillo High School that drew over 600 people. As part of the briefing session after the My Brother's Keeper town hall, we recognize that there was a dire need to include the city and other constituents as part of that. For this to work at all. You know, one of the Donnie tapes that we have here in our in our in our in our city is that 72%. Of our of our school districts defined as free and reduced lunch. And in some places it's close to 90% at 90% is part of my district is also pork part of North Long Beach. We have some daunting problems with respect to our students. So what transpires when you have students who are in that kind of an economic situation? Well, they have extreme difficulty focusing in the classroom. Why? Other issues take precedence over school. They're sitting in the classroom thinking about food, shelter. And they become easy targets for gang recruitment because schooling is not part of that agenda. The need for the city wide partnership is absolutely necessary because in that partnership we can enhance safety and security throughout the city. Another piece that is very important is to look at how we get employment opportunities for students and parents. Extremely important. Dr. Williams And I'm going to sum this up very quickly build on and identify existing services and and resources to support our youth and communities. One good example of that is a Washington middle school where we did some amazing work in helping that one school district. And I can't go through that because of time. But my closing comments are that we can expand on that concept. At Washington Middle School, we interlink critical resources and efforts across the city, and then we can evaluate the results of these efforts. And I know we have that plan in place that allows us to do that. But also, as I'm closing out, that we would see as I think a part of that a systematic decline in gang membership and activity, increased school attendance and graduation rates, improve quality of life in the impact of communities, increase participation by parents and guardians in schools and community activities. Can we make a difference? The health and vitality of our city depends on it. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 0: Hi City Council. Thank you. On behalf of the Long Beach Mentor Connection.
Speaker 11: My name is NOLA Guard.
Speaker 0: M.A., the executive director for Long Beach Blas. So I want to thank you for your support in this, and thank you, Tracy, for bringing the Long Beach Mentor connection to this wonderful MBK launch and local plan. We're very excited to be part of it. The Long Beach Metro connection consists of power for youth, Operation Jumpstart, Long Beach Blast, Catholic Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Los Angeles and Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Greater Los Angeles. So on behalf of all of us. Thank you for supporting this. We appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Good evening, Vice Mayor. Council staff. My name is Wendy Nichols. Julianne. I'm executive director of the California Conference for Equality and Justice. I've been serving the city of Long Beach for over 53 years with a mission of eliminating bias, bigotry and racism. So as you can imagine, I'm here to speak in very strong favor of your adoption of the My Brother's Keeper plan and in support and thanks of Councilmember Richardson and the other members of council and Tracy and the rest of the staff who have worked so hard on this issue. I'd also just like to say the kind of leadership that Councilmember Richardson shows in saying that he's bringing this plan here to you, despite the fact that it's not perfect, is a really crucial statement, because the plan isn't perfect. It's great. And I really think that it's a wonderful place for us to launch from. But there are a couple of things that I'd like to just address in terms of adding to the plan. First is that we have really strong relationships between the city and our nonprofit organizations that serve in workforce development and elimination of bias and bigotry in education and mentorship. And we need to make sure we're not reinventing the wheel in this effort and some of the work that's been going on for decades. And secondly, we need to make sure that we are focused on policy changes and on action. And this is such a great time to celebrate that Long Beach is the best and that this is the best of the best and celebrate just for a minute and then get forward on to continuing on our work. So I'd like to say that that I'm really proud of this work and proud to have been a member of the task force and thank you for your support of the of the My Brother's Keeper initiative.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 5: Good evening, Councilman. Women. My name is Tyrone Lowe. I'm from Los Angeles. And growing up in Los Angeles. As a kid. I used to go out and try to go to Boys and Girls.
Speaker 10: Clubs because there was nothing to do.
Speaker 5: I wasn't a gang member at that moment, but just being living in a certain area, I got jumped and I couldn't go back to that Boys and Girls Club. So my mentors became.
Speaker 10: The guys that was on.
Speaker 5: The block. Negative mentorship. Well, after growing up spending time in prison, I came to Long Beach and I went to a group called Long Beach Advocates for Change. The group was positive.
Speaker 10: It was productive.
Speaker 5: So I joined the group prior to the well. After that, I became a community organizer. My supervisor, Miss Karen. Why? She said, Well, you should go to the My Brother's Keepers meetings. I didn't know what that was. I went to the My Brother's Keepers meetings where.
Speaker 10: I met Tracy.
Speaker 5: And a lot of the other people that was there.
Speaker 10: And I realized how important it was for men of.
Speaker 5: Color to see other.
Speaker 10: Men.
Speaker 5: Of color do positive things in the community and have hope for their self. You don't have to be in a gang. You don't have to be dealing drugs or hanging on a street corner. It's a place for you to come where you can receive productive conversation. The mentor program. I signed up for that and just to give back because I didn't receive no mentorship. If I did receive mentorship, I probably wouldn't end up doing a lot of the things that I've done. So I think that this program is very good. I love this program and I want to see it continue and I want to be able to come to this program all the time. My Brother's Keeper, thank you for your time.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you for sharing your personal testimony. Councilmember Austin.
Speaker 10: So I'd like to go after the.
Speaker 5: Staff report.
Speaker 1: And that's my failure. I'm sorry, I didn't ask for a staff report. Mr. City Manager.
Speaker 9: Thank you, Vice Mayor and Council Members. As noted, a lot of time and energy has gone into this and it's been under the leadership of the deputy city manager, Arturo Sanchez, in the city manager's office with a lot of other help. And I'm going to turn this over to our total.
Speaker 12: Thank you, Vice Mayor Lowenthal, members of the city council, through the chair to those council members who gave such glowing thanks and praise to staff. I just want to say thank you, especially for the staff who will be giving the report. They put in a lot of time and effort. I do want to also acknowledge the comments of the members of the public. This is a starting point for us. Staff was tasked with an immense challenge. How do we take the assets that we have within our community and build upon them? So that I think it was once said by four that might have been President Kennedy. A rising tide lifts all boats and Long Beach is rising. It is it is a place of immense opportunity. And as Dr. Williams said, we just have to find a way to make sure that we do not leave those that children should not be left behind. And so that's what this plan is about. It was a challenge put forward by Councilmember Richardson and Councilmember Austin and the rest and Councilmember Gonzalez and staff has taken that. And so the staff leading that charge was Tracy Kalinga, our special projects manager in the Development Services Unit, and she will be giving a brief presentation on the work that was put in for My Brother's Keeper initiative.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Honorable Vice Mayor and City Council. It's my pleasure to give you a very brief overview. I'm just going to hit a few key slides to let you know what we've accomplished and where we're headed. Just a reminder, My Brother's Keeper is part of our citywide safe Long Beach violence prevention plan, which is really focused on reducing families, school and community violence. And we have six distinct initiatives under the Safe Long Beach work, safe families, Safe Schools, Safe Communities, My Brother's Keeper, which you're hearing about this evening, My Sister's Keeper, which is our Long Beach Group grant and our Human Relations Commission. And moving forward, My Brother's Keeper will continue to be housed under the umbrella of safe Long Beach. But from a policy perspective, the Joint Youth Committee, co-chaired by Long Beach Unified in the city of Long Beach, will actually oversee the policy work of My Brother's Keeper, as well as will have a MBK Community Advisory Council made up of government, community based organizations and faith based providers who really provide input on the day to day implementation of the plan. We hope to have an MBK program coordinator, which we'll hear in another agenda item this evening about some creative funding that we've put together and that will be housed under the work that I oversee a neighborhood relations division. And last but not least, we have identified a nonprofit fiscal sponsor that we would like to coordinate with in terms of government funding, both state and federal grants. That will be through the city of Long Beach, of course. But there will be some foundation funding that we can go after as a city and will partner with a nonprofit fiscal sponsor to house that funding. I also want to mention that there are several community partners in the audience today and I really want to thank them. They journeyed with us for a 12 month planning process and you can take some time and read through the slides about the overview of of the concepts and implementation as we move forward. I do want to highlight that it's important for us to know that all boys in young men of color don't have the same issues. We need to be very creative and careful as we look at issues of the LGBT community, the Cambodian community and undocumented youth, and not just framing this as a one issue area, but really tailor making the data as well as our program implementation for those young particular young men. And the milestones were mentioned earlier. This was developed by President Obama's MBK task force. The six milestones include enters school, ready to learn reading at grade level by third grade, graduating from high school, college and career ready, completing post-secondary education and training, successfully entering the workforce and being safe from violence and provided second chances. City jurisdictions have the opportunity to really be creative and how we address these six milestones. And I would like to say that I'm proud of our city because we were very open and transparent about the data, both including race, ethnicity and gender around each milestone. So I won't belabor the process, but I do encourage you to take some time and read through the PowerPoint and read through the plan, which is also available on our city's website, about how we propose to move forward with each of these particular milestones and really begin to moving moving the needle on data for young men and boys of color in our city. I also would like to mention that all the pictures you see are actual young men that live here in the city of Long Beach, and they were graciously willing to be part of the photo ops for the My Brother's Keeper plan. So these are young men that live here in our city. In closing, there is a call to action for mentors. We have over 70 adults in our city who've signed up to be mentors to young men, and we encourage you to sign on. You can go on WW dot MBK Long Beach dot com and there's a link there that you can click and you can sign up to either mentor or school based. So during your lunch hour you can go on campus and either read to a third grader or you can mentor a middle school at risk student. You can mentor in the evenings and weekends with some of our community based partners who are here tonight, as well as focus on probation and foster youth. And last but not least, we have the City Prosecutors Pact program where parents can mentor other parents and helping their students attend school regularly. So there are many options and we encourage our leaders in our city, our community based organization and any community resident who's willing and ready to give back to a young man in this community to sign up online. And we look forward to it. And in closing, again, the MBK plan is available on the city's website and will continue to update the community as we move into plan and implementation. That concludes my report, and thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilmember Alston.
Speaker 10: Yes. I just wanted to briefly thank you, Tracey, for the great staff report and just reflect and celebrate this this beautiful plan. This plan. If you haven't had an opportunity in the public to see it, please take a look at it. It's there's a lot of good material here. I think it's very inspiring and well well thought out. I think Mr. Sanchez deserves a lot of credit here. It's everybody. Tracey Kalinga has really established herself as a as a national leader, I think, in this program. And let's give her a big round of applause. Yeah, it was a real treat, like I said, to go back to Washington, D.C. and see how highly regarded and well regarded our plan is. But our city is is being thought about on a national level. Other cities across the country are looking at the work we're doing here in Long Beach. We are really an example of the diversity of the city, I think sets us apart from from any other cities, but it also provides unique challenges for us in terms of, you know, the fact that, you know, our city is not monolithic . We and we can't one size does not fit all. And so making this plan a success is going to require deep commitment and commitment from, like I said, this body, but but also partner agencies, our school district, who has come to to to our assistance and is a real partner in a big way. So thank you, Dr. Fulton Williams, for being here today and for your work and commitment to this. And it will require a commitment, like I said, of many others. I can tell you that that I, for one, as long as I'm on this council, will work to make sure that this plan comes to fruition. But I understand it is not a panacea, but it's a great document to to work from and to plan from. You know, Long Beach has has actually been doing a lot of good work for a long time. I think the MBK platform allowed us to package it just right to bring all of these great community organizations that have been doing it so much in our community for for many years together. And for one, we're all in the same room now talking about solutions and truly changing outcomes. And so, again, I wanted to just make sure that we we gave the the staff there their wages and we pay them well. But in terms of letting you know that we really appreciate the work, your commitments and this is my brother's keeper, but you know, it needs to be supported and has to be supported by our sisters as well. And so thank you, Tracy, for your efforts.
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There's been a motion in a second and we've had public comment. Members, please cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Am 38. | Contract | Recommendation to adopt My Brother’s Keeper Long Beach Local Action Plan;
Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute any and all necessary documents to receive and expend funding from the Long Beach Unified School District;
Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute Memorandum of Understanding(s) with community partners that are needed to implement the six milestones in My Brother's Keeper Local Action Plan; and
Increase appropriations in the Community Development Grants Fund (SR 150) in the Development Services Department (DV) by $50,000. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0584 | Speaker 0: Communication from Vice Mayor Lowenthal, Councilwoman Gonzalez and Councilmember Richardson. Recommendation to support the Human Relations Commission's recommendation to suspend all non-essential travel to the state of North Carolina and Mississippi until the repeal of HB two and HB 1523.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Madam Clerk. As many of us know, many municipalities, including San Francisco, Seattle and New York City, have banned all non-essential travel to both North Carolina and Mississippi. What I'd like to share, and I believe that this is shared among quite a few of our members of our constituency, is that we cannot allow the continued discrimination against the LGBTQ community and must definitely take a stand that is meaningful. Long Beach is committed to creating and sustaining a community that promotes tolerance, respect and love for thy neighbor without regard to race, color, national origin, religious creed, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation. We cannot keep hating and murdering each other because we do not agree with who they are, with whom they are, I should say. We must continue to act out in a way that is positive. And I believe that banning non-essential travel to North Carolina and Mississippi until they repeal their respective bills is our logical next step. Before. Well, we have a motion and a second, so if we can take it behind the dias. Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 2: I want to thank you, Vice Mayor, for bringing this forward. I think it's it's exactly spot on what you're what you're mentioning. And Long Beach has been a city that has not discriminated against. We've been very open for our LGBTQ community. I think states that just seem to harbor these these ill, you know, feelings and these this hatred is really no place for us to be doing travel or non-essential travel to. I think this city is much greater than that. And we are. We just passed My Brother's Keeper about, you know, talking about the advances of people that definitely need our help the most. And I think coming off of such tragedy that has happened and coming off of just the beauty that exists here in the city of Long Beach with who we are and the diversity in so many different levels, I feel that this is a great step in solidifying our support for that. So thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman.
Speaker 12: Yes. Thank you, vice mayor. You know, in this day and time, I think it really hurts me, too, that we still are passing judgment on each other so much that they are considered less than persons instead of what they really are, which are human beings, you know, full and participate in every right that each of us were born with. You know, that said, I just stand with you. And I really, truly believe that we are all God's children. We need to treat each other as such. This is a such a tragedy. But with that, all that said, we have to really stay vigilant to everything we watch and see. Thank you very much for bringing this to the diocese.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 4: Thank you. I just want to say that I wholeheartedly, wholeheartedly support the Human Relations Commission's request. And I want to thank Vice Mayor Lowenthal and my colleagues for inviting me to sign on.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman Austin.
Speaker 10: Yes. An injustice to one is an injustice to all. I support the Human Relations Commission and I really want to just applaud them for for bringing this this item forward shows that they are actually working as a commission, being thoughtful and and proactive to try to bring issues like this to our attention. So I will definitely be in support.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And are there any members of the public that wish to address the Council on item 38 who's come forward?
Speaker 6: Good evening, Honorable Vice Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Myles McNeely and I'm the acting chair of the Human Relations Commission. I wanted to first thank you all for taking the time to address this very important issue. I'll be brief in summarizing our recommendation. I did want to highlight that we were unanimous in supporting this recommendation and that survey. And as I mentioned, several cities across the nation have already instituted similar travel bans. Part of what fueled our engagement in this issue was learning about two separate incidents that occurred this year where transgender persons were victimized in Long Beach because of their perceived gender identity or their perceived, perceived transgender identity. After hearing about these of these events, one of which was a violent stabbing of a transgender woman, the Human Relations Commission developed developed a very deep concern about the dignity, safety and well-being of transgender persons in Long Beach. We believe that this travel ban demonstrates solidarity with the LGBT community, and we believe that we must continue to reinforce the notion, the notion that all members in our community are deserving of respect and dignity as the City Council's Principle Advisory Commission promoting peace, tolerance and mutual respect. We believe that adopting this recommendation sends a clear message that Long Beach is a city that embraces these ideals and embraces our diverse community. Thank you.
Speaker 13: Good evening, Vice Mayor. Members of council. My name is Porter Gilbert. I'm the executive director of the LGBTQ Center of Long Beach. I am also joined this evening by Stellar SEWA, who is a member of our board of directors. I want to give my my biggest thanks to Vice Mayor Lowenthal, Councilwoman Gonzalez and Councilmember Richardson for spearheading this effort at the council level. And huge thanks to the Human Relations Commission for continuing to prioritize the prioritize LGBTQ issues and understanding that we still have quite a bit of work to do. What laws like the ones in Mississippi and North Carolina say about LGBTQ people is that we are not valued, that we are not worthy of protection, that we are not worthy of being able to walk about in public safely without question. We know from from many instances here in Long Beach and throughout the United States that since these laws have have been passed, that people have now taken it upon themselves to begin questioning people in restrooms and asking them whether or not they belong in restrooms and attacking them when they're in restrooms. We know that people can no longer sue for discrimination in the state of North Carolina, not just for discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, but based on race or disability. So these laws have a very national impact, even if they were enacted at the state level. And by enacting a non-essential travel ban, you are sending a message that Long Beach refuses to stand in the face of discrimination silently. You're standing with our LGBTQ community here in Long Beach, and you're standing with the LGBTQ community and the rest of the United States. So thank you very much for your consideration this evening.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Porter. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: Good evening. My name is Alexandra Billings. I'm an actress and I'm an assistant professor of theater at California State University, Long Beach. I am celebrating in December my 20th wedding anniversary to my wife, who I met in 1976. I am also transgender, and I transitioned in 1980. I'm 54 years old and I'm not really sure where some of these states think. I've been going to the bathroom for the past 30 years. But it has been in women's restrooms. I've also changed my clothes. Been in locker rooms for a very, very long time. And nothing terrible has ever happened. However, terrible things have happened to me because of what I am. I've been beaten, hit, called names. And raped at gunpoint because I'm transgender. Now, I know there's a lot of debate about what I am. And I really understand it because I do understand that you might look at my life and think, well, you could just choose something differently. And that would be great. Believe me, if I could make a choice about my lifestyle. It would have been something that would have caused a lot of people far less pain and riddled me, probably with far less shame. But I've come to realize in the 54 years I've been on the planet that what I am is a great gift. It's a spiritual gift, and it's a gift of the heart and the mind, and that what I am propels me into something new. So I want to reassure you. And I heard here in this room just in the last 15 minutes, somebody's talking about recruitment of gays. And I can assure you, the only thing that I have ever remotely recruited was people to come to my house and watch Judy Garland clips. And I don't think that that's detrimental to anyone's spirit. So I just want to say lastly, that I, I want you behind me. And what I mean is that for me, it's less about banning travel and more about me feeling you're behind the revolution. Any marginalized community, if any marginalized community were being treated this way and being told that they couldn't go into restrooms. Or had been able to use drinking fountains or been able to ride it in any part of the bus, the entire tire country would be outraged. So I ask you to be behind our movement, our revolution. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There's been a motion in a second and we've heard public comment. Members, please cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Item nine. Let's to item 19 and 20. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to respectfully request City Council to support the Human Relations Commission's recommendation to suspend all non-essential travel to the State of North Carolina and Mississippi until the repeal of the North Carolina Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act ("HB2") and Mississippi House Bill 1523, and
Respectfully request a signed letter be sent from the Mayor and/or City Council to the Governors of each state opposing each respective bill and informing them of the City of Long Beach's travel sanction. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0564 | Speaker 1: Thank you. Item nine. Let's to item 19 and 20.
Speaker 0: Item 19 Report from Economic and Property Development and Development Services. Recommendation to adopt specifications for the purchase and development opportunity at Anaheim Street and Walnut Avenue. Declare the property as surplus and authorize the city manager to execute all necessary documents with Bridge Housing Corporation and the Children's Clinic for the sale of the property in the amount of 2.5 million District six.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Andrews.
Speaker 12: Thank you. Thank you. Vice Mayor. This is another great great project. Has been a pleasure in this extensive but I want to start by thanking the city economics and my property development development directors Mike Conway and Amy Bodak for their work on this project. I'm very happy to see that this will be created for 408 temporary jobs and 42 permanent jobs. I know that there were several bids on this project, but in order to choose the right development, the city had to acknowledge the biggest and need in our city community. That need would be a housing for our aging community and affordable health care clinics for our children and our families. I do appreciate the fact that the developers understood the importance of our Cambodian community in the areas by providing space for two active nonprofit organizations and serving Cambodia community, as well as housing and a small business development center created to the surrounding in their community. This kind of development means or it meets more than the number of surrounding communities needs, and I hope this will be a new standard for all developers on the city property. It's a nice to see services in our neighborhoods outweigh the mighty dollar and thank you very much. And I move to approve this.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 4: I stand to support the motion.
Speaker 1: Thank you. So any member of the public that wishes to address the Council on item 19. Seeing none. Members cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Item 20. | Contract | Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP CM15-159 for the purchase and development opportunity at Anaheim Street and Walnut Avenue (1205-1209 Walnut Avenue/1500-1546 East Anaheim Street), Assessor Parcel Numbers 7267-001-900, -901, -902, -903, -904, -905, -906 (Subject Property);
Declare the City-owned Subject Property as surplus;
Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute any and all necessary documents, including a Purchase and Sale Agreement with BRIDGE Housing Corporation and The Children’s Clinic “Serving Children and their Families”, both California corporations, for the sale of the Subject Property in the amount of $2,500,000; and
Accept Categorical Exemption CE 16-138. (District 6) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0566 | Speaker 1: Item 21.
Speaker 0: A report from Economic and Property Development and Development Services recommendation to adopt specifications for the purchase and development opportunity at 4800 Long Beach Boulevard. Declare the property a surplus and authorize the city manager to execute all necessary documents with city ventures for the sale of the property in the amount of 1.2 million District eight.
Speaker 1: Councilman Austin.
Speaker 10: Thank you. And this is this is a good day for the district. This property has been vacant for many, many years, has gone through some machinations and some some. Some visions. But but ultimately, this was put on an RFP. The original RFP came back with no interest. And then so the city reissued the RFP and we were fortunate to get three bids. And this bid turned out to be the bid recommended by staff. But based on what I have reviewed, I think this is a great project that will bring proposals to bring condominiums to the Long Beach Boulevard in an area that has been blighted for far too long. And so, members, I ask for your support on this matter.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 4: Congratulations, Councilmember Austin. More quality housing in North Long Beach.
Speaker 1: Right. Is there any member of the public that wishes to address the Council on item 21? CNN members cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Let's move on, though. Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Madam Clerk, if we're going back to the regular agenda, does that leave us with item 22?
Speaker 0: We'd go back to item 1414. | Contract | Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP EP16-121 for the purchase and development opportunity at 4800 Long Beach Boulevard, Assessor Parcel Numbers 7133-010-900, -901, -902, -903, -904 (Subject Property);
Declare the City-owned Subject Property as surplus;
Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute any and all necessary documents including a Purchase and Sale Agreement with City Ventures, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, or affiliate, for the sale of the Subject Property in the amount of $1,250,000; and
Accept Categorical Exemption CE 16-137. (District 8) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0562 | Speaker 1: Next item, please.
Speaker 0: Item 17 Report from Economic and Property Development. Recommendation to execute an agreement with the County of Los Angeles to receive and expand $650,000 in grant funds to operate a youth jobs program citywide.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 4: Thank you. I just want to is this this the funding that we use for our summer youth, our jobs?
Speaker 9: Again.
Speaker 6: It is a portion of that. So it's an augmentation to the we are funding that you saw in the previous item. Again, it's an annual allocation that's gone on for several years. This is the highest allocation that we've gotten initially in the city of Long Beach, partially based on the performance in the placements that we've we've achieved . It does allow us to extend the programing down from our 18 to 20 4 to 214 year olds. And again, it's direct work experience money. And with this money, it actually allows us to put about an additional 310 Long Beach youth to work each summer.
Speaker 4: And and is this some of the funding? We're, you know, forget all that. But this is this is fantastic. And the Summer Youth Hire is that program is a phenomenal violence prevention program, along with the spirit of everything we've talked about tonight. I think the fact that you expand on that program, adding 300 additional positions for youth 14 to 24 is outstanding. I know that we've talked and we've set a goal this summer for 150, hiring 150 North Lombard youth over the course of this summer. And so I just want to say, keep up the great work. I'm this is a really tremendously important item, and I'm honored to help you again spend this money.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Gonzalez. Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 2: Yes. Thanks again, Nick. Again, this is also I know it's annual, but we're expanding it to include, you know, four years younger for our youth, which is great. I just did have one question really is whether we can receive, because I'd like to see how this is performing. And what do you think would be the best time to find out to get like a two from four back to the council to evaluate the performance.
Speaker 6: So most of most of the work experience will happen before the end of August. There are some participants whose circumstances will change over the course of the summer, and we're able to carry some of this money forward and carry them forward. BULK But the bulk of the expenditure and program activity will occur before the end of the summer. So we would be happy to come back to you with with the TFF in September to let you know where, what the placements were by district, what businesses sponsored our youth, how they performed some of the, some of the performance reviews that the employers put forward.
Speaker 2: That's great. I know you get excited about numbers just like I do sometimes. So thank you. Appreciate that. That's wonderful.
Speaker 1: Council. Councilman Austin.
Speaker 10: Thank you. And I see a note in the staff report that the average youth will get about 125 hours worth of work. I think that's that's significant and certainly falls in line with the summer months. I see here that this goes into effect July 1st, 2016, 18 through June 20, 2017. The question is when will we start ramping up to hire these 300 youth? Have they been hired already in anticipation of this?
Speaker 6: I'm sorry. Actually, as of this afternoon, 92% of those slots are already full. So it's we anticipate the annual allocation. Again, there's there's other funding that serves use. There's certainly always other opportunities through through our work with the private sector or the or the foundation community to bring more money then to serve the youth. So so we keep this cycle of applications on, on a rolling basis in our work and to have youth eligible and ready to go when they have the the bulk of their schedule open in the summer.
Speaker 10: Well, thank you. This is great news. And I will be supporting this hardly.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Austin. Is there any member of the public that wish to address Council on item 17? Sing None. Members cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Next item, please. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement, and any necessary documents and amendments, with the County of Los Angeles to receive and expend $650,000 in grant funds, to operate a Youth Jobs Program that will assist approximately 309 youth, ages 14-24, for the term of July 1, 2016 through June 30, 2017. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0570 | Speaker 1: Thank you. Next item, please.
Speaker 0: Report from Human Resources recommendation to grant a waiver for employees who have ineligible dependents removed from the city's health, vision and dental insurance plans as part of the Dependent Eligibility Verification Program citywide.
Speaker 1: Councilman Austin.
Speaker 10: So moved.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Is there any member of the public that was to address council on item 25? Seeing None members cast your vote. Is it going to come up? Did you break it?
Speaker 5: It's temporarily frozen.
Speaker 1: Okay. Would you like a voice phone?
Speaker 0: Yes, please.
Speaker 1: Okay. There goes.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next item, please.
Speaker 0: Item 26. Report from Long Beach. Gas and Oil Recommendation to execute and North American Energy Standards Board contract between the City of Long Beach and the City of Vernon for the purchase and sale of natural gas citywide. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to authorize Human Resources Department to grant a waiver for employees who have ineligible dependent(s) removed from the City’s health, vision and dental insurance plans as part of the Dependent Eligibility Verification program with the exception of cases involving fraud or intentional misrepresentation. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0572 | Speaker 1: So Councilmember Richardson moved and Councilmember Austin seconded. So any member of the public that wish to address council on item 26. Seeing members cast your vote. All those in favor. Any opposed? Thank you. Next item is a 26.
Speaker 0: Item 27 report from police recommendation to receive the application of Bright Spot coffee shop for an original ABC license at 412 West Pacific Coast Highway and submit a public notice of protest to ABC on the basis of high crime residences with one within 100 feet and a school within 600 feet of the establishment. District one.
Speaker 1: So, Councilmember Gonzales, would you like to make the motion?
Speaker 2: Yes, I would like.
Speaker 1: And then Councilman Austin second. Sure. Thank you.
Speaker 2: And I'd like to ask our police officer for a staffer.
Speaker 9: That'd be Commander Rudy. Clemenza.
Speaker 2: Commander, thank you.
Speaker 7: Good evening, Honorable Vice Mayor, City Council. Item 27 is an application for an original on seal, beer and wine. ABC License for a restaurant. The police department has conducted their investigation and recommend that a public notice of protests be submitted to ABC for the issuance of this license. A license to sell beer and wine would create a potentially adverse impact to the neighborhood and the surrounding area. The basis for our recommendation of the high crime statistics in the reporting district residents is within 100 feet of the establishment. Any school within 600 feet. Furthermore, this location previously held an ABC license, which was ultimately suspended and later revoked as a result of numerous violations and violent crimes at the location in 2009. The owner applied for an ABC license in both 2010 and 2013, and the City Council protested the applications on both occasions and the application was denied. That concludes my report, and I'm available for any questions you might have.
Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you, Commander. And I understand at this point in the thoroughness and understanding the lay of the land with this area, it seems as though the reported crimes are at a 243. Can you describe that a bit? Because I'm showing here reported crimes in this district for ABC purposes are 243. Crime in a reporting district must be at least 140 to qualify.
Speaker 0: For a.
Speaker 2: High crime protest. So I'm assuming it's because of all of the high calls for service. As well as the past issues that have occurred. Is that correct?
Speaker 7: That's correct. Bright Spot is located in what we call reporting District 111, and that encompasses Pacific Coast Highway to 15th Street and Magnolia to Pacific. Our evaluation regarding calls for service during the investigation period of May 25th, 2015 to May 25, 2006 included two batteries. Based on the calls, both occurred in the parking lot and appeared to be prostitution related deals. In each call, the victim was hit with either a beer can or a beer bottle. There was one additional dispute, essentially a customer complaining about his order and then one unwelcome call, which involved a person under the influence of drugs inside the establishment, refusing to leave the location.
Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you. And I have no further questions at this point, but I do support the recommendation because I feel as though this is an area that certainly has high crime just in general. But I also think that this is an area that we're trying to progress and get better. I also understand that there's a high school in the area, educational partnerships, high school, as well as a single family residence in that area. So I think that this would just only exasperate the issue at this point. And so I do follow your recommendation. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Austin.
Speaker 10: Support.
Speaker 1: Thank you. So any member of the public that wishes to address the Council on item 27, please come forward.
Speaker 3: Good evening. Good evening.
Speaker 5: Vice mayor and city councilman. My name is Carlos Gutierrez. I represent the owners of Bright Spot Cafe. Before I start. With all due respect, I don't want to appear contentious. Or adversarial. I'm here to try to compromise or reach some kind of settlement. But before I do, I'm instructed by an attorney. By attorney to. With all due respect to these proceedings. Keep in mind that. We don't believe this is the correct forum. That the city has granted a conditional use permit exemption. We've gone to them and say we want to sell beer, but they said you need a conditional use exemption. Here it is. We paid for it. We qualified for it. You gave it to us. And now. In the process of the ABC proceedings the city is contemplating. Protesting the license. I think that's a little contradictory. Contradictory. And the ultimate question will be, or is, does the city of Long Beach support small business owners? In addressing. So we will address the issues that have the issues that the police have have brought up are. Three. One is that the the. The premise is that a high crime district. We have asked the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the ABC, if that is their opinion as well. They haven't replied to us. Normally when I handle these transactions, these applications immediately. Does the ABC say you're in a high crime area? Are you aware that that has not happened yet? And that's with all due respect to the police. Secondly. When objections I'm sorry. When protests come from the general public with these types of objections and protest, we can handle them even though they have some merit. There are burdens that we can overcome very easily. For example, if there's a resident was at 100 feet, the owners. Have. Or willing to put policies in place that will prohibit the operation in interfering with the quiet enjoyment of the neighbors own property. That. Declaration. Those policies are always accepted by the ABC. Similarly with the. School. The school is allowed to protest. Usually what happens is if the school doesn't protest, then the license is granted. Like I said before, we're willing to put in a lot of conditions in place. And when the licenses issues with continuances, we were amicable to that. Thank you for having us.
Speaker 1: Thank you. So anyone else that wishes to speak, please come forward. State your name.
Speaker 5: Good evening. My name is Magdalena, and I don't know too much about laws or regulations, but I know that I've been a customer of Bright Spot for the past 20 years. And with all due respect to all the restaurants in Long Beach is one of my favorites. And I know the owners, current owners, because it used to be owned by somebody else, they used to be employees there. And the hardworking people, in my personal opinion, they put their daughter through college. So Long Beach State University, and I think personally they deserve a chance to run a legit business, even though, like you have mentioned , it's a crime area. And I agree. But there's not only the restaurants motels around, it's I don't think the bright spot is responsible for all the crime, but I do believe that they do deserve the chance to run a legit business like everyone else in Long Beach. That's it. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 0: Hi. My name is Crystal. I'm just speaking on behalf of myself and my family who's sitting up there and standing here. Bright Spot is, is a location that we, we enjoy going to, um, we consider like a family location to go to and enjoy. I don't think that giving them the right to sell alcohol would have a huge impact on general high crime area. Um, I think if people were looking to overindulge in alcohol, they would choose other locations. For example, the pit stop bar that's on the corner of Magnolia and PCH or going to Eddie's liquor. That's two blocks down. I think it's more like. The opportunity to drink, enjoy beer and relax after a long day and whatnot. So it and the owners we've known for a really long time, we've known them before they owned the restaurant and they really are good people. And I think that it's intervening with their business. And I don't think that that. Is something that they should have to pay for just because it is a high crime area.
Speaker 3: I think.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Anyone else. Okay. Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 2: I just want to thank all the speakers I know for being patient. I know it has been a while for you to come speak, but I want to say that, you know, we certainly want to support small business in any fashion form, etc.. But I think there's a difference between being a high crime area and then also having crime happen on your premises, which is has happened before. And so what we can do, I mean, what we've done before with other businesses is we've helped them look at ways to change that kind of situation going on, whether it's, you know , security cameras, better lighting, you know, more communication with the city council and with, of course, the police department would be happy to coordinate that. So that way you can get to a point as well as just the surrounding community getting better. So we can get to a point where we can say, yes, we can offer beer and wine at this location. I just don't think right now is the best time. So, you know, we'll certainly stay committed to keeping in contact with you to ensure that we hopefully can get to a point where we can say yes. But at this point, I will have to support, again, our police recommendation. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Members, please cast your vote. Would you like a voice vote?
Speaker 0: Yes.
Speaker 1: All those in favor say i. I. Any opposed? Motion carries. Next item, please. | ABC License | Recommendation to receive the application of Norma Mora de Perez, dba Brite Spot Coffee Shop, for an original Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) License, at 412 West Pacific Coast Highway, and submit a Public Notice of Protest to ABC on the bases of high crime in the reporting district, residences within 100 feet of the establishment, and a school within 600 feet of the establishment. (District 1) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0575 | Speaker 0: Report from Public Works recommendation to execute a Sixth Amendment to contract with AECOM Technical Services for as needed engineering design services for revised total contract amount not to exceed 4.8 million citywide is.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Richardson moves, seconded by Austin. Is there a staff report on this item? Mr. City Manager.
Speaker 9: Yes. Mr. Craig Beck can provide a brief one.
Speaker 5: Good evening, Vice Mayor, members of the City Council. As stated in the recommendation, this is a request to extend the current agreement that we have with AECOM for engineering services. AECOM is currently engaged in a number of projects that are still under design and construction drawings, and some of those include the Eldorado Duck Park Restoration Project, the Leeway Sailing Center and the Rainbow Lagoon Improvements. We'd like to have this amendment to allow us to complete those construction drawings and move those projects forward. That concludes the staff report.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Does the maker of the motion have any comments? So any member of the public that wishes to address council on item 29 saying none. All those in favor I. Opposed. Motion carries. I believe item. 30 was withdrawn.
Speaker 0: That's correct. Item 31 Report from Technology and Innovation Recommendation to authorize the City Manager to allocate public education and government fee revenue equally among the three categories of cable access providers citywide. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute a sixth amendment to Contract No. 31919 with AECOM Technical Services, Inc., of Orange, CA, for as-needed engineering design services, to make any amendments necessary to the scope of work; extend the term for a two-year renewal period ending on December 30, 2018; and increase the contract amount by $1,000,000, for a revised total contract amount not to exceed $4,850,000. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0576 | Speaker 0: That's correct. Item 31 Report from Technology and Innovation Recommendation to authorize the City Manager to allocate public education and government fee revenue equally among the three categories of cable access providers citywide.
Speaker 1: So a staff report.
Speaker 9: Director of Technology Services Brian Stokes.
Speaker 5: Good evening, Vice Mayor and members of City Council. The item before you tonight seeks approval for an equal distribution of our city's pig public education and government fees across three access television categories. State legislation that was passed in 2006 significantly altered the cable television franchise environment in California. And as a result of this legislation, localities were able to implement a local peg fee to support access television facilities. In 2007, the City Council adopted the Pig Ordinance establishing our local pig fee. It's important to remember that the pig funds are restricted for capital use for access television providers, for example, production equipment and editing software cannot be used for the operational purchases or purposes such as staffing and reoccurring costs, such as rent. For the last several years, the City Council has authorized an equal split of the annual pig revenues across all three access categories to meet. Each program's capital needs to ensure compliance with the state and federal laws. The city has received and reviewed spending reports from the fund recipients that describe how the previous year's funds were utilized. In short, these funds were used for the audio and video equipment such as mikes, cameras, lenses, as well as for computer equipment and software for post-production, editing of work and video current storage. The city staff once again recommends distribution of the 2015 pig funds to be equally distributed across all three categories. That concludes my staff report and we are available for any questions.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 11: Excited to see this move forward. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Great. Councilmember Super or not? Okay. Is there any member of the public that wish to address the Council on this item?
Speaker 2: Hi.
Speaker 0: Really briefly, because I know.
Speaker 1: We've all been.
Speaker 2: Here for a long time. My name is Lisa Masaryk and I'm the director of at the.
Speaker 0: Public Access Digital Network. It is the public access part of the PAG, and I just want to.
Speaker 1: Really think the council again.
Speaker 2: Much like we did.
Speaker 0: We renewed our contract when you renewed our contract.
Speaker 2: For Long Beach Community Action Partnership to run the PE part of it because again, I just really appreciate that this council.
Speaker 0: Recognizes the importance of.
Speaker 1: These resources in a.
Speaker 0: Community and.
Speaker 2: Local content and producing, you know, hyperlocal content that we don't.
Speaker 0: Typically see anymore.
Speaker 2: So I really wanted to thank you for your support. And also Mr. Simpson. Mr. Derrick Simpson, our executive director, wanted me to apologize. He's away at a conference so he wasn't able to attend tonight.
Speaker 0: But again, thank you so much for your support.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 11: We appreciate that you came tonight and we through our long agenda and I hope that you got much more content for your upcoming episodes.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Members cast your vote. Is it working? Yes.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Item 32. Are we on ordinances? | Agenda Item | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to allocate Public, Education, and Government fee revenue equally among the three categories of cable access providers, each receiving one-third of the total available; and increase appropriations in the General Services Fund (IS 385) and the Technology and Innovation Department (TI) by $1,018,773. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0535 | Speaker 1: Thank you. Item 32. Are we on ordinances?
Speaker 0: Yes.
Speaker 1: Okay. Item 32.
Speaker 0: Communication from City Attorney Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code relating to preferential parking district. You read an adopted as read district for.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Supernova.
Speaker 6: Thank you. Just for clarification, one more time. This is an existing preferential parking district. One Street asked to be included in that district. The city comes back and says, okay, but we'll have to do a traffic study. That's 1400 dollars. They pony up the money. The traffic study concludes that not only is their street impacted, but two others are impacted. Only the original Street Circulator petitions and is getting the preference of parking district. So thank you for your indulgence. That'll save me answering a lot of questions later. And the parking impacts were. The residents were right. 83% of the spaces on the street were taken and 90, 96% of those cars were not registered to residents of that street.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Richardson. Okay. So any member of the public that wishes to address the council on this item here. Item 32 Sing None members cast your vote. Okay. There we go.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Item 32. | Ordinance | Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending Section 10.32.110 relating to Preferential Parking District "U", read and adopted as read. (District 4) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0537 | Speaker 1: Item 34.
Speaker 0: Communication from City Attorney Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code relating to the nomination of property located at 6509 Country Avenue as a historic, historic landmark. Read and adopted as Red District nine.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman Andrews. All right. Can we? Can we go ahead and switch that up to Councilmember Richardson? Being the mover in Councilman Andrews being the secondary.
Speaker 0: Okay.
Speaker 1: Thank you. All those in favor? Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 35.
Speaker 0: Communication from City Attorney Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code regarding residency restrictions for sex offenders read and adopted as read Citywide. | Ordinance | Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by adding Section 16.52.2220 relating to the nomination of the property located at 6509 Gundry Avenue as a historic landmark; and adopting in Sections 2 and 3 hereof uncodified findings and determinations relating to said landmark, read and adopted as read. (District 9) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0538 | Speaker 0: Communication from City Attorney Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code regarding residency restrictions for sex offenders read and adopted as read Citywide.
Speaker 1: City Attorney. But it is not his district. City City Attorney parking.
Speaker 3: It is his district.
Speaker 9: As mayor and member of the council. This is a second reading coming back to you for the amending of the ordinance in its entirety regarding the residency restrictions. We sent a two from four out this morning which addressed some of the questions raised by the Council at the first reading. I'm available for questions.
Speaker 1: Okay. And who was the mover and seconder. You have a lot of friends. Mr. Parkin, no one's making emotion. Okay. Councilman Andrews made the motion and Councilmember Richardson seconded it. Okay. Is that okay? Is there any member of the public that wish to address the Council on item 35? Seeing none. All those in favor. Any opposed motion carries. You actually have to hear voices, you know, that came. Otherwise they'll think we imagined it. Item 36.
Speaker 0: Report from Development Services recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code relating to transitional and supportive housing. Read an adopted as read citywide. | Ordinance | Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending and restating in its entirety Chapter 9.66 regarding residency restrictions for sex offenders, read and adopted as read. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06212016_16-0586 | Speaker 1: Item 40.
Speaker 0: Communication from Councilwoman Mongeau Councilmember Super Nine, Councilman Andrews and Councilmember Richardson. Recommendation to request Parks, Recreation and Marine to conduct the Parks, Facilities and Recreation Programs. Analysis Report to inform the development of a pilot program designed around new public private partnership proposals to benefit community programs, facilities and services.
Speaker 1: Councilwoman Mongeau.
Speaker 11: Yes, I'm very excited that we have heard from the community that there are so many opportunities for our nonprofit partners and our community groups, whether it's Friends of the Dog Park or any other group, to step up and provide a proposal on things that they believe would be of value to the city. And so there's no better way to move the city forward than through partnerships. We've done that very successfully in many ways, and I'd like this to be an open door for our Parks and Rec department to see where those opportunities are, see where we can move the city forward, see what partnership opportunities are available to provide a better opportunity for our youth and our summer programs and our youth throughout the year. And I look forward to seeing the great proposals that come forward because I think that this is another form of really embracing the community and their input.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Supernova.
Speaker 6: No comment.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Andrews.
Speaker 12: Yes, I'm very excited about signing on to this item to discuss the new ideas, possibilities for our parks. Because at this point, we don't have or know any other options. But this will allow us to open doors to see how we can utilize the space.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 4: Thanks. And I rise in support, exploring opportunities. And I just want to make sure that I'm aware of, you know, like, I want to, like, supplement work that city employees are doing. I don't necessarily want to run any prop issues. But I do think there are, you know, with some of our existing contracts like Azteca and things like that, you know, we always hear about how much the workload is on Azteca to take on things like, you know, additional medians and additional parks that are brought in and dog parks, things like that. So I think we do have to think about innovative ways to supplement what's what's already there. I also want to say, you know, you know, I think that we should also explore, you know, at some point a pilot of, you know, we need to revisit our ability to do, you know, commercial sort of vendors and things like that in the park as well. Since we're looking at different partnerships, I think it might be some interesting revenue generators for some of our youth programs. Thanks.
Speaker 1: Thank you. So any member of the public that wish to address the Council on item 40.
Speaker 9: Vice Mayor or member of the Council? Just a question on for the maker of the motion, I believe when she was speaking, this appears to request a report. And then I heard you say request for proposals. I'm not sure on what the action items are requesting of staff.
Speaker 11: It's for a report they can come back with whether they want to do requests for community input and how they situate that. I think that we've had lots of dialogs about things that community groups have asked for, but only Parks and Rec can really know and understand their needs and the stuff support that they have available to put together whatever will come back in the report.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 9: Summers, I do want to. We will try to be as responsive as possible that the 60 day period right now, it's just we're hitting our 100 days of summer. And we definitely will come back with a report or two from for within the 60 days. But I'm not sure we'll be able to fully address everything that is in the agenda item within the six days through Parks and Rec in the middle of summer. But we definitely will come back with where we're at within 60 days.
Speaker 11: So I think that we had originally planned to try to get this on the agenda earlier in the year. So with that input, I think that all amend my motion 120 days so that be helpful.
Speaker 9: Certainly we will come back as fast as we can.
Speaker 11: And again, we recognize that a good and thorough report is more important than a quick report. So if council member super open to it is 120 days work. Wonderful. Let's do that. Thank you for the comment. It is summer and it is busy. And Parks and Rec is the busiest of the mall during this time of year.
Speaker 1: Can. Sir. Any member of the public that wishes to address council. I'm sorry, Councilman Austin.
Speaker 10: Yes. I just need some some clarification. I think this this sounds very. This is an interesting proposal and very innovative. And so I think the council members who brought this forth, including Councilmember Mongo, but I need to just get some clarification before I vote, because Councilmember Richardson did raise a an issue regarding Prop IL, which is significant . And we've been down that road very just recently with the agenda item. Before this, we were talking about, you know, our our our ability to improve our management of contracts. But what specifically are you looking to achieve here? Because as I read this, it says, develop a pilot program designed around new public private partnership proposals to benefit community programs, facilities and services. What specifically do you have in mind in terms of community programs, facilities and services?
Speaker 11: So I think that in the 22 months that I've been a councilwoman, I've had many different neighborhood groups and parks and rec groups come to the table and say, we would like to help and there needs to be a process by which they're provided that opportunity to assist. So an example might be that within the the Little League Baseball program, the Little League Baseball Program does a mini sponsorship where they are able to sell advertisements that go up on the baseball fence that's owned by the city. But soccer came to the table and said, We'd like to help raise money for the city and we'd like to have a sponsorship role, but you can't really put advertisements on a goal. Those are one of many. Councilmember Richardson mentioned Azteca. There are medians that need to be supplemented and maybe either a Job Corps program or a youth program that could help supplement new corridors. I mean, anything is possible. And I know, like myself, Parks and Rec has heard a gamut of opportunities and ideas, and I think that they know areas that they are having the most. I think it's really a pairing between where's the most need and where's the most interest in either volunteerism or sponsorship or any kind of public private partnership available. And I think that they know that best and it could really be arrange the cap program with your earlier today I'm Derek Simpson does a lot of job programs that would be possible to supplement Azteca or pick a corridor that we could utilize some of our needy areas to supplement nonprofit programs. But I really think that that's for Parks and Rec to develop a process by which community partners would be able to engage and have that dialog because they know best what they can provide. And then we need an evaluation tool because we've talked it at community meetings where there might be five or ten really great ideas in a room. But we need to concentrate our efforts on the highest return on investment and the greatest. Ability to get a program off the ground. And so it's really a pretty open request for a report back considering all the input that they've received. I know at least at my community meetings they received significant input and then we would go from there.
Speaker 10: Do you envision contracting out existing.
Speaker 0: No.
Speaker 10: Positions?
Speaker 11: No.
Speaker 10: I just want to be be very clear on that, because there are a lot of words here. You. If you request Park Wickham is the Marine to conduct Park Facility and Recreation Program Analysis Report to inform the development of a pilot program designed around new public private partnership proposals. Right.
Speaker 11: So Pop Warner came to us and said, we have a facility in the park. It's a snack shack. It's terrible. It's not really the city's responsibility. What can we do? But there's no structure of. We'd like to donate this much money and. Do we pull the permits? Do they pull the permits? And it's just kind of messy right now. And I think that Marie has a significant expertize on this. And so I think that she would be able to bring back a way for us to work through all of the people who want to help and be supportive and work through that process.
Speaker 10: Well, to the extent you your motion and your item seeks to help streamline processes and make us help the city do business smarter. I am supportive of that. But I just want to be very careful that we don't go down a slippery slope and of course, invoke unintended consequences. Was was your your thought for the report coming back in 120 days for Parks and Rec to give us some some ideas or to give us something specific?
Speaker 11: I think that's within the context of the information. They know they could probably come up with a couple of ideas. But I believe that they would go through a process that would solicit additional community input. And what that looks like would be what we would would like to hear back from them. So an example is there's a question of. Over the years. We've always done it that way, where baseball has always been able to sponsor field sponsors and raise money and put advertisements on a fence. But soccer's never had that opportunity. And then the police foundation was able to sell bricks. But then the nonprofits that support the dog park haven't. I mean, it's very it varies so greatly through the years that we need a process. And Marie has a level of expertize and working in this area. And I think we should trust her to bring back a comprehensive report at which time we can evaluate the direction we would like to encourage them to go.
Speaker 10: All right. Thank you very much for clarifying.
Speaker 11: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Mr. City. Attorney.
Speaker 9: Vice Mayor. Thank you. I was just wanted to follow up on councilmembers because I believe from what I was hearing, I was concerned also with the possible proposal or meet and confer issues that a report like this can raise. And so if this is staff evaluating the current process and maybe where they can improve on efficiencies and comes back with recommendations at that point, you may start looking at proposal issues or meeting confer issues with staff and I'd like to avoid those if possible, prior to coming back.
Speaker 11: We are not looking to outsource anything that's currently offered. We're looking at finding ways for nonprofit organizations to partner and grow anything in our city, whether it's support of our park programs, our archery programs, whatever it is to support growth and extend services and or facility maintenance, I mean, whatever it is. It would not be any outsourcing of any current. City work. And I know and I just want to say that I actually don't think this needs to come up. We had 3000 people volunteer in the parks last year and painted equipment that hadn't been painted in 40 years. And if if we as a community can come together and volunteer in any way, we should embrace that. We are not looking to eliminate or outsource any city work.
Speaker 10: I would just say the volunteer work is completely different than private partnerships. Right. And so I think that's where we need to just be very careful. I'm going to support the motion because I'm interested in. Hearing the information back. But I just want to be very cautious that we don't do anything that we we don't intend to do here.
Speaker 11: I would be very surprised if the director of our Parks and Rec program brought back proposals that would put us in that position.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 4: Thank you. I understand loud and clear where Councilmember Mongo wants to know, wants to go. And it sounds like the city attorney knows how to tread this water without crossing a line. And I think I think, you know, I think there's a way we can get the information that we're looking for here. And I want to you know, I brought up just a little while ago that I do. Since we're talking about public private partnerships and I was working on an item later and we talked about doing an item, but I'm really intrigued by some of the work like at Harvey Milk Park with the improvements, they're going to put in some kiosks. And I'm just interested in in learning more about how we can improve on our public private partnership with respect to vending in the park. So I'd like to just ask that you include that in your.
Speaker 11: Absolutely would love to add in the word vending. I hope that that would have been considered, but I'd love to call it out. I think that's a great idea.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Is there any member of the public that was to address council on item 40? He's come forward.
Speaker 8: I had to laugh a little bit about the I. Nomenclature was used to describe the proposal. It's not a new proposal, and it's always been. Acceptable for. Pub for corporations to submit ideas where the public can help serve them voluntarily. It's just a request for volunteers to work for nothing but to get the wonderful feeling of accomplishment that it brings to them, and more importantly, to all those that they favor. The thing being requested is ideas that would make. Make public enterprise grow, and that's always been available or maybe should be made by the mayor calling them up on the phone or staff and asking, Hey, is there something we can do to help you out? That's all that's required. That new.
Speaker 1: Are you coming forward to speak? No. All right, members, please cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Okay. Are we at new business? What is the item?
Speaker 0: Announcements? Yes.
Speaker 1: Announcements. Council member Andrews.
Speaker 12: Yes. I like to give an update on one of my staff members, which is down Isabel today. At about noon time, my staff member was seriously attacked today and struck in the head. And for a moment she was unconscious. Our thoughts and prayers will go out to her and her family, and we wish her a speedy recovery. I would also like to take this time to thank the longest fire department for their excellent care and as well as a quick reaction by the Long Beach Police Department. We hope that we can find justice for her and violent act will not go unpunished. That was Isobel. That was my new staff assistant. And we'll quickly I'd like to go over my announcements. I'm happy to announce that the annual Six District three summer events in Long Beach, they start on June and run through September. But the first put two tonight to a two night at the museum there. There's a lot of family fun. For more information, please call my office and please join me for the free movies in the park and an outdoor movie experience future movie pan on Wednesday, June 29th, starting at Dusk and Mac. Others Park 1321 East Anaheim Street, Hotel Transylvania two on Wednesday, July 13. Start two deaths in Mac That's it Mac. Right, I park. So please, for more information, please call my office. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman Andrews and I failed to call for the second opportunity for public comment on nine agenda items. Did you want to come forward and make public comment? Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker 5: You're here. An honorable city council and mayor. This is a little bit off of Long Beach, and I wouldn't normally do this. But I was wondering if we could please say a little prayer. We're a little SEAL Beach, California. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Manager to authorize the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine to conduct a parks facilities and recreation programs analysis report to inform the development of a pilot program designed around new public-private partnership proposals to benefit community programs, facilities and services, and report back to City Council with progress update within sixty (60) days. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06142016_16-0430 | Speaker 3: So item 20 is the property in District one. So we're going to item 20, then the two hearings as soon as we finish this presentation. Just a heads up. Okay. So, Madam Clerk, item 20.
Speaker 2: Sorry. I was enjoying the whoppers. A report from Economic and Property Development and Development Services. Recommendation to adopt specifications for the purchase and development opportunity at Third Street and Pacific Avenue. Declare the city owned property as surplus and authorize the city manager to execute all necessary documents with ensemble investments for the sale of the property in the amount of $6 million. District one.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Staff report first and then I'll turn over to Councilwoman. Staff Report Mr. WEST.
Speaker 7: Mr. Mayor, council members, as you know, we've been rapidly disposing of our successor agency, former redevelopment agency parcels over the last month or so. We have several more to go tonight. We're doing the one at third and Pacific. And I'm going to turn this over to Director Mike Conaway. Mayor Garcia and members of the city council. The property located at the northeast corner of Third and Pacific is a vacant lot containing 52,500 square feet of land and is being temporarily used as a surface parking lot for the city's code enforcement division and for monthly parking for the public. The property is former redevelopment agency property and is categorized as future development in the long range property management plan, which properties are disposed through a request for proposal process? An RFP was issued and five responses were received, which are proposed developments including hotel, residential, restaurant, retail and Creative Loft Live workspace. All proposals were of extremely high caliber and offered a variety of excellent development alternatives. The review panel, consisting of representatives from the Departments of Development, Services and Economic and Property Development and an outside real estate economic firm, Kaiser Master and reviewed the proposals and interviewed key proposers. The panel unanimously selected the proposal submitted by Ensemble Real Estate Investments to be recommended to City Council for the purchase and development of the property. Ensemble's proposal includes an 18 story high rise development and a seven storey mid-rise development, providing 325 residential units and 27,800 square feet of retail and amenity space. The proposed purchase price is not the highest priced offered, but the total development cost is substantially higher than any other proposal. Over 1500 temporary and permanent jobs are estimated to be generated as a result of the project. It is important to understand that the recommended action in front of City Council this evening is to select a proposed purchaser and developer of the site not to approve the proposed development. Nonetheless, it is anticipated the project eventually heard by the Planning Commission and possibly by City Council, may have a high rise element in the high rise element of the proposal has created concern from residents of nearby historic buildings such as Kress Lofts, the Walker Building and the Dolly Barton Hotel staff has reached out to these specific parties ahead of the traditional entitlement outreach efforts to hear their concerns and concerns were raised regarding shade and shadow traffic and parking and noise and dust. Staff and ensemble have committed to a vigorous entitlement process that will include enhanced outreach, where all neighboring concerns will be heard and to the extent feasible, mitigated. A purchase and sale agreement. Is in near-final form, which includes certain entitlements and development performance milestones which are detailed in the staff report. Is anticipated that entitlement require 12 months and project construction will take an additional 22 months to complete. However, staff requests some flexibility in these timelines for unanticipated delays and with that staff request that City Council adopt specifications number RFP CRM 15 Dash 162 for the purchase and development of property located at Third Street and Pacific Avenue. Declare the property surplus. Authorize the city manager. Execute all documents necessary for sale of the property in the amount of $6 million and accept categorical exemption. S.E. 16 Dash 127 And this concludes my report.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzales.
Speaker 1: Yes, thank you, Mike, for the report. I just want to say that, you know, I have the residents here from the Walker building, as well as Cress, I believe some other residents as well from downtown. And so I have a few questions to ask, Mike, because I know at first there was some confusion that this was in the second district. And then now, of course, it's we all know it's in the first district. So what? So I had been getting some questions around the historic buildings, First Congregational Church specifically. It is another block away, but there and other residents as well had questions related to mitigation. So for construction and dust and noise, I know some of this may be addressed in the downtown plan, but can you go a little bit further with answering those questions?
Speaker 7: I'd be happy to. The agenda item before council this evening is selection of the developer and purchaser of the property. This starts essentially the entitlement process. There's been no application submitted to the city at this time. Once an application is submitted and we understand the scope of the project, outreach to the adjoining property owners and other stakeholders surrounding the property will commence and ensemble will be part of that outreach effort and they will hear and respond to the issues raised by the community members.
Speaker 1: And I guess we'll pull back a bit because you do bring up a really good point, is that this is obviously the point of this is this just the sale of the of the land? And so no design, although the design we've seen is just in concept, pure concept. That's correct. Nothing is set in stone, although it looks, you know, pretty, you know, drastic for the downtown area. It is just a concept at this point. And I've met with ensemble, I've met with a few others just to talk about what the ideas are a revolving around. But would you say we would include community input? I mean, we've done that already with the two meetings we've had with both Kress and Walker. And I understand the developer is also interested in having meetings with community members once that process begins. Is that correct?
Speaker 7: That's correct. And actually, at our meeting with some of the stakeholders, so we committed to a pretty intense outreach program. And so we expect a number of meetings with both representatives of the Walker building, the Kress Lofts and other historic buildings in the downtown area.
Speaker 1: Okay, great. And let's see if I have any other questions. I know parking has also been an issue. It's always going to be an issue in downtown. There is certainly quite a number of spaces of parking. We've done downtown parking studies, but what is the situation? Should we have an 18 storey high rise? What is the parking plan?
Speaker 7: The parking plan, as currently proposed in their submittal, is both subterranean and subterranean and to a certain element. Podium parking and parking as a requirement under the downtown plan is proposed to be included in the development proposal and any parking shortfalls will be addressed through the entitlement process.
Speaker 1: Okay, thank you. And then I know density as well is it was brought up as a concern depending on who you talk to. You know, that's a good thing or a bad thing. But density, what is our perspective on density? I know that that is some of the metrics that were was included in our criteria for choosing a developer. So what what would you say the density will? Do for our city. I mean, in terms of retail and and other items.
Speaker 7: The density as proposed is 270 density units per acre. That is pretty dense. But the downtown plan, I think, supports this type of density. We are looking to create a sufficient critical mass of residents in the downtown in order to support a variety of our retail uses. So I think retail in combination with residential development is a good mixture for downtown. And I think the downtown plan anticipated this level of development and density and identified mitigation measures to address that density.
Speaker 1: Okay. Great. And I think those are all of the questions I know I have. As I mentioned, some residents here that I know will speak as well. But I'll just overall say that, you know, I am supporting this item again because it is a sale. It is a sale for this for this land. That's, you know, been for a long time just fleet services for the corner. And so as we've often talked about increasing density or adding more people to ensure that our economy gets better, but also to be able to make a stake for better retail. And I remember six or seven years ago when we were talking about the refresh project for Pine Avenue, a lot of us were talking about getting a Trader Joe's and a Target and even local retailers, and we can't do that unless we have the density in downtown. Now, how that will look like, we don't know yet because it's just a concept at this point. But I assure you, I have full faith in our city staff. I have full faith in the developers that I've met with, that this will be a really good project for downtown. I don't think that this will be a project that will go sideways. They've talked about local retail, including not just the big box, but just the local Long Beach way of retail open and public space mixed with private space, rooftop gardens. I mean, those are the things that we dream of in such a big corner like this. And I don't think we can get that unless we have some sort of density or some sort of project of this large scale magnitude. And so I think city staff are being open to meeting with the Kress Lofts as well as the Walker Building. I know they've met with the Dolly Varden as well, who's been in support and some other residents and we're open. So this again, is not anything that is set in stone. So if there are additional questions, concerns, I ask any resident whether downtown or not to write my office, to contact my office, because we're certainly available and willing to listen. So with that, I will end and I hope to get the support of my colleagues as well. Thank you very much.
Speaker 3: Councilmember Christen, you had your second. Councilor Richardson the Joe anything has a second or. No, no. Okay. I have Vice Mayor Lowenthal. And then if there's no other comment from council, we will go to the public.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I wanted to thank Councilwoman Gonzalez for her leadership on this particular project and the staff for. Hanging in there and waiting for the right development, I think I don't know how many years ago it was, but Thieves Market was a spot that we had. See, I remember the names of these places. So there was a place called Thieves Market Third and Pine, and we invited a team from Portland, a pretty amazing development team from Portland to look at it. And they were very honest with us. They indicated that there is no way that they could have a building taller than three or five stories that would be supported by the area at the time. And and by honest, it's something that we all knew, which is we didn't have the density. We didn't have necessarily the right mix for the downtown to support that kind of development at the time. And that was nearly ten years ago. And so this is what we were hoping to have at Thieves Market ten years ago, knowing that we would be a downtown one day that would be rich in that kind of urbanist texture that we need. And for those of us who had lived in the downtown since, whether it's the eighties or the nineties, we wanted all the things that all great downtowns had and understood that we also had to fulfill a municipal promise in order to have those things. And one such promise is density and quality development. And I see that this project can have that potential. It's 18 stories, I believe, including the podium style parking. Mr. CONWAY Is that correct? That's what the downtown plan calls for. I lived in the cross lofts for seven years and know what concerns might exist for other residents that might be very close to this property. But we also have to understand that we don't have air rights, even though we may have been the only tall building in town for decades. Over time, the success of downtown means that we fill in those spaces. And so I'm very encouraged by this. When we open the tort lot or broke ground for the tot lot at the promenade, as well as some other developments throughout the Second District. A couple of Saturdays ago, one of the statements that the mayor and I both made is that we have filled in all of these different urban promises that we've made to our city and residents for the better part of a decade in order to ready ourselves for developments like this. And so while this could not have happened ten years ago, and Ms.. Burdick and I desperately tried to have something like this happen despite our efforts, we, I think, had to acknowledge that we didn't quite do our part yet. So now the city has done its part. Residents have moved in and followed along with their own investment and promise. And this is just really the next step. And so I'm very happy to see this and delighted and really glad that it's happening on third and Pacific. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Councilwoman Pryce.
Speaker 1: I just had a couple questions from the staff report. I'll be supporting this project and thank my colleagues who spoke before me for their insight. But I did have a question regarding page three of the staff report where you talk about this not having been the highest price offered for the property, but being the best project in terms of meeting the needs of the city. Could you expand on that a little bit more? What was the highest price for the property? And and what is this price per square foot in comparison to other property sales that we've had in the area?
Speaker 7: Yes, I'd be happy to provide that information. The ensemble is offering $6 million per square foot I'm sorry, $6 million, which is $117 a square foot. We had a pretty tall building at the highest price offered for the property was $9.8 million or $192 a square foot. However, the total development costs were only 71 million compared to 128 million for ensemble. And so we had to keep in, in our minds the ongoing property tax revenue that will be generated by this property would be significantly higher with that higher development cost of $128 million.
Speaker 1: Okay. Great. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 2: I just wanted to applaud the city team and the council for putting us in a position where this kind of investment can take place. And I think that this is a remarkable step in showing the community how we have turned around and been more business friendly and development friendly while still balancing the important constituent needs and quality of life of our residents. And I just think that this is a glowing example of what we all can accomplish when we put all the factors at play and work together to make sure that something can be done. So acclaims to both of you downtown and the work that you've done in the community. This could not have been done, not even four years ago. I'm just so proud to serve with both of you. So thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you. We'll take public comment now, please, before we come back and close up. Please come forward. And as you come forward, just please state your name for the record and make your comments. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Hi. My name is.
Speaker 7: Ravi Banda Puti. I've been before this council several times to talk about this property. I wanted.
Speaker 0: To. Leena, I'm glad that we clarified this to remind myself some of. Talking points I have because I have a very different view about this project I wanted to tell you about. Actually, I'm going to show it to everybody first. First of all, I'm one of the bidders. I'm a real estate developer, and I've been up to the hour in a company here called First Hill.
Speaker 3: Sir, if you can make the. Can you make the comments on the mikes? Sure.
Speaker 0: Sure. First Hill, LLC. I proposed to put a Trader Joe's or.
Speaker 7: Specialty retail, a specialty supermarket at that site. I'm going to also put 123 apartment units.
Speaker 0: All right. This is what I proposed. What I have there also includes ample parking and affordable housing, have 5% affordable housing. Okay, I got to tell you, ensemble's project, contrary to what.
Speaker 4: Everybody has been saying.
Speaker 3: We can't recorded if you don't keep talking to the mike.
Speaker 7: I'm sorry. Contrary to what everybody's been saying, ensemble's.
Speaker 0: Proposal is an absolute disaster for this city. And this applies not just Lina to your district, but to everybody in downtown. The city of Long Beach depends upon small businesses.
Speaker 4: Particularly businesses located.
Speaker 0: In historic properties. That's where the vibrancy of our community comes from. When we build new projects without sufficient parking, what's going to happen is we're going to create a traffic, environmental, social disaster where you have people driving around and we've all seen people do this driving around looking for parking that doesn't exist because the developer didn't build enough parking. This project that ensemble is proposing has less than ratio of 1 to 1 parking. The city requires 1 to 1.2 5 to 1. I'm proposing to build 2 to 1 because I want to make sure that we're building for the future. When I build this project, I want to make sure that as we grow as a community, people will always be able to come to get their groceries with their car. Because, Leanna, you brought up a good point about this project. What we want is we want to attract good retailers. As a developer, I know the way you attract good retailers is by building parking. You have to build parking. Okay. So me and my partner, Alan Kazdin, we've we've he built a Trader Joe's in Westwood that has 2 to 1 parking just like mine. We know how to do it. We've done it before. The people who submitted this ensemble proposal do not have anything in here to accommodate the environmental impact of this project. It's going to be really, really bad for downtown. It's going to kill downtown businesses. It's going to kill small businesses. And it's a really bad idea. And I think that really you want I urge his council to to reconsider this.
Speaker 7: I mean.
Speaker 0: You know, send it back to the committee, do whatever but reconsiders. Do not vote for the ensemble proposal. Vote for First Hill, LLC. That's the company.
Speaker 3: Thank you, sir. Time's up.
Speaker 0: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 1: My name's Leela Noble. I live in the Walker building and we appreciated the fact that we were able to meet actually with the developer and also with city staff recently. And what I have done is prepared in writing and I'll have multiple copies, basically a summary of the laundry list of concerns that came out of this meeting . And it's a combination of concern about the process. And we understand that we were very patiently there, was explained to us the process around redevelopment and that this is indeed starting an escrow process. So we get it about what your decision is going to be tonight. We're concerned in not from a NIMBY point of view. We all chose to live in downtown. We like the idea of being in an urban environment and we also get it about density. But dang, this is a lot of density in a corner of a block. And what we are saying is that the concerns that we have are not just during construction, but they are literally concerns about the impact. And a couple of you've talked about the balance between the density and the business development and the residents. Well, we are here and our whole way is concerned about this. And we want to be an active part of this process because as residents, we are the ones that are going to live with this, with the retail, with the quality of jobs or lack of quality of jobs, with the traffic problems. And we want to be a part of the process and we don't mean just being listened to. Our understanding is that there can be specific mitigations and that there can be changes, that this is the concept and that's what's motivating us to participate. We don't want to participate just as window dressing, and we are taking you at your word that in fact, this can be a collaborative process. So I've got our list. I'm going to leave it with the clerk, and I'm sure that our councilwoman will share it with the rest of you. But we are very concerned about the level of density and all of the different impacts that is going to have on us, on our streets, on our kids, on the traffic, on the quality of life. If we're going to make downtown a dynamic place, it has to have quality of life.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 0: I'm Richard Gere, also live in the Walker building. I've been there for ten years. We were really very shocked to learn of this project. We know that we're not going to stop development. We chose to live downtown. We support development. But at this time, we feel that the community is not aware of this project and the council is going to vote on it. And we just think everything is moving too quickly. Just this week, I ran into a local business person who knew nothing about the project. Now he probably supports it at this point, but as of a few days ago he wasn't aware of it. Additionally, many of the hope. Merchants are not here tonight because they called a meeting concerning safety in downtown. So we would we would like an opportunity to get in touch with more downtown residents, more downtown merchants and businesspeople . Also, we have some questions about the complete development process. We understand that in this case there were five proposed developments. We would like to know more about that. We'd like to know what those developments were and have an opportunity to express our opinion about them. Also, what are the criteria that the Development Department is using to eliminate certain projects? I understand the importance of property taxes, but there are other concerns as well. And finally, I think the council members, as our elected officials, should have sufficient information about all those proposals to make solid decisions. This is a good time to review the process before any damage is done to our wonderful and successful city. Thank you for your time.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 0: The new mayor and members of the council. I just want to say for the record that I agree with the previous speaker that I think we need to look at all the other development proposals because I think we're rushing into this one. Um, specifically, I was looking at the RFP provided by ensemble and you.
Speaker 6: Know, sir.
Speaker 0: Your name Abraham. Abraham Sandoval. Um, and I was looking at the RFP provided and they specifically state verbatim and I quote, we consider the ample surface parking and street parking within the downtown district potentially sufficient to serve the need. So potentially sufficient meaning they are not going to provide the parking that is necessary for their project. They're looking to other areas in the downtown area to suffice. And I've been driving around the downtown area and there's not enough parking. So where do we expect to get all this parking that doesn't exist? Um, I did have a chance to look at first Hill's proposal, and they're providing way more parking than is necessary for their project. So I think we do need to look at all the other development proposals and look at which one is actually going to benefit the city. You know, just putting what is a 198,000 square feet of housing in one tower and 72,500 square feet of housing in another tower and not providing enough parking. I just think that's ridiculous. And I think we need to look in greater detail about what we really are approving here today. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 4: My name is Steve McIsaac and I am a resident in the Walker building and have lived there for the last 11 years. And one of the councilmembers, I think it might have been, Dr. Lowenthal mentioned how they had tried to put it. They did scoped out doing a development in that specific site about ten years ago or so, and that the only project that they could get was maybe like about a.
Speaker 0: Five.
Speaker 4: Story building or so. And so they felt, I'm paraphrasing, but it seemed like they were happy that we were finally worthy of getting a project of this scope, that we'd sort of finally arrived enough to get someone to pitch us something substantial. And I guess my perception of Long Beach real estate development over the last 11 years, just watching it as just a citizen, someone who lives here, it sometimes reeks of that kind of desperation that finally someone's looking at us, someone's noticing, and we are worthy of their attention. And I would propose that they're actually lucky to get to pitch to us, not the other way around. This is a vibrant, wonderful community, and we don't have to take the first project that comes along just because it's big. The Long Beach Courthouse is a wonderful example of architecture that fits on its site nicely. It fits into the local environment. It's a beautiful building and we don't need something.
Speaker 0: Big just because.
Speaker 4: It's big. There's a lot of ways to achieve density. We can look at density sites throughout the entire downtown over like a 5 to 10 year period. We don't need it all in one shot. And so just.
Speaker 0: Because it's big.
Speaker 4: Doesn't mean it's going to achieve the city's.
Speaker 0: Goals.
Speaker 4: Particularly when we haven't looked at data collection about how many people actually live downtown versus working. There's a lot of assumptions about how people will deal with the lack of parking, including biking to work. And there was a lot of stuff that was based on suppositions and projections, and they may be very well be true, but we don't necessarily have data to support those suppositions. So before you build 18 stories on the assumption that everybody's going to be in a live workspace and bike to their bike to their job, I'd like to see some data that would support that. That's all. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you, sir. As our final speaker, I want to close the speakers list. No.
Speaker 7: Larry. Good. Okay.
Speaker 3: So these are just real quick because your last two speakers. Okay. Speaker Sir, you're the last. Speaker Go ahead, Larry.
Speaker 7: I don't live in downtown Long Beach. Obviously, I've come down here now and then. And one of the things I've learned is, particularly in the last eight or nine years, wondered, is how these people or where these people shop, period. There's right now there's really only one grocery store and that's bonds.
Speaker 0: And that's, I think, will soon be gone. So forth. RDA really.
Speaker 7: Daffy accounting. I don't think any single project should get your approval unless and until unless and until the city auditor puts her seal of approval on it. Period. And I've held that position.
Speaker 0: Since we gave away. And I'll always.
Speaker 7: Remember it because it was handed out in the event for a dollar. The Boardwalk, the old Broadway Hotel. A 62nd walk from Ocean Boulevard for $1. It's always easy to remember that because that happened at the same time that the ladies of Cartagena were holding on, holding their firm on their price at the Secret Service, didn't want to pay. When Obama was down in making a trip in Latin America. Then, of course, we had the two pieces of property that Tom Dean sold. 1/1 was a orphaned piece of property that nobody, nobody wanted. And before the ink was dry, the new owner made $1,000,000 on it. And then a few weeks later, they found a a orphan. A cousin of that orphan must have been but ugly because he only got something like $0.09 an acre profit. So if you have enough confidence in your attorney, turn it over to your professional city auditor and let her put a seal of approval on that. That way, it's not going to come back and bite you and make you look like fools. That's what the auditor is for. And if you're confident enough in your judgment, you should have no problem marching that up to her and ask her to approve it.
Speaker 0: If you don't.
Speaker 7: It does not speak well for your character. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 0: Hi, I'm Tyson Sales. I'm the principal for.
Speaker 7: Multifamily development for.
Speaker 0: Ensemble and we.
Speaker 7: Hope to be selected for third and Pacific and we're thankful for the opportunity.
Speaker 0: To make a proposal. First of all, I'd like to thank the.
Speaker 7: Members of the community for.
Speaker 0: Sharing their concerns and their passion for downtown Long Beach. Ensemble's been in down in Long Beach, specifically downtown Long Beach.
Speaker 7: For 30 years.
Speaker 0: And I work at Magnolia and Ocean and we care about Long Beach as well. And if we are selected, we look forward to work with the community, the council member and staff to shape a project that activates an important corner in a meaningful way, that meets community concerns and benefits downtown Long Beach.
Speaker 7: And we hope to be a part of this process.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Okay. The speaker's list, as announced, is now close. Councilman Gonzalez?
Speaker 1: Yes. Just having a few more questions. I want to thank everybody for coming and speaking tonight. Really do appreciate it for as far as the timeline. So we if we were to support this today, this moves forward. What are we looking at in terms of a timeline?
Speaker 7: We expect there to be about a 90 day due diligence period and about an 18 month entitlement period. So about a year of ah, I'm sorry, nearly two years of entitlement and outreach.
Speaker 1: Okay. And what is the criteria that we're you know, you touched on it a bit, but what when we're looking to choose ensemble for this location, what specifically were you looking at to make that selection?
Speaker 7: We were looking at compliance with the Downtown Plan, Innovative architecture. We are particularly interested in density and the downtown plan and of course the price per square foot and the total investment value as well.
Speaker 1: Okay. And what other developments, obviously, civic center that those developments are happening? What other large developments with density that are? I mean, we just approved some a couple of weeks ago. Can you talk about what is around us? Because it's not just this location, correct?
Speaker 7: If I'm understanding you correctly, are you asking for other redevelopment agency projects in the downtown?
Speaker 1: Yes.
Speaker 7: So we have third and Pacific.
Speaker 3: Mike, I think I think she also asked about other projects that have density that are being developed in the downtown currently. What are other that are in the pipeline?
Speaker 7: So Broadway and Promenade has a density of 127 density units per acre. Broadway and Long Beach Boulevard 161 density units per acre. Ocean and Pine up to 427 hotel rooms. And I think that's. That's all of the downtown projects that I have currently.
Speaker 1: Okay. And again, I know that the concept, the design isn't set, but I know we've we've talked to residents about maybe. You know, juxtaposing the the design to make the larger portion on the other side. And there's been some I, you know, talk on on some other items. Does it have to will it will have to be a max of 18 stories. Is that what was discussed or are we looking at possibly less?
Speaker 7: A few responses to that. Question one. No, it doesn't have to be 18 stories, and we will work to address mitigation measures that might result in a building less than 18 stories. I'd like to point out that ensemble has really put in some significant time in analyzing the site and how best to develop the property in context of the surrounding historic buildings. And in that regard, they have rotated the taller building in a way to give the narrowest visual impact on the Walker building, and that is intended hopefully to reduce shade and shadow relative to the impacts to the to the historic structures. But again, community input will also, I think, help inform and direct the ultimate development scenario that's being proposed to the property through the traditional sequel process.
Speaker 1: Great. And I again, I do hope that we continue discussions about mitigation as if this process should go through, go forward, and as we get closer to that 18 month and construction, etc.. Another quick question. If you know off the top of your head how many parking spaces we have in the downtown kind of area? I know we have quite a few spaces in the city place lot that are available, but what other spaces do we have? Do we have a number to identify the spaces?
Speaker 7: I don't have a number off the top of my head. I know City Place Garage is typically 50% full at any particular time. I think there's 1500 or 1800 spaces in those three parking structures. And there's other redevelopment, former redevelopment agency controlled parking spaces nearby as well in the 100 Broadway space.
Speaker 1: Can we building. So I'll request that we have a to if we can get a two from Ford that just basically identifies the parking spaces. I know we've done the parking study and there's a lot of talk about parking. I believe that there is parking available. We just have to pay for it oftentimes. And I know that's a tough pill to swallow sometimes, but I live right off Pine Avenue and I know how wholeheartedly, how hard it is to find parking sometimes. But I think that if we had a good measure of how many spaces were in that adjacent area, it would be helpful for residents to identify where those spaces are, you know, going forward with development.
Speaker 7: Just to confirm, you're looking for public spaces available for the public to park.
Speaker 1: Yes. Or even private spaces that we've, you know, connected with private owners to be able to offer for our residents. If we can provide that, that would be great. So again, I think the residents for being here, I know that there's a lot of concerns, but I do stress and I promise you that we will be speaking with you quite frequently on the mitigation parking, any concerns you may have? I know that this looked like a very drastic and striking project, and it is. But these are the types of projects we're looking to, you know, really kind of reinvigorate the great investment. So it's not necessarily that this is happening tomorrow, but a lot of investment I know will come from many of these properties and these developments similar to this. However, mitigation, parking, construction issues will be discussed, I assure you that. So we'll leave it at that. Again, support this item and I think everybody for being here.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Before we go to a vote, I just want to say a couple couple comments first. I want to just want to just echo what Councilwoman Gonzales and the vice mayor said. I think what's going to what's going to be going to happen over the course of the next few years is downtown is going to be presented with a variety of projects because of the economy. And so you're seeing, I think, a lot of a lot of projects that are much more dense than we than we've had in the past. I know you mentioned three or four, Mike, but I can think of another three or four, 18 story, 16 story, 30 story that are either in the pipeline or being planned. And so as we as these projects move forward, I think there's there's clearly some concern from some of the residents that I used to represent as well over at the at the crest and the walker. And so I'm happy to hear there'll be a you know, the community process will be thorough and that folks will have a chance to weigh in. But as a downtown, we're going to be having this conversation over and over again in the in the years ahead, because there's going to be an influx of projects that are happening not just at this site, but across the downtown. The one thing I wanted to to add for those who had concern about about what the process is, just to reiterate, the process that we went through for this is actually mandated by the state. And so the state we have to follow a very, very careful list, just a checklist, an order of what we have to do through the governor's office for us to get rid of these properties. And so that's what we're going through right now. Once the this isn't a typical process where the city brings in the developer and then we're working on developing a project together, which is what almost always happens in projects. This is us having to sell the project per the governor's mandate, and then at that point it's in the hands of the developer, and then we begin to work on developing a project together. So it's a little different. I know it's not how it typically is, but that's also what happened when all these properties went went on sale. And so regardless, I think we all want to end up with a home run project on the site that makes it downtown an even better place to live, and that provides even more amenities for all of us, all of us, including those of us that are downtown residents, more more exciting things to do in a good place to live. And so with that, there's a there's a motion and a second on the floor. Please cast your votes.
Speaker 0: Don't.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 3: Okay. Motion carries. Okay, sir. Thank you. Shocking. We didn't work with him. Okay. I don't even know what's next.
Speaker 6: That was Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, don't we site for littering? I mean, on his way out, he just littered.
Speaker 0: So this too? Yes.
Speaker 3: To make sure. Okay. Hearing one. Hearing one. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP CM15-162 for the purchase and development opportunity at 3rd Street and Pacific Avenue, Assessor Parcel Numbers 7280-016-900, 901, 902, 903, 904 and 905 (Subject Property);
Declare the City-owned Subject Property as surplus;
Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute any and all necessary documents, including a Purchase and Sale Agreement with Ensemble Investments, LLC, an Arizona limited liability company, for the sale of the Subject Property in the amount of $6,000,000; and
Accept Categorical Exemption CE 16-127. (District 1) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06142016_16-0506 | Speaker 3: To make sure. Okay. Hearing one. Hearing one.
Speaker 2: Report from Development Services recommendation to receive supporting documentation and to the record conclude the public hearing and find that the action is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. Declare Ordinance Amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending Title 21 to add transitional housing and supportive housing as permitted uses in any residential zoning district. Read the first time and lead over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for final reading and Adopt resolution directing the Director of Development Services to submit a request to the California Coastal Commission to certify an amendment to the implementing ordinances portion of the Certified Local Coastal Program citywide.
Speaker 3: Okay, I know this is a small technical change we have to make here. So, Miss Burdick.
Speaker 2: Mr. Mayor, members of the City Council, you are correct. This is a small.
Speaker 1: Technical change we have to.
Speaker 2: Make to the zoning code to keep us in compliance with state law. Last year, you added.
Speaker 1: Definitions for transitional housing and supportive housing as required by two different state requirements. And this year we're asking.
Speaker 2: You to make a technical amendment to add those to a specific table in the municipal code. If you'd like more information, I'm happy to do so. But that concludes my staff report.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Next step is any public deliberation on this item. Seeing none. There's a motion to second. Please cast your votes.
Speaker 0: Oh.
Speaker 3: Yes. Please come forward.
Speaker 0: Thank you.
Speaker 2: For waiting. Surely, besides swarm, you can associate what was not clear to me. Maybe it can be answered tonight. Traditionally, when I see transitional and supportive housing, I take for granted that that includes homeless inclusion. Am I not reading that right? Or is that will that be part of the vocabulary added to this particular agenda item? As per the California housing element and Senate Bill two.
Speaker 3: Do we want to answer that question briefly? No, we're not.
Speaker 0: You don't have to. Okay.
Speaker 3: Let's look briefly. So we have a.
Speaker 1: Certainly these these definitions.
Speaker 2: Are consistent with SB two, which is what you're referring to.
Speaker 1: And we have an adopted housing element.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Okay. There's a motion and a second. Please cast your votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 3: Gearing to. | Ordinance | Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending Table 31-1 of Chapter 21.31, relating to transitional and supportive housing, read and adopted as read. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06142016_16-0508 | Speaker 3: Gearing to.
Speaker 2: Report from Public Works recommendation to receive supporting documentation include the petitions into the record, conclude the public hearing and request the City Attorney to prepare an amendment to the Long Beach Municipal Code to expand preferential parking district art as recommended by City Traffic Engineer District for.
Speaker 6: Thank you. Is there a staff report?
Speaker 7: Yes. The staff report will be given by Eric Wickstrom, our city traffic engineer. Good evening, Mayor. Councilmembers. I'm here before you tonight requesting your.
Speaker 0: Approval of the expansion.
Speaker 7: Of preferential parking district are located in Council District four. This parking district would expand preferential parking on the Snowden Avenue between Merida Street and Los Santos Drive. This is a neighborhood close by to Cal State Long Beach. So has parking impacts from students parking in this residential neighborhood. Public Works staff conducted a parking survey.
Speaker 0: To determine that the amount of.
Speaker 7: Parking outside of the neighborhood that cars that were parked there. We found that the on street parking was 78% occupied and that amount had over 50%.
Speaker 0: Of the occupant occupied.
Speaker 7: Vehicles were not from the the neighborhoods surrounding Stoughton Avenue. The preferential parking district.
Speaker 0: Would be in effect for.
Speaker 7: From 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, not in effect on Saturday, Sundays or holidays. And there would be two hour time limits for vehicles not part of the preferential parking district. This concludes my report.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Mr. Woods. Councilman Superman.
Speaker 4: Thank you. I didn't know what the date was when this project got started. I just looked it up. It was January 24th, 2010. So it's been nearly six and a half years since we did half the block. And so this is part B, so I'm looking forward to my colleagues supporting this.
Speaker 6: Councilwoman Mongo.
Speaker 2: Just know how long it takes to get these done. So great, great work. Councilmember Super duh.
Speaker 6: Is there any member of the public that wishes to address the Council on Hearing Item two? CNN members cast your vote. Oh, sorry. Motion carries. Thank you. Are we on to consent? Yes. Okay. Consent, please. There's been a motion and a second. | Public Hearing | Recommendation to receive supporting documentation, including the petitions, into the record, conclude the public hearing, and request City Attorney to prepare an amendment to the Long Beach Municipal Code, to expand Preferential Parking District “R” as recommended by the City Traffic Engineer. (District 4) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06142016_16-0531 | Speaker 2: Councilman Price. Councilman Mongo. Motion carries.
Speaker 3: Item 23.
Speaker 2: Report from Long Beach Airport and police recommendation to execute another other transportation agreement for the National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to implement and deploy certified canine teams on site at the Long Beach Airport District five.
Speaker 3: There's a motion in second. Any public comment? Saying non councilman mongo.
Speaker 2: We are so thankful to get this grant. It is going to be exciting to have this in Long Beach. So thank you to all the hard work from the staff that got this done. We are excited. I see that there's a lot of staff here who stayed a long time. Did you have a report you wanted to stay after that long other item? Go ahead. Well, we're really proud of you guys.
Speaker 7: Are you going to name the dogs?
Speaker 0: I don't know if there are any naming rights for the dogs, but we'll we'll hold comment for that. No, I just I just want to thank Drew Schneider, who is our.
Speaker 4: Who is our manager of security. He really worked diligently to get this done. We were notified on April 16th, and we need to.
Speaker 0: Get the contract in by June 20th. So it was a.
Speaker 4: Very quick.
Speaker 0: Turnaround. But we will have the trained handlers and canine units in place by November 1st.
Speaker 4: So we thank you for your support for this recommendation.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you for all the work that you put in. And we're really excited to get these new pups at the airport.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Next up is 20. So those were withdrawn. 26.
Speaker 2: No.
Speaker 3: We need. Oh, I'm sorry. You know what? I'm sorry, Councilman Austin. And then public comment. So we're not done. I just moved on.
Speaker 5: Councilman Austin. Thank you. Thank you. That was my brain. And I wanted to comment on the naming rights for the dogs. My, my, my. My first dog was named George Washington. My second dog was named Rex, by the way. And I told Councilmember Rex Richardson that all the two really occasions I did have I did have one question regarding the the the duties and responsibilities of the airport officers who will be handling the the canines. Will that change the design of their their work in any way and will require us to to hire more officers or new in any way. Um, just. Just a curiosity.
Speaker 0: No, sir, not requiring additional staff.
Speaker 7: We have worked into the daily deployment schedule at the.
Speaker 0: Airport.
Speaker 9: Using our rover position.
Speaker 5: Thank you very much.
Speaker 0: No pun intended.
Speaker 3: Okay. Any public comment? Please cast your votes.
Speaker 0: Thanks so much.
Speaker 2: Councilman and. Thanks, Marilyn. Motion carries.
Speaker 3: Next item. 26 is a. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an Other Transaction Agreement and any related documents for the National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program, and any subsequent amendments, with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration to implement and deploy certified canine teams on-site at the Long Beach Airport using Long Beach Police Officers; and to accept the anticipated award, in an estimated amount of $606,000 for a four-year period; and increase appropriations in the Airport Fund (EF 320) in the Airport Department (AP) for $151,500 for the first year of the program in FY 16. (District 5) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_06142016_16-0538 | Speaker 3: 33.
Speaker 2: Communication from City Attorney Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code regarding residency restrictions for sex offenders. Read for the first time and lead over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for Final Reading Citywide.
Speaker 3: There's a motion in a second. Can I get a second, please? Any public comment on the item? Seen no public comment. Councilman Price.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I have a question regarding the process by which California Department of Corrections will be doing their case by case analysis. How does that process unfold?
Speaker 7: Mayor remembers the Council on Councilmember Price. The currently there's not much of a process in place. They are currently not enforcing the blanket applications for the residency restrictions. And what we're told and how they indicate they will look at it is based upon the conviction what the person was convicted for. On whether that would be a candidate in which they would have an enforcement or a restriction other than, you know, they could go anywhere on the clustering.
Speaker 1: So let's say we have somebody that has a conviction that they deem, for whatever reason, to be worthy of a second look. Do they then do we know if their process involves ascertaining where that individual plans to reside and then talking with the local municipality regarding the dynamics of that particular neighborhood or any issues that might be relevant to their analysis. How do they know, for example, that that person's going to pose that person's going to fall under the criteria where they wouldn't? That they would be they would have some sort of a an exemption from how everyone else is treated.
Speaker 7: And I do not have an answer for you this evening. We could certainly contact them and ask them how they plan to enforce that particular question.
Speaker 1: Is this going to come back for another reading?
Speaker 7: Yes, it will come back for a second reading.
Speaker 1: Is that reasonable for us to get that information? We will.
Speaker 7: Certainly attempt to get that information by that.
Speaker 1: Time. Okay. Because I think that's really important. If there is going to be a case by case analysis, what's the criteria and how is the municipality invited or allowed to participate in that analysis before a decision is made us to a particular to 90 registrants? Don't think we.
Speaker 7: Will do.
Speaker 3: That. Councilman Austin.
Speaker 0: Do you have a good.
Speaker 5: Yes. And I want to do a follow up. I think Councilmember Price asked the I think a very pertinent question in light of us not having that information. I'm curious as to whether or not we are are compelled to vote on this this evening without having that that information.
Speaker 7: Mayor's member. The council councilmember. Excuse me, Austin. The. We would request that you take action tonight. We are currently in litigation on this. Our ordinance is currently not compliant with the Supreme Court decision and the actions currently and the opinion of the attorney general. The the information that's being sought is information that we can bring back to you after we've amended the ordinance. And based upon our research, there's nothing we can do to the Department of Corrections that we can control how they do their you know, how they determine the restrictions based on the individual circumstances. The city's without that authority.
Speaker 5: Well, this is one of those those moments that I'd like to invoke or local control to the best degree possible. I have some real reservations just about this. And there are some obvious political realities to to to to supporting this action. Are you. And so I guess I need more more direction from from you, Mr. City Attorney. Can you explain to us the nature of the litigation and what would happen if, for example, this this council were to not approve this this this this item?
Speaker 7: We we are currently and being sued for violation of civil rights. We will be found to be liable for that with damages and attorney fees. The the issue arose in when the California Supreme Court held that a portion of Jessica's Law prohibiting registered sex offenders from living within 2000 feet of schools parks was unconstitutional, as applied across the board to all registered parolees in San Diego County. Based on that case, the attorney general has advised that the restrictions would be deemed unconstitutional in all counties. We still have that restriction in place, and so we are on notice of that. And so we're amending our ordinance to comply with the Supreme Court opinion and the attorney general's opinion. The Department of Corrections, based upon the Supreme Court opinion and the Attorney General, is not enforcing their requirement on the blanket application registry. Resident Residency restrictions, I'm sorry. And so what we're asking the council to adopt tonight puts us in complete what we do believe to be in compliance with what the state law requires and removes the provision in our ordnance, which the Supreme Court, California Supreme Court has deemed unconstitutional. And we are amending at the same time to what we believe clarifies the clustering prohibitions of allowing registered offenders to reside in any multiple registrants to reside in the same unit.
Speaker 5: So I'm not sure if you answered the second part of my question regarding. What sort of. This legal posturing, we will position what we we put ourselves in as a council. If we were to do to not support the side of.
Speaker 7: We would be opening and exposing ourselves to additional litigation and expenses incurred by by not complying with the the law as determined by the California Supreme Court. And we will be unable to enforce this ordinance. We would not be able to maintain those restrictions. And yet the county do not place people within that buffer area that we currently have. We have in our ordinance now, they're not they're not listening or following our ordinance right now. And we have no authority to compel them to do that, since Supreme Court says that the what we wanted to do was unconstitutional.
Speaker 5: So I'm curious to know what other if other municipalities are dealing with the same issue and how they are dealing with the.
Speaker 7: Multiple cities up and down the state have amended their code very similar to the way we're amending or some cities have repealed it altogether. I could certainly provide you with a list of cities that have amended their ordinance. I don't have that with me, but I can provide that.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 3: Okay. Any public comment? None. Can someone please second? In terms of the police, the motion. Okay. Members, but he's going to catch the votes.
Speaker 2: Councilmember Richardson. Motion carries.
Speaker 3: Kleenex item. | Ordinance | Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by amending and restating in its entirety Chapter 9.66 regarding residency restrictions for sex offenders, read and adopted as read. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05242016_16-0497 | Speaker 1: And so we're actually moving this up. We have a large group here for that. And so Councilman Austin is has moved that up. So we're going to hear that item. It's actually item, I believe, to actually be I'm 36, but we're moving that up. So, Madam Cook, do you want to read the item? But we're going to do it as a presentation.
Speaker 0: Item 36 is communication from Councilman Austin. Recommendation is to receive and file the presentation about share your heart. Share your home to raise awareness about the need for foster and adoptive parents.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Austin.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And we just want to make everybody aware that May is National Foster Care Month. And it's time to recognize that we each can play a part in enhancing the lives of children and youth in foster care. Each month, DCFS investigates nearly 10,000 reports of child abuse and neglect in L.A. County. Here in the South County, which covers the city of Long Beach, they investigate an average of 900 referrals each month. Currently, there are over 500 children waiting to be adopted and waiting for a loving foster home. If you're interested in learning more about becoming a foster or an adoptive parent, please attend our third annual Foster Care and Adoption Expo on June. 11th Saturday at Columbia City College from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.. And this is our third annual event. We've done it in conjunction with Supervisor Duncan Nobby's office. Long Beach City College. Obviously, kids save and extraordinary families. Today, we actually have a couple of families here, local families who have gone through the adoption and foster process. And we want to make sure that we recognize them here this evening. We have Scott Parks I'm sorry, Scott Park, Sparks and Wilbur Rubio, who set out to adopt in 2013. If you guys stand. Thinking they would adopt a boy and a girl. They ended up falling in love with a trio of two boys and a girl. Giovanni, Genesis and Angel are now members of their family. Let's give them a round of applause and welcome. We also have this evening with us this evening, the Churchill family, Eric Churchill and his wife, Amy. They have fostered a total of 17 kids over five years. They ended up fostering and then adopting and adopting Ariel standup, Ariel Wave, Ariel, Esmé, Samantha and Tabitha just last year. They are residents of the eighth District and neighbors of mind. And if we could ask the family to please stand as well. And we are this event that we do every year focuses on on families, allows them to tell their stories, but also allows individuals who have a loving heart and who have great homes to the opportunity to learn more about how they can be a part of this. This really turning lives around of young people, for young people. I want to thank Yvonne Christiano from L.A. County, DCFS, who is also here with us and who will be partnering with us on June the 11th. So if I could get the families to come up and join me, I want to give you a certificate and actually have the mayor come up and take a picture as well. Thank you. Council members. If you want to join us, it would be great to.
Speaker 4: Oh. Okay.
Speaker 3: The reason. Are you thinking? Okay. This is. Mayor. Can we have the kids in front step forward to the front? All right. Here we go.
Speaker 8: All right, everybody, get around the mayor, please.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Well, these are not healthy for your heart. You don't get far from the other side. Okay, well, we. Yeah. Oh, okay. Here we go. Know. Yes. Now I see. Wow. Everybody, look up here, please. Right up here. But.
Speaker 9: We need to think.
Speaker 3: I think it goes. You guys, I don't know how.
Speaker 5: To make it easy.
Speaker 3: But it's hard.
Speaker 1: Okay. That's item 25 as a public comment on this item, which was the foster item? KC None. Members, please go ahead and cast your vote on the item, please.
Speaker 0: Bush and Kerry.
Speaker 1: Great. Thank you. Next. Next, we're going to have the next presentation, which, again, it goes back to Councilwoman Gonzalez. And this presentation has a companion agenda item, which is 25. And so we'll do the presentation with the companion agenda item, because I know that our seniors are here with four on behalf of the commission as well. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to receive and file the presentation about Share Your Heart...Share Your Home to raise awareness about the need for foster and adoptive parents and weekend hosts, and recognize local foster parents who are providing stable homes to children in Long Beach. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05242016_16-0470 | Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you. And now on to item ten for our promenade folks here, and most particularly the little ones. Please read item, please.
Speaker 0: Item ten is a report from Parks and Recreation Marine Public Works recommendation to authorize City Manager to accept a donation of 7300 from the Promenade Area Residents Association. A donation of $5,000 from the Molina Family Trust. A donation of $10,000 from the downtown Long Beach Association, and grant funding of $20,000 from the L.A. County supervisor, Don Canady . Three six for.
Speaker 1: District two, I think. Vice Mayor Lowenthal. Oh.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I wanted to thank you for pulling this item from consent. It is something that is very important to the community, and those two little guys in the audience can't wait to use it. So they are here to personally testify that this is a good thing. I do want to thank the Molina family for their contribution, their donation, the debate for their donation, as well as Supervisor Tanabe. The mayor and I made a very significant allocation of funding so that this park will come to fruition. And I'm very happy that we were able to do that. And I look forward to the groundbreaking and seeing it fully realized. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Is there any public comment on item number ten? Okay. Great. Obviously no public comment on ten. Then I want to congratulate the community. This wouldn't happen without you guys. So thank you very much for all your hard work. Let's give them a round of applause. And members, please go ahead. Actually, Councilman Gonzales, did you have any comments?
Speaker 4: I just wanted to congratulate everybody involved. I know we don't have many playgrounds in the downtown area, so for this to finally come around is is really great. So thank you all for your hard work.
Speaker 1: I actually think it's going to be the the first playground probably in the kind of downtown core which is really needed. So good job. Please cast your votes. Members.
Speaker 2: Did you want public comment?
Speaker 1: I called you. Yeah.
Speaker 0: Wishing Karis.
Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you and congratulations. Okay. Now, believe it or not, because it's one of those nights on the agenda, we actually have a couple of hearings. And so let's go on to. The first hearing. And initially I was told by staff that the first hearing was going to be 30 minutes long. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to accept a donation of $7,300 from the Promenade Area Residents Association, a donation of $5,000 from the Molina Family Trust, a donation of $10,000 from the Downtown Long Beach Associates, and grant funding of $20,000 from Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe’s District 4 Discretionary Funds, for the installation of a tot lot at Promenade Square Park; execute any documents necessary for the implementation and administration of the project; and
Increase appropriations in the Capital Projects Fund (CP) in the Public Works Department (PW) by $42,300, offset by revenues from the donations. (District 2) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05242016_16-0458 | Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you and congratulations. Okay. Now, believe it or not, because it's one of those nights on the agenda, we actually have a couple of hearings. And so let's go on to. The first hearing. And initially I was told by staff that the first hearing was going to be 30 minutes long. So I think we've condensed the 5 minutes, I hope, or 5 to 10 minutes. If I can have the clerk, please read the hearing.
Speaker 0: Hearing. One is a report from Development Services recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record. Conclude the public hearing and adopt resolution certifying EIA zero four Dash 15. Making findings of fact adopting a statement of overriding considerations and approving a mitigation, monitoring and reporting program for the Midtown Specific Plan. Adopt Resolution Establishing the Midtown Specific Plan Declare on ends amending the Long Beach Municipal Code relating to the Midtown Specific Plan. Read the first time and lead over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for final reading and declaring amending the Land Use District Map to reflect the establishment of the Midtown specific plan. Read the first time and lead over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for Final Reading District one and six.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I don't believe an oath is required for this, so I'm going to turn this over to staff.
Speaker 8: This will require four separate votes to sort.
Speaker 13: To on each of the one on each of the two resolutions and one on each of the two ordinances. And it does require an oath.
Speaker 1: Okay. But this isn't. You're not. We're not you're not combining. You're not combining the other hearings on this one. It's just this is still just hearing one, correct?
Speaker 6: Correct.
Speaker 1: Okay, great. So I'll turn this over to Mr. West.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. MEMBERS. Mr.. The Council. The presentation will be given by Amy Burdick, or Director of Development Services.
Speaker 5: Mr. Mayor. Members of the City Council. I am happy to make it a five minute presentation for you. This is the Midtown specific plan. And. I want to first introduce to you Christopher Coons, who's our advance planning officer who has been working on this project with us for the past year. This project essentially replaces PD 29, the Long Beach Boulevard Corridor zoning, with a new specific plan and a brand new program year. It allows us to modernize the zoning and land use intentions for the Long Beach Boulevard corridor, essentially from Anaheim to the four or five freeway. It's a mix of single family residential uses, underperforming commercial uses, an existing medical campus at Memorial as well as Miller Children's, some public facilities. Clearly, the light rail is both a barrier and an opportunity and it suffers from quite a bit of public lack of public investment. Some of the existing pictures that really reflect the condition of the environment. So this is a specific plan which is very different from the more generalized zoning. It is much more detailed and provides a lot more guiding vision and details on what our expectations are. It does provide also greater clarity in what our development expectations are and then also the the uses that will be allowed under the specific plan. This is our first specific plan in Long Beach. The downtown plan is a quasi specific plan, but it will be more like the downtown plan than any of our existing zoning documents. So the specific plan boundaries will essentially mimic the PD 29 corridor. Again, it focuses on land uses along the light rail and it's big issues are stimulating new investment, reducing auto dependent dependency, improving pedestrian and bike safety, promoting sustainable building and active living, streamlining the development approvals for future projects and leveraging existing medical uses to create additional employment opportunities. What this specific plan really does is it focuses our major development areas along those nodes where the Metro Blue Line is and where we want to see mixed use projects with additional density there. So we'd like to get away from the single story strip center commercial uses and focus more on the mixed use developments that you've seen sporadically over the last few years. This did require us to circulate a program earlier, and the program earlier does require you to adopt a statement of overriding considerations. There are three categories where we've done the environmental review under Sequa and have determined that we cannot mitigate to a level less than significant. And those are in the area of air quality greenhouse gas emissions and noise, although noise is temporary during construction activities. Because of that, we do ask that you make findings that the adoption of this plan is far more beneficial than any potential impacts that could be caused by future development activities. Without that, concludes my staff report.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I'm just going to have you cover one more thing. I think it's the most interesting part. I know this isn't always the sexiest item, but this planning stuff is great. If you can just cover the land use districts real quick and then mature and over to Councilman Andrews.
Speaker 5: Certainly we do have we have decided I shouldn't say we decided we have created five different land use districts in this plan. The nodes are fairly self-explanatory and that they are where the blue line intersects with the major cross streets of Anaheim, PCH, Willow and Wardlow. We also have the medical campus, which is around the Long Beach Memorial Medical Center in Miller Children's Family. We also have the Open Space District, which will include Veterans Park and then any other open space assets that we're able to develop. And then we have the Corridors District, which essentially reflects the zoning between the two transit, the transit nodes.
Speaker 1: Great. Thank you. Appreciate that. I'm going to turn this verse over if there's any public comment on. The hearing. Seeing no public comment. I'm hearing I'm going to turn this now over to Councilmember Andrus.
Speaker 12: Thank you, Mayor. I think if anyone have had a chance to go up and down a long ways to provide, you've seen that this will be a project that when you say the mayor says it is a big deal, this is a big deal, a long time coming. But like I said, this will be something I think everyone will be able to appreciate. And I'm so happy to see that this plan is finally come to the council. After many community meetings and hard work from the Staff and Planning Commission. We're here today to move forward on the plan to help support Long Beach Boulevard for future growth. We will no longer see uses that do not support a healthy growth, neighborhood and economy. It will create more amenities along the corridor and attract and restrain business and develop that will create more jobs. I am especially interested and interested in our economic development department to promote this corridor. That is the bookmark by Saint Mary's Hospital for the medical industry. From the doctors offices to the biotech business park to medical devices. Language Boulevard should be the home to innovative companies, and I'd like to have my colleagues move. Move this forward.
Speaker 8: Please move to approve.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There's a there is a motion and a second Councilwoman Gonzales comments.
Speaker 4: Yes. And I actually have a couple questions. And I want to thank you for this report. It's really great to see finally midtown moving forward. And it's it's just very exciting. I have a couple questions as to the elements within the the proposed plan. So I, I was looking through this and I noticed minor auto repair. And so what would that be defined as? Because we do have an inundation of auto repair along Long Beach Boulevard.
Speaker 5: Right. So minor auto repair would be a break, break replacement or window shield replacement, things like that. It would be not engines, transmissions, auto body work. Those are considered major auto body.
Speaker 4: Okay, perfect. I also saw in there amusement machines with those be like slot machine type.
Speaker 5: They're like arcade pinball, the old pinball machines.
Speaker 4: I was like, I don't know what that is, but I'll, I'll ask you anything. And then massage therapy, I believe, is is that does that have to go through a a process before or is it. I was no.
Speaker 5: So massage if it is related to an existing use like a salon, I believe it is considered approved. And then there's also been recent court cases, I believe Mr. City Attorney on the use of massage where we don't have the ability to regulate them like we used to.
Speaker 4: Oh, to which type of massage?
Speaker 5: A standalone massage.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Okay. Okay, great. And then drive thrus. I didn't notice them in here, but I wanted to ask about that as well.
Speaker 5: If they're not in here, in, Christopher will look it up quickly. For me, we do require copies for drive thrus under Title 21, so we were either more restrictive in here or we referred to Title 21.
Speaker 4: Okay, great.
Speaker 5: And we actually prohibit drive thrus outright in PD, excuse me, in the new specific plan. Okay, great.
Speaker 4: Thank you. And then I would just say I'm glad that we're looking at Metro as kind of the core to this area, especially when it comes to upgrades for ADA compliance as well as just safety. And hopefully I know we've talked in the past about with Metro and the county about turnstiles being added and I don't know if that's still a conversation that is alive, but it would be great to continue that because, you know, we're just getting an influx of issues that arise from from the metro and and people coming in and out without paying.
Speaker 5: Right. Understood. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Okay, great. And then I think that is about it. But I just want to thank you. I think adding more safety, certainly more ADA compliance, lighting, all of that, and ensuring that we're getting the right businesses in is really important. So I really appreciate it and thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Thank you. We're going to go and go to a vote. I just wanted to just add a couple comments, and that is that I believe that this is the first I planned planning major planning document that we've done since the downtown plan. Is that correct, Ms.. Potok?
Speaker 5: Yes, sir, that is correct. And it is our first specific plan in the city.
Speaker 1: And so I just don't want to. Yeah, I know it's easy to to to gloss over, but these plans take an incredible amount of work. I mean, they're multi-year planning documents. The staff works incredibly hard on these plans. The community works incredibly hard on these plans. There's numerous outreach meetings that have happened and that have happened all throughout the Long Beach Boulevard corridor in both district districts one and District six. And so I just want to thank the staff for that. But I also these these planning documents guide the future of development for an entire area. The downtown plan had a huge impact on the development of downtown enormous overnight. I mean, the the Molina project was completely done because of the downtown plan from from one day to the next. And so the changes that are in this plan, the kind of the focus on livability and the on transit and the housing nodes, I all think bode very well for the future of Long Beach Boulevard. Staff hears me complain about one beach boulevard all the time as it weekly pad. Okay. Weekly. It's weekly. It's the main it's it's one of the main entry points from Los Angeles, people that come in and out of the train as a regular writer of the train. I want those folks coming into our city to have a good experience all the way down on Beach Boulevard. And right now, that's not the case. So we're trying we're trying new approaches. And I'm really happy with this plan. So I want to thank staff for working so hard on it. Vice Mayor Lowenthal.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I appreciate your comments about the relevance of planning. I just wanted to say, I think planning is very sexy. So we live and breathe that every single day, right, Mr. Eric?
Speaker 5: Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 3: There we go.
Speaker 1: I'm embarrassed. I'm blushing. Okay, so we have a motion in a second. Members, please go out and cast your votes. Now. There's four votes. We're taking on this one item. Correct. So let's cast your first vote.
Speaker 2: Mr. Mayor. Man Voice I think my machine is rebooting. Okay, my comments.
Speaker 1: We're rebooting. All those. All those in favor say I. Any opposed? Abstentions. Okay. Motion carries unanimously the second vote. Mr.. Mr.. City Attorney, can I get, can I get a motion in a second on the second part of this? | Resolution | Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, and adopt resolution certifying EIR 04-15, making findings of fact, adopting a statement of overriding considerations and approving a Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program for the Midtown Specific Plan (State Clearinghouse No. 2015031034); | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05242016_16-0496 | Speaker 0: Item 35 is a communication from Vice Mayor Lowenthal. Councilwoman Gonzalez. Councilman Andrews. Councilmember Richardson. Recommendation to adopt the goal of Vision zero to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injury among all road users by 2016.
Speaker 2: Will you move for me? Okay. There's been a motion and a second set of staff report.
Speaker 8: We have no staff report at this time, but we're happy to respond to any questions the Council has in implementing this.
Speaker 2: Give me 1/2. You want to find them? Can you log me out of that one? Is that the problem? Do you think? All right, let me try this again. Okay. There we go. So I just wanted to thank the staff for hosting Vision Zero some time back when they the team was here to present and share with us the different data from the different various cities throughout the country as well as throughout the world about the dangers of collisions between vehicles and moving objects and pedestrians. So this request is an analysis of our corridors and intersections with high bicycle, pedestrian vehicle injury, crash rates to understand traffic safety issues and to really help prioritize our resources based on geographic areas and issues of the greatest need. And to have this back within 180 days. Many cities have signed on to this. This is something that I think it's a great night to actually consider this and have the staff take a look at this and bring this back to council. On a night when we have adopted our Midtown specific plan, on a night that we have adopted our pedestrian action plan and things that are related to planning and certainly things that are related to making the public space as safe as possible and as engaging as possible for our residents. So I would like to thank my fellow colleagues for signing onto this item with me. Something that I know many of you may have been hearing in public discourse is the question of our use of the word accident. We referred to the term accident when it comes to collisions between vehicles, collisions between a vehicle and pedestrian, and the simplicity of that term. Is helpful for many reasons, but I think we are nationally at least having a dialog about whether it's the right term to use. And so one of the things that we hope to look at as this analysis comes back is to reframe those instances as truly just collisions and not to assign blame, but to really assign the severity of it, especially to pedestrians and those on bike, those on really on on smaller mobility devices. And so the severity of it needs to be acknowledged and understood, I think, as we redesign our city to be safer for everyone that navigates it. So I do wish to thank my colleagues for signing on to the item. As I mentioned previously, we hosted Vision Zero here. This was September of last year. We had Leah Sham, founder and director of Vision Zero Network, come to Long Beach to introduce this project to me in my office. This network will help the city and community leaders develop and share best practices towards safe mobility for all road users . Vision Zero is a road safety policy that builds safety and livability into our streets, encouraging cities to commit to building better and safer streets. Educate the public on safety, traffic safety, enforce traffic laws, and adopt policy changes that saves lives. The goal is to create a culture that prioritizes traffic safety and to ensure that mistakes on our roadways don't result in serious injuries or death. The result of this collaborative citywide the citywide effort will be safer, more livable streets as we work to eliminate traffic fatalities. And as many of you may know, we had a traffic fatality today or earlier this morning, late last night. And it's very unfortunate. Vision zero goals and strategies have been honed by elected elected officials, professionals and activists in Europe and are currently being embraced in progressive cities around the country. Cities like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Santa monica are currently undertaking major safety street safety initiatives inspired by the original Vision Zero effort in our quest to be a bikeable, walkable city. My goal is to have Long Beach among these cities. Given the interest and capability in our various departments, I know that we have the wherewithal to achieve this goal. We're already doing it. And with our commitment to the Bicycle Master Plan, the development of transit oriented development, pedestrian master plan, our mobility element and downtown, the goal of Vision Zero is a natural evolution for our city. It's the right time and it's the next step. Over the last 12 months, we've had 308 cyclist involved collisions districts one to and six having the highest number and initiative and eventual policy of Vision zero will help make that number much lower with the hopes of getting it to zero in ten years. If this item passes, which I encourage my colleagues to consider voting in favor of, I would like to encourage the city manager and the City Council to identify funds and applicable grants to make a long term strategic plan a priority as we go into the fiscal year 17 budget. And at this time, I'd like to turn it over to my co co-sponsor, Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: Yes. Thank you. Vice Mayor, I want to just extend my appreciation to you for this item, because it's very yes, it's very timely. But I think as we are moving towards a very mobile city with the addition of many bike lanes, the addition of many different elements to ensure that people are walking and biking and doing things other than driving, it's important that we're also adding a safety component. I really especially like the fact that we're requesting the city manager to form or to look about the feasibility of forming a Vision Zero task force to include the Long Beach Unified School District. Because many kids I hear of the stories that they're crossing basically Anaheim from the West Side to get to downtown. And a lot of them, you know, have that that's the their only mode of transportation. I think it's really important that we look at that as well and and see what types of goals we can work on to ensure that these kids are safe. Most definitely. And I appreciate it. So I look forward to hearing back a report on this information and seeing where we can go from there. But this is wonderful. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 11: Thank you, Vice Mayor. And I'm glad that you asked me to sign on to this, I think is a great idea. I also would say that this is timely for a number of reasons. I know that the school district is, you know, getting out of school. And there have been a lot of conversations about safe routes and updating the safe route maps in particular. And in my council district. You know, a lot of discussion right now given that, you know, school bus, the last school the school busses has taken away. It's school busses. And it's a new focus on how do you walk across bridges, how do you walk through a neighborhood? And we're finding that routes that we took for granted are not are not safe for for young people. And we're working on this. But I think it's important that this plan and I think it's good that this plan is based on data and helps us to identify funding strategies based on data. One fact is that, you know, Atlantic and Atlantic Avenue on Artesia Boulevard was tied in 2015 for the most traffic accidents in our city . And that's right at the intersection of that's right by Jordan High School. That's literally the intersection of Jordan High School. So it says a lot that the city council is making a commitment to developing a plan to try to eliminate traffic fatalities. I would also say that it's timely and I think we need to take a look at the other plans that are that are happening in the city to make sure that all our interests intersect. For example, we just announced funding for Heal Zone, which is $1 million of funding in three specific census tracts. Well, this intersection is in that census tracts. There's a lot of organizing with youth around that. So with this task force, I want to make sure that there are links between place based initiatives and this citywide document. And then the last thing I would say is I would I think that involving the school district is important, but I want to make sure that that means youth as well and not just staff. I want to make sure that you have a role in this in this process. Again, this is this seems really important, really serious. And it has my full support.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilwoman Mongo.
Speaker 5: We have been talking about traffic and traffic safety for quite a long time. And I think that this item is is very important and it's a great time for this to come forward. We had recently had the adjustment in the crossing guards, which was an impact to some of our communities. I know that even today we received an email about the changes that have been experienced over the last several months since the crossing guard change came. So I'm glad that there'll be a citizen committee involved in this. I think data driven decisions is the way to go. I know that last night the chief. Communicated to our neighbors that one of our neighborhood groups about the increase in traffic collisions across the city and the state recently. And so now is the time that we get ahead of this. And so I'm really excited to have this come back to council.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 4: Thank you. I, too, want to thank staff for their work on this, and I want to thank our traffic engineering department. They've just been phenomenal to work with. I think this item is great. I want to thank my colleagues who brought this item forward. This is an issue that's near and dear to my heart as I've been a vehicular homicide prosecutor for years dealing for in traffic fatalities for for many years exclusively. And I attend a lot of nits conferences and OTS events that that are focused on traffic safety. So I think this is great. And it's it's one of those things where it's kind of like impaired driving. There's actually a methodology to prevent traffic fatalities. It really is one of those tragedies that can be avoided if people take better care and we do a better job of designing around our mobility point. So I want to I want to thank my colleagues who brought this item forward. I think this is going to be a great discussion for us to have as a city. So thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Is there any member of the public that wishes to address the Council on item 35? Please come forward. State your name.
Speaker 8: Good evening. Thank you, Vice Mayor, for bringing this forward and to your co-sponsors. A lot of great things were said about Vision Zero. I just wanted to add a couple of quick things. My name is Steve Gardam with Long Beach. Lisa Humm will be back in Long Beach in a couple of weeks. She will be attending the Heads Count conference, which is the state convening of pedestrian advocates. And so we're excited to have her back and be able to tell her, assuming this goes through, that we are now a Vision Zero city. I think when we look back on this moment a few years from now, we will compare it to the day when Mr. Penaloza came to town and told us we could be bold and become a leader in being bicycle friendly. We took his advice. We took that leap and look how far we've come and keeping the torch. And you brought up the point about calling things traffic accidents. When we have an intersection like Atlantic and Artesia where accidents happen over and over again. MLK in Seventh Street. Over and over again. They're not accidents. They're predictable. And we can fix them. So with that black lung, which strongly supports and urges you to create the task force and initiate a Vision Zero process. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Steve. And thank you for all your assistance.
Speaker 8: Dennis. Dennis, turn. Let's try to make this a car friendly city. The present situation is intolerable with bikes going in the middle of the road and cars veering off the track, trying not to hit them. Testimony is the effect that the by situation.
Speaker 6: Is out of hand.
Speaker 8: I spoke to three police officers about this in Belmont. Sure. They said that the rain and the confusion.
Speaker 6: Would cause.
Speaker 8: Fatalities and that it was not a good situation to have bikes so freely use the roads. It just stands to reason. You know, if a bike is a middle.
Speaker 6: Of the road, you might hit them.
Speaker 8: You have to be totally aware of the situation. And awareness means no bikes in.
Speaker 6: The middle of the road, no bikes in busy streets.
Speaker 8: The routing of the bikes had been in busy streets, the most busy city. Excuse me, Miss Price. Misrata.
Speaker 3: The city. Busy streets.
Speaker 8: The busy streets have been a real problem. They should be. If there is to be bike allowance, then it should be done and not busy streets. What I propose is an alternate proposal to the Council. It's more democratic than having the council decide themselves. Let's leave it up to the.
Speaker 6: People whether.
Speaker 8: Or not they want a bike friendly city.
Speaker 6: Or a car friendly city. There are more cars.
Speaker 8: On the road the than our bikes. More pedestrians can be hit on a bike in the middle of the road. Let's investigate. Surely the present proposal is a good one. It's on the right track. But let's get it direct. Let's get down to the real facts. And the bikes.
Speaker 6: Pose a traffic problem.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Dunn. Anyone else. Okay. There's been a motion and a second and I will just throw out to staff as something that's being contemplated in the city of Santa monica is 20 is plenty. So four roads that are known for being thoroughfares, we're encouraging 20 miles per hour. Isn't that catchy? 20 is plenty. Thank you, members. Cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Councilwoman Mango. Motion carries.
Speaker 2: All right, Madam Clerk, I believe we are at public comment. Is that correct? Okay. I have nine speakers that have indicated interest in speaking on items, not on the agenda. Franklin Sims. If you're here. Here we go. Thank you. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City of Long Beach to adopt the goal of Vision Zero to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries among all road users, including those walking, bicycling and driving by 2026 through the following recommendations:
• Request analysis of corridors and intersections with high
bicycle, pedestrian, and vehicle injury crash rates to
understand traffic safety issues and to help prioritize
resources based on geographic areas and issues of the
greatest need within 180 days.
• Request City Manager form a Vision Zero Task Force made
up of relevant City departments (LBPD, Public Works,
Health and Human Services, Development Services),
Long Beach Transit, Long Beach Unified School District
and community members with mobility or urban planning
expertise to develop an action plan with clear strategies,
"owners" of each strategy, interim targets, timelines, and
measurable goals.
• Request an (biannual or annual) update be made available to
the City Council and community members on the progre | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05242016_16-0478 | Speaker 1: Is that sound right? So it's item 21. It's three votes. It's item 20, 21 and 22. Then we'll take the two items related to homelessness 14 and 25. Item 20.
Speaker 0: I am told, a report from Economic and Property Development and Development Services recommendation to adopt specifications for the purchase and development opportunity at 120 East Third Street declared the city owned subject property as surplus and authorize city manager to execute all necessary documents with William Morris Commercial for the sales of the subject property in the amount of $480,000 in District two.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I going to let the staff report go before Vice Mayor Lowenthal. Mr. West.
Speaker 8: Mr. Mayor. Council members, this is one of our successor agency properties. What you hear tonight is a recommendation for a purchase and sale agreement by our Economic and Property Development Director Michael Connelly.
Speaker 7: Mayor Garcia, Members of the City Council. The property located at 1/23 Street between Pine and the Promenade, is a vacant two story 2400 square foot building located on a 1250 square foot lot. The properties identified in the long range property management plan as future development, which proposes disposition through a request for proposal process. The property was categorized as future development, with the anticipation that adjoining property owners might seek to assemble the property and propose a consolidated development project that included the surrounding property. However, there were no responses received at proposed a consolidated development project. The review panel then proceeded to analyze the proposals from a best value perspective and in that regard. Of the four proposals received, the proposal from William Morris commercial offered the highest purchase price. The proposed highest investment value in the property and proposed a mix of uses that furthers the innovative, flexible and adaptive entrepreneurial spaces that are currently trending as desirable uses in the downtown. While there is little in the way of market data that demonstrates unmet demand for entrepreneurial office space, the panel believed that creating a supply will generate new demand and therefore grow our small business base. A protest of the award was received from Janet and Dev Mosby, adjoining property owners. The general basis of their protest suggests that assembly with their adjoining property is the most appropriate outcome of the RFP process. However, assembly is appropriate if a consolidated development project is proposed. The protesting party did not propose a consolidated development project. Instead, the proposal was to purchase, rehabilitate and tenant the property, although there was no tenant identified. Consequently, the proposal was reviewed in the context of the best value to the city. The panel unanimously selected William Morris commercial as the proposal, offering the best value to city staff.
Speaker 8: Request City Council Adopt Specifications Number RFP CM 15 Dash 158. Declare the property as surplus. Authorize the city manager to execute any and all documents necessary for the.
Speaker 7: Sale of the property for $480,000 and accept categorical exemption. CD 16 DASH 126 and this concludes my report.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I'm going to turn this over now to Vice Mayor Lowenthal.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to. Think the staff for their work on the RFP process. I know that in selecting the proposed team. That there's disappointment among those that also submitted. A proposal, but I am confident in staff's work and assessment for what is appropriate for this particular location. I've worked in the downtown for many, many years and I'm intimately familiar with the various sites that are available and the development opportunities that are possible. And this is a very small footprint. It's 1250 square foot of land, I believe, with a 2400 square foot building, a usable building. And so the adaptive reuse of that can be tricky. And I think Mr. Conway articulated well why the staff recommendation is the one that I would support. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Councilman Gonzales. Public comment, please, on this item. Please come forward.
Speaker 0: Good evening. My name is Janet Maulvi.
Speaker 2: And I first would like to tell you that.
Speaker 0: We've been a part of Long Beach since 1980.
Speaker 2: We purchased our first house in the Wrigley area.
Speaker 0: We started our business Safe Navigation downtown in 1985. And we have been located in and around the downtown.
Speaker 2: Long Beach area.
Speaker 0: Since then. In 2009, we purchased the property on Pine in third.
Speaker 6: To.
Speaker 5: Relocate, relocate our business and we were looking.
Speaker 0: For a better location for our business. And at that time we felt Pine.
Speaker 10: Avenue was.
Speaker 0: A very vibrant place.
Speaker 2: And we liked the prestige that.
Speaker 4: Having an address on Pine Avenue and Long Beach.
Speaker 5: Held. And over the years.
Speaker 0: We have dealt with vandalism and break ins.
Speaker 2: At the.
Speaker 0: Property in question.
Speaker 2: 120 East Third Street.
Speaker 0: Being the adjoining building.
Speaker 10: We were right in the middle of all of the issues that were going on.
Speaker 0: We have been interested in acquiring the building at 1/23 since that time.
Speaker 2: As it.
Speaker 6: Occupies that little corner of our parcel.
Speaker 0: We had, in fact, been in contact with the order.
Speaker 2: To purchase that property. And I do have paperwork related to that.
Speaker 0: If I could submit it to you, that would be fantastic. We when we did submit our proposal at that time.
Speaker 6: The RDA.
Speaker 4: Was very interested in.
Speaker 0: It, but at that time they couldn't finalize any.
Speaker 2: Sales. I believe something to do with the State.
Speaker 4: Holding.
Speaker 6: All RDA properties. Not not being able to process the orders.
Speaker 0: Sorry. Our plan for the old safe navigation location. Location was to find and help businesses that were in the best interest of the local community. Also, as a way to help local entrepreneurs and small businesses to get a bigger audience for their goods and services. We were introduced to the concept of localism. Localism and felt that this was something we could get behind and help support.
Speaker 10: And now that.
Speaker 2: We've submitted.
Speaker 0: This additional information.
Speaker 6: To you, we hope you would reconsider as we feel as a long term.
Speaker 2: Our proposal would be better for the city. And if the.
Speaker 0: Amount of money is something that is an issue.
Speaker 2: I would like to state.
Speaker 6: That our order, our offer was.
Speaker 0: $25,000 less than the accepted.
Speaker 6: Offer. So if I could submit this.
Speaker 2: At this time.
Speaker 1: You can submit it to the clerk over here. Actually pick up. Thank you. Scott. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Hamilton.
Speaker 8: Thank you for your time. I'll be brief. I've been following the property on Third Street for many years. As you said, the property was taken by the RDA to become part of a larger project that was proposed for the corner of Third and Pine. Since it was going to make for a better downtown, I thought it was a smart decision and I think keeping that parcel together is still a smart decision. The owner of the surrounding property. The movies had an offer on the property when it was still with the RDA and they spent thousands of dollars and music for appraisals and for plans for a high rise development that was all yanked away when the RDA was dissolved. To make matters worse, the movies had a rundown, boarded up eyesore literally attached to their building for years. The movies turned down 99 cent store lease proposals in favor of taking a financial loss to put made in that is actually a Long Beach business incubator. This business model was done to the benefit of all of us on Pine Avenue and to the detriment of the movie's bottom line. I'm sure when the decision was made to divide up the parcel, those that made the decision did not know or did not realize that the movies had already done so much to purchase the property that the state of the building negatively affected their his property or the movie's property for years. And the corner being kept as one parcel will dramatically improve the prospect of a near future development. The movies have already facilitated a 12,500 square foot incubator space on Pine Avenue. And I can tell you it's struggling. That property is literally at the property on third street is literally attached and surrounded by the obvious property. Knowing all this, I hope that you guys will agree this property is that selling the property to the movies is the best thing for Long Beach and the best thing for us. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Hamilton.
Speaker 8: Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Thank you so much for allowing me to speak. Vice Mayor Lowenthal, thank you so much. City Council Staff. My name is Toliver Morris. I am president, CEO of William Morris Commercial. And I'm excited about this project. I'm a commercial real estate broker in downtown Long Beach. I've got about a million and a half square feet in downtown, primarily office, some retail. And I've studied this project, you know, throughout the country. Co-working is the new incubator model that's coming. And I would propose to do a first class, top rated co-working facility in this building. I think it'll be a catalyst for new co-working facilities. It'll be an innovator. It'll be an innovation hub. It'll bring together small business. I think it'll be exciting project for this property. I'm going to take the building back to its former glory. It's a 1920s, beautiful gym in our downtown. It shouldn't be demolished. It shouldn't be part of some mega plan. I think that, you know, we talked a lot about the folks here about assemblage. And obviously that's an important part of our important tool for downtowns and the cities. But assemblage, you know, should not be done when it destroys our local character, doesn't serve the community and primarily benefits one company or individual. So that's all I have. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And let me turn this back over to Vice Mayor Lowenthal. Any other comments? Okay. Let me. Councilman Gonzalez giving any comments. Okay. So any other public comment on this item? Okay. See, now I just want to add just one thing and that's, you know, one thing which as a as I heard everyone, everyone speak, it's the why don't you take us one step back into the process for all of these projects and the way that they're distributed as far as the staff is, is pretty laid out in our in our management plan. I know, Mr. Conway, I know there's a very specific way that that these projects and the way that they are either sold or the way they're either developed as part of our plan with the states, they know the process is very. Prescriptive. Very prescriptive. Right. And and I think one of the I think just making some assumptions in your processors. We're getting a lot of quality interest from a lot of people and all of these parcels and projects.
Speaker 7: That's correct. And many of the proposals are very similar in nature. So decision making can be challenging.
Speaker 1: And I think one of the things that's it's been interesting to me as these projects come to to the council is all the all the projects and the proposals are really great people and really great people that care about the city that are there making these proposals. And so I just want to say that because I think that that's going to happen, what's happening today with people not getting, you know, certain certain projects is going to continue to happen, I think, as the committee makes decisions or many decisions in the future on these projects. And so, I mean, I don't envy what you and the panel are doing, but I do know that there's a lot of quality projects out there. And so I just want to thank everyone that bids competitively for these different projects. With that, we're going to take a vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Item 21, please. | Contract | Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP CM15-158 for the purchase and development opportunity at 120 East 3rd Street, Assessor Parcel Number 7280-020-907 (Subject Property);
Declare the City-owned Subject Property as surplus;
Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute any and all necessary documents including a Purchase and Sale Agreement with William Morris Commercial, Inc., a California corporation, for the sale of the Subject Property in the amount of $480,000; and
Accept Categorical Exemption CE 16-126. (District 2) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05242016_16-0480 | Speaker 1: So that's that's a pretty important parcel. So congratulations to everybody as part of that. Next up is in District eight, the final parcel tonight, 22.
Speaker 0: Item 22 is a report from Economic and Property Development and Development Services. Recommendation two Adopt specification for the purchase and development opportunity at 5550 100 Long Beach Boulevard. Declare the city on subject property as surplus and authorize city manager to execute all necessary documents with city ventures for the sale of the subject property in the amount of 2.5 million. District eight.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Staff Report.
Speaker 8: Michael Conway.
Speaker 7: Mayor Garcia, members of the City Council. The property located at 5100 Long Beach Boulevard at the northwest corner of East Home Street and Long Beach Boulevard is a vacant lot, containing 75,376 square feet, which is slightly over 1.7 acres in size. The property was categorized as future development long range property management plan, which properties are disposed through a request for proposal process. The city received three proposals submitted in response to the RFP and a review panel analyzed the three proposals from the perspective of best value for the city. The three proposals were somewhat similar in that they all proposed residential development. However, the density ranged from six density units per acre to 86 density units per acre. The submittals included single family homes for sale, townhomes for sale and workforce housing for for rent. One proposal did not offer a purchase price, although their sources and uses table indicated the land had a contribution value of $3 million. Of the three proposals, City Ventures LLC was unanimously selected by the review panel as offering the best value to the city. City Ventures offered the apparent highest price for the property and offered a medium density project that has a good likelihood of being supported by the adjoining single family residence and the nearby residential community. City Ventures development timeline is proposed to be 90 days for due diligence, an additional nine months for entitlement and closing 30 days thereafter. Construction is anticipated to take 18 months. Staff request some flexibility in the due diligence and entitlement time frame if unforeseen events occur that delayed the proposed timeline and with that staff request City Council adopt specifications number RFP PEP 16 Dash 001 for the purchase and development of 5100 Long Beach Boulevard. Declare the property surplus authorized city manager. Execute all documents necessary for the sale of the property to City Ventures, LLC for 2.5 million.
Speaker 8: And accept categorical.
Speaker 7: Exemption. S.E. 16 DASH 129. This concludes my report.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Braxton.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I want to thank Mr. Conway and the entire staff for their work in helping to move this project along. I want to congratulate the City Ventures team for winning a competitive bid. There were two other proposals that they beat out for this this project, 42 market rate, condominium units. I think it's reasonable density and ample parking along a transit corridor. This is the project that we we're actually would love to see happen along Long Beach Boulevard. It's going to be a great addition and a dramatic improvement along the Long Beach Boulevard corridor. It will really upgrade our Virginia Village area. I did have a couple of just really quick questions. I know that particular property has two existing residential properties. I'm just almost connected to it. What do you foresee happening with those properties? The the privately owned properties, I am assuming are going to remain in place and exist and continue.
Speaker 8: To exist as residential properties.
Speaker 7: The idea of this lower density was to ensure that the transition from this property to the single family residence nearby and to the residential.
Speaker 8: Community across.
Speaker 7: The street, was intended to be a more of a soft inner integration rather than something a little bit more intense. So we think this will be an appropriate project and indeed the staff report and the plans. Is there a way to to augment this for mixed use? Should the developer decide to go down that route? We can certainly explore that through the entitlement process. Okay. Thank you very much. Members, I ask for your your support on this.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 11: I'll just jump in and congratulate City Ventures, congratulate Councilman Austin and city staff on on making this happen. I know this lot because I live on Long Beach Boulevard, just over the river. That's right next to where I go to the pharmacy. So this is this is pretty exciting for for that particular neighborhood. So congratulations to all look forward to that timeline.
Speaker 1: Any public comment on this item? Okay. CNN will take it back here, then again. Again, another great parcel. It's great to see the work being done. Councilman, congratulations. And please cast your votes.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Okay. That concludes the three the three items. I understand that the next next few meetings, there's going to be items like this consistently. So and that's a good thing. I think that'll be that'll be good across the city. Let's go back to our homeless items, which we thought we were going to be earlier. I apologize. So let's start. There's two of them. The first one, I believe, is item number 14. Is that right? Yes. Okay. Item 14. | Contract | Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP EP16-001 for the purchase and development opportunity at 5100 Long Beach Boulevard, Assessor Parcel Numbers 7131-032-900, -905, -908, -909, -910, -911, -912, -913 (Subject Property);
Declare the City-owned Subject Property as surplus;
Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute any and all necessary documents including a Purchase and Sale Agreement with City Ventures, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, or affiliate, for the sale of the Subject Property in the amount of $2,500,000; and
Accept Categorical Exemption CE 16-129. (District 8) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05242016_16-0474 | Speaker 1: Let's go back to our homeless items, which we thought we were going to be earlier. I apologize. So let's start. There's two of them. The first one, I believe, is item number 14. Is that right? Yes. Okay. Item 14. And then we'll take 24, which is related to that. Madam Clerk.
Speaker 0: Item 14 is communication from Councilwoman Gonzalez, Vice Mayor Lowenthal and Councilman Austin. Recommendation to direct the City Manager Language Health and Human Services Department and the Long Beach Police Department to report on the current state of homelessness in the city of Long Beach.
Speaker 1: I'm going to turn this now over to Vice Mayor Lowenthal or I'm sorry, is it Councilwoman Gonzales, actually?
Speaker 4: Thank you. So I brought for this item, as I know many people have been inquiring as to the current state of homelessness as our city is changing. There are a lot of different elements and moving parts. I know many individuals come to council each week to ask questions, and I know our health department, along with many of our community partners, are doing quite a bit in this realm to tackle the issue of homelessness and to offer more resources and to acquire grant funding and to also provide education and statistics. I can tell you firsthand that we've had about seven community watch meetings in the First District alone, and each meeting was attended by our police department, but as well as our health department, who really educated our downtown communities or West Side communities and central Long Beach communities about their work every single day in what we're doing to outreach to these populations, which I think is so very important. So this agenda item was just an informational to receive a report back related to different components that we've been hearing, not just from First District residents, but citywide. It touches on mental health services and the funds allocated substance abuse prevention services. As I think, you know, we're doing a lot of work, but I think there's certainly more we can we can do. I know we're very limited in funding, but I think in speaking with both Susan and Kelly, I know that there's a lot of work that they're doing. And in addition, homeless children and families. I did notice in a 24 report that there was a line item for families. And I notice in the reports now that I don't see that. So I wanted to actually ask about that. And in addition to the grant funding, what we're doing is specific to receiving funds from the county, which I know we've received recently, last year and so forth. And so I'll turn it over to you and the Health Department, to each of you, if there's anything you wanted to add. Now, I know we're asking for this report to come back later, but if there's any just preliminary updates you'd like to add. And then also my question related to the families section.
Speaker 1: Vice Mayor Lowenthal.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you to Councilmember Gonzales for bringing this item forward. We're not new to this issue, of course, but we are seeing it in all of our districts now, not just the downtown or uptown. We have many constituents that have week after week during council meetings, raised concerns about the issue. I appreciate that it is very time and resource intensive as it relates to various city departments and the IT being. How do we address this issue? It's easy to say that it's just a health department issue or just a police issue when in actuality it's our entire city that needs to address this. So thank you to the staff that we have had for many years, especially Susan Price, who's worked on this with her heart and soul and spent her career here at the city doing her best and putting our best foot forward and reminding everyone that we are a city of great compassion. So thank you for your efforts. And as you go into looking at how we could better serve the homeless, I appreciate that the work that you'll be putting into it going forward. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Sorry, I had asked a question before. No, that's okay. No, no, it's all right. I just wanted to make sure I got that answered first, so.
Speaker 5: No, that's okay. That's all right.
Speaker 10: Good evening. We do have some answers from the questions that Suzanne will provide. A short report and then answer those questions will be coming back to you with a longer, more detailed report around the rest of the data. Perfect.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Councilwoman Pryce.
Speaker 6: Okay. I'm confused.
Speaker 1: Which confused him.
Speaker 6: Oh.
Speaker 1: You know what? We're going to do another price. Why don't why don't we do page 20 of the staff report on this?
Speaker 8: Absolutely. We have our entire homeless contingent from the Health and Human Services Department, our director, Kelly Colby, bureau manager Suzanne Price for her last meeting and also Teresa Chandler. So Kelly.
Speaker 10: All right, Susan Will. We'll start by answering some of the questions for which we have the data available, and then we will complete the rest of the report when we come back to Council on the Future. Honorable mayor and city council members. Just a very brief report on some of the information that's being requested. We do a biannual homeless count every two years, and our next one is coming up on January 26, 2017. We are accepting volunteers as we speak for that homeless count and will have some very robust information to update from our prior count that was listed in this item. Additionally, I want to mention that the Homeless Services Division comprises about a $10 million annual budget, primarily with the continuum of care, the emergency shelter grant dollars, and also some county funds, regional funds that we receive for homeless veterans. Our portfolio currently in the continuum of care, is about 28.8% in mental health services for both individuals and families in the city of Long Beach. That is about a $2 million annual contribution from the continuum of care. And then for families and children, that equates to about 14%, about $1 million in our annual continuum of care application is for families with children in Long Beach that are currently experiencing homelessness. And I know that there are other requests being asked here in for the detailed report that will be coming forward. We can outline a bit more of that in our inter-departmental collaborative work with the police department and other city departments on the issue of homelessness
Speaker 1: . Okay. Thank you very much. Let me I have some council comments first. I've got three those Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you to the Health Department and Susan and your team for the excellent work that you have done. I had an opportunity to have a briefing with Kelly today, so we've talked a little bit about some of these issues. And I know that I've talked with Susan in the past about homeless issues and coming up with out of the box solutions that we can try. Even on a pilot basis in parts of the city, one of the things that I've noticed and I had the opportunity to go on a ride along with Long Beach PD two weeks ago, East Division Officer Dodson took me out and I had an opportunity to work with your homeless outreach team that reported, and I was just so incredibly impressed by the approach that they take when they approach these individuals. If it's a veteran, the specific veterans team goes out. If it's someone with mental illness, the mental illness specialists go out. But the problem that I saw that is of major concern to me is a large number of the people that we saw and we contacted. And Officer Dodson was great. We we approached these people with Officer Dodson, and it was honestly, it was life changing to be able to be up close and personal and do it with him. But a number of these people have substance abuse problems. And you don't want me to get on my Prop 47 train, but I think we're starting to see more and more of that, at least where I work every day. We're starting to see more and more people addicted to drugs, and that may lead to mental illness. But what we're seeing is people who are choosing to not accept the services that we have. So you should be commended for the amazing services and resources that we offer. But the problem, in my opinion, is what do you do about the people who don't want the services? What what is our plan? What's our solution? What are we going to be doing long term for those individuals? Because more and more people are choosing to be homeless. And the idea of getting treatment is not something that says enticing for them. Above and beyond that, however, we don't really have any treatment options available for them, so we really have nothing to give them, even if they wanted to participate in some sort of a long term treatment plan, nothing that's affordable that they can that we can get funding for. So that's an area where I hope once we get the data, we can kind of focus and see what are other cities doing. What kind of support can we get from the county to try to fund some substance abuse type programs? We I can't tell you how many bike chop shops we saw while we were out there. In fact, I was looking for my own bike. If anyone sees a red cruiser with Hawaiian flowers on it, that belongs to me. But there were some very high quality, you know, bike parts all over the place and along with hypodermic needles and all sorts of things that go along with the drug addicts on the streets, lifestyle, incredibly sad. A lot of young people out there who have so much potential, I'm sure. And so, you know, we I've expressed to Susan in the past that we want to be as involved as we can be, as the department will allow us to be, and trying to help find solutions and and even implement some of them in the third district to see what works. So I want to thank you for your work. Susan is on vacation. She came in special tonight. So I thought that in order to make her trip worthwhile, I would share with her. I'm not sure if she knows, but the Grunion Gazette today had a cover story about Susan. And I'm going to read the story because ever since she was named the homeless czar, I've received nothing but emails from people in Orange County asking me if I'm leaving the DA's office to become the homeless czar because Susan and I share a name identity theft. So the news flash from the grunion today. I was tired of being, quote, just another Susan Price. The original Susan Price leaves Long Beach to be a czar. In a surprising turn of events, the County of Orange recently announced that it would be stealing one of the city of long beaches, top employees Susan Price, in order to entice her to leave the more superior local government entity. Orange County Supervisors apparently gave Price the title of homeless czar. When asked what she thought about the move, Price said, How can you pass up a job with the czar in the title? The move comes as a big surprise to the other Susan Price, who serves as a councilwoman in Long Beach and goes by the nickname Susie Price. When asked what she thought about the move, Councilman Price said Maybe now people in Long Beach won't confuse our email addresses, according to the councilwoman over the past 18 months. Many emails intended for her went to Susan Price instead. Councilwoman Price qualified any inappropriate response a resident may have received from her as being from Susan Price, she said. If you received an email response to the effective, that sounds like a First World problem or seriously, are you kidding me with that complaint? That was likely from Susan, not Susie Price. In an unrelated development, we have learned that Susie Price was recently fired from her job and in Orange County. Apparently she went to her boss and demanded that she be called the prosecution czar. Tony Rackauckas was not amused. In other news, Orange County officials were caught on tape asking how they can be more like Long Beach. The new homeless czar of Orange County was late to work on her first day because all the buildings in Orange County look the same. The Real Housewives of Orange County want the homeless czar to get a makeover so she can fit in. In The O.C., Councilwoman Price is going to be sponsoring an agenda item forbidding the hiring of anyone named Susan Price, citing email confusion as the primary reason. And Councilman Price tells the homeless czar that she better get used to the title. The other Susan Price, now that she's coming to O.C. because karma is a you know what? So we wish you the best of luck. We're looking forward to having you. Well, I'm looking forward to having you in O.C., because we'll be working across the street practically from one another, so we'll be able to meet one another. Where the homeless are currently congregating between your office and mine. The tent city. That's where we can meet and have lunch together every once in a while. So congratulations on your new position, and thank you for everything you've done for us.
Speaker 10: Thank you, sister. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Councilman Andrew.
Speaker 12: Thank you. Thank you very much. I'm so glad to be able to be working with Susan Thursday night with the name of the czar. Maybe we can really solve a lot of problems. That's accessory. But I'm committed, my colleagues on this item because it's a great compassion, you know, for our residents who have become homeless or as homeless. You know, and I would like to ask you as a friendly if that's okay with council, I mean, you know, to include the report, what is step to, you know, the city of Long Beach and has taken a recommendation to implement from October four, you know, 2004, there was a ten year strategy in homelessness. So if she would like that, I don't know what she's made her, you know, a motion yet, but if you like, I like to use as a friendly. Yes. You know, I'd like to have a recommend it. Take the recommendation and implement from the Oct 204 ten year, you know, ready to end homelessness. So what are the steps in the city of Long Beach that's been taken? What steps have been taken by the recommendation implemented from October 2004? What steps has been taken?
Speaker 4: So just. Yeah, just taking that information. Yes, that's kind of combining the two. Sure. We can do that if.
Speaker 12: That would be fine with you.
Speaker 1: Councilman, you Ringa.
Speaker 13: Thank you, Mary. And I want to add my voice and congratulations to Susan Price, not Susie and her appointment to Orange County. I had the honor of working with Susan for a number of years when I was at the Health Department, and we worked a lot on some of these issues that she had. But aside from that, I have some questions, obviously. My district runs by well, a river runs through it. As I always like to say, the L.A. River and the L.A. River is a hotbed of homelessness. It appears there are always there. And it seems like every time that there is a sweep or a cleanup, they're back almost, almost immediately. So maybe you can help me understand the the partnership that the city has with the county of Los Angeles and Caltrans and what they do for outreach and environmental cleanups as it relates to the river and to the flood control and other areas that are highly appealable. Appeal appealable to the homeless to have their encampments. Is there. And let me explain. I guess I should explain what I want here. Every time that I get a complaint from a resident or a constituent relate regarding the homeless encampment along the river or along the freeway, we have to go through some hoops to get them out. So maybe you can can you explain for my purpose, as well as the constituents who are out there in terms of what the process is that we have to go through in order to get such encampments out of the way, out of sight.
Speaker 10: We're looking for that in the future. REPORTER Are you looking for a response now?
Speaker 13: Well, if you're not right now, obviously, yes. But if not, then I would have to wait to the report. That's fine. That's ready tonight. That's fine.
Speaker 10: We have a, you know, the current efforts.
Speaker 13: Okay.
Speaker 10: Council member Urunga Ah ah. Inter-departmental collaboration extends to a regional collaboration with the LA County Public Works Flood Control District, as well as Caltrans and a number of other. There's railroad land and a number of other areas along the L.A. River corridor. The Health Department and the police department work collaborative collaboratively with these jurisdictional land authorities because the police department and the health department are basically managing the entire city of Long Beach jurisdiction, even though those land management areas may change. And so, you know, there's been a lot of collaboration over the years with that. And L.A. County has become very diligent in doing very frequent maintenance operations along the flood control. It is a infrastructure item, not necessarily a place safe for human habitation, as we all know. And so our outreach teams are out there very regular, regularly monitoring. You know, the things that belong to the city of Long Beach primarily are the bridges, but the rest of the flood control is L.A. County jurisdiction. And so we we work hand-in-hand with them on addressing those issues. And, you know, historically, there were anywhere upwards of 400 people along the L.A. River from Queensway Bay Bridge all the way up to Artesia. It hasn't been like that in a number of years, but we're starting to see an increase along the L.A. River corridor, as well as the increase, you know, that we're dealing with citywide.
Speaker 13: Yeah. And that's and that's my concern is that there seems to be a much more emboldened, if you will, homeless community that is making those encampments there. I mean, there's an encampment right off of a will. And and and the and the river the freeway right there where it's just like taking over a whole spa. Looks like a mansion. But and I know that we've had a couple of cleanups in that in that area. However, it seems like they come back almost the next day. Is there any kind of follow up? Is there is there follow up from the police department or the other agencies? When we clean out, we have a sweep or whatever, clean up, clean out of that area. Is there any follow up immediately? Like to make sure that they don't come back? It appears like from from one day to the next they're just back at it again. Is there is there some kind of follow up that we have on it?
Speaker 10: Council member. I think that, you know, we have struggled with resource from both the street outreach perspective as well as our work with the police department on managing the various hotspot locations that we have throughout the city, as well as the two river corridors that we maintain, the San Gabriel and the L.A. River.
Speaker 13: So when you say resources, you're talking about manpower, wind power. People power.
Speaker 10: People power.
Speaker 13: All right. Well, it's a little frustrating for me, obviously, because I'm getting these I mean, almost on a daily basis, I'm getting a complaint of an encampment right at the exit, individuals who are unkempt and very highly visible to the public, and it's just unsightly. I wish that once this report is done that we can also come back with some solutions as to how we can make it more lasting. And I know that what happens on many occasions is that when we might. Have a sweep or a cleanup and they end up going into the neighborhoods. So we need some more real, lasting solutions to this issue because they're not going away. In fact, we're finding that they're increasing. So we need to find more solutions to this situation that be reactive by being proactive. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Council member Supernanny.
Speaker 11: Thank you. Regarding the Grunion article, I noticed the date on that was May 22nd and I believe the Go Forth Friday newsletter scooped the grunion there. Apologies to Harry Salts gave her, but we ran an article titled Susan Price not Susie headed to Orange County and we covered her fell farewell party. And Susan, you mentioned me in your farewell address and thank you for that. And that was very humbling. And I appreciate that. I would. You had a quote on on Thursday night, Susan, and it was about I'll put you on the spot here. It's about the 1% factor. And I just want to commend you for how much your department has done that. If we go by the statistics, the homeless population in Long Beach should be much larger than it actually is. And due to your diligence and your great work, it's a fraction of the size. Is it actually, which I'd like you to kind of elaborate on that formula and how you work that.
Speaker 10: Council member super. And I was referring to the 1% of any city's population that the national statistic would be homeless. And within the city of Long Beach, being a city of half a million people, that should be around 5000 people. But in our 2015 homeless count, which I have right here, it's 2345. And I really attribute that to a perfect storm that started in 1987 with the Task Force on Homelessness that had a vision to create a coordinated entry point, which in 1999 it realized in the Multi-Service Center over on the west side of the city. The other part of that perfect storm was that the Base Realignment and Closure Act that created the 26 acre villages at Cabrillo, which the original conveyance was somewhere around 860 people that would be housed in affordable housing to date were up around 1300, I believe, with some additional phases of development, housing and affordability over there at the villages at Cabrillo. So, you know, this is a this is a model system of care. I've been very fortunate to be a part of it all of these years, but ultimately it works very well. And it is an interdepartmental collaboration between all the different departments to try to mitigate street homelessness as well as address service, service needs and housing needs of our populations. So every department has been involved in that.
Speaker 11: Thank you for that explanation. And I think we know that we're going to stay after this. We're going to work very hard on the issues. My counsel there certainly has my first year in office, but I just wanted to commend you at this time for the great work in the past. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 11: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I want to just first acknowledge our health department, and particularly Susan Price, who's done a fantastic job within this space. I've had the chance to work with her on the Windows Winter Shelter for a number of years, and it's been a great experience. And the residents have really, you know, have they're comfortable with our winter shelter. So I want to start off by just acknowledging her. I want to I want to just mention. I don't think it makes as much sense for me to point out the small new nuances. But we have some major issues that we have to think big about, and I'm hoping that this is an opportunity to talk about them. So, one, we need a long term plan for winter shelter. So there's not an emergency every year. We've talked about that, but that's something that I hope can be addressed in this report. We need to talk about the expansion of shelters in general within our city. I think with within the conversation about the L.A. River restoration, the I 17 corridor project in the 1991 freeway modernization, I think now is an important time to start thinking about how our interests, how those projects can align to fix what I believe is one of the one of the unsafe is freeway intersections with hundreds of people living living under that freeway intersection when I'm talking about the 1791. So if anyone goes down down in that area, there are literally hundreds of tents that you can only see on unless you cannot see from the public. Residents cannot see it. But if you take one or two of the on ramps or off ramps, you can see it. And the fact is, it's there. It's unsafe. It's not. It's within the city of Long Beach, but not on our agency. It's going to be very difficult to to fix this. But this is one of the worst interchanges in Southern California with some of the the most difficult homeless issue. So I hope that we have an opportunity to really think big and talk about leveraging these large scale projects to finally talk about this.
Speaker 1: Carlton Boston.
Speaker 7: Yes, thank you. And I want to express my congratulations to Susan Price for her, her role now in Orange County as designer of homelessness. Thank you for your great service to the city of Long Beach. You've been great to work with. I also want to thank Councilmember Gonzalez for allowing me to sign on to this. This item, obviously, I think homeless. This is becoming fast becoming the most serious issue facing our city on many levels, I think. I'm glad we're talking about this because we do have a more responsibility to address this issue and take on the challenge . I don't think we have much of a choice. It's our burden to share together. And leadership and governance is not easy. We're going to have to make tough decisions and lead on these issues. I think to effectively address this is going to require, and I'd like to use the basketball analogy is going to require a full court press from this entire city. From all departments, and we should also be prepared to commit more resources locally to deal with the problem. It's a complicated issue because it mostly deals with adults with substance abuse problems and as I mentioned, mental illness, poverty and the numbers are good here in the city of Long Beach, I guess if you look at the national trend, but they're still not acceptable and they are increasing. We specifically I get complaints in and I think we all get complaints from constituents about this issue. And most of the time, constituents are not complaining about the homeless. They want to do something more to help. Right. We have and Rex mentioned the L.A. River councilmember. You want to mention the L.A. River? We are having we are about to go into construction along with the forest wetlands. And we know that hundreds of homeless live in that area. We need a plan to deal with that once we start construction. They're living under our freeways. We just recently did a river cleanup with the friends of the L.A. River. And I was pretty, pretty it was pretty eye opening to go underneath the freeway underpass and see how people were living and the sheer numbers of people living under one little freeway underpass, our alleys, along our business corridors and oftentimes behind our residents, the homeless are saying no camps, our city parks. And most recently in I got a call at about 7:00 in the morning, just about a week ago with somebody set up right in broad daylight on Atlantic Avenue and 46th Street in Bixby Knolls on the sidewalk. I think the homeless are crying out and seeking attention, and we we have to respond. Of the 2300 homeless that we have, I think the staff report says that 1500 are unsheltered. I had a question for staff. How many? What is our capacity right now to provide shelter to the homeless with that? So I understand somewhere around we have 832 sheltered individuals, according to the staff report. Are we at capacity there?
Speaker 10: Somewhat of a more complicated question because the homeless count report only reflects beds that are designated for homeless persons. However, in on any given day in the city of Long Beach, there could be 1500 people sheltered in in programs like drug and alcohol programs that are not specifically designated for homeless population specifically. This report is a HUD report. So it's only those that are like homeless emergency shelter, homeless transitional programs. There's a number of other programs where people are referred and where people are sheltered or staying in transitional awaiting permanent housing placements. So in answer to your question is probably more like 1500.
Speaker 7: Unsheltered or.
Speaker 10: Sheltered, sheltered emergency and transitional.
Speaker 7: Okay. Thank you so much. And I guess I don't expect an answer tonight. Oh, I did have one other question. In terms of the work that we do as a city. How many outreach workers do we actually have to go out and provide services and do outreach to to the homeless in our city?
Speaker 10: The city of Long Beach employs three street outreach workers, but the Street Outreach Network is relatively robust. How many would you say? About 20 different hours.
Speaker 7: Join the outreach network and that consist of.
Speaker 10: Sure the outreach network is basically all of the agencies that are funded in the continuum of care and it includes veteran outreach workers, mental health outreach workers. Let's see, there are help me out. De Alba, the quality of life unit with the police department. The three staff that we have, we're the Gateway Cities COG folks. I mentioned Mental Health America.
Speaker 7: Okay. I'd like to know more about that. Our capacity to do that and what exactly the mission is when we when we're doing outreach. And again, that can come back. I would like to add a friendly of Councilmember Gonzalez that that we received some sort of recommendation from staff to improve our capacity to house homeless both in transitional and permanent housing. If you're open to that.
Speaker 4: Are you suggesting options that they come back with or choosing? Yes. That sounds good.
Speaker 7: Sounds good. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Hello. It's on the side. Okay. Sorry goes on. Thanks, Mr. Lowenthal.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I know that this item that was authored by Councilwoman Gonzales is asking for the state of our homelessness and the state of the services that we provide. But I think I know Councilwoman Gonzales well enough to know that it's really to lay the framework for the larger conversation that I know she and others on this council would like to have when this report comes back. I will not be on this council. And I wanted to just share some thoughts about this larger conversation. Some of my colleagues have alluded to it. I think our staff has alluded to it. But when we look at cities, communities and states that address the very same issues that we're discussing tonight, we see that there is perhaps a conceptual shift that's taking place for a very long time. We assume that you would have to deal with the issues that homeless residents. Present themselves with, such as drug addiction, abuse, mental illness, all the things that we are aware of, we talk about and I know that our staff struggle with to help address. And I'm looking at my. Friends and colleagues from the domestic violence community who know very well how it is when a victim presents herself or himself and has multiple diagnosis. And how do you approach that? And perhaps what we've been doing for far too long as a city and a community and a society is overcomplicating, adding tremendous amount of complexity to something that's quite basic, which is a fundamental need, and that's housing. And so. If we could in the larger conversation that you will all have and I will watch from home or here and be inspired by. If I can hope that you would have the conversation about just how do we come forward as a city that places Housing First? And I know we're doing a pilot project to Mr. City managers that at The Villages. Yes. So it's a housing first approach, which is housing. No questions asked. No conditions, no strings attached. So when you look at Central Florida and you look at the state of Utah, which I know many of us may not expect progressive actions to come out of the state of Utah. But I. I beg to differ. I beg to differ. If you look at their approach to homelessness, it's quite progressive. The state legislature has funded. Housing for homeless individuals without strings attached. And that conceptual shift is called Housing First. And so I would like to see our city move in that direction, which is do not put these conditions that you must be clean and sober and you must be this and you must be that in order for us to provide housing. That is a very, very, very strict and and somewhat conservative but misguided approach, because if we are concerned about our residents and housing our residents, we shouldn't attach all these conditions to it. If we want to ask ourselves, why are people settling into settlements along freeway embankments in places that we just know are so dangerous? We have to look at ourselves and see what conditions perhaps we may be placing, what requirements that we may place. Our staff our staff does a tremendous job. And I'm very. I'm I'm I'm glad that we are less than the 1%. Councilwoman Gonzales reminded me that when we do our homeless count, those are the folks that we can count. So I'm not sure if if there is a better way to get an exact count, but however we reduce it is always a success. But if I can urge my colleagues to look at how we approach solving homelessness. Understanding the state of homelessness. Understanding the resources that we have and that we are currently applying. But what are the guidelines? What is the guiding principles that this council is going to give its staff when it comes to addressing homelessness? If just like Vision Zero, we are working toward zero collisions that you have to have a guiding principle. So I hope we can be bold enough to say to our staff, housing first. And then let the professionals address the other issues. But if we are about getting our people off our streets, let's not tie any strings to them. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 4: I just wanted to thank everyone for their thoughtful comments. I know this is a very large subject, and I wanted to touch on a few things that I think were very important to many of our residents. And I also wanted to include in here a time frame as to when we can come back. So I'll request that this information come back within 90 days and then we can go forward from there. But I thank my colleagues for this information.
Speaker 8: Mayor Councilmembers This is such a large topic. I don't think there's any way we can come back in 90 days. I'm going to talk to Kelly for a suggest.
Speaker 4: What would be realistic?
Speaker 3: Theresa Yeah.
Speaker 10: Six months. We were going through the continuum of care application. We were planning for a homeless count and we've lost our bureau manager. So if you could give us six months, I would appreciate that. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Okay. Six months is fine. But if we can, you know, I understand with this, you know, everything, considering we'll.
Speaker 6: Come back.
Speaker 8: It will come back at 90 days or 90 day increments with updates. So you'll see an update.
Speaker 10: That we're happy with. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4: This is timely and I just want to make sure that we're on track and we don't get it, you know, another year.
Speaker 10: And no, we think we can bring you data, the specific data that you requested in a report in terms of the additional planning conversations that have been going, we'll need longer time to to spend more time planning for those and to present those in a report.
Speaker 4: That would be great. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you. Public comment on this item. Please come forward.
Speaker 5: Hello. My name is Joanna Ferraro. I am a resident of downtown, so I pay a mortgage. I also own a small business and I do not get a paycheck to work with our people experiencing homelessness in our city. No one is paying me. I've had a father die as a homeless man and I've been in the trenches over ten years. So where I'm coming from is I need to see downtown Long Beach thrive because I'm invested 100%. And number two, I have some personal experience with this. And number three, I was told when I came to Long Beach, I went to a meeting which you were at and listen to a lot of people complain about the homelessness issue here in downtown or in Long Beach. And I asked one simple question when I really demanded the mic and I said, you know, thank you for all you do. And I still continue to say that because a lot of people cannot do what you do. They can't. It takes very thick skin. So thank you for what you're doing. But what is it that we can do to help? And since then, that's been over a year and I've done nothing but research. I've been working with every program with Alice and Crip, Steve at Dolby, Dolby to Beacon for him, villages. MH And done ride alongs with our quality of life officers. I've been doing nothing but research on my own because this is something I care very much about. And I again, I don't get paid to do this. But I will say this the one thing I'm learning, I had to write in my hand because I have to do that and get my notes on. The one thing I learned is that community education is key. And even hearing what you guys said, there's myths and actual sentences. US council members said right now, which tells me we need to educate you first and foremost, because I just heard you guys say myths not to put anyone on blast, but I was like, Oh my gosh, they don't know. They think they don't know the information. They need to know that. And I literally put together 40 a 45 minute PowerPoint, and it's the nine collaborative truths. And what it is, is is every single entity that is working in the trenches.
Speaker 10: Have said.
Speaker 5: To me over and over again, It's not jio's words. It is their words. They are the ones getting their hands dirty every day. So what is it? They agree that our community, our leaders need to know? What is it that we need to educate because they need more cheerleaders? Because when they have a title, they're going to get some people listening to them and some go at your views.
Speaker 6: A little skewed because you work for the city.
Speaker 5: So I didn't do that. I got my hands dirty and figured out what those truths are. Those truths need to be spread and educated. We need to understand our outreach workers and respect what they do and really listen to them. We need to fill the gap. The gap is that we aren't getting people accepting our services because there's a gap and we need to understand how to get that gap, dissipate that gap. We need to use preventative aspects to my time's going to run out on me. Preventative. No one wants to talk about the preventatives of homelessness. Where's our economy at? Where's minimum wage? Where are jobs at? No one's talked about that part. There's a preventative way to homelessness, too, right. We've got to look at those other things in our in our society. Last but not least, we need to involve our community leaders like me and Alice and Chris, who do this for no paycheck but care that much about this downtown in our community. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you to you. Excellent. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 6: Good evening.
Speaker 4: My name is Sharon we with Interval House. And tonight I'm also here as co-chair for the Long Beach Continuum of Care for the Homeless and on behalf of the 20 diverse and very passionate agencies working and aiming to end homelessness in our community, we are excited to be come back also to help with whatever information the city is going to provide. But we wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you to our housing leader, Susan Price. And Susan has been a visionary and she has guided our collective efforts and she has helped shape Long Beach to be a model of the United States in solving and ending the issue of homelessness. And it's something that we're very, very proud of. We know there's more work to be done, but it's something that HUD, seeing what has been so effective and successful here, is now encouraging communities across our nation to create a collective, coordinated system like the one we started here at the Multi-Service Center. And so that's something that we as a community should feel proud of at Interval House. We also serve victims. We serve victims of domestic violence, primarily so many that end up homeless because they are fleeing life threatening violence in their own homes. And Susan and the city has helped us expand very critical housing programs that have literally saved lives. And for that, we're also very thankful to you. We have, under Susan's leadership, really created something that has been decreasing the numbers of homelessness in our city. And we are seeing an end to veteran homelessness. That's something that we haven't really talked about tonight, but that's something that is something that has been a collective effort and something that is real. And we only hope to continue that work. So we want to thank you, Susan, for taking us along your journey and being a part of that and for fighting for the homeless people and for changing lives in a way that no one else could. And we have a lot more work to be done.
Speaker 5: And we.
Speaker 4: Need to do more to end homelessness in our community. And we're going to take what you taught us, what you gave us, and we're going to move forward. I see and I hear a lot of interest among our communities, leaders and in our community. And we are only going to keep moving and we're going to make you proud and we love you.
Speaker 0: And we're going to miss.
Speaker 4: You immensely. And we're proud to see what's heading your way. So thank you for letting me.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Hikers soon come into the house. I wanted to add.
Speaker 5: A few things to watch her and she say so beautifully.
Speaker 4: And tonight.
Speaker 2: I'm here also as a resident of the city of Long Beach. And so I'm also talking on behalf of a community.
Speaker 4: And I want to.
Speaker 2: Take this opportunity to thank.
Speaker 5: You.
Speaker 2: Suzanne, for the work done. We have done we have.
Speaker 4: Worked with you for.
Speaker 5: Over a.
Speaker 4: Decade on.
Speaker 2: Working toward.
Speaker 4: Ending homelessness. And I want to thank you for your commitment.
Speaker 2: Your hard work, your dedication. To ending.
Speaker 4: Domestic violence. And thank you for.
Speaker 5: Always having a open door policy and following and for being a wonderful leaders.
Speaker 4: And you're leaving, but you're leaving behind you. An amazing staff.
Speaker 2: That has been very.
Speaker 4: Well trained. You are leaving programs that have been implemented.
Speaker 2: And to really work toward ending.
Speaker 4: Homelessness and everything that you leave behind, you will.
Speaker 5: Continue your legacy.
Speaker 2: So thank you for everything you have done. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Next week put.
Speaker 5: Hi. I'm Alison Crisp. Most of you know, thank you for having me up here right now. First of all, I want to say I'm.
Speaker 10: Super bummed you're leaving. Thank you so much.
Speaker 5: For letting me leave long messages on your voicemail for as many times as I did. Although you guys don't let enough room to leave long messages on your voicemail. Just kidding. But serious.
Speaker 4: I have been not only just to hear.
Speaker 10: To reiterate what Giovanna.
Speaker 4: Had.
Speaker 5: Just mentioned a few minutes ago, but to also personally say, I don't think we're personally all going to hear and end homelessness. I think what we're going to need to focus here.
Speaker 10: And this comes.
Speaker 5: From myself as well, being a volunteer within the community and learning a lot within the past three years.
Speaker 10: I am a downtown business owner.
Speaker 5: And I just moved to Councilmember Orange as a.
Speaker 4: District. Thank you. I'm very I love living over there.
Speaker 10: So I understand where you're talking.
Speaker 5: About and where you're coming from. There is so much complexity to this issue. Me just being one person taking it on myself. I've actually working with Friends of Linkin Park for a couple of years ago when.
Speaker 10: I first started volunteering with them.
Speaker 4: I, I became friends with some of them that were living at the park and.
Speaker 5: Most recently helped one of them.
Speaker 4: Find housing with not just me, but that village.
Speaker 5: That is along here.
Speaker 4: That has helped get her.
Speaker 5: Housing. It takes one person at a time for those that are just not only on our hard working council and our wonderful Health and Human Services Department.
Speaker 4: That it it's what we are able to provide for our city.
Speaker 5: Is an incredible amount of outreach that helps each person individually. Our quality of life team, our caseworkers, our outreach team, our our our volunteers that are within the city that.
Speaker 4: Are out there every day, talking to.
Speaker 5: People, handing out all the type of resource cards that we have. It's not. It's an education. It's going to take some time and we're all going to be.
Speaker 4: A part of it. We all have to take accountability for it, and we all have to be a part of of this daily, daily, daily.
Speaker 5: I don't want to say it's not a problem. Daily. Complex issue. Thank you guys so much. Congratulations. I'm super bummed you're leaving, but who's taking your place?
Speaker 10: Oh, yeah. Theresa Chandler, homeless services office.
Speaker 4: Congratulations, Theresa.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 8: Very good. You could look as it is. Sorry to see you go. First time I've seen you in person. Talk to you in a number of times. Thank you. As one who spends a great deal of time up in downtown L.A. and, quite frankly, a good portion of L.A. County. Whatever, populate whatever our homeless issue is now, you can expect it to at least double within the next two or three years. L.A. is on a full court press to. Move them out and guess where they're coming. Want to share with you an idea that some of you may have gotten an email from a relative to a specific segment of. Potentially. Homeless people were heading that off and pursuant to the fruit, if we can get their approval and I think we will be getting that from the Secretary of Veteran Affairs. There is an area down in the Marine Stadium which again, it was the area that I was dealing with the last couple weeks. Next to a building called eight. And in between that eight end structure and the there's a a storage area there for both people that have the water ski and towboats and so forth. What I am going to suggest is that what we will do is get, I believe, either eight or excuse me, 12 to 16 Airstream type trailers. And those will be for. Combat troops that are now in a program as they're going through the programs of the VA. And there are about one or two steps away from. Coming out into society 100% or as close to 100% as they can stability. And what prompted that idea was, one, I had been focusing in on that specific area, as mentioned last week or for a few weeks before. But then then the last couple of days, again, which I think many people saw, I have seen on TV, the Expos, the TV chronicling the programs, chronicling what Prince Harry has been doing with his combat veterans, so forth, and it just all merged into one. So I think that's a great location. It is only a five minute walk to two bus stops, which we would put into any place, and particularly the VA. And when we have a new A-10 that's going to be fashioned in such a manner that it will have the showers, which will be available only to them and to kids on the field trips and also special events 10 to 12 times a year. It will not be an open public restroom, but I think it's a serene setting. If you haven't, if you're not familiar with the area, go down there, look for eight end and then walk north on that green grass and that stretch. And that's.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr..
Speaker 8: Good to you. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Okay. Back to the council. Council's already made their comments. Please cast your votes.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 0: Watching Kerry's.
Speaker 1: Okay. Just as a reminder to the council, we have a long agenda still left. So we're going to continue to try to get through it the best we can. Different people have to leave at different moments. And so I'm just trying to make sure that we have quorum. There's a lot of issues still ahead of the council, so I'm gonna try to get through some of these quickly. Item 13, please. 13, Madam Clerk. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to direct City Manager, Long Beach Health and Human Services Department and Long Beach Police Department to report on the current state of homelessness in the City of Long Beach and report back to the City Council at a future meeting. The report should include:
• Any updates on the current number of individuals facing
homelessness.
• Information regarding requests from the Long Beach
Health and Human Services Department for additional
grant funding from Los Angeles County.
• Information regarding all grants received in FY 15-16
for homeless services.
• Total number of funds allocated by the City for mental
health services and programs.
• Total number of funds allocated by the City for substance
abuse prevention services and programs.
• Current status on homeless individuals with substance
abuse issues.
• Resources provided by the City for homeless children
and families. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05242016_16-0498 | Speaker 0: Item 37 is communication from Councilman Alston. Councilwoman Pansy Gonzalez. Vice Mayor Lowenthal. Recommendation two requires the City Manager and Department of Health and Human Services to study the feasibility in Long Beach, an immediate donation program to raise awareness about the issues of homelessness.
Speaker 1: Okay. There's a motion in a second. Councilmember Alston.
Speaker 7: Thank you. I want to thank my colleagues, our Councilwoman Gonzales and Vice Mayor Lowenthal, for signing on to the item. I also want to thank our homeless advisory committee member, Andy Kerr, for bringing this issue to my attention. As we've heard during the discussion over the past two agenda items, homelessness remains a daunting problem for Long Beach in the entire region. And as we just heard, it's an ongoing issue. Several cities throughout the country, including Pasadena and San Diego and Southern California, as well as Denver, Orlando, San Antonio and Phenix have implemented a new approach in recent years that I believe is worth while for Long Beach to take a look at. They've repurposed old parking meters as a way for people to make donations toward programs that provide direct service to homeless. This program, known as Real Change Movement in Pasadena and the Make Change Camp movement in San Diego, is also a public awareness campaign about homeless programs and resources and educating the public on how to provide real help to the homeless. This program is raise public awareness, generated new revenues for homeless programs and discouraged panhandling in some business corridors. So I'd like our city manager to study the meter donation program utilized in other cities and report back to the Council within 90 days on the feasibility of implementing such a program in Long Beach. And I would ask for your support as well.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: And I think Councilman Awesome for bringing this forward. As we're talking about the theme of homelessness, I think it's important that we look at all solutions to tackle this. And then I also want to just say, I know, Susan, just to kind of segway to saying that I really appreciate your work as well. And I know we share an alma mater, which is Laguna Hills High, and I'm very, very proud of your work. I didn't get a chance to say that formally, but very happy that we came from the same high school. But also that you've served this city very, very well for us. So really appreciate it. Just wanted to say that to you personally.
Speaker 1: Councilman Price.
Speaker 4: I want to thank my colleagues for bringing this item forward. And this is an issue, actually, that our office has studied quite a bit because we have been taking a look at the panhandling ordinance. I'm I'm going to vote in favor of this item tonight. But this particular idea or concept is going to, for me, need a lot of vetting in my community because this concept of putting the meters works for some cities. I don't know that it would work for us. And I'm I'm curious in terms of what. The data that comes back is going to reveal regarding the success rate in terms of its impact on panhandling in other cities. So I just want to put that out there that I think this is one of those things that's going to require a lot of vetting through the community. Like I said, we've been studying the issue for a while. We've we've talked about it at some community meetings with our residents. And I think a lot of residents feel strongly opposed to panhandling. But I think that they also have a very strong feeling about putting up a permanent structure, so to speak, that acknowledges that there is a problem and that encourages money to be given to the cause. They really are looking for us to come up with other solutions. Absent that, so not to say that I wouldn't support it when it comes back, but I think it's really important that we look at outside the box ideas. But this particular idea is one that I think Susan shared with Jack from my staff a while ago. And we've we've talked about it a lot with our community members, and there's there's a lot of discussion to be had. So I'm looking forward to receiving the data so that we have that to go forward with. And I think Councilman Austin and the Cosigners on the item for bringing it forward and encouraging us to think outside the box in regards to long term solutions. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Very much. The auto.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to address something that Councilwoman Price's comments reminded me of. So in the city of Santa monica, there are very public places where residents and visitors are encouraged to place donations in place of directly giving to those who are panhandling. And they take artistic forms because it is the city of Santa monica. So there are dolphin statues in the in on the promenade. It's not repurposed meters. And I am encouraged by pursuing ideas like this. And any other ideas, truthfully, that the community might come up with. One of the things that I want us to be very aware of and stay clear of is this discomfort that many members of the public have with. The vulgar disparities of life. I don't know how else to put it. They are just vulgar. Disparities of life and homelessness is a fact of life in our city as it is in many cities along with other. Socially unacceptable or uncomfortable facts of life. And so, yes, even residents in the second District may have some concern about that public reminder that this problem exists. But I'd like us to be bolder than that. I'd like us to be more brave than that and come forward. We are elected to stand upright and stand upright for all constituents and not just those that might take issue with others that may be confronting social challenges. And so it is my very, very, very impassioned plea to remind us to be bold and not to leave anyone behind. And if someone is uncomfortable by a very public display acknowledging that we have homelessness, I think we are the better for it. It is through discomfort that we have advanced as a society on all major issues, and I have to imagine we will on this one too. So I am in support of it, whether they take the shape of dolphins or any other sea creature or or meters. But the public does need an alternative to showing their compassion. If and if that works, that's great. The other piece of it is on the panhandling ordinance. I worked very, very closely with the city manager of the city attorney's office many years ago to update our panhandling ordinance. Several councilmembers on this dais were here at the time, and we and Mr. Mays can remind us we went as far as we possibly could without violating individual's constitutional rights. And so we took a very careful and methodical approach to it. If there is room for improvement, I'm sure Mr. Mays would have identified it at that time. And from that time to now, there's new case law that would allow us to do even more to protect members of the general public. Then I'm sure he will let us know. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Any public comment on the item?
Speaker 8: You do cook as they dress. I'm all for people giving donations to established organizations such as the people that have been here to do the work. Dead set against panhandling. In fact, I would have I would have an ordinance that if somebody is could be ticketed for. Giving money to a panhandler and in fact, a financial. Ticket and then a requirement. That they go on a feces, urine cleanup detail in the given area where that person is concentrated, period there. The I don't again, I'm not sure you fully understand the wave of homelessness that is will come down to this city within the next 24 months. And every day I sit on Second Street, Helpful Henrys and Henry Adams and even some kids whose parents would probably go into coronary arrest if they knew they were flipping money over to some guy who's going to obviously go out and buy a joint with it and so forth. So I'd be dead set against any. Anything other than established organizations and enforce any create any ordinance we need to to stop the panhandling and stop the people giving the cash, which is feeding the problem. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Is any other public comment saying, please cast your votes.
Speaker 0: Voicemail. Bush and Kerry's.
Speaker 1: We're going to be 33. Kay. 33 is just the second reading. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Manager and Department of Health and Human Services to study the feasibility in Long Beach and report back to City Council on a meter donation program to raise awareness about the issues of homelessness, generate new revenues to help address the problem, and potentially reduce the amount of panhandling in our business corridors. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05242016_16-0492 | Speaker 1: Item 16. Item 16.
Speaker 8: Yes. We have a report from Diana Tang.
Speaker 1: Item pasta. Ready? Item 16, Madam Clerk.
Speaker 8: We had it. We had a report.
Speaker 0: Item 16 is communication from Councilmember Richardson, Councilwoman Gonzalez, Councilmember, your UNGA councilman, and Austin recommendation to request the city manager to explore the feasibility of a citywide vacant lot registry ordinance that would address the line of privately owned, neglected vacant lots.
Speaker 1: Councilor Richardson.
Speaker 11: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It was maybe five years ago in 2011, when the city council passed revisions to the when we created a foreclosure registry program that required all residential properties that were issued a notice of default to be registered within our city. This was a successful program for a number of reasons. It generated revenue to support nuisance abatement code enforcement activities, and it held banks accountable and it significantly, significantly improved the issues we were having with vacant, abandoned, foreclosed properties around that time. Upon registration, the program requires a registration fee and a registration form to be renewed annually as long as that property remained in foreclosure. And so the goal of this program, I envision a similar program for vacant lots throughout our city to ensure that property owners are held accountable for the upkeep of these lots. I envision there are a number of elements that could go into this one, some level of monitoring. Two annual updates. Vacant lots, lots offered in calls, numerous problems for our neighborhoods surrounding them, including illegal dumping, graffiti, criminal activity, and generally having an unsafe and unhealthy condition. Many times vacant lots have habitual code enforcement violations due to failure to maintain those requirements, and this could potentially protect our community's public health and safety and welfare by requiring the maintenance of these items. So there are a number of cities who have taken this step. So there are models in Pasadena, Monterey Park and Jersey City, the given. So we had engaged in this conversation with city staff a number of months ago. But given the agenda item a week ago or so about potentially utilizing vacant lots for agriculture, there was a conversation that I had with Councilmember Gonzales that now might be the time to bring an item like this forward. So in this in this potential report, I'd like to see the potential fee structure. I'd like to better understand the feasibility of adding some enhanced maintenance standards to these vacant lot, such as improved fencing, landscaping, so on and so forth, and potential for this program to perhaps intersect with other program beautification programs we might have in the city, like the work that we're doing around urban agriculture. And I urge a yes vote. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Okay. Any public comment? Seeing none back to the floor from your.
Speaker 13: I want to thank and Councilmember Richardson for bringing this forward. It's obviously a creative way of dealing with our blight in the city with the absence and the going away of redevelopment, that this is a better way to deal with those empty lot. So I, I support.
Speaker 1: Councilman Andrews.
Speaker 12: I also would like to thank our council for bringing this item for this has been a struggle, you know, keep some of these large frequent legal dumping items, but they tend to be a magnet that attracts more dumping items and adds to the visible blight in our community and needs much more done by some of the certainly some of the property owners. And I think if we really took those steps, I think a lot of these things could be cleaned up. And thank you again, Councilman Richardson.
Speaker 8: For bringing this.
Speaker 1: Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Councilmember Richardson. I know we spoke about this a couple of weeks ago as he brought forward the incentive program for urban agriculture. And looking at lots, we thought it'd be a bigger discussion to look at vacant lots as a whole. And so I'm also looking forward to the feasibility to see how it is that we can implement something similar or at least record the vacant lots we have, if anything. So thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Concern, Austin.
Speaker 7: Yes. I'd like to join and just thank you for bringing this forward and allowing me to sign on with this that I'm in full support. I see this as an opportunity to to register the lots, but not necessarily. Of course, we want to eliminate blight in the all the negative that comes with these vacant lots. But I think it's an opportunity for us to actually see where our opportunities are, right, in terms of new housing, economic development, etc.. And we can we can work strategically as a city to, to, to, to, to work on those and assist those property owners in moving those properties in the right direction. So happily, sign on.
Speaker 1: Members, please cast your vote. Motion carries 19, removing the 19. What we're doing now. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Manager to explore the feasibility of a citywide Vacant Lot Registry Ordinance that would address the blight of privately-owned, neglected vacant lots throughout the City of Long Beach. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05242016_16-0476 | Speaker 1: Okay. Item 18. I know that staff is asked to do a brief staff report at a meeting.
Speaker 0: I am.
Speaker 8: Sorry. I'm sorry.
Speaker 0: Item 18 is a report from Development Services. Recommendation to adopt resolutions authorizing the submissions of an application to the California State Department of Housing and Community Development for up to 17.7 million in loan and grant funds available through the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program, District one.
Speaker 8: Anybody.
Speaker 5: Mr. Mayor. Members of the City Council. Thank you for indulging me in this staff report. In essence, this is a really good thing. And I do want to recognize century housing that has been sitting in the audience all night. This is for a proposed project at the corner of Anaheim and Long Beach Boulevard and would represent the second phase of a major senior development project. Century is proposing a two building project that would include 121 senior housing units and 39 units for transitional veterans. Again, at the intersection of Long Beach Boulevard and Anaheim. The city's housing Long Beach Community Investment Company awarded century housing a grant or a loan in the amount of $12 million back in the fall. And the planning commission entitled This Project just in April of this Year Century is applying for cap and trade funds through the state . It requires city participation and a joint application, and that's what this staff report requests. I'm available to answer any questions as is representatives from Century Housing and Brian Deandra. I do want to again state in summary that this is an excellent project and we do ask for your support. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There's a motion in a second. Is there any public comment on this item?
Speaker 4: I do.
Speaker 1: Signal. Okay. Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to say thank you very much for staying committed to this, because I know this has been a real hole in the major corridor that is Anaheim and Long Beach Boulevard and Century Housing. I know we've talked and you all come up with such an amazing development and plans and I'm very excited and thrilled that we're able to offer this to many seniors, as well as veterans as we've talked about homelessness, as we've talked about very low income demographics. I think this is just perfect for that area, especially with the synergy. Michelle Melina's moved in and we have next door the wonderful metta project that you're also involved with. So thank you again for all the work and we look forward to it.
Speaker 1: Please cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And extended please, I believe is 2018. We did 19. I don't think we did 21. 2020. I'm sorry. 20, 21, 22, 23, 23. | Resolution | Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing the submission of an application to the California State Department of Housing and Community Development for up to $17,723,734 in loan and grant funds available through the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities Program, and authorize City Manager to execute all documents and agreements necessary to apply for and utilize these funds for the construction of the Beacon Point affordable housing project proposed for development at 1201-1235 Long Beach Boulevard. (District 1) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05242016_16-0488 | Speaker 0: Item 30 Report from Police Recommendation to receive and file the application of the peer bar for an original application of an ABC license at 450. Pine Avenue District one.
Speaker 1: Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 4: Is there a staff report on this item?
Speaker 8: Yes, Commander Joel Cook. Also my mistake. Honorable Mayor and City Council. Item 30 is an application for a new Type 41 on sale beer and wine. ABC License for a restaurant. The police department has conducted our investigation and do not anticipate any adverse impact with the issuance of this license. That concludes my report, and I'm available for any questions that you might have.
Speaker 4: That's it. I want to thank you and I look forward to this. I just passed by today and it's going to be a great addition to the downtown area. Thank you.
Speaker 1: It's delicious. Actually, yes. Mr. Motion, in a second, is there any public comment? Signal. Please cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries. | ABC License | Recommendation to receive and file the application of The Pie Bar, LLC, dba The Pie Bar, for an original application of an Alcoholic Beverage Control License, at 450 Pine Avenue. (District 1) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05172016_16-0436 | Speaker 2: Communication.
Speaker 4: Excuse. Excuse me. Was was item eight pulled?
Speaker 0: It was not.
Speaker 4: Was not. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Communication from Councilmember Richardson, Councilman Price, Councilmember Odinga and Councilmember Austin recommendation to receive and file a report on the prevention and enforcement of illegal fireworks in Long Beach.
Speaker 0: Council Member Richardson.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Vice Mayor. We're about six weeks out from the 4th of July. And as we know, the amount of illegal fireworks in our neighborhoods seem to be at record levels last year. I know that many of our council offices and the mayor's offices received complaints from social media and through our offices. I know that there have been a number of measures taken by a number of us, both council members and city departments. So my hope is that we we receive an update tonight and also have a better understanding on what our proactive approach will be heading into the 4th of July and any changes or updates that we might that might be taking place this year that we can help to educate or make aware to our our our constituents. So at that, at this point, I'd like to just hear from hear from city staff.
Speaker 0: Okay.
Speaker 4: Can yes. Vice mayor council members will have a report representing the police department in the fire department, representing the fire department as our lifeguard chief, Gonzalo Medina. Representing the police department is Deputy Chief Rich Rocky. And they'll follow off a report that was sent to the city council later on this later this afternoon. So rich or Gonzalo? Good evening, Vice Mayor. Council members. Good evening, Vice, by our council members. As in previous years, the fire department will coordinate with, coordinate public service announcements, press releases, and utilize the distribution of educational materials, communicating that all fireworks are dangerous and illegal in the city of Long Beach. This message will be communicated through a variety of media, including social media, television, electronic signage and the posting of fliers, banners and posters in the highly visible locations. Educational information will also be shared and distributed in Long Beach schools, and our CERT team or Community Emergency Response Team made up of volunteers will help distribute this information as well. Relating to that, all fireworks are legal in Long Beach. Additionally, this year, the fire department will speak at community meetings and events such as concerts in the park about the illegality and the dangers of fireworks. The fire department will have its full staff of four arson investigators out through July 2nd and fourth in tandem with our police department and. And I'm open for questions, sir.
Speaker 3: Thank you. So just one quick question and then I want to hear from our colleagues, because I know there's significant interest and I know that a number of council members have let me know that they're already doing work on this. So, number one, I'd like to have a better understanding on what our fine structure is and whether we we've actually handed out fines in recent years and whether we plan to, you know, educate people on what that fine what that what that fine structure is moving forward. That would be my only question at this point then. And then I'm finished.
Speaker 8: Honorable Vice Mayor, members of city council. Yes. So the fine structure is something that is capped and it's capped at $1,000. And that is something that is governed by the California government code and cannot be changed by local government. As far as our citations, we do write citations each year for the use illegal use of fireworks, both illegal fireworks and safe and sane fireworks. And last year, in 2015, although these numbers may not seem like they're a lot, they seem quite low. We wrote 50 citations during the 4th of July holiday season with six arrests, so a total of 56 the year prior in 2014. Those citations were 65, with four arrests for a total of 49. And then in 2013 was our lowest out of the three years, with seven arrests, 42 citations, and with a total of 49. I would like to point out that in addition to the sites that are written, the police and fire department last year collectively confiscated £650 of illegal fireworks and £60 of safe and sane fireworks. So that is something that we do work together collectively to continue to impact our illegal fireworks within the city.
Speaker 0: Don't remember your anger.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Mayor. I want to thank Councilmember Richardson for bringing this forward. Every year it seems that we're getting worse and worse. It's like sounds like a war zone out there. I represent to the west now each area and it seems like the West Palm Beach area gets the has a high incidence of these types of activities . One of the questions that I have is and it's my understanding that the police department might be called out to a site where activity is taking place. But once they get there, the perpetrators are either move away or go inside or remove themselves from that activity. And and the police department is held with with not being able to do anything because they didn't see anything. Is is there any kind of additional rule or ordinance, law, whatever that can that can be held against these individuals, even though they might not be caught in the act? But there might be evidence that fireworks activity was taking place that would serve enough as evidence to confiscate the fireworks or to give a citation.
Speaker 8: Councilmember Younger. Yes. As far as enforcing the laws, you are correct. It's very difficult for us to identify and end up citing those who do light off illegal fireworks, because the law requires that our officers witness the person who is actually lighting the firework and then being able to cite that person if they don't run from us prior to us being able to detain them. Most of these occur at night, again and in groups again, making it difficult for for officers. However, witnesses who do see people lighting off fireworks and want to be involved can call the police and can identify those who are lighting off that firework and place them under a private person's arrest. They would be required to fill out that private person's arrest form, and then we could cite that person who lit up that firework if they are still there when when the police arrive. And we could give them a cite based off the private person arrest form and the observations of the citizen. Anything short of that? It's very difficult for us to do any enforcement action unless someone wants to be involved and be that witness.
Speaker 6: With these forms, be something that can be acquired ahead of time. Or can a citizen fill it out right at that right at that point with an officer present at that point right there. What's what what would be the procedure on doing such a such an activity?
Speaker 8: Councilman, during a we do keep those forms with our police officers. There is a process with that form that our officer does have to read the person and admonition and then they sign that private person's arrest form. But all our officers in the field do have that form with them and will present them to the citizen at the time they contact them for that private person's arrest form if they so choose to do that.
Speaker 6: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Councilwoman Pryce.
Speaker 5: Thank you very much. I want to thank Councilman Richardson for bringing this important discussion forward. We all know, and as he stated, that the 4th of July holiday is is right around the corner. And we need to have a good functioning coordination among our multiple departments if we're going to have any sort of impact on the use of illegal fireworks. After numerous complaints to the city and council offices as well as the mayor's office. Last year, the Public Safety Committee actually took this item up for discussion and requested that the fireworks steering committee reconvene. In past years, the city led an effort to inform the public on the dangers of fireworks and fire that and informing them that fireworks are illegal in the city of Long Beach. Fireworks Steering Committee met on a regular basis beginning in the month of March through the 4th of July holiday, in an effort to be proactive with fireworks, education and enforcement. A number of city departments participated in the committee, including City Council, Harbor, Public Works, Fire Police and Special Events and filming. The committee was responsible for such tasks as creating public service announcements and videos, press releases, distributing multilingual fliers, posting banners and signs, electronic messages, public education in schools, and notifying block party permit holders that fireworks are illegal. This year, the fireworks steering committee held its first meeting on April 20th, which my office participated in. It is my understanding that Fire and Police Department are working on a list of proactive measures that we can take. We've discussed some of those tonight to curb the use of illegal fireworks in the city. There is going to be a cost associated with this. And I don't know if either of the representatives are in a position to give us an estimate of what that cost will be. But I know that last year the outreach efforts were funded at a much lower level than prior years. So I want to make sure that we're not setting up our police and fire departments to fail by asking them to do public outreach without giving them the resources that they need to do it right. It was a significant issue last year. It always is. But it seemed that last year as as Councilman Turanga said, it's it's almost like a war zone. And that's the reports we heard from a lot of people because of the the volume and the magnitude of the fireworks that were being being used. So if you have any information about the budget, what you think it might require of you, and then perhaps the city manager can let us know whether there's any sort of funding source available for this, since this is a one time expenditure that, you know, we want to be able to fund it an accurate, adequate level.
Speaker 8: Councilwoman Pryce We do not have a funding number yet. We are in the process of putting together our operational plan for this year's firework strategies, and I'll talk a little bit about what those are, since that was one of the questions in your comment. And the police department is in the planning process, the fireworks enforcement for this year, beginning in early June. Some of our strategies include uniformed and plainclothes officers working in the areas of high complaints and activity impacting the supply chain. As we discover illegal sales of fireworks in our city and surrounding areas, participation of the city's firework committee to coordinate a joint education campaign which fire alluded to notifying our community of the dangers of fireworks and the enforcement of those who break the law. And within the next few weeks, our city team will push out a city police department and fire department. Joint media release use of social media to get the word out, distribution of informational information to our businesses, association stakeholders, etc. So this is truly a collaborative effort on the police and fire side for the enforcement and the city family for the education piece.
Speaker 5: May I make one recommendation that's relatively low in cost and I think it can have a huge impact. And that would be working with Long Beach Unified School District to get a flier in every middle school and high schoolers backpack meet, citing the fact that it's illegal and enumerating the penalties that are associated with a violation and then asking the superintendent if Long Beach Unified will do a robocall about it to all the parents and also send out an email blast in advance of the 4th of July holiday. I think that if children are advised that this conduct is illegal, hopefully they will remind their parents who are tempted to violate the law. And if if nothing else, the parents, knowing that the children are advised that this is illegal, might curb their behavior and that that may have a little bit of an impact in terms of outreach. We have a lot of youth who do not know that fireworks are illegal in Long Beach because some nearby cities allow fireworks. And a lot of those, those high school students are reaching adult age soon and probably experimenting with some of these entertainment options on the 4th of July. So that that would be a very low cost, I think, outreach measure.
Speaker 8: Yes. We'll include that in our outreach strategy.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 2: Yes. Thank you for the report. Our side of town is unusually high impact as we border one of those wonderful cities who puts firework stands literally facing the city of Long Beach, asking our residents to be wooed in to purchase fireworks from their nonprofits. So when you say highly visible, will there be a concentration of these on the border? So as people are leaving our city to go buy these fireworks and spend their money in another city that they will see said materials, and then as crossing back into our city again, realize that they are not only illegal, but dangerous especially . I know that Councilman Price and I both experienced high volumes of drilled piccolo pits, which do sound like bombs and shoot into the air and perhaps again surrounding the unincorporated area as people go from unincorporated to the city. Because I know there's some challenges in that. Literally one house is legal to do a firework and the next house on the same street in my office adjacent to my district is illegal, so I'm highly visible. I would hope that we do a lot of border and unincorporated adjacent signage, and if there's help that's needed in that area, my office would be thrilled to send out interns to place them on posts as if they are lost cat signs wherever we can.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Mongo. And I just wanted to add from the second district standpoint, it is probably the greatest number of calls that we've received this past year. You've heard this from other council members, so I'm not sure what exactly is different from all the other years, but I share the concerns that each of the council members who've spoken have shared and do believe that this is extremely critical. Whether residents know or don't know whether these whether fireworks is illegal in the city almost it seemed irrelevant this last year because I cannot imagine that many people do not know that it's not legal in this city. So I think there's a mixture of things going on. I appreciate your your persistence in this issue and the councilmembers who sponsored this item. Councilmember Richardson, thank you very much. And is there any public comment?
Speaker 2: Good evening, everyone. My name is Karen Retherford and I reside at the corner seventh and Pacific Avenue. I'm in one of those areas that's heavily impacted by the use of illegal fireworks. We're a senior building and there's a number in that area. There's a persistent group of people on Eighth Street between Pacific and Chestnut and the week before the 4th of July. It is indeed like a war zone in our particular neighborhood. I want to offer I'm on the 17th floor of the building. If we could put a camera on there and capture one of the issues is when the police come, they turn on the sirens. So as soon as they hear the sirens, they shut down and they leave. And they operate primarily with the illegal fireworks. I wouldn't be surprised, but they were selling to others within the community. This has been an ongoing problem over the last year and a half. And I know a number of our residents have placed phone calls to the police department about this, and they just can't seem to catch these guys. I have seen a gentleman standing outside and immediately following there are blasts and I'm willing to do whatever I can do to stop this. And they have my respect of ours and they have no respect of time. They not only operate around the 4th of July, they operate on a year round basis, and sometimes they set off fireworks at three in the morning. I've been awakened three or four with little blasts, and now we have flash bombs going off and people think that there meth lab explosions going on in our neighborhood. So this is an issue that I know we're willing to help however we can in terms of observation recording to get this problem resolved. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Uh, my name is William Napier, Honorable City Council and Mayor.
Speaker 9: I'm concerned about.
Speaker 4: Some fireworks around the Jergens. Building land tunnel. And the deal is if the City of Long Beach destroys Jergens Tunnel, the tunnel that made Long Beach famous, the tunnel that gave Long Beach its soul, the tunnel that everyone went through to get to the real Pike Fun Zone. What will be next? I say it will be our wetlands. Overdevelopment seems to be on our city's agenda and overpopulation seems to be on our nation's agenda. Thank you very much. And I love fireworks, but we'll let you make that decision.
Speaker 2: Hi. My name is Miranda Misek and I live along the riverbed in one of those tucked away neighborhoods. And I don't think that people aren't aware so much that it's not illegal, although the efforts of making children kind of help encourage parents to do the right thing, I think is a great idea. I'm wondering if there's been any effort in trying to work with adjacent cities to maybe when people purchase fireworks from other cities, show maybe a driver's license or something that shows the city they live in or to help kind of with the enforcement of our laws or maybe enact laws in their cities to not have fireworks. And also, I am wondering if maybe we can't help officers be eyes and ears and maybe equip those that have the authority to write citations, you know, like people that enforce parking tickets and things like that, maybe on that one night be, you know, a bigger force out in that community. Because I know that the minute the police car shows up, they all scatter, you know, so maybe if there is a way to, like, have people that aren't in uniform or people that aren't usually in uniform, just kind of patrol neighborhoods. My partner and I, we sometimes patrol our neighborhood and try to get our neighbors involved and, you know, help officers that way. Because I know you can't be everywhere and I know you do your best. But I don't think that. It's hard to spot them. I mean, they're they're very obvious when they have block parties in there. It's there. So I think that we need to get those citation numbers up, because if I got a $400 ticket or something, I sure would think twice about doing it the next year. So if there's anything we can do and if there's any kind of movement in the direction of helping other cities get involved, I think that'll be a bigger bang for your efforts. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you.
Speaker 9: Tom Stout. This is a huge problem. And Wrigley, Stu, your anger is totally right on this prior to a week before. These are not just illegal fireworks. These are explosive devices. It shakes my whole house. Animals are screaming. What are their children doing? I mean, I don't know exactly how, but around between 31st and 32nd on Cedar, that's the direction these devices are going off. And I mean, they're I mean, it shakes my whole house. So everybody's being affected, you know, safe and saying, I don't know there is saying as some of the idiots that use them so you know that's debatable. But you know, I grew up with firecrackers and manatees. That was the device for sort of opening up toilets in high schools at one time. And these things would destroy the whole bathroom. I don't know what they are, but I know people do also fill up balloons with propane and they're in a hell of an explosive device and you let it go and a fuze burns into it. And I mean, it's devastating. I never tried that one, but I I've seen a lot of people when I go to Lakewood do it. So, hey, I hope you can do it. I know it's difficult. I mean, it is you know, they're like rats. As soon as the lights come on, they gone. And soon as you go away, they're back. And this goes on the whole night. I mean, these are not fireworks. Like I said, they're destructive devices. So hopefully you can do something because through the last two years, it's gotten out of control. I guess we all had to buy earplugs.
Speaker 0: Is there any other public comment on item 11? I will take you back behind the rail. Councilwoman Mongo.
Speaker 2: Perhaps this is a question for our CIO. You know, we have to go Long Beach up. Would it be possible for neighbors to document where the fireworks are coming from in the weeks leading up to 4th of July, utilizing the go along, each of which has the geocoding? Right now, you can code if someone leaves animal defecation or dumping. Could we get a new drop down, which is called illegal fireworks, so that we'd be able to at least start documenting which houses these fireworks are coming from to prepare the police for 4th of July.
Speaker 4: Brian Sestak is. Councilmember Mongo. Yes, that's something we can look into performing probably very similar to that coyote sighting application of how we took that along and added that as well. So we could we could look into that.
Speaker 2: I think that would be really helpful. I think that at least in my neighborhood, it's the same houses every year. And if on my evening walk I could just tag the house and let PD know who it is and what they're doing. I think a lot of neighbors could get involved in that, especially if we, as the council, put that on our Twitters and our Facebook and show it in our newsletters that neighbors can do this. I think it'll give PD a head start on on the issue and hopefully people will be more cognizant.
Speaker 0: Mr. Stokers, hold on 1/2. I do have a follow up question, but I wanted to ask our Deputy Chief, Rich Rocky. If that were to be the case, would that qualify as some form of evidence for a citizen complaint? They go? Long Beach. Complaint. Maybe that's a city attorney question. It would be with photo geo coded.
Speaker 4: It would certainly be evidence that could be included in the report, whether would be sufficient evidence to either issue a citation or to be prosecuted. Would it be fact specific?
Speaker 0: But would you be able to, if we're able to add that category, be able to look into that? Because I think what we're hearing is this is a numbers game, right? Folks who want to engage in this activity will always outnumber police officers. It's just the way it is. And so what we don't want is to leave residents with this feeling that they're there's much of it that cannot be helped. So here we're making a very concerted effort to do what we can. But given the nature of how information is captured and transmitted today, I'm hoping that there is some advancement that we can utilize or tap into. So perhaps the citizens complaint could at least be recorded.
Speaker 4: We could certainly talk to the city prosecutor in the police department about that. Yes.
Speaker 0: Okay. I would appreciate that. And Mr. Sisto, because I wanted to ask you, considering Miss Mango brought Councilwoman Mango brought up the Go Along Beach app. Is there a mechanism that you have in place or perhaps city manager? Is there a mechanism you have in place to receive requests from council members to add categories to our GO application? And is that something that the office is openly accepting?
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 0: Yes. What?
Speaker 4: We're open to looking at any new categories that you wish to have on there with the understanding that it's within the direction from the council.
Speaker 0: Sure. So an individual council member may have requests such as coyotes are not necessarily endemic throughout the city of Long Beach, and it might be just be specific to a couple of council districts. So I hope that we're not looking to council agreement for small minutia and for this I look to the city manager's office.
Speaker 4: Yeah. So, Vice Mayor, I can add a little bit here. We get requests all the time from either councilmembers or members of the public or departments for adding to our go Long Beach. And we look at each and every one of those and see, does it make sense to go on the platform? Can candidates connect to one of our existing systems, which is important too? Is that the goal? Long Beach needs to be able to feed into something we already do. So we look at each one of those and then make decisions. Can it be on the platform or can it not?
Speaker 0: Great. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you both. Councilman Austin.
Speaker 7: Thank you. And I want to thank everybody for their thoughtful questions. I have a couple regarding as a follow up to you. Deputy Chief Rocky, you outline the number of citations given out over the last three years. What is that compared to in terms of the calls for service or complaints that you actually receive? Do you have numbers? That can kind of give us a picture?
Speaker 8: Councilmember Eisen Yes, I do have and.
Speaker 7: This is just for the 4th of July itself, not during the entire week.
Speaker 8: If just for the day of the fourth. Four calls for service. Yes. So for July 4th of 2014, we received 550 pyro or heard pyro calls, which means firework type calls. Some of those may have been witnessed by the calling party, and many of them are heard only. So that, of course, if we if it's heard only, we had sent a police officer into the area to see if we can locate it. Many times we do not. Or we may see the evidence of fireworks that have been lit and the person has abandoned the area. In 2015, we received 635 calls for service under those same call class.
Speaker 7: And that is just for one day. It doesn't spend the entire week, correct?
Speaker 8: That is just for the day. 4th of July, the 24 hour period.
Speaker 7: So based on that, you guys are responding or actually writing citations for it would be based on that. But less than 10% of the actual calls that you receive, correct?
Speaker 8: Yes, sir. It's very small amount and some of those we may not respond to. It may be just what we call a district carjack, depending on the information from the calling party and if we can locate the area of where these are being lit up.
Speaker 7: So on the 4th of July itself, and I know we think I know the answer to this question, but I'm asking for the benefit of the public as well. What does our staffing model look like compared to any other day, a regular day?
Speaker 8: Our staffing model in the 4th of July is all police department officers work that day. The only officers that do not work are officers that are on a regularly scheduled day off on a scheduled vacation. All others are to work. There is no holidays, there's no overtime days, and there's no training allowed during that day.
Speaker 7: And the the role of the officers who are staff there, then all of them aren't responding to calls, obviously. Correct. They're not all responding to firework calls they're doing.
Speaker 8: We have different models out that day. We do have our regular calls for service units out in the field that are max deployment that year and or that day in each division. We also have a comprehensive action operation plan that we do for the city, especially along the coast, where we have the largest influx of people visiting our city and our community members attending to see firework shows and be at the beach and enjoy what the city has to offer. So in those areas where we have that large influx, we have officers specifically assigned to to those areas to provide public safety and enforce our laws.
Speaker 7: Okay. So I think I think I want to hit on some of the points that there were already made. And I've brought this up before because I'm challenged and I know our police department is challenged to enforce this this this ordinance that we actually have that all fireworks are illegal. Particularly when every border and city in Long Beach or around the city of Long Beach actually legalizes suppressing fireworks. Right. And so we have I've heard plenty this evening about illegal fireworks, Long Beach. All fireworks are legal in Long Beach, whether they go boom, whether they go up in the air or whether they are just ground flowers that are that are relatively harmless. I personally think we need to revisit our policy on on fireworks period, because I think. That if we go within a blanket illegal approach, we will probably open ourselves up to a market where the more egregious fireworks are going to be more accessible and more proliferated throughout our city. And so thank you, Councilmember Richardson, for bringing this forward. I think this has been a very thoughtful conversation.
Speaker 8: Council member. I think it's important to point out, in addition to our enforcement of fireworks, our mission is to deter and enforce laws related to public consumption of alcohol, public intoxication, driving under the influence, unruly parties, dangerous and illegal barbecues, use of illegal fireworks, which we've been talking about traffic and enforcement violations and complaints, managing pedestrian vehicular traffic flows, handling a high volume of calls for service in addition to managing our large crowds. So I wanted to point that out because fireworks is very important, but there are so many things that we are faced with during the 4th of July, and these were just to name a few.
Speaker 0: Councilmember or not.
Speaker 3: Thank you.
Speaker 4: And this we cover this topic.
Speaker 3: At a public safety committee meeting many months ago. And I believe with that meeting, I brought up the point that my constituents were complaining as far as 30 days ahead of time. So let's let's not get started too late. Let's do it the earlier the better. So if we could target June 4th, that'd be great. Also, there are particular areas of my district, too, Deputy Chief Rocky, that would be beat 11 that has a lot of calls for illegal fireworks. And so if we could target certain areas, we'd be we'd just like to assist you in that, to get it out in our weekly newsletter or whatever it means we can. So thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. And seeing no further comment. Members, please cast your vote.
Speaker 2: Councilwoman Mongo. Councilwoman Price. Motion carries.
Speaker 0: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Item 12 Communication from Council Member Dunga Recommendation to direct the City Manager to identify potential funding sources for the acquisition of vacant property between Baker Street and Wardlow Road District seven. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to receive and file a report from City Manager on the status of the citywide coordinated effort around the prevention and enforcement of illegal fireworks in Long Beach before and after the 4th of July holiday. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05172016_16-0437 | Speaker 2: Item 12 Communication from Council Member Dunga Recommendation to direct the City Manager to identify potential funding sources for the acquisition of vacant property between Baker Street and Wardlow Road District seven.
Speaker 0: Councilmember Yanga.
Speaker 6: Thank you. Before we get into a brief staff report on this matter, I want to make some corrections. First of all, the parcel that we're talking about is 20 acres, not 15. And also, I would want to request that once the information is gathered and the recommendation is going to be made, that it be made in public to the city council. I'm sure that any future discussions regarding, uh, the, the report that we would get back would have to go into closed session eventually. But we'll cross that bridge when we, when we cross it. But I would like to have a public open meeting when that report first comes out. So I want to make those two corrections at the present time. If I can have. Mr. Conway, I guess, uh, and perhaps director copy from the Public Health and Human Services Department to step forward. I'd like to for them to make a few remarks regarding this property and where we stand with it currently.
Speaker 4: As Vice Mayor. Council members, the staff were given by Mike Conway, the director of Economic and Property Development. And we also have with us Kelly Colby, the director of Health and Human Services. Vice Mayor Long, members of the City Council. A little bit of background oil operators as a consortium of a number of independent oil producers in and around Long Beach who achieve synergy and efficiency in combining their oil production and exploration efforts. The subject property was acquired in 1927 by oil operators and has been leased to a number of a variety of other oil operators. The city acquired the areas in blue on this slide for open space purposes in 2001 and 2002. Through cooperative efforts with the Trust for Public Lands utilizing park bond money. The city received a grant from Rivers and Mountains Conservancy in July of 2001 for $5 million to acquire the remainder parcel, which is the 20 acre piece under discussion this evening. However, an agreement with oil operators could not be reached and the funding was returned. The 20 acre parcel has been used to separate brine from petroleum. The brine was then treated and disposed and the petroleum was sold. Operations ceased in approximately 19 1998, and development efforts have continued since that time for uses, including self-storage, the residential cemetery and open space. The property is primarily zoned to see us for commercial storage uses and a portion of the property is owned r-1 one for single family residential uses. The property was the subject of a consent decree entered into in August of 2002, requiring characterization, remediation, quarterly reporting and debris cleanup on the 20 acre parcel. Oil operators has complied with the consent decree and is no longer subject to its requirements. The site was identified in 1973 and the open space element of the city as general plan. And in 1989 the site was included in Recreation Commission's Park Acquisition Plan. In 1996, the site was included in the L.A. River Master Plan, and most recently it is included in the Lower Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers and Mountains Conservancy Master Plan. The site is currently undergoing environmental remediation. The timing and cost of which are not entirely known. The property is also currently in escrow and under contract for sale, although a development proposal has not yet been submitted to the city. So in summary, the site has long been contemplated for open space and related uses. Funding for acquisition has been the most significant impediment to acquisition of this parcel, and that concludes my summary.
Speaker 6: Thank you. Perhaps we could have a report from Director Colby in regards to the cleanup that's been taking place over the last several years.
Speaker 2: Good evening. I'm going to turn my time.
Speaker 4: Over to Nelson Kerr, bureau manager for Environmental Health. Okay. Thank you. This site has been under the the health department's jurisdiction only for the basin clean ups, which is just the soil around that, the settling bay since we've been doing what we call bioremediation on the site where basically we are aerating out the soil and the the crude oil naturally is dissipated. And I fail to mention that that's the key constituent right now on the property that we're concerned with this crude oil. I did have a conversation with the consultant last night. We're about 80% clean on the property. There are a few areas of concern, the few pockets that will need to have some further remediation done where bioremediation will not be effective. And this is down to about ten feet below the surface. So that's that's the status of where we're at right now.
Speaker 6: Okay. Thank you. Of course I have I have some questions that are going to be asking. But in summary, this lot has been vacant for many years now. Some of my predecessors have been approached or were approached by some interested parties in developing the land into housing or into a storage facility as it is currently zoned. One councilmember whom I know who I know very well, told me that her term during the City Council she would receive two or three requests for meetings to talk about the old operators property, to discuss and share plans, and on how it would be developed. But none of those came to fruition, at least not until now that we have now. In my short stint here a year and a half, I've had three interested parties come to me to share with me their their views on this property. And we still are at the same point, there is no application for development of the land. So I just want to make that very clear that there's still nothing there at the present time as Mike which was kind of kind of Mr. Conway a very of share his summary there has been. Some activity with the with that land presently. And there's also been some remediation done. However, because it's been so, so long and because the remediation is is intense, I think that when we look at the possibilities of acquiring this parcel would require quite a bit of cleanup. It's my understanding perhaps the representative from the Health Department could help me clarify with this is that there are several different layers of of soil that would be they would need remediation. The highest standard of remediation would be obviously to clean it up to the point where it can be appropriate for housing or any other kind of a daily living type of activities. And then the remediation lessons as you go, different uses of the lease being what it is for now for storage where you would just basically cement it and lock everything down and that would be the least impactful for whatever use it is at that time. However, there is that in between the highest being housing, the lowest being storage, and then somewhere between or usable space such as open space. And that's one of the things that I'm looking at in terms of trying to develop some kind of mechanisms that would allow the city to purchase the land and have it restored or revitalized . The the present efforts that we've done as as has been described, it's it's been part of the plan with with a river link proposal, a project that I think I gave my my colleague a copy of. And it'll be exhibit 19 on page 12 where you could see that. And as you as you heard Mr. Conway, the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy did make an effort to assist the city of purchasing that land highway that that money was given back. So it's going to be an effort to to reopen that possibility. They have made some several efforts already to look at this possibility. I've sent letters to the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the State Lands Commission, Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, and to our legislators. Congressman Alan Lowenthal. Congresswoman Janice Hahn. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. Senate Pro-Tem. President Kevin De Leon. Supervisor Ken Duncan. RB Senator Ricardo Lara and Assemblyman Patrick O'Donnell. And I've asked for their assistance in trying to determine what is available out there that could help the city look into this project and making it available for open space. So I want to at this point, I guess we could go to to the public, see what their views are and share their ideas and then bring it back.
Speaker 0: Actually, yes. But if I can go to Councilmember Richardson as a second year.
Speaker 3: I stand in support of Councilmember Garrincha.
Speaker 0: Wonderful. Thank you. Is there any member of the public that wish to address Council on item 12? Please come forward. State your name.
Speaker 2: My name is Miranda. I live in that neighborhood there that's adjacent that blue square. I'm actually the home on that corner. And so we've seen a lot of activity both on the positive and not so positive side in the years that I lived there. When we purchased our home, there were discussions about the potential use of that land. And I would speak for my neighbors. We've all been very hopeful that that land would be developed and cleaned up. There have been many issues around that property and we've been promised a lot of things. One of the things obviously was the park. So we did get that cute little Baker Street Park that we're very thankful for, although there's been some additional issues with that park being placed there. I personally would love to see that developed into public use that would be to benefit of the community. Some of our major concerns with any of those proposed developments would be access to the area currently that Wardlow Street. I don't know if you can pull that map back up, but that Wardlow a little Wardlow that is adjacent. Big Wardlow is a very narrow street and currently parking is allowed on both sides of that street. So any time you go down that street, one car has to pull over so that the other one can get by. And that's on a daily basis just getting into our current neighborhood. I can't imagine that any more activity on that land would create a bottleneck and problems. There's also a blind corner now because of that area that they the little park that's now the pit area. So it's caused a lot of problems there as well. So if anything is developed on that land, I would love to see access from the main street into that area so that no more no more increased traffic is brought into that community. They're speeding down that street, a lot of speeding because people think it's a free for all. It's a very wide open street all along golden. I'm no speed bumps, even though we've requested for them have been added. There's a park there now, so cars constantly run into the gate. There's no security for the children. There's no speed control. And so people think it's a great place to park there and smoke and do all kinds of things at all hours of the day and night. And so even though the park is very welcomed, there wasn't much thought put into the repercussions of increased traffic both by foot and by car into the area. So I'm really nervous about what they put there because that's only going to, you know, impact that as well. It's also caused a problem with it being vacant because there's so many homeless folks now with the closure of the golf course right above that area there. So we have homeless encampments and that's brought a lot of problems. Truly homeless people and undesirables as well. There's also because there's nothing there now, there's a lot of dust. So the quality of air and soil and water is of concern. And the owners of that property have spoken to us. But I'm not completely convinced they've been completely straightforward or honest about all that they know. So I feel that if it was allowed to be developed, that more cleanup could be done. There's a lot of illegal activity that goes on in there, including drug trafficking and of course, the speed and traffic that accesses that area. So if anything, please, is develop there, I would please beg you that there be Access Streets, consideration and speed control. Thank you so much.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Good evening, Vice Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Joan Greenwood. I reside at 2091 San Francisco Avenue in the district of Long Beach. I am the president of the Wrigley Area Neighborhood Alliance, and our members stand firmly in support of a low impact development of this area. We desperately need more park space in Wrigley. We have 114 acre park for almost 30,000 residents. We are nowhere near the eight acres per thousand residents that the city has set. A goal is and this is the last viable piece of property for that purpose. We need another senior center in Long Beach and this would be a good location for one. We could use a nature center west that would be low impact native natural habitat. Now, one of the things about in-situ bioremediation is the planting of many drought tolerant native plants, especially grasses, will hold down the dust and will facilitate the bioremediation without having to move the dirt around. That is a viable approach and there is major funding with brownfields and other areas. The other thing is that particular property would serve as a superior urban forest buffer for that neighborhood because they live in a corner with some of the worst air pollution around there, south of the four or five downwind of the seven, ten and downwind of major refineries. I cannot imagine anyone wanting to develop homes on that property, knowing what they should know about what's going on around them in terms of the need to improve our air quality. So therefore, we have been working on this for many, many years. I was the senior project manager on the Long Beach River link phase one project. We held 12 neighborhood community meetings from the mouth of the L.A. River to the boundary with Paramount. Back then, they looked at putting in an amphitheater. There's also an historic wetland that was formerly on that property. The Coastal Conservancy in the late nineties was interested in it. Many, many organizations were interested in it. We tried to get it into a redevelopment zone by making it contiguous to the West Park, and that failed. And quite truthfully, where this has had such high importance in so many of the city's planning, and yet we've let it fall through the cracks. I think we need the citizens of Wrigley deserve a strong effort by the city to try to purchase that property, because I don't think we should start phase two of River Link until we've completed Phase one. Thank you for your time and attention.
Speaker 0: Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Good evening. Members of the council. My name's Rene Lawler. I live in the seventh District and I represent a minority organization, a nonprofit, the Wrigley Equestrian Homeowner's Association. We have been struggling for many, many years to to retain our functionality and survive within the community. And open space and open space adjacent to the L.A. River is critical to to our survival. The I would like to focus my comments to the entire council, but specifically to Councilman Urunga and also Councilman Austin. Councilman Austin has a unique opportunity. Congratulations to you being assigned a member of the task force for the L.A. River revitalization. Because of that fact, he works directly with state legislature speaker Assemblyman Rendon, and that task force was established with the intent to revitalize the lower L.A. River. The reason for that task force and for that legislation, which became effective law in January, is the fact that the southern reaches of the L.A. River. I have not been given the same attention that the Upper River has, and there is a complexity of unique communities within the lower reaches, such as the equestrian community that have been sorely missed with regard to planning and preservation and and protection of the open spaces needed for these communities. So I encourage you, Councilman Austin, with the task force, because you have such a great opportunity with the Resource Committee to to look at outside funding sources other than within the city. You'll be working with the Mountains and Rivers Conservancy already. You have a great number of individuals that are coming to the table, and now is the opportunity to be able to utilize those resources and protect communities such as the equestrians. This particular site is actually comprised of multiple parcels, so it's not just one big parcel. There are actually multiple parcels and several of the parcels do have an equestrian history. So for those of the community that aren't aware, the Long Beach Mounted Police used to actually reside in retain facilities on several of these parcels. Currently, the County of Los Angeles is proposing a public equestrian arena as an overlay behind the the ten homes, one of which where I reside in. And that public arena will actually negatively impact the homeowners and what we have to utilize. We would request that you would consider working with the county supervisors office, putting the public equestrian rest area in this location, and finding the funding resources in order to do that and not ruin what we currently have. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Candice Meade and I've lived in Wrigley for almost 30 years and years ago, several neighbors and I spent quite a few Saturdays providing input to the general plan. I can't honestly remember it was 2020 or 2030, but it was thoughtful input and everyone requested open space. I specifically remember this parcel because there was a lot of discussion about it. So we would like open space and I and I am happy to see this this put forward tonight for funding. So as you know, open space is not plentiful on the West Side like it is on the east side. And I do support the the identifying funding for the purchase of this property in closed session. I would very much like to see a discussion of this property in open session because the property is highly toxic and it needs to be made safe. That is our number one priority for all of us. I'm very happy to see the city stepping up to do the right thing, and I thank you very much for this opportunity.
Speaker 4: My name is Richard Sherman. I live at 602 West 37th Street in Wrigley Heights. Most of our I plan on things already being covered, so I'll make it pretty short. I just want to say that Long Beach, West Long Beach is very poor park poor assembly speaker Brendan's Abbie 530 has made $100 million available pardon me to purchase land and make improvements along the southern L.A. River. This property is the only riverside site of its size available in Long Beach. I just want to mention that the same developer is going to build 131 tiny lot homes on the beautiful Boy Scout Park in North Long Beach. He also seeks to build 275 tiny lot homes in Wrigley Heights. That would double the number of homes in Wrigley Heights. I'd just like to mention that years ago, when they wanted to build some stuff over there, the traffic engineer said that it was not possible to go out to Golden Avenue because it's on a high speed curve, going uphill over the bridge, over the river. Anyway. I would love for the city to obtain this property. I just hope that it isn't a ploy on behalf of oil operators to get a higher price from the developer property or stick it to Long Beach with their highly polluted site at an unreasonable cost. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Regina Taylor. I'm a resident of the Wrigley District 3206 Oregon Avenue. I, too, am very much in support, as some of you know, of trying to keep this open space. Despite the fact that we have big lots in Wrigley, we really are sitting on each other's laps. Um, I did notice that the original proposal, the way it was written, was indicated 17 to $22 million per acre, and that has been removed. I don't know whether that's significant or not. Also, you had mentioned that there is no terms contract on the table or someone coming forward with an application willing to build or to buy it. How long is this directive to the staff? What period of time is this for? Is there an end to it? A month, two months? And would we be jettisoned or would they be redirected to stop pursuing funding if there was an application on the table? Whatever the term is for someone to want it to build or to use it. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: Good evening, council members. My name is Robert Richardson and I live at 525 or 37th Street in the Wrigley area. It's a great neighborhood. We have one way in and one way out. I've been living in that particular house for 35 years and I just want to speak at the ground level of all my neighbors who's died of cancer. And there's a lot of them right now walking around with cancer because of that Baker oil area back there. And as you go back to right now, all is going up as we speak. The area cannot be cleaned up. It's just been like that for 35 years. We get odors and it's just it's a bad sight.
Speaker 4: But whatever you put.
Speaker 3: There, please do not put any single family Holdens because you know their kids. We have kids up there and you.
Speaker 10: Know, they're our life and that's our future.
Speaker 4: And whatever you do.
Speaker 3: Please do not put any single family homes. I think it'll just be field and capped and be done with it. Thank you.
Speaker 2: My name is Lena Hayek and I actually also live in Wrigley and I manage the whole Golden Ranch away. And there's ten homes of us that are right there, a Golden Ranch. And right behind us is Countryside Lane one and countryside lane two. That should tell you a little bit about how compacted we are. I've also spoken with James Stein, the owner of the Oil Operation Land, and I think the North Division Department for always coming out when we've needed them for help with the homeless, drug activity, etc. I think we call them about ten times a week. So I'm also in favor of the open space. We currently have about two neighbors who are suffering from cancer. And, you know, we went to these meetings where Tesoro was there with the environmental speakers who told us that basically we had nothing to worry about. So I don't know. Like Brenda said, is it a watered down version of what the truth is or are we just blinded to what will happen with the land? So. Councilman Aranguiz, thank you for bringing it up. I would like.
Speaker 0: The.
Speaker 2: Land acquisition to go to the city, obviously, and to leave it open space and a lot of great things that Joan had mentioned regarding why we want to push for for that. And just remember, I mean, I understand many of you probably do not live there and you don't see the activities in and out daily and the things that we go through as a community trying to just keep a strong support of what our land would look like. If you have high density buildings, they are single homes, etc.. So anyway, I just wanted to say that thank you for your time. We certainly appreciate you listening to us and our concerns.
Speaker 0: Thank you.
Speaker 9: If he comes down, council up. I agree with everything that been said and I don't think anybody that sits at the council could disagree with anything that's been said. The only concern I have is that when the city acquires property, a lot of times it seems like it's sold at a much less value than we acquired it for. And that's concerning to me. $20 million. If their funds come from outside the city, that would be tremendous. I mean, it would save us a lot of money they could use. Instead of a sales tax to provide infrastructure. And it does affect everybody around there. The wind blows. It does smell, you know, stuff oozes. I mean, very few of you live around there that you don't know what it's like. I remember when they scraped the cap off the other dump we have here in Long Beach. And everybody was upset about that overall Pacific Coast Highway. Remember that a couple of years ago. And that was a tremendous problem. So I support Perch. It'd be great, but let's use it for residents. Make it a part. Don't sell it to a developer that's going to overbuild at a cheap price. That's not what you're here for. You're here to do what's best for us. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Steele. Councilmember.
Speaker 6: Well, first of all, I want to thank all the speakers who came forward and shared their ideas and their perspectives on this parcel of land that is available. I think we have an opportunity here for the city to increase our park space. We need more open space. The seventh District is especially especially in need of more open space, and this would be a great opportunity to do that. So what I'm asking basically is your support in directing staff to pursue some some avenues of being able to finance for funding. It is my intent to minimize any kind of use of city funds to acquire this partial land and hopefully it can be done through either has been mentioned through a cap and trade money that that might be available out there through the river link efforts that are there through the 8530 funding that's available to connect the river . And this this is an excellent opportunity here to connect this parcel of land with the river and with other activities that would be enjoyed with the activities that that are already set in motion for the river in terms of for where it starts to where it ends here in Long Beach and brownfield designation would certainly help be a big help towards that. So I'm asking staff to go ahead and do that. And perhaps this would be an opportunity to to discuss how long do we do this? Is there a. Time limit that we need to put on this in terms of what efforts we need to put. I know we're coming on to a new budget season for the state as well as for the city, and perhaps the city manager can can give me or give us a somewhat of a lay of the land and what awaits us for the future in this effort.
Speaker 4: Vice mayor, council members. We can probably certainly come back with 90 days with thoughts of where funding sources might be or might not be. I mean, this is going to be something very, very creative. Certainly the city doesn't have to purchase it, but we would we could certainly outline that very quickly and get direction from the council
Speaker 6: . I'm in the process of contacting our legislators to have a face to face with them, to talk about this project, in particular, to see if appetite available for them in terms of what they might be able to make available towards towards helping us acquire this land. So I'd be more than willing to help in this effort. And certainly my my office's is is available to help in any way that we possibly can with with pushing this forward. So I ask for when it comes to my my colleagues or support on this.
Speaker 1: That I thank you, Vice Mayor. I really want to thank our counsel, Roberto, you know, for his efforts to create an open space, you know, in our community. And I'm enthusiastic supporting your effort. You know, we can find a way to create Eldorado Park experience in our community that has an open space in parks. That would be for all of Long Beach to enjoy. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilman Andrews, we have no further comment on this item. Members, please cast your vote.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 0: Next item, please. Okay. Actually, 1/2.
Speaker 10: Okay. Thank you. I apologize for coming late. I was at the one of the commencements for for Cal State, Long Beach. So let me move on to the agenda. We're going to I know we have a time certain for our hearing and also just to just add our offices, just because I know she's here and I want to make sure that we we get to this item quickly as well. Can we just do item 21st before we get to the hearing? Which is the Jose ordinance. So Madam Clerk, if you can just read item 20, please. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to direct City Manager to identify potential funding sources for the acquisition of vacant property between Baker Street and Wardlow Road adjacent to the Los Angeles River for public purpose and return findings to the City Council in Closed Session. (District 7) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05172016_16-0455 | Speaker 10: to make sure that we we get to this item quickly as well. Can we just do item 21st before we get to the hearing? Which is the Jose ordinance. So Madam Clerk, if you can just read item 20, please.
Speaker 2: Communication from City Attorney Recommendation to adopt ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code. Establishing criteria for the procurement and management of job order contracts. Read the first time and lead over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for Final Reading Citywide.
Speaker 10: Thank you. I just wanted to also, just as a reminder, the Council have unanimously asked the city attorney to draft an ordinance for a job under contract ordinance, really looking at best practices. I want to I want to take a moment and I really want to thank our city auditor, Laura Dowd, who has been very involved in this process, not just with my office, but our city attorney's office. And I want to also, in case you haven't heard, she's been receiving a lot of accolades lately, and her department and team have said we can just give her a round of applause for her hard work. It's been really fantastic. And so I want to thank her. And of course, she's been working with the city attorney's office closely to ensure that we have really a best practices order, juicy legislation. And so if I can get a motion on that, we have a motion and a second. Any public comment on that? Seeing none. Okay, Members, please go and cast your vote.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 10: Thank you. And thank you again. Of doubt. Fantastic. So thank you. And this. And that. That'll be back next week for the second reading. So now we're going to we have a time certain, which is the first hearing. And I do we have an oath which is required for that. I'm just trying to get through here. So, Madam Clerk. | Ordinance | Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by adding Division V to Chapter 2.84 establishing criteria for the procurement and management of Job Order Contracts, read and adopted as read. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05172016_16-0420 | Speaker 2: This is a hearing. It requires an oath report from Economic Property Development and Development Services recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record. Conclude the public hearing regarding an economic subsidy in connection with a transient occupancy tax sharing agreement with American Life. Adobe Specifications for the Purchase and Development Opportunity at 100 East Ocean Boulevard. Declare the city owned subject property a surplus. Authorize the city manager to execute all documents necessary, including a purchase and sales agreement and transient occupancy tax sharing agreement with American life for the sale of the subject property in the amount of $7 million for the development of a mixed use hotel and business center and accept categorical exemption. SI $16 070 district to. If you're providing testimony, please stand for this item so you and raise your right hand. You and each of you do solemnly state that the testimony you may give in the cause now and pending before this body shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. I'm not familiar.
Speaker 10: Okay. Thank you. So let's go and begin the hearing. I'm going to turn this over now to Vice President Gore. Did you want to start and then turn it over to staff? Reporter To the staff. Okay. So let me turn this over to Mr. West.
Speaker 4: Mr. Mayor, council members, this truly is an exciting night. We are through the dissolution of the redevelopment agency. We have some successor agency properties that we've been disposing of with some very great success. And this is perhaps one of the more prime pieces of property in the entire city of Long Beach at Pine and Ocean. It's really a critical piece, and we have the opportunity to see a great development here. I'm going to turn this over to the gentleman who's been working with this, and that's Mike Conaway, our director of Economic and Property Development. So, Mike, Mayor Garcia, members of the City Council, this item involves a former redevelopment agency parcel at the southeast corner of Ocean and Pine. The owners of the property demolished the Jurgens Trust Building in 1988 and the property has remained undeveloped since that time. The Redevelopment Agency acquired the property in 2011 after several failed attempts by private entities to develop the property on February 12th, 2012, redevelopment agencies were dissolved and the property has remained fallow. While the California Department of Finance approved the city's long range property management plan. The plan was approved in March 2015 and amended in June 2015. In July 2015, a request for proposals was released seeking development proposals for the property which requires public access to Jergens Tunnel. A redevelopment of Victory Park. A project labor agreement related to construction and will also include a card check agreement with the Local Hotel Workers Union , a panel including staff from Development Services and Economic and Property Development Departments and an outside real estate economic consultant met to review the three proposals. The panel unanimously selected the proposal submitted by American Life Inc. and Staff's Recommendation to City Council. The project proposed by American Life presents a progressive vision of mixed uses, dynamic use of a difficult physical space, integration of Victory Park, activation of Jergens Tunnel, and connectivity between the downtown, the Convention Center, Pike Outlets and Shoreline Village. City Council's action this evening will, among other things, select a developer who will then proceed through the standard entitlement process, including site plan, review clearance through secure and community outreach and education. American Life proposes to construct up to 427 hotel rooms, 19,000 square feet of free function space and meeting rooms, 8000 square feet of standalone restaurant space and 28,000 square feet of guest amenities, including a pool and sundeck. The project proposes up to 1701 temporary jobs and up to 351 permanent jobs. The project will provide further positive economic impact as a result of property tax, sales tax, business license fees and collateral impacts to the surrounding businesses and revitalization of a blighting influence from a vacant lot in our downtown. Lastly, is anticipated that additional hotel rooms may serve to increase the number and size of conventions, which may work to increase the average daily room rate for all hotels. Public access to the Jergens tunnel is proposed to be incorporated into the design. Activation of the tunnel will be discussed during the due diligence and entitlement phase of development, restoration and redevelopment of that portion of Victory Park, which fronts Ocean Boulevard is also part of the proposal. The proposed hotel is 18 stories from Seaside and 25 stories from Ocean Boulevard, including a rooftop viewing area. The proposed purchase price for the property is $7 million, $197 a square foot. This is not the highest price offered for the property through the RFP process. However, the project provides the highest investment value to the city, providing the greatest economic impact over the short term and the highest level of revenues over the long term. The developer has identified a gap in project economics and request that the city participate in closing this economic gap. The economic gap is the difference between the cost to develop and construct the site and the combination of the present value of the net operating income over a specified period of time, plus the value of the hotel at the end of that period. The gap analysis prepared by the developer is currently under review by Kaiser Marston, the city's real estate economic consultant. However, in order for the gap analysis to accurately identify the economic gap, the project needs to be sufficiently designed to determine the exact number of rooms to be developed and the related development costs . The developer's project proposes 427 rooms. However, since the developer has not yet submitted any plans and is not anticipated to do so for some months, the exact number of hotel rooms and therefore the exact level of city participation is not clear. Therefore, as staff seeks City Council approval to negotiate up to a 50% total sharing cap and up to a term of 20 years in order to participate in the reduction of the economic gap. As the project becomes more detailed through the entitlement process, the size of the economic gap will be more apparent and negotiations can then proceed . It is important to understand that the property currently generates no revenue for the city, so sharing new revenue seems to be a fiscally prudent choice. The development timeline assumes a 90 day due diligence period with an option to extend for an additional 90 days. A 12 month entitlement period and closing 30 days thereafter. The city will have a period which extends 30 days after the end of the due diligence period within which to approve or reject the hotel brand if it is not a four star brand. If the hotel brand is four stars, the developer can proceed without city approval because the site will be subject to an environmental impact report. Staff requests flexibility regarding the 12 month entitlement period as this timeframe may need to be extended. So with that, staff believes that the developers project is in the best interests of the city the downtown, the convention center, the park and the surrounding businesses. The project will eliminate a blighting influence on the downtown, generate $7 million in one time sale price, generate property sales and transient occupancy tax, create additional hotel capacity for larger and more conventions. Bring needed jobs to the local community, enhance the city's economic welfare, and bring significant investment into the city. So this concludes my report, and I'm available to answer your questions.
Speaker 10: Thank you. I'm going to now turn this over to Vice Mayor Lowenthal. And I know she's got some extended comments on this since I know the projects in the district and we'll go from there. So. Vice Mayor.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I know many of you, certainly all of my colleagues have.
Speaker 2: A.
Speaker 0: History with this property, an understanding of this property, not a history. But this particular site is extremely important to the city of Long Beach. It is the most prominent corner that is left as open, vacant space in the downtown and certainly in the second district. But it has a tremendous amount of relevance to the entire city of Long Beach. It is diagonal from Civic Center, which, as you know, we have worked for many, many, many years to make sure that there is a civic center that is reintroduced to the city of Long Beach in a manner that is worthy of its residents and its visitors. We are working on the Queen Mary and the developable site around the Queen Mary, and this project coming online at this time is timely, but also it's an opportune time so that downtown Long Beach and the entire city of Long Beach can have a development opportunity that really honors the process that we've been through . As Mr. Conway said, this site has been vacant since 1988. The city has done a tremendous job in trying to keep the site from being blighted, which I'm glad for. We've done everything from putting up faux murals or faux brass, and I look to Mr. Mr. West, who's brought many of those murals all throughout the city, to give us a sense of ownership so that folks know that we are working on this and there is something good to come. You may have noticed that there is the beautiful loop project that's there now, which I'm very proud of, and I want to thank the Dolby and other stakeholders that brought that forward, helped us bring that forward, and to say that this is a site that we have protected and guarded and wanted to make sure that we waited for a development opportunity that allows it to be somewhat of the jewel in the crown. Certainly Civic Center will be the jewel in the crown and the Queen Mary in her own right as well. But this corner needed to be significant. It needs to be significant. It is a very, very, very critical corner. But it's also very personally important to me, as all of you know, I am ending my term not too long from now, in just a couple of months. And I had committed as one of the many projects that I would take on this site, being really a site that allows the splendor of the downtown to be reflected in its development. It's a historic opportunity for the right kind of development. It's a signature property, as I mentioned, and it needs to honor 8 to 10 years of work that I personally have put into it my staff, the entire city's team, and this council, for which I am very thankful to communicate how important this site is. I know several of you may have heard me speak about the Jurgens tunnel and the importance of the Jurgens tunnel. It is really part of the history of the city of Long Beach. For those of you who know about the pike and the pike that used to be here with with the roller coaster and other opportunities that people came to visit Long Beach for and Long Beach residents visited the Jurgens tunnel was a pathway that a lot of people remembered. And many, many, many people are alive today that have memories of that Jurgens tunnel. It is a critical piece of our history. The Jurgens Trust was a historic building under the National Register, and as such, we believe the Jurgens Tunnel has a similar relevance to the history of this city. We are requiring that that tunnel be activated for lots of reasons. Many of you may remember the University by the Sea event that we had many, many years ago sponsored by the Second District in the city of Long Beach. And we held a session in the Jurgens tunnel, giving an opportunity for folks who hadn't been there since the pike was opened and folks who had never been there before to share one of long beaches jewels. And I'm looking forward to this jewel being activated and accessible by the public once again. That is one of the beauty. One of the beauties of being in community development and city development is that we can place assets that belong to the public back. To the public through public access, but really maintained and developed in a beautiful way through a partnership with the private sector. So I'm thankful for that opportunity. I'd like to. Be sure that any of us that look at that corner today and enjoy the loop today can look forward to what Mr. Conway has described as a beautiful hotel and he has outlined the requirements that we certainly have for the team. Mr. Mayor, I'd like to state the motion specifically. If I might read that out loud. Ah, my motion is to conclude the public hearing regarding an economic subsidy. Adopt specifications number RFP CRM 15-163 for the purchase and development opportunity at 100 East Ocean Boulevard and authorize the city manager or designee to execute any and all documents necessary, including a purchase and sale agreement and transient occupancy sharing agreement for the sale and development of the subject property for a mixed use hotel and business center with the following conditions one that the developer shall enter a card check agreement providing for the unionization of the hotel. Two that the total sharing agreement shall not exceed 50% of the total actually received by the city, not including the total generated under the Long Beach Tourism Business Improvement area for a period of not more than 20 years . Three. That the developer shall be required to enter a point of sale agreement for the construction phase of the development. For that, the entitlement and development timelines presented in the Council letter include reasonable flexibility and five that the developer used best efforts to secure a four star flag. For the hotel operations. And that's my emotion, Mr. Mayor.
Speaker 10: Thank you. And there is a second by Councilman Austin. Did you have any comment right now, Councilman? Okay. Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 5: I just wanted to thank the vice mayor for her work on this. This is a really exciting project. I agree with her. Downtown has come such a long way. With her leadership, the leadership of Councilwoman Gonzalez and of course, the mayor. As mayor and as previously as a councilman for the first district. It's just it's it's blossoming at every corner. And this is just going to add to it and it's going to bring much needed changes to the area. And it's going to really close out the area to make it look finished. So I'm very much looking forward to it. I think that the motion that's made is very reasonable and I look forward to voting in favor of it.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Mr. City.
Speaker 4: Attorney. Thank you, Vice Mayor, just for clarification on your motion. I'm assuming that you're also making the motion to declare the city owned property surplus and accept the category exemption. C 1607 zero as in the staff report. Yes. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 2: I also want to thank everyone for their leadership on this. I think that it's important to take pause and say how many thousands of jobs are going to be generated and what this looks like to the economic fabric of downtown Long Beach and for our city as a whole. Many of our residents, no matter where they live in the city, commute downtown to go to work. And these are going to be not only construction jobs, but once these buildings are built, these will be long term jobs where people can start as part time employees while they're still in college, learn on the job skills and then grow into long term, full time positions and careers. And so I'm just so excited to again see this council come together on a project that will include all of the different components that build a building and all the jobs that go into building a building, and then all the jobs that keep that building operating so that we can really do a great job for the Convention and Visitors Bureau as well, to recruit more individuals from all over the world to come and visit and spend their money right here in Long Beach.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Next, we have Councilmember Austin.
Speaker 7: Yes. I just wanted to add this weigh in and also lend my support, particularly for the jobs component. I know there will be many temporary jobs, but also several hundred long term jobs created as a result of this project. It's good to see our downtown come to life and the opportunities and the vision start to be really starting to be realized here and through the work of Vice Mayor Lowenthal and this entire council and particularly city staff. I'm looking forward to this hotel improving the convention and the hospitality and entertainment capacity that our city actually has. We'll be able to bring more large conventions to our city, which means more money and more economic development to our downtown and more jobs. And so I look forward to supporting.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Just make it maybe make a couple comments and then I'm going to turn this opener off the public comment.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 10: You know, sum up, Councilman Andrews.
Speaker 1: I was just waiting, Jackie.
Speaker 10: You just plugged in this hour about the. Go ahead.
Speaker 1: Yes. May I just want to thank Vice Mayor. Mr. Segal went off with this, you know, tremendous, you know, visionary, a big a wonderful, beautiful building at this time, because this has been Long Beach. That's something we've really been looking for, especially with that old building, the German trust building. It's been there for ages. But now we're going to get a chance to see Long Beach at its best. Thank you again, vice Mayor, for that vision you had.
Speaker 10: And Councilman Richardson.
Speaker 3: Thanks a lot. I think this is a good project. Sounds everything sounds fine. Hey, what's going to happen with the loop? Can I have it?
Speaker 0: We'll have to share it. All nine of us.
Speaker 3: You can't. Okay.
Speaker 0: There are at least nine.
Speaker 3: I got dibs. All right. Congratulations, Vice Mayor and I look forward to all the economic activity, the good quality jobs that can come out of this and the impact to our downtown. So this is tremendous. Congratulations.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Just just a few things. The first is I want to just to reemphasize, which I think is important, that the lot is that this lot has been on activated and empty for 30 years, almost 30 years now, and not creating jobs, not creating convention business, not creating development for for for tourism. And certainly has been a little bit of of an eyesore over the years. Those of us that have been here for a while can remember the many iterations of the lot and and how it looks to still today. So I want to I just want to just take a moment, one, to congratulate Vice Mayor Lowenthal. I think that she's been spearheading this project. I know for for the entire time she's been in office trying to get this lot developed. And I think what the end product is, we have a a striking hotel project. And if you talk to any of the convention folks, they'll share with you that this is going to be incredible for for convention business and for for the economy. As we know, our our convention tourism economy is incredibly important to the city. And this this this hotel will also connect to the convention center. And to have this kind of really spectacular building will be will be something. So we're look forward to it coming out of the ground. And I want to congratulate the vice mayor and her team on this and as well as our our city staff. You guys you guys have done a great job of putting this together. So congratulations. And with that, I'm going to turn this over to public comment. Please come forward.
Speaker 9: Hi. My name is warmed lisowski 150 The Promenade North. Where do I begin with the problems of this project? The way the process is done on the city side, Mike Conway's report takes all the developer's items on face value. I didn't see any feasibility studies from outside. I know they're being done right now. And the fact that you all are congratulating yourselves on unanimously approving this without the transit occupancy sharing agreement is not finalized. The purchase and sale agreement is not even in draft available. Report I'm the president of Citizens Against Downtown Long Beach Giveaways, an organization formed this year with the purpose of holding the city accountable for the problems in the sea. Successor to the RDA in the lead agency in the sale. With all due respect, Mayor and City Council, I'm here to put you on notice of litigation that was filed today at Stanley Moss Courthouse in the Los Angeles Superior Court. Right here. We plan on recording a pendency of notice at the Los Angeles County recorder's office in the next ten days. Our lawsuit seeks to block the permits and approvals of this pending vote regarding the development of the former Jurgens trust building, which I just found out tonight from Vice Mayor Lowenthal was a historically protected building. I don't know how you guys were able to tear it down if it was historically protected. The basis of the suit is the improper process of how the city selling property, especially the environment impact review waiver. Your Class one and Class eight waivers do not suit this project at all. Class one waiver says there's no development to be done. How could you use the class one waiver when you've got an empty lot? Class eight waiver is specifically for legislative items and is accepted for any construction process. So your one page exemption from Sequoia is not valid, and that's what we're suing you against. Among other causes of action, we plan on amending the complaint to also include taxpayers rights violations. I find it appalling that at the same time that council members are pandering to the city for their measures A and B to try to raise $328 million. You're giving away $25 million of occupancy tax that could be generated. A hotel is not feasible for that site, possibly some type of other smaller residential development. I don't it doesn't. How can you have an out-of-town developer come into Long Beach and have a -$27 million profit? That's a loss of $27 million. Who's going to develop a project.
Speaker 4: At a loss?
Speaker 9: It doesn't make any sense at all. Coming up with the value of the land. What's the residual value of the land? How are you getting a $7 million purchase price when this developer is going to lose $25 million? We, the people of Long Beach, do not believe that the developer is going to lose money. And the fact that you are unanimously voting yes, we have to disagree with that. I've never seen public comments sway this council before. I've lived in Long Beach for over 30 years. So we went ahead and filed that lawsuit in the Superior Court.
Speaker 10: Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Good evening. Good evening, Mayor. City Council. My name is Cheryl Perry. I reside at 351 Magnolia. I'm the current president of Long Beach Heritage. We are happy to see that there is potential for preservation and re utilization of the Jergens train tunnel. As Vice Mayor Lowenthal said, it's certainly a significant piece of Long Beach history. We would just like to be assured that that there will be included specific wording in the DDA or whatever the documents are with the developer regarding the utilization of and the public access to the tunnel. Because we didn't have apparently enough protection in 1988 and we lost the entire Jurgens trust building. We'd like to make sure that there are enough legal protections for the tunnel itself. Mr. Mayor and many council members, you've said that we need to think big and think outside the box to create a vibrant and invigorating downtown and re utilizing this tunnel could certainly be an important piece of that. We don't have to have all the details yet of how that can happen. We have a lot of creative and talented architects and engineers and builders in the city that can figure that out. But we just want to make sure that there's protection, that you do not relinquish the control of the tunnel. Be the leaders of this revitalization, this re utilization of it. Don't leave it to the developer to tell us what they're going to do with it. You are our leaders. You tell them what the city wants to happen there. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Sure. Next speaker.
Speaker 4: Good evening.
Speaker 1: My name is Derek Smith. I am the political director for Unite Here Local 11. We understand the importance of this hotel. We're not. That's not lost on us.
Speaker 4: But we also understand very well the value of what is being given away.
Speaker 1: And the point of the process that this tonight marks today.
Speaker 4: There has been no written assurance by the developer about which end use jobs are going to.
Speaker 1: Be quality.
Speaker 4: Jobs. The vice mayor has put.
Speaker 1: Forth a.
Speaker 4: A card check provision in her motion, which is good in concept.
Speaker 1: Conceptually, it's important.
Speaker 4: But it's limited because it doesn't provide any clarity about which jobs are going to be union jobs or the process by which workers will be able to decide whether they want a union or not. And those things are important. In instances like this, we suggest labor peace. A labor peace is appropriate in a situation where a city has a fiduciary interest in a property which you do. Labor peace is an agreement that ensures the financial success of a project because it mandates that the two parties that actually can ensure peace, labor, peace, a developer.
Speaker 1: And a union must.
Speaker 4: Work together and decide for themselves who's going to be covered and what the concept is and how it's going to happen. That's the agreement that needs to be in place for you to ensure that there.
Speaker 1: Is no labor dispute, which I imagine is what you want.
Speaker 4: So we are asking that you put that labor peace provision in place tonight while.
Speaker 10: You are granting all the rest of the.
Speaker 1: Entitlements and hopefully that if you do that, we can all happily support this project. Thank you very much.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Speaker, please.
Speaker 2: My name is Nadir Tushnet. I've lived in the third district for. It's almost 30 years. Not quite. And I have some concerns about the upcoming proposed hotel project, this new hotel development. I've been very proud of the labor standards in Long Beach for the most part. And this new hotel development should uphold the city standard for projects with community benefits, especially if we're going to negotiate a tax subsidy. So at this time, I urge that the City Council vote to approve this project only if a labor peace agreement is in place. And I have three more minutes. It's screwed up. It's okay. I'm done.
Speaker 10: Thank you. I think we're going to fix. Madam Clerk. I think we're going to fix the timer. Right. Okay. Okay. Next speaker. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Hi. My name is Jose Soto. I am a Hyatt centric public employee. I've been there for seven years since it opened as a year and then through measure, and we were able to do a card check and become unionized. I believe that this this is very important to us, not only the workers here, but the people who live here in Long Beach, because there's different companies out there who refuse to negotiate even once they're in control. So if you think that they're going to do the right thing, it actually takes months of litigation, months of lawyers for them to actually come and negotiate a fair contract with their employees. So the card check is something very important. And the community benefits also are something that that help. Because if we don't do this right the first time, like I said, it takes months and months of employees having to go to try and negotiate fair living wages, sustainable living wages, also assisted health care. And the workloads are something that that are something that benefits employees that you went through through community community benefits and being able to even just have a card check. Another thing I mentioned here is the voice that that you can offer to the employees that people work. There's going to be very big with the card check and with community benefits. A lot of times there's abuse with wage theft because there's no transparency. Contracts can can also include language of transparency about tip distribution and things like that, which lead to wage theft. Also, things that are good in that sense is that the workloads a lot of people think that the turnover in hotels is due to something very minimal, but it's actually leading to workloads being excessive. Companies are exploiting the workers and just being ambitious managers, ambitious people, short shifting people. And all these things can be labor disputes can be litigated earlier, you know, if you do it right the first time, we need benefits. We need community benefits to keep LPC standards high. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 9: Good evening. My name is James Banks. I am from the second district. And. Thank you, Vice Mayor Lowenthal, for all the work you've done. I am a member of the Long Beach Coalition for Good Jobs and Healthy Economy. I am also a member of United Auto Workers, Local 4123, and I am an employee of the international UAW. I think the the trade, the transit occupancy, tax sharing agreement that we see here, I think is a really bad idea. Basically, you're splitting that 5050 and that's giving away a lot of money and especially to give away that money for over 20 years. That's really depriving services from the citizens of Long Beach. Earlier, several hours ago, we saw the work that the public works people do. That's money that could easily be helping the public works. So there's no need to 5050 split that total money. That's about 25 million that we could be saving for our own coffers to help out with that. So I think that a subsidy is only good for the community when there's community benefits in place that are returning that for good jobs, stimulating the economy and having good labor working conditions. As a person that negotiates contracts for thousands of people, I can tell you that labor peace is a very valuable thing to have. And I hope that the labor peace agreement that we do see with this language for this resolution is really clear. And so the only way this project should be given a subsidy is that the developer commits to the community benefits. We're not giving that money back to them 5050. And so in conclusion, I ask the City Council to only approve moving forward with this project if a labor peace agreement is in place. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Good evening. My name is Alicia Quiroz. I used to work as a restaurant server here at one of the Hyatt's in Long Beach. And unless labor peace is given in this project, we oppose the project. I want to tell you what it's like to work as a server who doesn't have a union. Without the union, we're on our own and we are subject to enduring harassment without being able to speak up. If we speak up, our hours are cut. Our days are cut. If we are not the quietest, the most submissive, the prettiest of servers, we're not given enough hours. We can make ends meet. I had to work two server jobs to rent a one to rent one bedroom out of an apartment here in Long Beach. Like we did, there were two nonunion server jobs without a union. Women like myself, families remain poor. We remain without health insurance, without an opportunity to have the full time good careers that Councilwoman Mango mentioned. At these hotels, you know, we cannot afford a college for our for ourselves. My coworkers couldn't afford a college for their children while working nonunion, serving jobs. We don't have health insurance. We don't have sick days. And so these are the things that are money goes to pay for instead of a good education. Without a union, we have no opportunity to know if tomorrow we're even going to have a job or if we can afford our rent next month. Our hours are so up and down that we never know. We have to endure uninvited comments from guests, from managers every single day. So I encourage you to do the right thing and give the hundreds of future workers at this hotel a good job, a good future, and a good life. And do not support this project if there is no labor peace. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Thank speaker, please.
Speaker 4: Good evening, Mayor Garcia and fellow council members, staff and the public. My name is Tommy Falvey. I represent the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and we wholeheartedly support this project moving forward. We feel that bringing more economic benefits to the city and seeing more cranes up and in Long Beach is always a plus when you're talking about the multiplier of construction jobs and seeing many careers here in Long Beach to be expressed. I'm tired of seeing a lot of the the cranes in Los Angeles city of L.A. But you know what? I think Long Beach just is going to have more cranes than L.A. one of these days, more development. And in Long Beach is always a plus. And we we urge you to move this project forward. And thank you very much.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Next speaker.
Speaker 4: Please. Hello, Mayor. Honorable councilmembers. My name is Jeremy Diaz. I want here on behalf of Los Angeles, Orange County Building Trades Construction Council, and we are also in strong support of this project. It's projects like these that let the future people of Long Beach work and it creates good careers and it creates good jobs not only now , but down the road as well. So, again, we support this project and. Thank you for your time.
Speaker 10: Thank you. And our final speaker.
Speaker 2: Hi. My name is Amy, but I am a full time worker at the Hyatt Regency Long Beach. Nine plus years almost. I am also a full time student and a single mother for those working for in the future hotel property. I want to say for the workers that will be working there, definitely a bottom line has to be given to the workers. A labor peace agreement needs to be in place for those future workers of residents living in Long Beach. For those seeking out jobs for that hotel. So hopefully we see that in the future. So bottom line, labor peace needs to be present. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Okay. Thank you. Close public we we close public comment. Let me go back now to councilman Councilman Austin and vice mayor.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I do have a question for Stephanie regarding some of what has been mentioned in public comment, particularly around the card check agreement and labor peace. I understand this motion actually does have a provision for car check agreement. Is that correct? Mr. City attorney.
Speaker 4: That is correct.
Speaker 7: And who was was there? Was there any was was there negotiation with with any labor groups to get that language in there? And what was the intent of putting a card check agreement in place?
Speaker 4: Councilmember Austin, there was discussion during the day today on how best to ensure that the hotel would be a union hotel, even though it is subject to measure. And and so in discussions internally, we thought the best approach to achieve that was through the card check agreement. And so that was included and discussed with the developer. And he has agreed to pursue that.
Speaker 7: And I guess to staff Mr. Conway or the city attorney. What is a card check agreement actually mean to you in terms of making it more inviting for a union hotel?
Speaker 4: Council Member Austin My understanding of the card check agreement is it provides an option for the employees of the hotel to decide whether or not they want to unionize. And I've been advised by the developer in this particular project that in his experience, a card check agreement generally almost 100% of the time results in a unionized hotel and comes with a restaurant. On top of that, the chosen hotel will enter into a card check neutrality agreement with the local 11 for direct employees of the hotel.
Speaker 7: So there's already a provision for this. The card check agreement to be with.
Speaker 4: That will be in the purchase agreement. Yeah. Okay.
Speaker 7: Okay. I may have a question later. Thank you. I'm going to let other councilmembers with Councilmember Supernova.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Thank you. First, I'd like to thank the vice mayor for recognizing there are still people alive who remember the Jergens tunnel. I think Councilmember Andrews and I would be among those. That group. Yeah, that's sorry. But to Sheryl Perry's point about the Jergens tunnel, from what I read in the description here, there's there's no mention of a Northern ingress or egress from that. Mr.. CONWAY So does that mean that it's just going to be open on the seaside way? As I mentioned, I am old enough to remember it. They did close the entrance on the north side of ocean. I think you could get to it on the south side of Ocean, also near Victory Park, which was the skylight for the tunnel. Any plans in place to have an opening at the other end? So it actually functions as a tunnel? That would be. And that's too far in the weeds right now. But I think that's something that the the folks who remember it would would.
Speaker 4: Want to see. Council members who are the our understanding currently and we will verify that is that the northern entrance to the tunnel has been blocked off by development and therefore is not accessible. But we will absolutely ensure that that's correct. If there is access from the northerly side, we will look to provide that as part of this agreement.
Speaker 3: Okay. Thank you. I think there's a lot of issues we need to visit at at a later date when the folks are here to answer those questions in terms of marketing and whatnot. So we'll defer that to later. But for now, I stand in support. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Thank you. By Samir Lowenthal.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I wanted to thank all the speakers, as well as council colleagues and council members. Super. And I apologize for that. Sometimes it feels like one long day and a decade can go by. But of course, it wasn't that long ago. I. Mr. Mayor, thank you also for your gracious comments. I think everyone has worked hard on this particular project in one way or another. And Councilmember Supernormal. I have asked our city team, not just today but for years, to make sure that that access to the northern side is revisited and considered, if at all possible. It is something that made that a very, very, very unique property. So I reiterated that request today to Mr. Conway and Mr. Modica, and hopefully the answer is a positive one, because I think that will also provide unique opportunities for the developer to consider if that actually is an option. And I would like to reiterate my gratitude for the staff for ensuring that measure and is clarified and then really sanctify through this agreement and know that the larger victory when it comes to working with city owned properties has been achieved. And for that, I'm very thankful and I thank everyone that's been involved in almost the last ten years in this process. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Members, please go ahead and cast your vote.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 10: Thank you. We're going to go ahead and take a one minute recess just to get a back up on the agenda. So we will return in one minute. Thank you. Okay. We're going to go ahead and call the meeting back to order. If we can do the roll, please.
Speaker 2: Councilwoman Gonzalez. Vice Mayor Lowenthal. Councilwoman Price, Councilmember. Super nice. Councilwoman Mongo. Councilman Andrews. Councilmember Muranga. Councilman Austin. Councilmember Richardson. Mayor Garcia.
Speaker 10: I'm here. Thank you. Item 13.
Speaker 2: Communication from Councilman Austin, Councilwoman Gonzalez, Councilmember Muranga and Councilmember Richardson recommendation to request a report from the city manager and police chief on gun violence in Long Beach within the past year. | Contract | Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing regarding an economic subsidy in connection with a Transient Occupancy Tax Sharing Agreement with American Life, Inc., pursuant to California Government Code Section 53083;
Adopt Specifications No. RFP CM15-163 for the purchase and development opportunity at 100 East Ocean Boulevard, Assessor Parcel Number 7278-007-928 (Subject Property);
Declare the City-owned Subject Property as surplus;
Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute any and all documents necessary, including a Purchase and Sale Agreement and Transient Occupancy Tax Sharing Agreement, with American Life, Inc., a California corporation, or assignee, for the sale of the Subject Property in the amount of $7,000,000, for the development of a mixed-use hotel and business center; and
Accept Categorical Exemption CE 16-070. (District 2) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05172016_16-0438 | Speaker 2: Communication from Councilman Austin, Councilwoman Gonzalez, Councilmember Muranga and Councilmember Richardson recommendation to request a report from the city manager and police chief on gun violence in Long Beach within the past year.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Councilman Austin.
Speaker 7: Yes, thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. And I want to thank my colleagues who signed on to this. This item. I want to, first of all, start by applauding the hardworking and dedicated men and women of Long Beach PD for the work that they do to keep our city safe on a day to day basis. They have a tough job and we very much appreciate the work that they do. However, recently, over the past several months, we have experienced an increase in violent crime, particularly gun crimes in some areas of our city, which has been very, very unsettling for many of us as city council members, but many residents as well, families who have been impacted by gun violence neighborhoods. And it does have an impact when when those actions happen. I know gun violence is actually down. If we look at the statistics over the last 20 years. But we are experiencing an uptick. And from my perspective, any gun violence is is too much gun violence. And we can and should do better. And so what I'm asking for from our or I'd like a staff report from the P.D. to to give us some some some insight as to what sort of strategies and what are we doing to to try to reduce gun violence over the next in the coming months as we are approaching our 2016 summer? Also, what can this council do to better support you in terms of reducing gun violence?
Speaker 4: Mayor Councilmembers, we have with us tonight all three deputy chiefs, Rich, Rocky, Mike Beckmann and David Hendricks. We also have Tracy Coalinga, our neighborhood resource officer. So I'm going to turn it over to our deputy chiefs. But I do want to point out as well that this is probably the last time you'll see Deputy Chief Rich Rocky buying a microphone. He'll be retiring in early June after a 30 year career. And congratulations, Chief Rocky handed off to you.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Mr. West. Honorable Mayor. Members of City Council. Yes. We, too, share your concern with the increase in in gun violence, as we've seen so far this year. And we are doing many things to try to impact our gun violence that we are seeing throughout the city. I'd like to point out that one. In 2014, we ended the year in a 40 year low in violent crime in our city in 2015. In 2016, we started to see some of that rebound, specifically in the area of violent crime and in our gun violence. Through April of 2016, our city has experienced a 13.1% in violent crime. We have experienced an increase in our shootings of nearly 42% compared to the same time last year. About one third of these shootings are gang related, and we have seen an increase of 46.7% in gang related shootings from this time last year as well. Murders are also have shown an increase this year of 83.3% year to date compared to 2015. Most of these, however, are gang related, and that's where we're focusing a lot of our attention to impact these crimes. One thing I'm going to add into this is our robberies. Although some of our a lot of our robberies may not be involve guns, some of them do involve guns. So I thought it was appropriate to talk a little bit about that when we're talking about gun violence. But we have shown an increase of 24.3% of robberies through April 2016 compared to 2015. And just to clarify, robbery, this crime occurs when someone takes the property from another by force or fear. And most of these robberies that we experience in our city are street related type crimes. And again, many of them don't involve guns, but some of them do. The common things taken in these robberies are cell phones, personal items such as jewelry and money, and these are often crimes of opportunity. In addition, as we talked a little bit about the 40 year low in violent crime in 2014 and then bouncing back the last 17 to 18 months, according to a recent report of Major City Chiefs Association, major cities across the country and even into Canada are experiencing similar increases in their violent crime categories, as we are seeing here in Long Beach. And they're seeing these during the first quarter of 2016 compared to 2015, like we are here as well. Some of those challenges that we continue to see and that have been something that we've been focused on as an organization is several legislations, legislation, challenges that have come our way in the recent years. Other well-intended to reduce prison populations. We have seen that legislation impact us and we're still working with our. Agencies across the country and major city chiefs to determine how this legislation is, in fact, impacting us to get more empirical data. A lot of what we're seeing is anecdotal at this time. So some of our strategies that we have employed and I'll mention a few, I do have many of them and we can include these in the upcoming report. But I want to point out before I get into the strategies and just thank our dedicated police officers in the city. We have a group of officers who work extremely hard to impact crime and keep our community safe. And in doing that, they work with us and employ various strategies to impact crime. And to name a few, like I said. Through crime analysis, we adjust resources throughout the city to impact crime when and where they're most likely to occur. We focus enforcement at the patrol divisions by directed enforcement teams in Impact Motors, public safety realignment teams, patrol officers and canines. Through April of this year, a public safety realignment team has performed 213 compliance checks and made 93 arrests. We've increased our court order arrests to 82 versus 69 through the end of May of 2015, and May isn't done in 2016. So we'll see that number grow. And we have surpassed our court order enforcement, increased proactive enforcement with the use of overtime for violent crime and property crimes are most likely to occur. These efforts, in combination with quick response to priority calls for service, has resulted in an increase of seized guns this year. These are evidence guns taken off the street. And so far we have seized 186 versus 139 from this time last year. So we are continuing to impact our gun crimes by taking guns off the street that are in the hands of those that want to do harm. Local and regional narcotics enforcement to impact a funding source for gang operations. And with that, I can answer any further questions.
Speaker 4: Catherine.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you to Councilman Austin for for bringing this forward and for asking me to join join in with them. And thanks to our police officers and our violence prevention team. I know I know very well our statistics. You know, I know statistically we are up in gun violence. And I know statistically there is an increase in homicides, particularly in my council district this year. And I know that conversations are taking place at kitchen tables in our community and taking place taking place in my own home. So I do think it's important that we as a city council do have these conversations at the highest levels of our city. It's important for the public to know that this is a priority for us, that we are doing the best, doing the best that we can, constantly innovating and looking at new approaches, not just focusing on suppression, but placing a real focus on violence prevention and investing in this like we've never invested in it before. So, so, so know. I want to again thank Councilman Austin for bringing this forward. But I think we need to continue to have these these regular updates and dialogs until we turn a corner, until, you know, additional resources are put on the table for us to to really make an impact and keep our community safer. Thanks.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Next is council member. You're actually. Yeah. Councilor, we want to.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Mayor. And I, too, want to extend my my gratitude to the men and women of the Long Beach Police Department for all the work they do that they put themselves in harm's way every time that they out in the street. So I really appreciate the work that they do. And I also want to thank Cosmo Ralston for including me in this in this in this item here, because it's my district is obviously very impacted by this as well. One of the things that I think that as we pursue this and go forward, I think we also have to look at the besides the effects of legislation that may have an effect on where we're at right now. But also, we also have to look at what are the economic and socio economic aspects of why we have an increase in crime. We always know that as we go into a recession or we go into a hard economic times, that there's an obvious increase in crime. People are become desperate or become more compelled to get what they need in in a very easy way. And it's been said there are crimes of opportunity. So we always have to keep people informed about how to secure their homes, secure their vehicles, secure their properties. And I think that obviously we need much more information on that. And besides that, we also need to keep more information and contact in regards to what to do in in dangerous situations. I don't think there's enough of that education going on. So I think that's another aspect that we need to look at as well. One of the things that I would also like to see in whatever is coming up in the report is the increase that there has been terms, there has been an increase, as we have heard right now, in gang activity. But I'd also like to know if there's new gangs out there that are that are developing and coming up. Is there any new activities that have been presenting themselves at great challenges to our police department as well as other public safety personnel? And also the the the the the guns that that have been confiscated? Perhaps we will get to a better understanding of where those country are coming from. There's no question that a lot of the the gun incidents that are being perpetrated are from stolen guns. Very few are bought for the purpose of of a career of causing a crime. The most they are stolen. So maybe we have to have more education as well on securing the guns that the owners might buy locally and just giving them more information about how to secure and how the proper use and safety of those those weapons so that they don't become easy access for for a potential burglary or or a car theft, whatever, that that would make make a gun accessible to a criminal without bad intentions. So I would also like to to to have that looked at and more and more education. I mean, there's nothing that is more important than anything with with our community and our residents to give them information. So the more information they get, the more knowledge they gain material, making themselves much more safer. I think it's a it's a is an improvement in our in our community. So I would like to see and they don't cost money. I know that nothing comes cheap. Creating more brochures and literature and distributing those is an issue. So we have to look at and how we're going to not only get these these guns off the street, but also how we're going to secure those that are that are owned by private citizens, that are become victims of a theft that later on becomes a weapon for for bad intentions. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Councilman Price.
Speaker 5: Thank you. I want to thank my colleagues for bringing this forward. I actually didn't know about the item until I saw it on this week's agenda. But I think it's a very, very good topic to discuss. It's actually something we've discussed at the Public Safety Committee meetings. And Deputy Chief Hendricks has given us reports on all of these topics, public safety. And I'm wondering, as we're talking, whether it might be useful for us to maybe take up the issue that Councilman Turanga just mentioned regarding new gangs and gang outreach activity, outreach and outreach and education activities that are going on citywide. Because I know we have multiple grants and multiple outreach efforts going on. Maybe we can have that presented at a future public safety meeting, committee meeting, and then we could forward that report to the full council. Is that something that you guys would be able to accommodate?
Speaker 4: A council member prays. Absolutely. We can accommodate that and come back with that.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 5: So maybe we'll go ahead and add that to our next public safety agenda. And then I'm also wondering and I wonder, I'm just throwing this out there if maybe it would be helpful for us when we do cover some of these topics. And earlier tonight, we had a fireworks item on we'd covered the same topic at Public Safety. Do my colleagues think it might be helpful to have some of those reports forwarded to the full body for discussion? Because we can we can think about maybe doing that from the Public Safety Committee standpoint on issues that really impact the whole city. Gun violence, fireworks. We talked about maybe gang and gang activity and education. Those are three things that I was thinking might be relevant to the full body. We could have the reports forwarded to council. I'd like to hear what my colleagues think about that.
Speaker 7: Well, I think that that's actually a great, great idea. I also sit on the public safety committee. I agenda is this particular item outside of the committee because I think it merited a a a citywide stage and a council wide discussion. Several of our council districts are impacted. Not each not everybody on the public safety committee is is as impacted. And I wanted to make sure that we were included in our residents, as well as sending a message to our residents, more importantly, that this this this issue of gun violence is extremely important and that the city council , the entire council cares about it. And we wanted to make sure we aired it in front of the council to give it a bigger stage. Obviously, most of the public is not paying attention to our individual committee meetings, but good work is actually happening in those committees. And in fact, much of this information has been presented to us and Public Safety Committee, we're working. Councilmember Price is our chair and is very thoughtful. We are working to with PD and with fire on constantly on on the issues, the big issues facing our city. But this particular item I thought merited a larger discussion. I do have a couple of follow ups and they do want to hear from the public as well. But in light of the challenges outlined, the legislative challenges, the the the challenges that we may have with with staffing, what more can we do as a city to prevent crimes? And I know we have a violence prevention plan. I know we have a lot of great innovative approaches right now that are unique to our city in a lot of ways. But what more can we do? And this this is it's an open ended question, but it's a question that I would just really ask for us to think hard about, because I can tell you that this council member and I know others are committed to doing doing whatever we can to to make our city safer.
Speaker 8: Councilmember us and we are doing an awful lot in impacting in enforcing violent crime. And we work collaboratively, collaboratively as a city to impact that. So we certainly can look at what what we can do differently or add to. But I think in the report you will see the comprehensive approach that we have.
Speaker 7: So so, Deputy Chief, I want to congratulate you also on your many years of service in your retirement. We did not see A, B, one or nine or we did not understand and know what the impacts of of legislative actions would be. And there's a lot of there's theories that that maybe some of those actions have resulted in some of the upticks in crime that we're experiencing today. Now that we know or now that there is a theory or hypothesis out there, that that that some of these legislative actions have created a situation now that we have more crime or we need to be more alert. The question is what what else can we do? And if you don't have the answer today, I'd be happy to get an answer at a later later time to give you 30 days to think about it, to come back to this council. But I think what we need to do as a as a what I'm looking for today, and I know our public in many communities are looking for is is innovative new approaches to to dealing with this issue because we have new, new scenarios facing us today.
Speaker 4: I can answer that, Councilmember. I think that's just something that I know that working on with our government relations with Diana Tang, we can certainly report back on what's happening with those propositions throughout the state of California.
Speaker 7: Okay. Well, I'm definitely looking forward to hearing those report back from Diana Tang, and I would encourage our PD to continue to stay the course and work continue the great work that they're doing on our behalf. My, my, my, my concern is that we need to look at some alternative approaches, some sort of new strategies that may not have to be laid out here before the council, but some more aggressive approaches to to end gun violence, particularly when you can you can almost put a map out there and understand that, you know, there are hotspots throughout the city that we need to be really, really focusing on.
Speaker 10: Okay. Councilman Price.
Speaker 5: Thank you. So one of the things that I hope that we can do, this discussion of an uptick in crime is affecting every single council district. I mean, every single one. I just looked at the TFF that you guys that the police department sent out on crime stats and you know there. Property crimes and theft related crimes have gone up more in some districts, a lot more in some districts than others. And this is a conversation that we're all having across the city. So I would like to elicit input from my colleagues in terms of how we can better use the Public Safety Committee to vet out some of these issues so we don't have to do it tonight. But as as everyone kind of walks away and thinks about these issues because we're all addressing them when we go to community meetings, we're all talking about the various issues that impact our neighborhoods, and we want to make sure that we have accurate information and that we're appropriately setting them as a committee and also as a body. So one of the things that we could do is maybe we can start doing, you know.
Speaker 2: Regular reports.
Speaker 5: In terms of specific type of information that we're bringing to public safety. Deputy Chief Hendrix always gives a very comprehensive report on whatever the agenda item is, and I usually reach out to my fellow committee members and ask them what items they'd like to put on the agenda. One of the things that we could do, and I'm happy to do it in our office if my colleagues are interested in this, is we can put together kind of a summary of the items that we discussed at the public safety meeting and what correspondence went along with those agenda items. And we can distribute those. And then if a council member wants to have a further discussion, because I think that's a really great point, we may there are a lot of these topics we should be talking about.
Speaker 2: As a group.
Speaker 5: We can agenda as those that come out of public safety and maybe ask for additional reporting that wasn't included at public safety, because sometimes public safety is the first place where we're hearing about an issue and questions come up that necessitate further follow up. So if everybody wants to kind of think about that, we don't have to make any decisions about it tonight. But I'd.
Speaker 2: Love to be able to use.
Speaker 5: The Public Safety Committee as a venue to further vet the information that we as a council body hear so that we're all on the same page and able to report to our constituents consistently and and with full advocacy on their behalf. I will say and I remember having a conversation offline with one of my colleagues about Prop 47 before that passed, that I knew for a fact it was going to have the impact that it's had, and it's been devastating. The number of drug addicted individuals we have out there are contributing to our current stats. And that is a situation that I think absent some statewide resources and intervention is not going to go away regardless of how many resources we put into the problem. The reality is there's no longer any incentive for people to make meaningful, sustained long term changes. And as a result of that, we're going to continue to see that problem go up and that problem is going to increase with theft related crimes. And the theft related crimes are going to lead to violence and the violence related crimes are going to lead to gun use and weapons use. That's just the pattern. So anything that my colleagues think as a result of these discussions that we can do to better utilize the public safety committee as we move forward on these citywide discussions, I'd love to hear from you at some point so that we can, you know, be the most efficient and make sure everyone gets access to the reports that we may have. So thank you.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Councilmember Ringo.
Speaker 6: Well, I'm just going to go ahead and throw it out there. There's the big elephant in the room is guns. And their accessibility and their misuse. And until we really, really get some real good gun control laws in, we're going to always have this problem. So what can you do as a public safety committee or what can we do as a council if we're going to have to address that? It's not the time tonight or maybe in the near future. It's certainly a federal issue as well as they're looking at implementing some kind of ID. Then application processing for applications for guns. But those are the legal ones. And what we have here but when we're looking at gun violence and we're looking at how they are acquired by gangs and to prepare to perpetrate robberies and assaults and everything else, I mean, we're not going to be able to really get a handle on this. But then, you know, and we do it at the risk of of being a target of the NRA and other pro gun activists out there. So we really won't be able to resolve maybe the gun issue. But certainly, as I indicated earlier, education and information is the immediate thing that we can do. And that's something that I think the public safety committee can do. It increased its accessibility to the public in terms of what to do in those types of situations or how to secure, again, their their their guns and making them less available for for theft and illegal use. So it's a difficult issue. It's one that's not going to be resolved immediately, obviously, but it's certainly one that eventually it's going to come to us. I recall many years ago, the city council was addressing the very same topic, gun violence. And there was a proposal put on the council. I don't know who was around at that time back this goes way back 1980s and 1987, somewhere around there. There was a proposal to eliminate what they called at that time, Saturday night specials. Anybody caught with that would be or committing a crime would have added penalties for for carrying those. And they were basically outlawed in the city in terms of gun sales. I think stores were required to eliminate the sales of those types of handguns. So maybe that could be another way of addressing this type of of activity as well as I think there was also an effort, not a recall when that was, but to also look at the elimination of gun sales of an AK 47 or other automatic automatic weapons. How many AK 40 seconds are used in these crimes? I have no clue. I'm probably, I'm guessing, probably very small because there aren't that many out there anymore. But those those types of things that we could look at, maybe the types of guns that are being used in the in in gun violence would be. Useful, perhaps, in terms of the types of guns. I'm not a gun aficionado, so I have no clue as to what type of gun is popular with with purpose. But maybe that's something that we could look at in the future.
Speaker 10: MCHUGH Councilman Alston?
Speaker 7: Yeah. I don't want to beat this to death, and that's probably not the best word to use, considering. But it's a real word because there are a lot of people in a lot of families facing just that death in their their families. Death on our streets as a result of guns. I brought this idea forward in all sincerity, to try to get ahead of summer 2016. Generally, we see a rise in crime during the summer, and I do not want this council or anybody in the city to to become desensitized to gun violence is not normal. It should not be acceptable for for people to be dying in the streets as a result of gun violence. And I think we can and should do more as a city council. I did ask a question and I got two different types of answers. What can we do or can we do more? And the answers and what I like to think about is, is improving technology. Improving community policing and new approaches to community policing. Gang intervention strategies. And I know we have all of that there, but I think we have to do more because the numbers don't support a measure of success. And so I think we need to continue to do more, continue to work hard. This is no way a blemish on our our hard working men and women of our police department. It's no way of a blemish on this city and its leaders, but we have to do more. And the gun violence I went to a vigil just a couple of weeks ago, and it was it was heart wrenching that a 16 year old kid was was murdered in a park within walking distance of his home to to be with his family and to understand the anguish and the the pain that that that family was suffering as a result of that crime. And this is happening all too often throughout our city. We need to pay attention to this and we need to step up. And so we may not answer the questions this evening. We may not have all the answers this evening. But, you know, I would just ask my colleagues and yes, we're going to work through our public safety committee and city staff to identify more solutions. And I'm committed to doing that.
Speaker 10: Thank you. I'm just gonna make a quick, quick comment as well. I just want to make sure that we to add as well that I appreciate the conversation and think there's no bigger issue right now in the city than ensuring that we are adequately addressing this issue of crime that's beginning to increase across the city. And we know that it's not a challenge that we have alone is a challenge that we share with almost every major city, particularly in the state of California. And on the issue of guns. The chief has often said that we are now seizing more guns today than we have in recent memory. So we seized more guns were seizing more this year than we did last year. We seized more guns last year than we did the year before. And we're just seeing more and more illegal guns on the street. And so that is a incredibly serious concern, I think, of everyone that certainly is of the police departments, and that is something that we need to address. In addition, I think that we have to also having a realistic and honest conversation about the resources that our police department has. I think they are doing everything they can with what they got. And I just want to thank them for for their hard work. They're out there. They're out there every single day working very hard. And and we know that it's it's it's incredibly tough. And so we appreciate them. And I want to thank everyone that's had the discussion tonight. There's a lot more to do. The just as important is and the chief will say this, as important as policing is violence prevention and making sure that ah that there's parks for kids to play in, making sure the programs are strong, making sure that services are in place for those in need that need them as well. And so I think that that approach has to be a unified approach and it's crime fighting, but it's also violence prevention and ensuring that people have access to to economic opportunity and to and to safety in their neighborhoods. So I will say to Mr. City Manager, it's I think it's partly related. The sooner that we can implement our citywide LED light program, I know we've started that. I think the better we've having visited some of our test neighborhoods that are that are seeing that it's it is a dramatic difference of how bright we change neighborhoods and we had that light. So the sooner the better. And in fact, we should speed up that process if possible. Let me turn this over to the public. Anyone any public comment on this item? Please come forward.
Speaker 2: Karen Refight again. We will never get ahead of this problem as long as we continue to be reactive instead of proactive. Before I retired, I worked for the Boys and Girls Clubs for six years. I've done over 30 years in youth work, many of it in gang infested territories. I actually employed gang members, ex-gang members in one of my previous jobs. Five years ago, I wrote the Calgary grants pro bono for the city. Those grants were proactive grants and they were incredibly successful. Pat West and Community Development made a decision to shift in a different direction. There are differences and gang members. Adult gangs are different than youth involved in gangs. We need to identify those differences and create programs that divert our youth away from being wanting to be involved in gangs. Some of the kids have no choice with their in a third, now fourth or fifth generation family that's gang involved. You have to do something really drastic to break that gang cycle. As long as we deny that that Long Beach has a major drug problem. And Councilwoman Price, your comments just right on. Long Beach is one of the main entry points for drugs in the United States, and we need to have more resources. And I think one of the escalations in the gang violence is because we no longer have the gang unit. The gang unit was actually, I think, very critical in reducing the impact of gangs on our city. So I hope that the committee can discuss some of these options. I really hope that you would look at the Calgary program that was that could have been a model program. And many cities copied that grant and used it to get a grip, a Calgary crowd to their own. So I think we've missed an opportunity here and this is part of what the outcome is for missing the opportunity . Thanks.
Speaker 10: Thank you. See no other public comment? I'll take it back to the council. This as they believe you receive and file by Councilman Austin. Please go out and cast your vote. And then staff. He'll be returning hopefully at some point here too with the much more report things.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Next item.
Speaker 2: Report from Financial Management Recommendation to approve the fiscal year 2016. Second Departmental and Fund of Budget Appropriation Adjustments Citywide. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request a report from City Manager and Police Chief on gun violence in Long Beach within the past year, including what steps are being taken to address the violence and what additional resources are needed to assist with those efforts. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05102016_16-0403 | Speaker 1: Hearing item number one, turn this over to our clerk. I don't I don't believe an oath is required on this first hearing.
Speaker 2: Report from Public Works recommendation to receive supporting documentation, including the petitions into the record. Conclude the public hearing and request the City Attorney to prepare an amendment to the Long Beach Municipal Code to expand preferential parking district. You as recommended by the City Traffic Engineer District for.
Speaker 1: Mr. West, Mr. Modica.
Speaker 4: He's. Mr. Mayor, the staff report we were given by Eric Wickstrom, our traffic engineer. Good evening. Honorable mayor, vice mayor, council members here tonight before you requesting your approval of the expansion of preferential parking district you in Council District four. The residents of San Vicente Avenue between Merida Street and Los Santos Drive have requested expansion of the preferential parking district to their block to provide parking relief from overflow parking created by Cal State Long Beach students. The residents have requested this parking district. To take place for one hour parking restrictions from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. The survey, conducted by the Public Works staff, indicated that 83% of the existing on street parking was occupied at the time, and of that 83%, 96% was occupied by vehicles, not registered to vehicle, not registered to vehicles residing within 400 feet of the street. We here before you. After that survey was conducted, a petition was circulated with an 83% approval rating of residents requesting that the preferential parking district be expanded. In addition to that segment of San Jacinto Avenue. We're also requesting that the segments of Garfield Street and Fair Brook Street between Sava Center and Los Santos Drive and Fanwood Avenue between Merida Street and Los Santos Drive, be added to this preferential parking district expansion. Those two streets would not be signed for preferential parking at this time, but they would allow us to expand preferential parking , should overflow parking move to those further streets. That concludes my report, and I'm available to answer any questions if needed.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I'm going to get any public comments on the hearing. Any public comments on this hearing? Okay. Then I'm going to go ahead and close this hearing with counsel comments. I have a motion and a second councilmember supernova.
Speaker 8: Thank you and thank you to our city traffic engineer. You covered everything there and there are a lot of stats. But if you missed the one, the one most pertinent, this is a street that's heavily impacted by Cal State, Long Beach student parking. And that number was 96% of the cars on the block did not belong to the residents. So I think that that says it all. So we look forward to getting this done and especially getting it done this summer. So the signs are up in time for the when the fall classes start. And also I should mention that the city traffic engineer did say this, but the other streets that are added to this preferential parking district don't necessarily have to have this restrictions in place. This just allows them to to run a petition if they decide to do so in the future. So I hope my colleagues will support this motion. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Councilwoman Gonzalez. Okay. With that, please. Councilmembers, go ahead and cast your vote on this hearing, item number one.
Speaker 2: Councilmember. Motion carries.
Speaker 1: And moving on to hearing item number two. I don't believe an oath is required for this hearing as well. Madam Clerk. | Public Hearing | Recommendation to receive supporting documentation, including the petitions, into the record, conclude the public hearing, and request City Attorney to prepare an amendment to the Long Beach Municipal Code, to expand Preferential Parking District “U” as recommended by the City Traffic Engineer. (District 4) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05102016_16-0365 | Speaker 1: And moving on to hearing item number two. I don't believe an oath is required for this hearing as well. Madam Clerk.
Speaker 2: Communication from City Attorney Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record. Conclude the public hearing and declare ordinance. Amending Chapter 21.54 of the Long Beach Municipal Code relating to the regulation of billboards. Read the first time and lead over for the next regular meeting of the City Council for final reading and accept categorical exemption for the project , which finds that the proposed code amendment is categorically exempt from the provisions of secure underclass. Five. Minor alterations in land use limitations citywide.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And turn this over to the city attorney.
Speaker 4: Mayor Garcia, members of the city council. This will be a short staff report. As you know, this item was here last week on May 3rd, primarily to discuss amending the billboard ordinance to allow, in certain instances the use of Caltrans credit in certain landscaped freeway areas. We had extensive council discussion and public comment on that and the consensus the vote among council was to approve that amendment to the ordinance as part of the motion to approve those changes. There was an additional item that was added.
Speaker 2: And that would be to put a 50 foot.
Speaker 4: Limit height limit on billboards that are.
Speaker 2: Adjacent to freeways.
Speaker 4: That was not the type of change that we could make on the floor. So we did make the change. It essentially involved a change to the table in the billboard ordinance to indicate a height limitation of 50 feet. So the entire ordinance is back.
Speaker 2: For first reading. That concludes our staff report.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Without having to go ahead and go to public comments on this hearing, please. Members of the public want to speak. Please come forward.
Speaker 4: Mayor and council members. My name is Ben Rockwell. I live at 75 West Street here in Long Beach. I would like to say that many billboards in fact, most billboards distract the drivers attention while they're driving, making unsafe for those other people that are riding as passengers in public transit vehicles or otherwise, and making it dangerous for other drivers on the road when these people are distracted and cannot have their own attention on their driving, their destination and what the traffic conditions are ahead. I would like to see as few billboards as possible on our freeways and definitely not the bright electronic billboards as they are an extreme distraction. I want to save lives, not let them get diminished. Thank you.
Speaker 2: It doesn't make sense. Hi, Laurie Angell. I live at 458 East Platt Street and I was involved pretty much in the first go round at the Billboard ordinance. It was extremely difficult, contentious billboard ordinance. It took a lot of discussion, a lot of public was involved. The billboard people were involved. There were a lot of very difficult issues that were discussed, and one of them had to do with billboards, digital billboards on our landscape freeways. And I thought we had all come to an agreement that that is something that we did not want to have, mainly because what we have in terms of landscaping along the freeways was pretty nice and we didn't want to interfere with that. So the brightness of these billboards is an issue. But then also that effort did win the city an award, a hard fought award, because it was such a difficult thing to come to an agreement about. Now, we're being led to believe that this minor change in this ordinance is is minor, indeed, when in fact, what it's doing is opening up the door to allow digital billboards to be in a place exactly where we did not want them to be. And then also, if you take a look at a table in the item, it says that they can be 500 feet apart. Now, staff will tell you, well, that's just not going to happen because, you know, of the land uses and ownership and this and that. Well, once you open the door, you could possibly have digital billboards every 500 feet down the road. It might not happen for five or ten or 15 years, but eventually you may really regret that you're passing this besides the fact that they use an incredible amount of energy, they use so much energy and generate so much heat that it requires air conditioning. So in terms of being the green Long Beach and we tout the fact that we're energy efficient and we're responsible to the environment, I think it's a terrible idea if they're generating money, that should be for the city that should be spoken about here. But I haven't heard it spoken about.
Speaker 4: Thanks.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 4: Good evening, Chuck Fowler, North Long Beach. I might point out, as my gentleman did, that in the first go round of the ordinance that currently exists, it was stated by the various proponents of billboards that billboards are not distracting to drivers. If they're not distracting, why have them? You know, it doesn't seem to make sense. I want to point out, too, that the height restriction that was proposed earlier in the last reading is actually an increase in the height. Currently, the ordinance calls for 40 feet, no more than 40 feet high. Now it's being led to up to 50 feet and even higher than that if there are sound walls nearby. I would really want to see that go back down to the 40 feet and one of even more restrictions. Currently, you know, the current ordinance, again, was fought very hard to get. And now we're. Kind of tweaking it a little bit and it's going to create some problems. So please reconsider. Thanks.
Speaker 1: Thank you, sir. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: And Cantrell. And I will repeat some of the things that I wrote to you in a letter. They've been addressed by other people today. Electric billboards are distracting. And if you take your eyes off the road to look at them. Studies show that it is at least 2 seconds that your eyes are off the road. In that 2 seconds, the person in front of you can slam to a halt and you can run into them. I think that putting distractions like this on the freeways is counter to what we were trying to do. When we tell people, Don't use your phone, don't text, don't put on makeup, don't shave while you're driving. And then. We put up electric billboards, as has been stated. It also takes energy. And as I understand it, we're making a deal that we can take the old billboards in the neighborhoods off the streets so that we can put them on the freeways. I don't see why we have to make a deal. Take those billboards off the streets and keep them off the freeways also. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Next week replace.
Speaker 3: Tom Stout live in Wrigley Information File. I agree. You know, all we're doing is exchanging one form of light for another one that you see. I mean, if you get all these billboards along the freeways like people are talking about, you know, it's going to look like the Las Vegas strip. You could probably see it from the piece, the space station and a few more years if things go the way they are. So exchanging, it's not a good idea if you're going to make some money. There's probably better ways you could make it than, you know, sort of putting in signs that nobody really wants. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 7: I like to make up a point about my brief hiatus. I get a normal fan of the city council and haven't been here for a long period of time. I don't know if I was really missed because I tended to be a thorn in the side of the city council. But I just wanted to say that and said my time was productive. I've been writing movie reviews for the L.A. Times and I strongly recommend The Jungle Story. It's a static, wonderful film. Having said all that, I'd like to talk a little bit about billboards, which I'm here for first. The remark that we're somehow distracting from the beautiful landscape of the freeway with the billboard remains to be seen. I see very little. A beautiful note of the scenes to be seen around the billboards. Second, the billboards a work of genius. Some of them belong in art galleries. They they tend to be very beautiful for the most part. And third. And most importantly, billboards. Generate revenue for the city. You know, it increases sales. That's why I have them. It's good for the city. It's good for commerce. Another point to be made is that. The notion that Las Vegas is somehow worse. Worse off with billboards is it is not true. Las Vegas and Tokyo are noted for their billboards. The lighting in particular, and really quite beautiful. The lights are meant to be beautifying and not distracting. And my last point is this all the complaints about billboards, it's been it's been presenting a distraction. Well, it is a distraction just because it's so good. People are attentive and want to see billboards. And furthermore. You know, Bill, boy, I work hard. I want to I want to emphasize and they do increase revenue. And the last point to be made is that they're not deleterious. They serve a productive function. They inform like the story of a haiku poem, an insight set in a few words, a few lights, a major comment on commerce and what should be bought.
Speaker 1: Thank you, sir. See no other public comment. We'll go back to the council. Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 9: I made my comments last week, but I just wanted to say congratulations to the whole team on the recognition from the American Planning Association. So this is this is tremendous work and I look forward to the second reading. Thanks.
Speaker 1: Councilwoman Mongo.
Speaker 2: I just wanted to ask the staff to reiterate how many billboards will be taken down.
Speaker 4: Amy Burdick, Director of Development Services. Answer that question. But I believe it's 138.
Speaker 2: I think it was over 100 for sure. Council member, mayor and Council City Manager Pat West is correct. We do expect 138 billboards to be removed with the ordinance change specifically from one company. We do have potentially another application which would remove another 38 billboards in a different location on a different freeway. 176 billboards, I think, is a remarkable accomplishment for us with this tiny change. And I'm really proud that you brought it to us. I think that it's a great thing. And I know that someone made a comment about find another way to make revenue. This is not a revenue generator for the city. This is a way to remove blight from neighborhoods. And if you take a few moments to look at last week's council meeting, I think that was Bodak did an excellent job showing us the locations in our parks and in our neighborhoods where people lived with that blight before. And I think that this is a great thing. Thank you, Amy, for working so hard on this. And thank you to your team. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There's a motion in a second by Councilmember Richardson and Councilman Mongo. Please cast your votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you. We have a consent calendar. There's a motion and a second public comment on consent. Seeing nonmembers. Please go ahead and cast your vote. Oh, I'm sorry, Councilman Gonzales. | Ordinance | Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal code by amending Subsections 21.54.120.B.2 and 21.54.130.A, and Table 54-1 of Chapter 21.54, all relating to billboards, read and adopted as read. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05102016_16-0377 | Speaker 1: Okay. So item 16, Madam Clerk.
Speaker 2: Report from Water Commission and Water Department recommendation to receive and file a report from the Long Beach Water Department regarding the excellent quality and safety of the drinking water in Long Beach Citywide.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Durango.
Speaker 11: Thank you, Mayor. First of all, I want to thank you for indulging me last week, and I was very late in the evening and there was nobody here to hear this report. I thought that it would be appropriate to table it for a week so that we could have a bigger and broader audience and not only here present, but also on the on the tube. Over the last year, we've heard a lot of reports about what's been happening in Flint, Michigan. And there's have been several reports about other municipal municipalities across the country that may have similar issues in their infrastructure, all piping piping that is probably lined with lead and therefore having a potential another catastrophic situation as it happened in Flint, Michigan. During those reports, it came to my attention that there are over 2000 municipal water municipalities across the country and that many of them may be in danger of encountering a similar situation in Flint. So I asked the director, Chris Garner, if he would be amenable to coming to the city council and to present the the efforts that we have here locally to ensure that our water is safe and that we have taken measures to ensure that it remains that way. And so I hope that when we're done today, that our our council and our residents have a clear understanding as to where we stand in regard to our water quality, and also maybe give some additional information as to what we can do also ourselves to ensure that it stays that way. So I'll hand it over to our staff director, Chris Gardner.
Speaker 4: Thank you very much.
Speaker 8: As Councilmember Ranga mentioned, we had a discussion recently about the Flint, Michigan, tragedy. And what makes it even more of a tragedy is it could have been avoided with proper respect for the science of water treatment. So what we have done tonight is we brought I brought my water Einstein with me, my director of operations tight saying
Speaker 4: . And he will walk you through real briefly.
Speaker 8: On what happened in Flint, Michigan, and what went wrong, and then how in Long Beach we do it differently.
Speaker 4: And then give assurance to you and to.
Speaker 8: The residents of Long Beach that the drinking water in Long Beach is very safe. And he will explain to you in terms I can understand and hopefully the rest of you can understand such.
Speaker 4: Honorable Mayor and members of City Council. Thank you for inviting us down to provide a brief presentation on what's happening in Flint, as well as give you some explanation of what Long Beach Water Department is doing that is different from the city of Flint and provide some assurances on the water quality that we provide to our residents . So first and foremost, what is happening in Flint. Flint, as you have heard on the news, is experiencing lead contamination problem and the source of that lead, the primary source. The lead is the lead service line and that's the pipeline that goes from the city main to the house. A pipeline is made of pure lead. Other sources are lead that's been introduced to the system is from household plumbing fixtures. So there are in brass fixtures. There's also lead and there's also lead in some of the old solder of when you solder copper pipe. So what happened was in 2014, the city of Flint had decided to switch the water supply from Detroit water to the Flint River. When that happened, it caused a major shift in water chemistry, and that caused the water to become very aggressive and caused the the scale that protects the pipeline from leaching lead to become unstable. To compound the issue, the operations of the Flint Water Treatment Facility had decided not to implement corrosion control, which would help to restabilize that scale and prevent the lead from leaching from the led service line, as well as corroding the lead the brass fixtures within the household plumbing. So consequently, there was a lot of delays in appropriate action and ultimately resulted in the lead issue that you're hearing about in the news. So what is different from Long Beach, from Flint? Well, first and foremost, Long Beach does not use lead service lines. We use copper service lines. So that primary source of lead does not exist. There are some brass fixtures in homes, so that does provide a source of potential lead contamination. But Long Beach has been using its water supply for over 50 years. We're primarily groundwater. We're about 60% groundwater, and we're about 40% purchased water from Metropolitan. And that water is very stable. We've been using it for a long time, so we don't have that rapid change in water chemistry that caused the problem in Flint. At the same time, we do have an active corrosion control process where we work to add chemicals to the water to make sure that whatever scale that's on the pipeline remains relatively stable and that does not allow the water to corrode any fixtures. And then lastly, we've been monitoring for lead since 1992, and all the monitoring results reported to the state has been below the compliance detection limit. So from the monitoring, we know that we don't have a levee issue. So hopefully this provides you with some assurances that the water that we provide to the residents is safe to drink . With that concludes my short presentation. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I'd be happy to answer any water quality questions you may have.
Speaker 11: Thank you for the report. So having that information, would it help residents to put like, say, a water filter on their faucets to clean the water to make sure it's even cleaner than what it is already? Or is it recommended? Do we need it or not?
Speaker 4: The water that is delivered to your home is perfectly safe to drink. Now, whether you decide to put a additional filtration device, it's a personal taste preference. You can do it. The only thing I would caution you is, for example, if you use a better filter, what it does is it removes the chlorine from the water, which is the upset, objectionable taste that some residents complain about, that chlorine is there for a reason. It prevents biological growth from reoccurring in the water. So when you remove it, you have to drink it right away or refrigerated. Do not leave it out. It could cause problems for you later on.
Speaker 11: You I was good at. That was going to be my next question. You did mention that you put some chemicals in our water to I guess, to make sure that it's clean as possible and it avoids, I guess, parasites from growing in there. What are the types of chemicals you put in there? Fluoride as an example. Equal fluoride in our water.
Speaker 4: Yes. We've been floating for a long time since the seventies. When you add caustic soda, which raises the and that's what helps keeps the scale stable in the pipeline system. We add a chemical disinfectant. It's a combination of ammonia and chlorine and what we call chlorine means. And that's what is the disinfectant that's in the water. It stays in the water and prevents the michael michael biological activity from going out of control.
Speaker 11: And another point you mentioned, you made mention the fact that you report, you test our water on a periodic basis. How often and you report those to a state agency and are those results available on the Internet or can we access those test results to make them available? Or is it something that we have to go to the State Department in order to get those results?
Speaker 4: So we collect about 55,000 samples a year to test for various contaminants that may be present in the water for the lead testing. We do it once every three years and then actually this is a year for lead testing. So we do over 100 samples and we actually in the the bill stuff, we had asked residents because of the sensitivity issue of Flint, we're offering additional testing to the residents if the residents want to volunteer. There is a limit to how many samples we could take and couldn't test the entire city. It would be too much of a cost, but we are adding that in terms of the water quality results. We do. We do report monthly the water order results to the State Water Resources Control Board. That is the governing agency that that regulates us. In terms of the results itself. We do publish an annual water quality reports that is available that used to be mailed out to every account on file. But in an effort to be more green, we have converted to electronic. So we do make it available on our website so you can get access to all of our quality monitoring data on our website. And if you do want a hard copy, you can contact the water department and we will provide you a hard copy.
Speaker 11: Excellent. One last question. These two had a long to guard program.
Speaker 4: We do. We still have the long current program.
Speaker 11: Wonderful. That's all I have. The Mayor.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 6: Thank you for the report. You know, we've been hearing so much on the news. And so I think also my my colleague, Councilman Roberto Arango, to bring this forward, sometimes we have to, you know, tackle the challenge head on and really learn a little bit more about this. So appreciate it very much. I don't have any other questions. I think you answered them all. But appreciate the the report.
Speaker 1: By Councilmember Ranga.
Speaker 11: I also want to thank both of you for being here this evening. I'm going to be partnering with the Sierra Club very soon. We're going to try to hold a a town hall meeting, if you will, workshop on water quality and what can be done so that the community can be better informed as to how we can best improve our water quality as far as that goes, but also on the conservation efforts that we can add as well in terms of preserving our water. So I want to thank you both for being here this evening, and thank you for your indulgence as well. And I know was late last last week, but early. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And I just want to also thank you both. I mean, Mr. Gardner especially. And we had a chance to spend some time doing some lobbying on behalf of the water department over in in Washington. So I want to thank you for your work. Do you have anything that you wanted to add?
Speaker 4: Now, we we again, we appreciate the opportunity to talk to you and to the.
Speaker 8: Public about the water quality. And as I mentioned, if anybody has on the public, there has any question about their own water quality in their house, contact the Long Beach Water Department and we will do testing for that and.
Speaker 4: Give them some assurance. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Great. Thank you. And as always, keep continue to conserve. I mean, lawn pictures and a nice job. The residents have done a nice job through this last year of really conserving water. And we've got to continue that. There's a lot more work to do. So thank you. Thank you. Okay. There's a motion any second. Is there any public comment on this item? Please come forward.
Speaker 4: Mr. Mayor, city council members, a name is Ben Rockwell. I would like to thank the water department for giving us the reassurances that they've brought tonight. I feel that this is very much in line with what we need to hear. I would be saddened if we ever had any contamination problems such as happened in Flint with the number of lives that have been endangered, not only the children's lives for their mental capacities and others, but all those who are older and perhaps beginning stages of Alzheimer's. This is something that is very important to all of us. And I want to thank our water department for the reassurances and spite of the reinsurance that they have given us. I don't like the taste of chlorine and some of these other chemicals. So I do have water filters so that I can have my drinking water, my cooking water, such that I am getting rid of the chlorine and some of the other substances that could be injurious to my health. And thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 11: Peter Rosenwald, Honorable Mayor, members of the Council, assembled citizens a sometime in the 1980s or early 1990, and I believe the Water Department had a program where you could get a container and take your water in to the testing area. It will take it into the water department and and have it tested. I just remember this. I never did it. But I'm just curious. Does anyone remember that by any chance? And. What were they looking for at the time?
Speaker 8: Thank you. We still have the program. If a resident feels like there's a concern.
Speaker 4: You can call us up. We'll talk to you over the phone. Listen to what your complaint is, what your concern is. And if we feel there's a valid.
Speaker 8: Concern, we will go out to your house and we will collect a sample and test for you and give you the results.
Speaker 1: So let me go ahead. And Mr. Gardner. So if you wanted to want to finish your public comment and then we'll kind of get to public comment.
Speaker 11: Thank you, Mayor. This was something that the water department would give you a sample container and you would bring it in. So I'm glad that they have that. And I also I don't believe I usually would read the water insert and I don't believe seeing this in mentioned, maybe it's not mentioned because it would engender a lot of people calling the water department or asking for them to make an inspection. But anyhow, that's my comment.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker.
Speaker 4: Hi. My name's Ellie Gonzales. I as on file. I'm really glad that this item made it before you today. I think it's really important that we do an assessment on our water infrastructure. I want to speak not specifically about Flint, but the issues around Flint. So some of the issues that came up, it's not just about the water in the lead. It's also about communities being lied to for about a year, actually about two years. It's also about communities that still don't have access to clean water. Now, when we're talking about entire cities losing their water infrastructure, I want us to remember it's not just Flint. It's many of the communities that have dealt with fracking for the past ten years that have lost their access to clean water. And if you don't believe me, you can go ahead and ask some of these people. In fact, the mayor of a former mayor of the city of Denton, Texas, a Republican truck driving, you know, gas, gas loving guy. His city was so heavily fracked that his water was able to catch on fire. I'm sure you guys have seen some of the YouTube videos. And so he was out here in the city of Carson helping them promote their ban on fracking. So so their community doesn't have to deal with what he had to deal with. His kids got sick, his wife got cancer. You know, and these are very real things. These are things that already happen in our communities. So I want to just mention that communities do get lied to. And then the government does work with companies to say, oh, no, you don't know what you're talking about. You're not a scientist. You're you're you're you're not educated enough. That's what they told these people in Flint, Michigan. And I want us to think for a second, can that ever happen here? I want us to make no mistake about it. There is a grace upon this city. This is a wonderful city. But when we practice the same sort of practices or relationships with industry, we can also fall victim to the same sort of accidents or incidents which occur, which lead to governments then being involved in covering up their mistakes. So the company that that did the water testing for the residents of Flint that said, oh, no, you guys don't know what you're talking about. Your kids aren't getting sick. You that's an odor thing. That's a taste thing. That company is called Veolia, and they actually do testing here in the city of Long Beach, actually in Signal Hill. And they work with some of the drilling companies, again, right here in Signal Hill to help them produce water tests, the testing results that show that that the water is safe. They also Veolia has also done studies here for the communities in Watts near the Exide battery plants, where communities say that their water was contaminated. So I just want us to think that to just remember that when people like me come up to this council and say, hey, you guys, you should really take a look into fracking , since so many communities have already suffered water contamination, that maybe you don't want to be one of those elected officials that say, oh, no, you don't know what you're talking about. So I do just also want to make one other mention. The person who introduced this presentation, I've got nothing personal against the gentleman. He worked for the Oil and Gas Department for 25 years. He was just appointed because you guys had some beef with the other guy. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Okay. Any other public comment on this item? Seeing none. Members to go ancaster votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next item, please. We're going to do item number seven. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to receive and file a report from Long Beach Water Department regarding the excellent quality and safety of the drinking water in Long Beach and to assure the citizens of Long Beach that various factors that caused the lead contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan do not exist in our city. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05102016_16-0409 | Speaker 1: Thank you. Next item, please. We're going to do item number seven.
Speaker 2: Communication from Councilman Austin, Councilwoman Price and Councilmember Super Non recommendation to receive and file a report from the city manager regarding the issues the city has experienced since the transfer of assets from Verizon to Frontier Communications.
Speaker 1: Okay. There's a motion and a second. But let me go ahead and turn this to I got to turn this over to. Just the staff, too. Okay. So let me turn it over to Councilman Austin first.
Speaker 3: Let's take you on. And first of all, Mr. Mayor, I'd like to thank my colleagues, council members Pryce and Supernova, for joining me on this item. I really didn't want to bring this forward, but since Frontier Communications took over landline Internet video operations from Verizon on April 1st, I have heard a steady chorus of complaints from residents , as I'm sure many of my colleagues have with concerns about problems that they have with their their service. I spoke with a senior at our eighth District senior program a couple of weeks ago who was extremely concerned that she would not able to contact 911 because her landline was not working on her phone, home phone. She did not have a cell phone. I've been personally impacted because as a customer of a former Verizon and now Frontier, my cable television or file system is not operating as it has in the past, and I know many of others have had the same problems because this transition has transaction has impacted so many residents throughout our city. We thought it would be important to have this discussion before the City Council and invite Frontier Communications to come and address these challenges and what customers can expect moving forward. It's very important to note that each and every one of these council members pride ourselves on promoting quality of life and when quality of life is impacted . We hear from our constituents on whether or not we control or having control over the issues or not. After my coauthors have an opportunity to speak, I would like to ask for a brief staff report about the city's communications on this issue. Understanding that the city does not have regulatory oversight on the issue. We'd also like to thank Frontier for having a team here tonight, including their regional vice president, Melinda White. Understand that she will be able to provide some comments and the team will be available to answer questions from the council as well. Frontier also has representatives in the lobby if any residents here are having issues that they can work to resolve this evening. We also have representatives from Assembly Member Patrick O'Donnell's office, who is hosting a town hall this Saturday at the Expo Art Center and in my district. And I'm sure that we'll have an opportunity Saturday to go into greater detail. So I'd like to turn it over to my colleagues. If anybody has anything, if not, we can go to a starting point.
Speaker 1: I guess first let me go to Councilman Price.
Speaker 6: Sure. I echo what Councilman Austin just said. We have received a number of calls. They seem to be unending. They've lessened over the last couple of weeks. But even as recent as last night, we received an email from a resident who did not have access to their landline and could not call 911. And I have some concerns about safety issues for them. I, too, am a customer, so I've experienced a lot of the disruptions in service. But that's not really my my priority. You know, my service is not a priority. But I gather from my own experience that my residents are going through the same thing. One of the other concerns that we've heard a lot from residences. Why should they be paying for a service that is has been diminished over the last few months? Why why should they be paying for the full service if they're not getting the full service? So I'm sure that's a question that Frontier has has heard and is prepared to answer. We honestly don't have an answer for them. And I think, Councilman Austin, for initiating this discussion, because I think that we've done our very best to refer our residents to Frontier, and I can only imagine how overloaded the team is. However, what we've heard from a lot of residents in our council office is that there have been a lot of missed appointments, cancelations, not a lot of notice. Again, granted, everyone is probably busy working day and night to make this transition smooth, but it has not been as smooth as we'd like it to be. I understand that only a half a million, a half a percent of of a million people have. Are continuing to have disruptions or had disruptions. But those those numbers for us mean individual people, residents who are calling our office, people who want help, people who want us to help them. And we really don't have the tools or the resources to be able to help them. So we're looking forward to Frontier being partners to us and helping us figure out how we can help them because we really. Are unable to assist them with this particular issue. So I want to thank you for being here and look forward to hearing an update as to what the plan is moving forward.
Speaker 1: Okay with that, I'm going to turn to first blush as any objection, turn to city staff and then allow public comment and it'll come back to the council. Is that okay? All right.
Speaker 4: Mr. West Mayor, council members, I'm going to turn this quickly over to our director of technology services, Brian Stokes. Honorable Mayor, City Council. On April 8th, our city began receiving complaints from our residents in regards to landline telephone, internet and cable service during the transition from Verizon to Frontier Communications. On April 13th, the city reached out to the senior vice president of Frontier Communication, Steven Crosby, and notified him of the problem. Since then, the city has also communicated to the California Public Utilities Commission and noted them of the problem because they are the franchising authority for this matter. The CP you see is fully aware of the difficulties that residents are experiencing. The CPU commission has also assured the city that a new frontier consumer point of contact has been established for residents so they can call directly for issues concerning services and or outages. Further, the CPC will be attending the town hall this meeting Saturday, May or May 14th so that they can have a better understanding regarding the problems that are still present. Also, Letv is running a public service announcement informing residents on where to send their complaints via email as well as the complimentary phone number. With that, then as my staff report.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I turn this over now to Mr. Mr. Messenger of anything to add to that?
Speaker 4: No, sir.
Speaker 1: Okay. So why don't I go to public comment and then we'll go back to the council? This is an objection. So to I know we're going to start off public comment. We're going to have actually Melinda White, I think, is going to make some comments. First, from what I understand, who is the regional president of the Western region president and then any anyone else that wants to make comment during public comment, please come forward. And then we'll go back to the council.
Speaker 6: Mayor and city council. We do appreciate the opportunity to be here this evening. I am Melinda White. I am the regional president for the West region, for Frontier Communications. And as a part of the acquisition that commenced on April 1st, where we took over and began the operation across California. Verizon's wireline business, consumer and business, including FiOS, there was a lot of activity, as you might imagine. California was one of three states that commenced operations California, Texas and Florida. And as a part of such a large transaction, we did expect that there would be some gaps. And as we move forward through the transition, we realized that the gaps that we were that we were experiencing, many had something to do with the fact that our network is an IP network, Internet protocol, which means that it's largely software. So we do operate IP networks today across our 29 states. And what we identified across the California network, fortunately, is that the disruption was minimal. And you're right across the state, it was actually less than 1% of our customers who experienced any disruption as a result of the conversion. Our focus, as you might imagine, being a local team, we all live here, we work here, we play here in California. And in fact, our local manager, Randy Campbell, is here this evening. He is responsible for the entire Long Beach area. This, by the way, is our largest market, very important to us as part of this California acquisition. Our focus is on addressing and resolving all customer issues as quickly as possible. And that's what we've been doing over the last four weeks, four plus weeks. And we did bring a team this evening. And if there are any folks here who have issues or concerns, we have the right people here this evening to help you as a part of ensuring that we had outreach through the community. We did set up a couple of local channels so that customers would have an easier way of getting to us. You probably heard of the email address, let Melinda know at Broadcom. And we received several folks who outreached from Long Beach, in fact, through that channel, and we were able to help them very quickly. So we, too, are very serious about the fact that we are moving forward into this community. And we have now many community members that we want to make sure that we work hard to regain their confidence. And that starts with getting their service back in order and ensuring that they have an experience, which is what they paid for, what they expect from us and what we commit to them. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I'd like to do any other public comment on this item, and then we're going to have the council. Please come forward.
Speaker 4: Again. My name is Ben Rockwell. Council member. Mayor. And members of the city. When I moved just before I moved here to Long Beach 28 years ago. My entire phone bill. Including our long distance calls, was only approximately $28 a month. I was paying another $25 a month for TV or cable TV. Just today. The new charges from my frontier phone bill. To $188.13. After I pay my gas, electric and my rent, I have approximately $600 a month to live on. Now almost half of my income. Has been charged to me. I frontier. My bill before from Verizon was approximately $176 a month, which I thought was high. But to go up over 100. And $11 a month as. Beyond belief. That's difficult. They promised to work with me, but I still. My voice mail is not working properly. Every time I try to go in to pick up my voice mail. The code word has been changed. When I do have voice mail in there, I haven't had but two calls. Go to voice mail. And the last. Uh, 37, 38 days since Frontier took over. My voicemail has not been working. My TV is not working properly. I was on the phone talking with one of the members of the president's office back. Back East. And my phone, my TV and my Internet all went off at the same time, and they were off for almost 2 hours. Most of that time, I was forced to use my cell phone. Which brought my cell phone usage to over double the usage that I'd had in the previous six months. Per month, this has made it so that I've had almost double the cost of my cell phone for the month of April May.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Rockwell.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Speaker, please.
Speaker 6: Good evening, Mayor. Members of the City Council. My name is Alison Gallagher. I'm here tonight on behalf of Assembly Member Patrick O'Donnell. We want to say thank you for bringing this forward before the city council. Like each of your offices, our office is also experiencing a number of calls related to this transition, which is why I will be hosting the town hall that Councilman Austin mentioned just a little bit ago this Saturday, 11 a.m., at the Expo Art Center. Those who are interested in attending, we do encourage to call our office at 5624290470. We will have representatives from the Public Utilities Commission, as well as Frontier Communications, who will be bringing a large group of their technicians to assist residents one on one with any problem that they might be facing. So thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Speaker, please.
Speaker 4: Hello, Mayor and Council. My name is Joseph Hoffmann and I had no plans to be here tonight. But driving into work, I heard about this meeting on Frontier, on the news radio, and I said, I'm going to be here tonight. So first I'd just like to say thank you for the Frontier executive who came here. I would question statistics, though, because they're claiming less than 1%. I'm here as one of the 1%. I don't know how they determine who's affected, but, you know, that's a whole nother matter. I'm here because I'm affected. I experience service outages and stuff. And, you know, it's kind of funny that it was April Fool's Day, right, that the transition happened because it was quite a foolish thing we had to go through. And I've gone through many phone calls and really resolved my most of my technical issues. I'm here because I have really an ongoing concern about how this is all going to turn out for everybody. And what I mean by that is the frontier customer service representatives are very nice. They're very accommodating on the phone. I think they would have to be going through this transition. My issue is the only way to communicate with them is via phone. That is it. We're all on hold forever. There's no record of the conversation. And so that leads me to why I'm here. I've had documented communications via email with Verizon. I've told Frontier I'm willing to pass these on to you. That document, you know, the programs and stuff I had and all they said was, we'll bring it up to our managers. So tonight was the first time I heard about Let Melinda Know or something like that. I don't think that that's necessarily going to address this completely going forward. So my experience has been I renewed with Verizon in November of 2015. For 24 months, I had promotional inducements in order to do that. Frontier is now telling me we're not sure if we're going to honor those promotions. So that's not a technical thing. That's just I sign up for 24 months. I have no way of communicating with them in a written way that documents these problems. So this is really what. What I'm concerned with. There's no email to communicate with them, to show them what I've already agreed to, to have them look at that. There's no records now going into records. All of my Verizon records. Hey, I'm for the environment. I agree to paperless billing. Those records are now all gone. I have no access to my Verizon records. Frontier has no access to my records and not giving me any of that. And I feel like a fool because I signed up for paperless billing. I have no records of anything that I've done. When you call Verizon, they require you to enter your phone number and it says you are no longer of a Verizon customer and they refer you to Frontier. And then we get on the phone and to circle repeats. So we really need professionalism in documented communication with this company is really what I'm hoping to achieve. You know, that's what we need going forward. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to address the Council on this issue? Okay, we'll take it behind the rail. Councilmember, your anger.
Speaker 11: Thank you, Mary. Obviously, we've been through this before. We had Southern California Edison last year that experienced many problems. And then we had to address sort of California Edison and their issues. And we even had to go all the way to the CPC to get an understanding as to what occurred. And I think that's where the situation that we're at. I think right now I'm not sure why there's a big issue with that transitioning from Verizon to Frontier. It might be that the Verizon's systems were faulty or weak or needed work that was delayed or not done. And Frontier is sort of like stepped into it. Or it could be that Frontier was just totally unprepared to take over a system that was weak and didn't have the data protocols necessary to evaluate what was going on with Verizon before they before they made that deal. And I'm uncertain as to what would occur here, but I would want to direct staff to write a letter to the CPC requesting a full investigation as to what's going on here and perhaps provide some testimony at the next meeting to determine what it is that is going on here. Because up to this point, I'd be getting the same types of complaints from residents as far as billing or being overbilled for services that were not rendered or not provided for services that were billed that they never they asked for and never got. And, of course, the public safety issues in terms of for our elderly who are who had limited access to dial 911 or emergency services. So there's a lot of there's a lot of moving parts to this issue that I think needs much more in-depth investigation and study. So I would that would be my my concern at this point is that I think we need to have more than we do need a town hall. No question about the town hall. But I think that we also need to have the CPUC present and review it and look at it from their point of view as to what took place here, because we're not going to get full answers locally. We need full answers as to what happened at the state level with the CPC and the transition that took place between Verizon and Frontier in exchange for the services. Because it is there's just too many, too many issues going on here in terms of not only the services but the billing. And people are asking, well, at least I was told people have been asking for refunds and none is being provided. And as well as a situation where people are getting billed for services that they didn't ask or didn't get. So that would be my comment at this point.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Councilmember, your younger Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 9: Thank you. I want to thank the sponsors of this motion for bringing this forward. We all have received some of those concerns about overbilling access to 911 emergency services. And some of this is to be expected with a transition. But I think I think it's great to see that we do have the representatives here with us today. And I, I was very pleased to see the quick response to the gentleman's concern most immediately. I also want to acknowledge Frontier for being one of the first sponsors of the My Brother's Keeper Community Challenge, Mentorship Challenge. So welcome to the community in that regard. So the way that you've approached the community, I'm confident that we will be able to work together through these community concerns. Two of which that I'm aware of is the concerns with the DVR. That's important to me. I got to get my Game of Thrones on. But but also about the call center in jobs, that my understanding is that some of that call center, you know, was maybe contracted out on a temporary basis. And that's very concerning. If you have people who, you know, haven't necessarily worked with this constituency and may not know how to engage with this constituency, my hope is that and maybe this is a question that can be answered. My hope is that whatever transitional workers are brought in, that we make sure that the existing workers are sort of maintained through this process. Thanks.
Speaker 10: Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Vice Mayor, and I appreciate Frontier being here, too, and I appreciate hearing from Ms.. White. I think that this is it is going to be a great partnership long term, I'm sure of it. But there are still a few concerns that I have that I think it'd be nice to have some answers, too, and that is the issue of fees. So although I understand that that number, a half of a percent of a million customers, seems like a small number. And while I appreciate that when we have a transition this size to have such a small number as is actually a successful project, and I get that and that in the business that may be a successful project, but I don't know where that data is coming from because I can tell you just here on this council, we've got I mean, if we're a representative of what that population would look like, several of us have personally had complications. And then when we go to community meetings, we have swarms of people come up to us saying that they too have had disruptions. So I'm not saying I'm sure that the data is accurate, but is that data out of Long Beach specifically? Is it statewide? Because if it's statewide, the chances of three or four or five members of out of nine all having disruptions and that being an unusual circumstance in relation to the other the main population, it's highly unlikely. So I think that maybe it's just this I don't know, I'm not familiar with the market, but maybe it's just this this area geographically that's experiencing the most disruptions. In any event, I think a lot of the community has legitimate concerns that if they weren't able to access certain aspects of their cable, do they have to pay the full cable costs? And I don't know what the answer to that question is. I don't know if you're prepared to answer that tonight or if we should have people email specifically about their their specific bill to this email address that you gave us. We can do that. I'd like some further direction on that and then I'd like a little bit of direction in terms of outreach. You know, one of the complaints that we've received a lot of is there's not a lot of notice. And I get that when we have a transition like this, we don't know what the gaps in the system are going to be. We can't anticipate those. That's why there's efforts to try to resolve it. But people are saying that they didn't receive a lot of outreach. So the only thing I would ask is, as we move, as we as we move forward, if we're going to have any sort of changes in the system or any upgrades in the system or anything that might potentially disturb the system, that we do some sort of an outreach to the community, whether it's in the utility bill or whether it's in, you know, on the Internet or some some kind of outreach if you're going to do any sort of upgrades to your system, because sometimes there's disruptions and they're totally unintended. So those are the you know, the fees and the outreach would be the only other things that I would I would say we would need a little bit more direction from Yuan in terms of what your company plan is. Yes. Is it okay if she a thank you, Ms.. White, if you'd like to. Thank you. So I will address three things that I heard that I think are important to get in front of you this evening. One, if a customer was out of service for any amount of time, certainly we will be crediting and we have been crediting the accounts and we will do that proactively to. The question came up about outreach and I believe it was in January. Verizon did send a notice to all Verizon customers at that time, letting them know about the transaction and the timing of that. And then Frontier sent a communication out at the end of March just before day one, to ensure that the customers knew that Frontier would be the new service provider. A question or comment came up about the call center, and I'd like to address that, sir. And that is that it's right that we used an outside sourced or an offshore call center during the conversion period and still are. And part of that is because as we brought over almost 5000 employees in California, there was that thing called We need to train them. And they were not trained yet on our systems and our processes and we needed to ensure that that was done. It is in progress now and we are beginning to put California based call center reps in support team members on the phones. But in the meantime, we have an offshore that we're using interim. It's the same offshore organization, by the way, that Verizon used for many years. It has been a bit disappointing. Yes. So we're very excited to get the California based employees on the front lines in the interactions with customers. The field techs, by the way, have been out there since day two, working very hard, very, very proud of them. They've done a fabulous job interacting with the customers, resolving issues, answering questions since day two. So I hope that helps fill in the blanks.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Councilman. I'm sorry. Is that okay?
Speaker 6: And thank you very much, Councilman Gonzales. Thank you. I, too, just appreciate Frontier being here as well. I think it's important that we know our residents ourselves are able to speak with you directly on many of these issues. The constituent that was here in the wheelchair is one of my constituents. And we hear from him very regularly. And, you know, it's it's unfortunate that his rates have gone up. But what's even more striking is that people aren't able to get to 911, which I think is just incredible. So I ask, I mean, we have had similar situations with other utilities or with Edison, I should say, where, you know, communication is the key, and especially if we're your top customer, your largest customer. Hopefully it will be crystal clear in terms of getting to residents. And sometimes it needs to be not just the mailing, perhaps informational meetings where you're out in the community, additional methods that aren't, you know, the regular, regular email or letters. And I know that I have faith that that will happen and also information back to your customer service, because I know some residents have complained about connecting with customer service. And, you know, there's a disconnect and I know that happens. But, you know, there may be disconnect where they're not being able to get the information. You know, they're not understanding that there was some issues here in Long Beach and, you know, all that might happen. So there might be some miscommunication with customer service. So as I always say, communication is key. And I think if we move forward from here, hopefully things will get a lot better. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Council member Supernova.
Speaker 8: Thank you. I, too, would like to thank Frontier for being here tonight. And Steven Crosby is not here. Oh, you're Steven. All right, well, nice to meet you. We we met informally over email, but I just like to say, Steph reported that the problem started on April 8th and that afternoon or early evening, I got a call from a constituent. It actually was a voicemail in my office and I called her and she happened to be disabled and she lost both her landline and her internet. And she was calling me on her cell phone. So I sent an email to Steven Crosby and she had her landline up the next day on a Saturday and her Internet back on Sunday. So I was very happy with Frontier at that point, as you can imagine. So was my constituent. So well, first of all, we should commend my constituent for her resourcefulness. I've lived for all my life and never would. It occurred to me to contact my councilman over my telephone not working. But she did. And it worked out for. And the other piece is what struck me about that is, as I think it was mentioned, the field techs were obviously very, very good. But that following week we got an email from our city manager saying that we're going to turn this over to the California Public Utilities Commission because it wasn't working out for others. But it just strikes me it looks like that could have been just a numbers game, because if you're if your techs could jump on that so quickly and do it so well, but if you're just overwhelmed by that problem multiplying itself all over, you wouldn't have enough techs to do the job. So if that's the case, it sounds like just something that will be caught up with eventually. The other thing I'd like to say, and the speaker mentioned that we no longer exist to Verizon, and I think that's a kind of an inherent problem. And it also manifests itself in the addresses like if you had a Verizon dot net email address that's can been converted to AOL. So for instance, in my case, I want to change one my aliases. Guess what? I cannot do it because I don't exist anymore to Verizon and you can only go back to Verizon. So if Frontier has any way to resurrect that relationship for us and our constituents, I think that might be another thing we can look into . So thank you.
Speaker 10: Councilman Mongeau.
Speaker 2: I echo the comments of my colleagues. I appreciate you being here. It has been a frustrating several weeks as so many of our constituents have been, without valuable phone lines and internet. I was a frustrated member of this community back when Verizon closed up shop to the fire's FiOS locations in the community. And so, like one of our public speakers here tonight, there isn't a place to go and stand in line to talk to a live person. And I think that that is something that was very important, especially in our low income community. And the prior location of the Verizon facility that was local was at the blue line station. And often when I would go there, there was a long line of individuals there ready to pay their bill and oftentimes in cash, because some of our most needy residents are in a tough position where they can only pay the last minute. But those services, phone lines are just crucial to our ability to be able to reach public safety. So on top of the work you're doing now, I to encourage you to look at an option of a new storefront in the community. I think it's a big part of our ability to touch some of our most needy residents. I know there's some kinds of funding that are being utilized through fees that actually go to our L.B. Cat program, that help our low income residents with their cable bills and their phone bills and the such. So I don't know what kind of partnerships could be in play, but I know that Derek Samson's a community leader who's open to opportunities to help our our neighbors and our our businesses. And finally, I would just like to say that it's very frustrating to a community that worked so hard to get online. Many of us communicate with our residents through our newsletters, and those email address changes are hard for them. And so whatever we can do. I thought it was funny that I had discontinued my Verizon service recently because we did a little experiment in my community where when Verizon laid down the lines, they cut charter lines literally underneath homes, they cut charter lines. And when Verizon was here before and they had to put in the infrastructure, when they poured those sidewalks, they poured them crooked and they poured them in a terrible way. So when you were taking over Frontier, I was like, great, a new community partner, a fresh start. Let's look at what opportunities we have. So I hope that in a few weeks, once this is all behind us, we can start that fresh start and then we can look at those opportunities because the lines that were cut by the company you purchased and do need to be repaired. If customers want to convert or change over, they need to have those options. This is a free market. And then we also need to look at repairing the relationships of the past and how we can work through to the future. And I know you can. You're a strong company. We're glad to have you here in Long Beach and we look forward to a future of partnership. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Council member Ringo.
Speaker 11: Thank you, Mary. So I want a little bit of a clarification at this point in terms of where staff is with this issue. There was some discussion about the that staff has already made contact with the CPC in regards to what's taking place. Where are we at at the present time?
Speaker 4: Brian Dennis Yeah. Council member, Urunga. We're actually the CPC will be going to the town hall meeting and they need to have a better understanding as well. And in regards to that. Okay.
Speaker 11: Now, I understand that the CPC is also going to be having a a meeting on May 18th. Is this going to be part of that agenda? Are we going to be there at that discussion?
Speaker 4: Councilmember Your Honor, I'm not aware of that.
Speaker 11: Okay. Well, I think that we should have a presence at the CPAC meeting whenever that comes up in Sacramento so that we can like I say, I see this as the same issue that we dealt with with Edison. And we need full disclosure for a full investigation, a full clarity as to why this happened in regard to whether it's infrastructure cabling, whatever it is that took place in that transition between Verizon and and Frontier, whether it's the you just to determine who's at fault, if a fault needs to be laid anywhere would basically like to have that kind of clarification on this here. And Councilmember, if I can add, so we did immediately it once we started receiving calls not only reached out to to Frontier but also to the CPC, called them and let them know that there's an issue they've provided it's information that we can give residents to help log complaints because they are the they are the regulatory agency. They have.
Speaker 4: Assured us that they are looking into the matter and that they're.
Speaker 11: Going to be doing an investigation. At this point, we don't have any information about the status of that investigation and what their discussions have been with Frontier. But as Mr. Hunter mentioned, they will be listening at that next meeting that's coming up in the town hall. And we can certainly follow up with them and ask what the status of their of their review efforts are going to be. All right. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Vice Mayor Lowenthal.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I know I missed the bulk of the conversation and I've heard council comments as well as some customer feedback, and it may have been discussed or the mayor may have mentioned it, but Long Beach is not the only city. Unfortunately, I work in the city of Santa monica, as you know. And at the big blue bus, we take 5 to 7000 phone calls from customers a month. And our phone customer service lines have been down since Thursday. That is a historic outage for us. And it's not 911 service. But if you think of transit, it is often times service for those of us that don't have the greatest agency of resources. And so it's it's quite disappointing. But I do understand that you are doing your best and. But I think you. Can appreciate how those of us that are here representing a city of 450,000 people, whether it's 1%, half a percent, and I don't necessarily agree that it is, because if I look at the big blue bus in Santa monica, a city of 92,000 people and 5 to 7000 phone calls are missed monthly if this continues. But it's about 300 calls a day. So it is a lot for us and we do have to respond to our constituents. And I appreciate that you are here in person, but I think providing us updates through the city manager's office will allow us to be abundantly honest and transparent with our customers, with our residents. And even if it's not good news, we. We are of the mindset that we want to be able to communicate as much as we can. And that is what we had made very clear during our utility outage some months back. Even if it's not good news, people want to hear from us. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman.
Speaker 3: Thank you. And finally, I just have one question to to just follow up on on Vice Mayor Lowenthal, the comments regarding the city of Santa monica. Has the city of Long Beach expressed or been impacted in any way by, by services through, um, frontier negatively?
Speaker 4: Okay. Councilmember Olson, we've had challenges within our billing system. We're working closely with Frontier right now to obtain some online access to pay our bills electronically. But as for a system standpoint.
Speaker 3: We are not impacted for any type of connectivity. It's more of an administrative level. So with the billing issue, deal with Internet.
Speaker 4: It's telephone. Telephone systems. Yes.
Speaker 3: Okay. Thank you. Finally, I just also like to just think of staff for the report and the work that you're doing on this. I want to thank Frontier for for being here. And your candor is why for standing here and taking the tough questions and representing your company. Certainly, we are rooting for you to get this right. As a council member, Richardson said, I mean, Sunday nights, we look forward to Game of Thrones. We missed it this week, but I know many of our residents are are certainly inconvenienced by this this transition right now. We were rooting for you and look forward to a long partnership in the city of Long Beach if these issues are not corrected. I certainly I think we all know that the market will make the necessary corrections as well as the consumers. And so thank you very much for being here.
Speaker 1: Thank you. See no other council member comment at this time. Killers emotionally sickened members. Please go out and cast your votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you. Item number six, please. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to receive and file a report from City Manager regarding the issues the City has experienced since the transfer of assets from Verizon to Frontier Communications, including issues with the City's network, the City's communications with the California Public Utilities Commission and Frontier Communications, and how residents and business owners can register and resolve complaints about service. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05102016_16-0408 | Speaker 2: Communication from Councilmember Richardson, Councilwoman Gonzalez, Vice Mayor Lowenthal and Council Member Oranga recommendation to request the City Manager to explore the feasibility of implementing the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Program and report back to the City Council in 60 days.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 9: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm happy tonight to be requesting this feasibility report in partnership with residents, community organizations in Long Beach Fresh. And I know there's a number of people who have remained and hung out with us tonight for this agenda item. So thank you so much for your patience. In 2013, California passed the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Act. This bill allows cities and counties to give tax breaks to property owners that allow their vacant properties of less than three acres to be used as community gardens or urban farms with a five year commitment. And just last month, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted to implement the program countywide, which allows cities to opt in as well. Urban agriculture provides many benefits to not only those growing food, but those, but also to those cities in which it happens. These include education about fresh, healthy foods and the effort that it takes to produce it more vibrant green spaces. There's an ecological benefit for our city. Green gardens and farms help build community. There's also a potential source of modest economic development here in Long Beach. We've adopted a number of policies and legislation that support urban agriculture, agriculture and healthy eating. In October of 2014, we adopted the Healthy, Healthy, Healthy Communities policy, and one of its objectives under the Healthy Food Access goal is to encourage the use of temporary, vacant and open space for urban agriculture. In addition, last year, the City Council voted to improve and ease in the rules governing chickens, goats and bees at residents homes. We are a city that values health, sustainability, community and a strong urban agriculture incentive zone program would help support those values as well. This program would allow us to lessen blight and some of our vacant lots in our neighborhoods. And it would also give small scale farms and community gardens a better chance to thrive and would in turn benefit our communities. So I know that we've we have the existence of willing community partners to help implement this policy successfully. And I feel that it would be a benefit to our residents. So I look forward to the finding of this report, which essentially asks for exploring, exploring the feasibility and what all needs to go into implementing a policy and encourage. I encourage support from my colleagues. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 6: Yes. I want to thank Councilmember Richardson and also primarily Vice Mayor Lowenthal. I know she's stuck with this for a long time in urban agriculture. And we finally got something passed last year. And so I want to thank her for all her leadership in this and especially the community members here. Long Beach, Organic and the lots on seventh and chestnut and eighth and Chestnut. I think I've eaten out of both lots over the few years. It's been incredible to watch these areas flourish in places that people would normally not think of putting a lot and especially putting something that you can grow organic, locally grown food from local residents here. So it's I thank you very much for sticking with this. And I think it's a great step in the right direction for the city of Long Beach as we've this is the trajectory that we've we've been on. And just to look at a report would be great. I'm looking forward to that. And I have a couple questions for city staff. Right, Larry.
Speaker 4: We'll have Larry Rich, the manager of our Sustainability Bureau. Answer any of those questions.
Speaker 6: Thank you. Just a couple of questions. Do we know how many empty private lots exist currently in our city?
Speaker 4: Council Member. Mayor and members of the City Council. We don't have a recent count in anticipation of this item. We've started working on that. So within the 60 day time period, we'll be able to report back on that.
Speaker 6: Okay. Because I also see with this, I mean, that, of course, sustainability and urban agriculture, but also just the maintenance of the lots, because I know a lot of the lots that we have are just not maintained by property owners. And it'd be great to be able to to look into that, which is kind of a larger discussion, but. Okay. And and if we I know we I've worked with Long Beach Organic, I think, in the past and connecting them with property owners. But that's just been, you know, kind of sidebar situations. But what do we do when there's. Locations that might be foreclosed or when we have to take a little bit more time in finding who the owner is to be able to even let them know that there's this incentive program.
Speaker 4: We certainly have a mechanism in place through at least code enforcement to contact property owners. And certainly when there are maintenance issues on properties, code enforcement takes the lead there so we can tap into those avenues to identify and contact property owners.
Speaker 6: Okay. All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate this. And I also ask our council colleagues to support. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Ringa.
Speaker 11: Thank you. I, too, am looking forward to work, especially when it deals with my area in the West Long Beach. I always describe West Palm Beach as an island where there's only four access points into it and it's virtually a food desert when it comes to the West Palm Beach area. So I hope that we're able to at least address some of those alternatives for West Palm Beach as well as, of course, other areas, obviously. I mean, that's my my district there. I would have a self in in hoping that we are able to address some issues in the West Palm Beach area. So I do look forward to seeing the report and also ask for my colleagues endorsement in support of this item.
Speaker 1: Thanks, Marie Lowenthal.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I wanted to thank the authors for bringing this forward and also for allowing us to keep progressing in this area. And as Councilmember Gonzales said, it's something that I've been working with the community for quite some time, and I want to thank them for their patience. Nothing that unfortunately it did take quite a while, but I'm very happy with where we are right now. I'm glad to have this item come forward. I know there's a desire in our community for community gardens and EB 511 would help with that, as it suggests. And we all know the community gardens offer many things. Councilman Gonzalez shared that better access to fresh foods. I like the terminology food, desert. I don't like having that terminology, but I think it's it's quite descriptive of what some of our areas can feel like. And so access to fresh foods and plants and beautification and positive environmental impacts and a sense of connection and contribution. I think a lot of times we don't highlight the social connectivity that ends up happening when someone even when someone converts their personal front yard into a edible garden and invites people to at least gather and have a conversation, and if, if and at times gather and collect things from the garden. So I'm a resident. We're all residents here. I think we enjoy, enjoy. Items like this when we're able to help our community and our residents not only beautify our landscape, but to contribute in some way to wellbeing and health and community well-being and health. And farm to table is something that. We had a very long time ago as a way of life before it became kind of posh from a local restaurant standpoint. And so I appreciate going back to that and look forward to seeing where a possible urban agricultural incentive zones program can take us. And I want to thank Mr. Rich, Larry Rich, for his commitment to the issue. I know he's been very patient and diligent as well. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Controversy or not.
Speaker 8: Thank you. I, too, would like to commend the residents for their patience and stamina and to the vice mayor. She's very modest in saying while she's worked on this, I think Larry Rich is very good with numbers. I've only been on council for a year, but I served for seven years on the Sustainable City Commission. Mr. Rich, did that come up our first year of existence, maybe 2008, that this first came to our commission, something like that.
Speaker 4: Yes. In respect to the chickens, goats and bees aspect of urban agriculture. But of course, the urban agriculture incentive zones was more recent at the sea level.
Speaker 8: Right. Same topic, just a little different nuance. So thank you, Mr. Rich. Two for your stamina.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And can I get any public comment on this right now? Please. Please come forward.
Speaker 2: Good evening, mayors, city council members community. My name is Karen Reside and I live at seventh and Pacific at the Park Pacific Tower Senior Building. And I am one of the recipients and gardeners in the community garden on Pacific Avenue in sixth. And I commend you all for advancing the mission of urban gardening for the seniors. I can tell you we have a number of people that have plots in that garden, and those plots are heavily in demand and they're accessible because they're very close to our building for those that have limited, limited mobility. I think our oldest gardener is 85 years old and she's the one that has the amazing papaya tree. And I can tell you, I haven't had to purchase lettuce in two years. And I share my produce with a number of residents in the building that don't have mobility. It makes a big difference when you're a low income senior. We heard some testimony and people in our building are living on $300 a month. So any little incentive can make a great difference in their health and well-being. And one thing that nobody mentioned was the produce this organic. And Joe Corso does a wonderful job in managing the gardens for Long Beach Garden, which makes a difference for some people with their health, health issues and the food that comes from an organic garden and natural eggs. There is no comparison to the taste in the produce which encourages more eating of healthier food. So thank you all for your commitment to this and know that it is making a great impact on the community. And Larry Rich and Suja Lowenthal, thank you for your efforts to make this happen in our community.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Good evening, Mr. Mayor, and esteemed members of the City Council. My name is Sasha Cano, and I am a homeowner in the sixth District and operate farm 59 in the seventh District. I'm here in support of the proposal to conduct a report showing the feasibility impact of AB 551, the urban ag incentive. I started a front yard produce exchange in 2008 shortly after purchasing our home. It quickly outgrew my porch and landed at the Wrigley Association meetings. The Wrigley Garden was hatched from this and eventually led me to start farm Lot 59. We need urban agriculture. For me, it's essential. We are in our fifth growing season at the farm and in that time we've produced over £50,000 of organic produce. Unhappy N.A. on what was an illegal dump. We have taught over 150 students in our outdoor classroom in 2015 alone. We have paid staff that are making a livable wage in the city and are able to farm for a living. We are hardworking and we connect people to where their food comes from. We've built the trend for Long Beach restaurants to be able to purchase truly local produce and use the ingredients in their kitchens. And I believe our culinary scene is thankful for our efforts. The demand is growing and we need more farms to keep up. And I support the next group of farms and farmers and will assist in their success. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 4: An honorable mayor and city council. I'm Joe Corso. I also live in the sixth District. I'm the garden director for Long Beach Organic, Inc. We're a nonprofit group, and we managed nine community gardens in the city. But of those nine, four of them are on private property. And so tonight, I just wanted to share our successes, the positive experiences we've had developing agricultural products, projects on empty, privately owned lots. For instance, in the Wrigley area, we have a private lot on Pacific Avenue, which was once a haven for drug dealers. Has been a garden now for 20 to 20 families for seven years. In North Long Beach, we turned an idle industrial quarter acre on South Street into a garden with room for 30 households to participate. Also, chickens, bees. It's a wonderful spot. Also in North Long Beach, the owners of a large property with horse stables have turned over what was once their front lawn for a garden that is used by adult educational groups, a church sponsored kids group and volunteers who grow food for charity. And we also get free horse manure. Finally just up the street on Chestnut at Chestnut Avenue, we have it's a tiny corner lot. It's become a charming neighborhood garden with 22 smaller plots. And so this is it. These gardens are a win, win win situation. First, it's a win for our members who have a place in the neighborhood to grow healthy food for their tables. And it's also a win for the community. When an empty lot is transformed from a local eyesore into a verdant garden, it becomes a neighborhood focal point. And whether neighbors are directly involved or not, they enjoy seeing things grow. Where once there was an empty lot. And finally, it's a win for the property owner because many folks have vacant properties that for one reason or another, they're not ready to sell or they're not ready to build on. And owning such property can be a real headache. So trash, sofas, vagrancy, drugs, these are all the things that empty lots of tract. When we turn such a property into a community garden, that headache is relieved. Even though we lease these properties for only $1 a year, the owner no longer has the worry and expense of maintaining the property. Still, it's a rare property owner who's willing to turn their land over to gardeners and farmers. We've contacted dozens over the years and gotten only after a tax incentive could be the deciding factor for someone considering such a use for their land. And that could lead to more winning projects in the city. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Counsel I'm sorry. Speaker I saw you cued up. I'm sorry about that, please.
Speaker 9: Thank you. Good evening, honorable mayor, esteemed council. My name is Demetrius Zeigler. I'm a resident of the eighth District and I am with my partner, Kelly Johnson, the co-owner of a local small farm in town called Long Beach Farms. And we're a little bit newer in town. We've been in operation about a year and a half, and we owe a ton of debt of gratitude to the folks that will speak after me and some of the folks that have come before me. But I will say that I feel like I represent with Kelly Johnson the kind of the new face of urban agriculture. We are both passionately committed.
Speaker 4: To the principles.
Speaker 9: Of sustainability, of feeding our community and addressing a lot of the health, environmental and, let's say, social concerns that urban agriculture can can benefit. I thought I might just share a couple of quick anecdotes about my business and what I see with this movement. Long Beach has been slowly progressing along this tract of promoting urban ag in our city, and I think that this city really could become a progressive leader in the entire region as we continue down this path. So I urge you to keep keep discussing and keep pushing this forward quickly. We've been in business about a year and a half. I have a decentralized approach to farming, which means we don't have a big plot of land on which we can have the typical road crops and farm animals as such. So I have in effect in North Long Beach, about six or seven smaller parcels that we've aggregated to grow food for the people that invest with us and help us grow. The biggest hurdle to our growth has been the availability of land so far. That will continue to be a hurdle for us and other urban farmers that come into this city. But 8551 in other measures that you're considering will help promote or help promote a connection between the farmer and the land. And I think this is something that should be carefully studied. The other quick anecdote that I would anecdote I'd like to share is I have a single dad. I have a six year old who couldn't quite make it through the earlier consent items. But she's taken to field trips so far this year as a kindergarten kindergartner at Kettering Elementary. The first was to Tanaka Farms down in Orange County, where they spent a farm day. The second was to the other strawberry farm down in Orange County, where they spent a day harvesting strawberries. That should happen in Long Beach. Our children and our students should be able to drive down the street or be bused down the street here in our community to learn these great things and and provide a farm based learning opportunity for those kids. So among other things, these are these are positive benefits that may be five, five, one, and this discussion can promote. So thank you and I.
Speaker 4: Appreciate your time.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Thank you, honorable.
Speaker 6: Mayor and esteemed Council. My name is Michelle Engleman Burns. I am a happy resident of the.
Speaker 10: Ninth district and.
Speaker 2: Really appreciate so much. I follow recs and participatory budgeting and all of our good stuff that's happening up there.
Speaker 6: We moved here three years ago.
Speaker 2: We bought a house in North Long Beach.
Speaker 6: Moved from Houston, Texas. And I can tell you that I love the city. I love the city in mayor. I'm just amazed at the things that, you know, the engine that's happening. I'm really proud of the city.
Speaker 1: We love that you love the city.
Speaker 6: I really am. I'm kind of a cheerleader. So we moved here to be grandparents. Our children started having children. And that's you know, we were fortunate.
Speaker 2: Enough to be able to do that.
Speaker 6: So the thing that I need to say to you is I just appreciate the fact that this is something that has taken a.
Speaker 2: While because this is something that was natural for me in Houston and this is what we did in the community. I can't tell you how much it pulls together the community and from the social.
Speaker 6: Aspect, but also from the, you know, the elder residents. And there's just so much that it does for the city. And I really just want.
Speaker 2: To tell you from my.
Speaker 6: Heart how much.
Speaker 2: I appreciate all of you and.
Speaker 6: What you do for our city, but specifically for this particular.
Speaker 2: Ordinance. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker.
Speaker 4: Please. Hello? Yeah, my name is Ryan Serrano. I live in the first District 81 Chestnut Avenue. I was the founder of an organization called Food Scape Long Beach. And I own a business called Earth Steward Ecology. I work as an ecological consultant and landscape developer. I specialize in California native habitat and food production systems. I wanted to kind of come from the place of not maybe rationalizing the economic reasons for for supporting this kind of development, even though I think it's really clear when you look at that part of it. I want to maybe just come from the place of being a person that looks at an empty space. And I don't speculate how large of a structure can be built there or how much money, how much financial energy can be mined from that space, but rather what living finance capital, what living capital, what spiritual capital and social capital can be yielded from that space for future generations and what can be regenerated over time to be something more meaningful and more more real than than all of this infrastructure, which is, you know, decaying as we speak and has to be rebuilt and and is expensive and, you know, all those things. I think that anything that supports urban agriculture is also supporting future generations. I feel like it's it's. Especially clear that it's needed as we transition both economically and in terms of fossil resources that are left in the world, that we need to be producing more of our food rather than importing it from the Central Valley or where have you, where it lacks, among other things, nutrition, nutritional density. It lacks integrity as far as being unadulterated by chemicals that are not foods. And and it also separates people from understanding and having a sense of literacy about what they're eating. Young people grow up in the world eating animals and plants that they couldn't identify if they saw them in real life. And that's a reality in the city. And it's it's a shame that people here are inept to that. And I think it's important that people have access to opportunities to grow food. I think it's an inalienable human right. I think access to food on its own should be considered an inalienable human right along with water, along with shelter, along with all those good things. And I think that. Beyond all of that, people should have access to meaningful vocations that feed their identity more than deplete it like a lot of city life entails. I think that the work that and and the economic and food energy that can come out of supporting this kind of development. On a policy level is important for the future.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 4: Good evening, Mayor Garcia, Vice Mayor Lowenthal and members of City Council. My name is Tony D'Amico. I'm a resident of the third district. I am the co-director of Long Beach Fresh. We're the local Food Policy Council. I'm also an executive committee member of the Long Beach Alliance for Food and Fitness and a participant in the Building Healthy Communities Initiative and the Kaiser Heal Zone in District nine. So I owe a lot of thanks to Councilmember Richardson for being eager to pounce on this opportunity to move urban agriculture forward and huge thanks to council members around Gonzales and Lowenthal for signing on. So with the projects I work with, I think together those four projects have convened many residents, institutional stakeholders and dozens of local food systems leaders to identify policy priorities toward public health. And 8551 is one of them. So tonight, I support tonight's proposal for a study. I got involved in urban agriculture, growing some vegetables in a shared space as a renter in 2010, while learning about permaculture and food justice from local advocates like Ryan, who you just heard from. And it was amazing to me to learn how much the urban environment, again, as Ryan was saying, has separated us from real food, from nature and from one another. Even more interesting to me was the discovery that our city's diverse communities have a rich history of growing their own food for themselves, for their communities, and as a way to make ends meet. I've since come to believe that in order to be food secure and sustainable as a city, we need to protect the right to grow and also create more opportunities both for community gardens and urban farms. While we do have a community garden policy as a city to establish community gardens in parks over five acres, that policy has been slow to actually be utilized. And I think it's because there are a lot of barriers to growing on public land. So I think that this proposal actually opens up more possibilities for private spaces as well, and that both policies together could really help us quite a bit. And in my experience, like right now, I live near there's a very a junction community garden which is one of our largest and of course has a long waiting list. And other community gardens that are near me also are full. So while we have at least 14 community gardens in Long Beach, there's still very high demand and there's also only four small urban farms. We could certainly benefit from more opportunities to buy local produce for those who don't necessarily have the interest or the time and resources to garden themselves. So as our city continues to focus on development through high tech innovation, density and mobility, let's be sure to create space and incentives for healthy food production, create opportunities to restore our soil, and in turn, empower residents to take control of their health. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Excellent. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 6: Good evening, everyone. My name is Rodney. Laura Sam. I was very excited when I saw the item agenda today and I'm very proud of my city. I started in this community as a homeless ten year old kid in the sixth District. I had PTSD trauma. I had nightmares of my mother was being too near death and suffering from the PTSD, from the genocide of the Khmer Rouge. I was too young, too poor to uneducated to ask the right questions to get the right help. So I never had any traditional help for my psychology things that I needed. But I did discover urban gardening as a form of healing. So living in crowded apartments, even though my neighbors would grow vegetables in containers, it helped me in so many ways. And I use urban gardening as a form of healing that I graduate from poly high school with a 4.0 GPA. I went to UC Riverside and graduate with a bachelor's degrees in biochemistry. And this is the first time I'm speaking at my voice. So I'm speaking from a standpoint of voice of a property owner in the fourth district and sixth district. A business owner in a fourth district. A resident in the third District and the sixth District and a founder and a director of a nonprofit called the May Center. May is an acronym. It uses meditation, urban agriculture, yoga and education to help people with trauma promote their own self healing and live a fulfilling life. And I want to congratulate my city because it has done an amazing job. I want to thank Congress or Council member Allen Austin for electing the ME Center as the champion winner, using gardening as a form of healing. We did a documentary, over 50,000 views on Facebook viewed in France, Canada, Cambodia and the states. The main center has been a site studied by Harvard Program in refugee trauma. UCI. UCLA. Cal State. Long Beach. Cal State. Dominguez Hills. And currently. We are working with survivors. For them to use gardening to heal themselves. And not only that, but earn an income. The Long Beach Community Foundation and the City of Long Beach is currently working on a $10 million grant, put the first farmers market in central Long Beach, and the survivors were able to sell their produce at the first farmers market. I see that the vacant lot is a community health issue.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Good to wrap it up. Good time's up. But please continue. Please wrap it up. Thank you.
Speaker 6: Thank you. It is a neglect of this community, of the city and by the community and by the city by supporting.
Speaker 1: Thank you, sir. I'm so sorry time that I have to keep 3 minutes to every speaker, so.
Speaker 6: Thank you for supporting this. You were giving your community a chance to transform blighted lots into healing lots.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you so much. Wonderful story. I have a couple more council speakers. I just want a couple comments. Well, first, I want to thank all the the farmers and the advocates that came out. I think you guys have been so active in this movement, been leading the movement. It's amazing to see how we've grown in the urban farming movement and just the farming movement and the healthy food community that's that's developed in Long Beach. It's always been here, but it's it's I feel it's more vocal and more visible than it's ever been, which is which is really great. And you see it from a lot of the organizations, a lot of the represented here tonight. I just want to make sure, Mr. West, as we move forward, I know it's pretty clear, looking at the agenda item tonight, looking at the urban agriculture ordinance that was passed that Vice Mayor Lowenthal and others brought forward in the past , that the council as a as a body is very committed to urban farming and urban ag. I mean, there's no question. And so I think as we move forward and we look for other opportunities and we talk and we look at at Park Development and the L.A. River Restoration and the Drake Chavez connection and all these other open space Terminal Island Freeway possible decommissioning. When we look at all of those possibilities, let's make sure that we're always considering and advocating for the urban agriculture community. And they were advocating for this. It's really developing in a lot of progressive cities, and I'm really hopeful that we kind of take that to heart, because I think you've heard loud and clear from the council that everyone is supportive and interested in this. And so I think it's important for us with our new Parks and Recreation director on board, that this be a part of our park planning in the future as well as as we move forward. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you. Councilman Mongeau.
Speaker 2: I am very fortunate to have had a increase in allergies that brought me to the farming community. I learned a lot about local honey and then now I'm a community gardener. And as a young person whose grandparents are from the Midwest, I was raised on meat and potatoes and really the only vegetables I knew were corn and peas. And so as an adult and had the great opportunity to try new vegetables and now grow vegetables and learn about the different strains and the recessive tomatoes. And I'm looking forward to an exciting season. And I really hope that people who are watching at home consider looking into a community garden nearby, because while there are a shortage of community gardens, I know that many of them continue to pop up as our population gets older and they start consolidating farmers onto single plots because one garden can harvest for multiple families. It's been remarkable. So thank you for all you do. Thank you for continuing to share the good news of bee rescue, because we are we do have a bee shortage. And every time people post online, I see many of you posting back, no, don't call an exterminator, please call the beekeepers. So thank you for all that you do in keeping it possible to have urban AG. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Councilmember Austin Thank you very much. I just want to applaud the the advocates for being here and I want to thank Councilmember Richardson for bringing us this very this feel good item to the council this evening. It makes us feel good to to be progressive and to to move in advance and to be creative with with policy . And, you know, it's no secret it took me a little while to get there. I mean, I wasn't there all along, but I have had the great privilege of having the growing experience in my district and spending a lot of time volunteering there and supporting the efforts of that seven acre urban farm. I want to challenge each and every one of my colleagues to come out there and volunteer a couple of hours of the growing experience as well, because it's a great, great opportunity and it will really, really be an enriching process for for each and every one of you. I want to thank Demetrius and Kelly Johnson specifically for her constant advocacy. I mean, she's been a leader in the farming community, the urban farming community for for many years and is a dear friend of mine. We can't lose sight of the fact that Long Beach is an urban city. And with that. We need to balance our opportunities, opportunities with economic development, opportunities with housing and building sustainability. And so I am going to be happily supporting this item because I think this is this is forward thinking and I want to offer my support to the farming community to encourage private property owners. As a partner of yours moving forward, particularly if with any properties in my district that you identify. You can count on my support. So thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Vice Mayor Lowenthal.
Speaker 10: Thank you. At the risk of admitting how much I think of urban agriculture, I want to share, at least with my council colleagues, that there is a 2007 film, British film called Grow Your Own, and it's incredible. It talks about the social connectivity and well-being that's created when communities come together. And if you haven't seen it, I do recommend it, although we're not here to give movie reviews, but it's it highlights things that we don't think about. We as I said earlier, we talk about the food, we talk about affordability. And and that is all very, very, very good in terms of our objectives. We talk about teaching our children, and I'm glad we got that one to bed, teaching our children about the origin of their food. But the things that we don't often talk about are hard to place. And our young speaker that came to us and shared that she was homeless at age ten and had been able to heal. You just reminded me that there is that healing power of tending to a piece of the earth that you can call your own. And then there's a book called The Earth Knows Your Name. So all these good things. But I do want to share with you that that that is a fascinating film. And if we really want to be proud of what we're doing, I think what we can do is see our community down the road really heal in ways that we wouldn't have been able to have been a part of otherwise. They're quiet, but magical ways. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And Councilman Andrew.
Speaker 4: Yes, thank you very much. I just want to, you know, apply to Councilman Richardson and the other council individuals who brought this to the diocese, because the fact that I know that, you know, we talk about the salt of the earth, what he does for an individual. And I think the young lady who gave us, you know, I mean, just a such a saddening story, but what came out of it was just such a, you know, enjoyment of healing. And I just I'm sure that you'll notice that we are going to do the night market. And I sure hope that you'll really spirit a lot of that, because this is going to happen off a lot of people. And I want to thank you again for being so instrumental in a lot of things we were talking about and over agriculture. Thank you again very much.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Okay. With that, we have a motion in a second. Members, please go ahead and cast your vote.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Great. Thank you. And moving on to item number five, make a brief. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Manager to explore the feasibility of implementing the Urban Agriculture Incentive Zones Program, and report back to City Council in 60 days. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05102016_16-0407 | Speaker 1: Great. Thank you. And moving on to item number five, make a brief.
Speaker 11: Comment. I didn't ask for it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we did. Public comment? Yes. Yes.
Speaker 11: No public comment on that.
Speaker 1: But we did public comment. Item number five, please.
Speaker 2: Communication from Councilman Price, Vice Mayor Lowenthal, Council Superman and Councilman Andrew's recommendation to request the Board of Health and Human Services to produce a detailed report within six months on leaf blowers.
Speaker 1: Cameron. This over to Councilwoman Pryce.
Speaker 6: This item comes after a very lengthy discussions and robust discussions with residents in the third District regarding leaf blowers and the potential negative impacts that they have on the environment, including noise and air quality. What we did was we started to get a lot of concerns from residents letters to our office regarding this issue. So Belmont Heights resident and I actually wrote a letter in the grunion and asked the community what they thought about leaf blowers and whether they thought we needed to have some regulations on leaf blowers in general, but also maybe modifying our leaf blower, having a leaf blower policy that allows for certain types of leaf blowers so that we could minimize the detrimental impacts to the environment. So John Cisco from the Belmont Heights Community Association was the resident who coauthored the article with me. And as a result of the article, we received numerous letters and correspondence directly to our office, but also in the local paper regarding the issue. Many people are supportive of either banning them entirely or thinking about an alternative that allows leaf blowers to be used but has battery operated, not gas powered leaf blowers that could be quieter and less detrimental to the environment. So we wanted to have our. Board of Health and Human Services. Take a look at this issue and analyze the impacts and the possible options that would be available to the city of Long Beach. Looking at what some of the other cities have done, several cities have actually banned them entirely. Others have allowed for modified the use of certain leaf blowers, modified leaf blowers to be used. And we want the board to come back with an analysis for council and give us some recommendations and options in terms of what we could do to better the noise and health impacts of leaf blowers in our community. So I'd ask my colleagues to support this. Again, we're not voting tonight to ban leaf blowers. We're just asking the board to evaluate the impacts of leaf blowers and make recommendations to council in regards to what some options might be for us. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilmember Orengo, I'm sorry, I my apologies. My summary.
Speaker 10: LOWENTHAL Thank you. That's quite all right. I wanted to thank Councilwoman Price for including me on this item. And as she alluded, this is not something that we are looking to ban, but perhaps find alternatives and even incentives. Ten years ago, approximately ten years ago, we adjusted our noise ordinance, which included tweaking the hours of operation for leaf blowers, which ended up being a win for residents because it gave us a reprieve from early morning leaf blowing noise, especially on the weekends. And as our city evolves and we continue to live closer and closer to each other, and we continue to want to raise our standards on how our world and environment we live in should be treated. We do have to take careful review, as Councilwoman Price mentioned, these issues and issues that impact our quality of life. And I think it's timely. So I appreciate that you brought this forward. I look forward to the report coming back. And as the councilwoman mentioned, I'm hopeful that we're looking at alternatives and incentives. Years ago.
Speaker 2: There were.
Speaker 10: Rebate programs for folks that wanted to switch out the types of leaf blowers that they purchased. And if those opportunities existed, that would be great. It's very important to be sure that folks remain as whole as possible in any process that we look to to improve our public policy. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Now, Councilmember Ringo.
Speaker 11: Thank you, Mayor. The one concern that I have with this issue is that I don't think there's a over expanding study that's going to include what would be the economic impacts on the leaf blower or gardeners trade. I don't get the grunion in my in my area. So my neighborhoods that don't necessarily have access to that type of information or access to weigh in on this issue. The cities that were mentioned there. Yeah, I have no comment on that. They're not they're not my communities. But I am concerned about the effect that it would have economically on the businesses that provide our gardening gardening services to throughout the city, not only in the second, third and fifth, but also in the sixth, seventh and eighth and ninth in terms of what they do. So I would want I'm not I'm not saying I would oppose this. I'm saying that if we're going to do a study that's being comprehensive as possible, they include the economic impact that this would have if we were to have complete ban or the economic impact it would have if we were to require our gardening services people to switch from a gas power to an electric power or any other alternative power and power manpower that breaks into doing this kind of service. So I would want staff to also include that. As far as that, what would be the economic impact of switching the leaf blower capability of people?
Speaker 1: Thank you. I see no other public or. I'm sorry. Let me get a public comment. Any public comment? Please come forward.
Speaker 4: Hello again. Ryan Serrano, first district. Um, I mentioned that I own a business called Earth Store Technology, one of the services that we provide as ecological landscape maintenance services. But we only do really like fine gardening maintenance, so we don't do any mowing below service. We only actually take care of food, productive spaces or native habitats. And but what I can say is that my father, I grew up doing landscaping work at my father, and that's where my background is. And he had a mambo service and he still has it. And what I can say about that industry overall is that it's highly polluting and highly exploitative of of and underpaying workers. And the noise pollution is a major issue. But I would also speak to the air pollution which all of those gas powered machines have no have no emissions regulation. So they don't have a catalytic converter like a like an automobile does. So to give you an idea, the carbon emissions of a of a mower blower operating for one hour is equivalent to driving most cars 300 miles. And. In addition to that, for people who are doing alternative, who do have some sort of alternative gardening, especially something that's drought tolerant, like a native landscape, the mowers and blowers are actually propagating weeds and actually creating an expense for these for these alternative gardeners that are actually otherwise doing something that's good economically. So I think that that's important. Also speaking to the economics of of workers and and the people who do those jobs now, I think it would create more jobs. When you take away those machines and start recognizing that labor, you would actually increase the number of people who are paid to do skilled work and increase the number of people who are doing things like raking and and pushing brooms. You could actually employ more people and I think you would also see more self-employment versus people working for big companies that, again, exploit people who are willing to compete for low wages. And this is coming from the son of of a mexican immigrant who watched who watched him grow up in the world doing that and also who is employed people in that position. My company has been paying a minimum wage of $15 an hour for the last two years. So I'm light years ahead of 2020 doing work that involves no polluting machines.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker.
Speaker 2: Good evening again. In control. And this is not a new issue. I don't see anybody left. Up here that remembers about 20 years ago. Diana man. Waged war against the leaf blowers and a number of us came down and raked leaves out here on the lawn in Lincoln Park while the gardeners used the leaf blowers. And we found out that. It took just about the same amount of time to get the leaves off the grass. However, the gardeners were very much opposed to this, as you were saying. They were afraid that they would be losing their employment. Now, 20 years later, well, actually, it was about 11 years ago that I hired one of those gardeners that was opposing the leaf blowers with the provision that he use, rakes and broom and. He was hesitant at first, but now he uses rake and broom for all of his jobs. He has found that it's cheaper because he doesn't have to buy the gasoline and it's better for his health and a better for his hearing. And he's a complete convert. I did pay him a little more each month to do this. If you do decide or even if you don't decide to ban the leaf blowers, I think you can start in the city parks with Azteca. They stand out there with their leaf blowers blowing leaves off the park grass, which is totally and needed. And along the medians they're blowing leaves off the part of the grass. And this is wasting a lot of money and time and polluting the air. And so if nothing else comes out of this, I hope that you will. The next time that you. Contract with as tecca that you make sure that they don't have they don't use their leaf blowers anymore. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. See no other public comment. I'll go back to the council. Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 2: So I want to kind of add to Councilmember Ortega's comments. If we could also explore some of the options. I know within my neighborhood we have a couple of gardeners. I live in the same neighborhood as an Cantrell, and we have a couple of gardeners who are in the neighborhood multiple days a week. And they actually would prefer if all of their clients would all align to the same day of the week, because then they wouldn't have to come back so many times. And the same is true of some of our poor men, and they've actually spoken to me a few times and they said. What do I say to your neighbor to convince them that everybody else gets their lawn done on Thursday, but they want their lawn done on Monday? Well. A lot of it has to do with what day the trash is picked up and what day the street sweeper is and things like that. And so one might also consider if we consolidated the days in a community when the leaf blowers and lawn mowers were available, because that would actually help from an economic standpoint, the gardeners that have really strong roots that perhaps they would align better and then they'd be feeding the gas to and from each neighborhood and getting more houses on the same street. So I want to be pro-business and ensure that they are helped, but also be conscious of the quality of life of our neighbors. And that could be a neat compromise to consider in the report. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman Price.
Speaker 6: Thank you. I appreciate the comments from my colleagues. What I would like to do is recommend that we move forward with the study first and let's see what the study says and what the alternatives are. And then we can ask for an economic analysis of the alternatives, because I don't know that the Board of Health and Human Services is in a position to do an economic analysis. I think they're just going to talk about environmental impacts and pollution. And to Councilman, your Angus comments, you know, we are all very respectful of one another and I think we all do our very best job when we draft agenda items to be to try to give our colleagues data, but to reference the cities that were listed in our agenda item and somehow, you know, imply that those cities have nothing in common with, you know, a particular constituency, I think really defeats the point of the article. And I say that with all due respect, the the article that was written and it's available online and the agenda item that went along with it really are designed to talk about the impacts of the pollution, which impacts kids regardless of what district they live in. They impact adults, seniors, they impact people. It's not a district based thing. So the pollution issues and the noise pollution and the health environment, the that there's numerous studies available online that weren't included in our agenda item talking about the damaging effects to health and to asthma and to breathing as a result of the dust that's collected are that flows in the air as a result of leaf blowers. All leaf blowers do is they move debris from one location to another that that's all they do. And in the process, they blow the debris into the air. So that is why it's a negative impact on anyone that lives in the area. It's not a district thing. And the cities that were listed on the agenda are listed on the agenda because they happen to be cities that have very successful models. But again, there's a lot of research out there on it. And I would like just to find out, like Vice Mayor Lowenthal said, there's possibly some incentive programs that could help people switch out the equipment that they have and get equipment that's not having a polluting impact on the environment. And the city can possibly be in a position to help incentivize that change over time so that as they get ready to to change out their equipment, there's an incentive the city can provide that gives them a non gas operated leaf blower. So if council will indulge me, I think it would be simpler for this study to have the Board of Health and Human Services do an environmental impact because a report that's the that's the scope of their expertize. And then if it comes back and we want to go further than we can request an economic evaluation, and that would probably be a different city department that would handle that analysis. So that would be my recommendation.
Speaker 1: Okay. Councilmember Ranga.
Speaker 11: I appreciate the councilmember for a second district's comments. My my comments were not targeted towards any negativity towards those other cities, obviously. But when we compare Long Beach to other cities, we don't compare ourselves to those cities right there to that. I just want to clarify that very quickly right now. And whether they have successful models or not, that's fine. My comments were more directed in terms of I'm not saying let's proceed with a study. However, we need to include an economic analysis as to what's going to take place. I think that doing a study first and then going back and doing an economic study, doing a piecemeal, we should just do it all at once. I don't want to waste. Let me let me rephrase it. I would like to have staff pursue it in a more efficient manner by looking at the big picture as it's all inclusive, as opposed to bringing one aspect of it first and then going back and readjust analysis that needs to take place again to do it, to go back again, that those are the types of studies that I really don't like. I mean, I've we've gone through this before with other studies that we've had where I was basically opposed to the studies because any time there's there's staff time involved, it there is a cost impact to that staff's time to do that. And if we have one, the deals just with environmental and if we come back and deal with the economic, that's twice the work. So maybe it's a question for the city manager in terms of being able to consolidate or being able to have a two pronged type of study that would address all those issues and in one report. As opposed to doing it one against the other of city manager. I guess it be a question for you.
Speaker 4: Mayor Councilmembers Honestly.
Speaker 11: We're here to take direction from the City Council on.
Speaker 4: Where the council likes to go. I think it I'm looking at what Councilmember Price said, probably the Health and Human Services Department, I mean, commission is not the vehicle to look at the economic impact.
Speaker 11: But we're not bringing up the economic impacts of it as well as what would that what would it mean for vendors who might be required because of the study? And, you know, I agree with with with the overall impact of what leaf blowers have, you know, gas and all that. I mean, I agree with that. I'm not opposed to that. But there is going to be an economic effect. Should we move in one direction or another? So I'd like to know what what that is going to be, if at all.
Speaker 4: If time is not of the essence, I see no reason why we.
Speaker 11: Can't do to dependent.
Speaker 4: Studies. We would do one with the Health Department Health Commission, come back to.
Speaker 11: The Council of the Council. So wish they.
Speaker 4: Could direct it to staff for one of our economic development commissions to then review that piece to come.
Speaker 11: Back to the Council for a final decision. Okay. So you're saying that you want to do part A before going to part B? I think that it's up to the city council. It's up to you. Well, that.
Speaker 4: Would be great. As long as as long as there's no hurry to do this immediately.
Speaker 11: And there was a need to. Well, 90 days was.
Speaker 1: I think it's a go to the Board of Health and Human Services and at that point they would come back within. What is the days? Within six months. Is that.
Speaker 11: It? Six months?
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 4: But.
Speaker 1: Okay. We think you can work with that. Great. So we have a motion in a second to go to have board Health Human Services come back in six months. Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 6: Okay. Not to complicate things, but I was just suggesting because, you know, we're hearing so much out there, but I think getting the report back first would be great to be able to understand the the environmental impacts. But is it possible as well to have staff come back with just some, uh, some type of incentive programs that could be available to these businesses just so we can get a preliminary idea of what is out there. And then if we do need to come back, go, you know, come back and then go back to the Economic Development Committee. Then we do that.
Speaker 4: Absolutely. That's we could be checking with HMD on that at on a parallel course. And then with that information, we could then do another look see at this if desired by the council.
Speaker 6: Okay. And perhaps that comes back just in a two from four, unless the council wants an anything additional with that.
Speaker 2: But that's certainly.
Speaker 6: Wonderful. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Okay. There's a motion in a second. We've done public comment. Members, please cast your votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request the Board of Health and Human Services to produce a detailed report within six months on any past discussions, memorandums, codes, ordinances, and/or regulations on leaf blowers. The Board should also provide input on any studies or documented health and safety impacts that have been identified by researchers on this topic. Equally relevant to developing a response strategy is any data available on complaints and potential impacts regarding this issue. Finally, the report should include recommendations that City Council could consider taking on this matter as a next step. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05102016_16-0410 | Speaker 1: Next item.
Speaker 2: Report from Development Services recommendation to request the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance to designate the property located at 260 East San Antonio Drive as a Long Beach Historical Landmark District eight.
Speaker 1: Okay. There's a motion and a second. Is there any public comment on this item? Councilor.
Speaker 3: Thank you very much. I am very happy to support this recommendation. I had the opportunity to tour the home and am very, very impressed with the work that the listeners have done to restore this House and to preserve its historical significance. As a footnote, it's a and he probably would be embarrassed for me to tell, but but our lieutenant, Steve James, actually grew up in this home as a child. This house would be the first private residence to receive an historical landmark designation under the new ordinance. And I look forward to a full staff presentation when the ordinance comes back to council, I ask for your approval.
Speaker 1: There's a motion and a second public comment scene and please cast your votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare an ordinance to designate the property located at 260 East San Antonio Drive as a Long Beach Historical Landmark. (District 8) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05102016_16-0416 | Speaker 1: An excited please.
Speaker 2: Report from Public Works Financial Management in Parks, Recreation and Marine recommendation to rescind the November ten, 2015 Action of Authorizing Award of Contract of 40 C for the development of the De Forest Wetlands. Award a contract to C.W. Crosser Construction for a total contract amount not to exceed 5.7 million and accept $623,000 in Los Angeles County, Regional Park and Open Space District Grant funds for the implementation of Phase two of the de Forest Wetlands Project Districts eight and nine.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There's a motion in a second. A public comment. CNN. Please cast your votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Okay. That concludes our business for tonight. The second part of the public comment agenda on non agenda items. Is there any please come forward.
Speaker 2: Karen reside. And I'm the president of Park Pacific Cars, which is the senior resident building on seventh and Pacific. And I have an issue I just want to bring to the council and make you aware because it concerns public safety, particularly in my realm, seniors well-being. | Contract | Recommendation to rescind the November 10, 2015 action of authorizing award of Contract No. 34145 to Ford E.C., Incorporated, of Los Angeles, CA, for the development of the DeForest Wetlands (per California Public Contracting Code section 5101, the bidder is requesting relief);
Adopt Plans and Specifications No. R-7055 for the DeForest Wetlands Restoration; award a contract to C.W. Crosser Construction, Inc., of Anaheim, CA, in the amount of $4,971,287, and authorize a 15 percent contingency in the amount of $745,693, for a total contract amount not to exceed $5,716,980; authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any necessary amendments thereto; affirm Categorical Exemption No. 115-115 (15301, Class 1);
Authorize City Manager to accept $623,600 in Los Angeles County Regional Park and Open Space District grant funds for the implementation of Phase 2 of the DeForest Wetlands project; and
Increase appropriations in the Capital Projects Fund (CP) in the Public Works Department (PW) by $623,600.
(Districts 8,9 | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05032016_16-0382 | Speaker 2: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Members, please cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Madam Clerk, if we can go to item 21.
Speaker 0: Report from Economic and Property Development Recommendation to execute a lease with Killing Fields Memorial Center for city owned property located at 1501 East Anaheim Street for the development and operation of a community memorial Garden District six.
Speaker 2: We have a second. There's been a motion and a second.
Speaker 7: Yes. Yes.
Speaker 2: My Councilman Andrews.
Speaker 7: Yes. Thank you, Mayor. Before we get started, I'd like to do a staff report on this. And Mr. Mike Conway, would you please? Thank you. I'd like to introduce our director of Economic and Property Development, Mike Conway, Vice Mayor Lowenthal, members of the City Council. This item relates to former RTA property located at 1501 East Anaheim Street, the northeast corner of Anaheim Street and Peterson Avenue. The property was originally purchased for use as a community garden, Open Space and Killing Fields Memorial to commemorate the victims of the Cambodian Genocide. Killing Fields Memorial, Inc, a California nonprofit organization, seeks to develop this property at its cost into a memorial that includes a memorial structure, restroom facilities and storage area, along with open space and garden areas. The nonprofit organization intends to raise funds in order to construct the improvements and proposes to operate and maintain the facilities as a public open space. Staff has negotiated terms and conditions of a lease that provides for rent of $1 per year during a fundraising period of three years and an additional two year period to allow the nonprofit organization to construct the improvements. If either the fundraising or the construction is not diligently pursued to completion within the stated timelines, the city may terminate the lease. However, if fundraising and construction proceeds within the provided timelines, the nonprofit organization will then have an option to purchase the property for $1. If the option is exercised, the land will be conveyed with a covenant in perpetuity, requiring the nonprofit organization to offer the property as a public open space to maintain all improvements and fund all capital reinvestment. Failure to comply with the covenants could result in the reversion of the property back to city ownership. This structure provides an opportunity for city residents to enjoy a public open space serving as a Killing Fields memorial with all construction, maintenance and capital reinvestment reinvestment funded by a nonprofit organization. We had a behind you on the screen some images as conceptualized by the nonprofit organization providing, again, some open space. Some garden areas, structures related to a memorial killing fields memorial commemorating the genocide of the Cambodians and kind of an aerial vision as well. So this concludes my report, and I'm available to answer your questions. Thank you very much. First of all, I'd like to just speak on this item because the fact that I think is the first killing feel memorial outside the state of California. So these are the things that I think I really wish most people would take time to take a look at, because being that the Cambodians have been here for 30 some years, and I think this is something it's very something I totally support because this is the project will be the first in a memorial outside of Cambodia. And many of our Cambodian refugees will never go back to Cambodia. But with this memorial, they will be able to have a place to heal, to reflect, to meditate, and to honor those that they have lost in the war. This is a memorial is for them. And because the fact that this I would like to have a mr. SA who will come up and speak on this issue very shortly. See you on Thursday. Good evening, Madame Vice Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Pauline Sot. I am a member of the Killing Fields Memorial Center. Our organization is dedicated to commemorating the Cambodian genocide. Every April 17, we pay respect to the victims of the killing fields and hope to bring public awareness by making a program, the Genocide Awareness Month. For many major genocides namely the Armenian genocide, the Jewish Holocaust, the Cambodian killing fields, and the Rwandan genocide. What a great night from a dream. Yes, a little dream of her. When your rock or a tree to walk around, to worship, to touch, to have to cry on, to feel the suffering of our innocent people with, to remember and pay respect at. You have made this dream come true. Now we have a place we can call home. The Killing Fields Memorial Garden will be adorned with landscapes and waterfalls. It will be a gathering place decorated with Cambodians artifacts and designed and built by Cambodians. The Killing Fields Memorial Garden will be the first of its kind outside of Cambodia in our beautiful city of Long Beach, the third largest city in the US, the seventh largest city in California, and the greatest city to the largest Cambodian community outside of Cambodia since 1975. This will be a great place of love and kindness. It will welcome people from all walks of life to come in and enjoy peace and tranquility. Find solace and closure. Learn about the history of the killing fields. Learn about the Khmer culture and worship. Remember and pay respect to millions of victims of the Cambodian genocide that became well known as the killing fields. Thank you, Councilman Lee Andrews. You made it happen. Your life and legacy will live forever in our hearts. Thank you, John Edmonton, for voicing the dream ten years ago and for making it happen a reality tonight. Honorable Vice Mayor and members of the City Council, the spirit of millions of victims of the killing fields. They are descendants, friends and supporters of the Killing Fields Memorial Center. Forever grateful for your decision tonight. This may seem a small step to some, but it is a giant step in a world that clamor for peace and above all, kindness. On behalf of the survivors of the killing fields, we thank you for standing up for humanity and kindness. So. Morgan Palmer, thank you very much. God bless you. God bless. Long Beach. And God bless America. Thank you. Thank you, Pauline. I would just hope that everyone in this city and all the other cities will embrace this memorial for all the people to have a chance to come and see that where people can sit down and pay their tribute to someone who was such a tragedy. And again, I'd like to say Jimmy Blair, welcome. Probably, yes.
Speaker 2: Yes. Give us 1/2. Council member Urunga.
Speaker 4: Yep. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to hear from the public regarding this project. Or you want.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Let me hold for 1/2 now. Let me hold for 1/2. I know that we'd like to take a photo.
Speaker 7: Yes, but.
Speaker 2: But we can. Let me take the councilor comments. Do you have comments?
Speaker 4: Thank you to the vice mayor. I too want to lend my support for this project. I think it's a wonderful one. I was, as many of you might know, especially those in the cabaret community, I participated in a groundbreaking ceremony back in 1978, actually 80, 82 or 83, when the UCC center was was being built. It was a at that time a Latino center. It was the the North it was the Long Beach Neighborhood Center, the Centro de la Raza, it was called. And I was I was very proud to be part of that transition. And it was the center that opened up that welcomed the Cambodian community into Long Beach. And since then, we know that the community has grown significantly and that it is the largest community outside of Long Beach. And I'm very proud that we're here today, that I'm here today to welcome you back, welcome you here, keep you here , and to help you get this project off the ground so that we can start the healing that we need to do and the healing that should have been done a long time ago. And I think that this memorial would be a big step in that direction. And you mentioned some other tragic events in our history, in the history of the world. And I think that your dedication to those tragic events, as well as your own, is what happened in the killing fields is a make it a big testimony to your commitment for humanity and for making and building a better world here in Long Beach and around the world as well. So I want to lend my support to this project as well.
Speaker 2: Let's go ahead and hear comments from the public and then we'll take it behind the wheel.
Speaker 7: Thank you. Good evening, Honorable Vice Mayor, Member City Council. Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Brian Bell, reside at one sixth of Ohio Avenue in the fourth District. As a survivor and currently president of the Killing Fields Memorial Center. I'm honored to be here tonight to offer my sincere appreciation and gratitude for the decision you will make tonight toward the Cambodian Genocide Memorial Garden Project. According. To the RAND Corporation study ended in 2005 in the Cambodian community in Long Beach by interviewing more than 500 survivors Senate. The study found 62% of the Cambodian people have post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, and 51% have major depression disorder. The action by the City Council today further strengthened our city commitment to diversity. The Cambodian Genocide Memorial Project will not only be a place for. The Cambodian to reflect on the journey that brought. A to our new home, but it will star them space for a community that share similar story of struggle and survival. The Cambodian Genocide Memorial is an immigrant story. And from our mayor, who is an immigrant from Peru to the residents who live and work in the city, the memorial paid tribute to our heritage. And so to demonstrate that diversity, our strength. This is a major step forward in a long journey from the killing field to the promised land. It is a step toward healing and uniting our community. By approving staff recommendation tonight, you will have a hand in waiving. The Cambodian experience in the rich tapestry in our great city. Furthermore, I would like to share with you a brief history of the Cambodian genocide. Madame May. I would like your permission. It might be a little bit longer than three minute.
Speaker 2: In your comments?
Speaker 7: Yeah, just a brief.
Speaker 2: Can you make it brief?
Speaker 7: Okay. I think. Thank you. Between 1975 and early 1979. The Khmer Rouge, headed by pulpwood, supported Cambodian citizens through arena terror, aimed to create a truly Marxist utopian society. This societal experiment quickly turned into a nightmare of warfare. Execution, starvation for hard labor. Brainwashing. Political repression. Physical appearance, threatening asphyxiation and or the kind of torture that claimed the life of. An estimated 1.5 to 3 million or 20 to 40% of the entire population of Cambodia. And that attacks on a Cambodian were forced to flee the party to the Cambodian border, losing their home and their homeland. And resulting in the further breaking apart of family. They face additional traumatic experience during their life threatening flight to Thailand. And many live for a year in condition characterized by material scarcity, poor sanitation violation and certainly in the camp children. Who sometimes spent a year in this camp. Opportunity for normal childhood. In early 1980, approximately 200,000 Cambodian displaced refugees live in the United States. The single largest concentration of the Cambodian anywhere outside of Cambodia reside in the Lilongwe area. Relocation to a new country entailed foot separation from family isolation and further stress related to adjusting to a new country, language and culture. Cambodian have exhibited tremendous courage and resilience throughout this trauma and challenge. We are not allowed Cambodian refugees a limit among the general public and also among the younger generation of Cambodian living in Israel that did not live through the Khmer Rouge regime themselves or were very young when they left the country. Frequently, though, survived the Pol Pot Khmer Rouge regime, period. I found it too painful to share their experiences, even within their own family. There is strong desire among many Cambodian in Long Beach to educate the younger generation and the Cambodian about their family and community history, as well as the larger public. At this moment. I would like to recognize and thank you on behalf of the board of the director. To the people that who work very hard behind the scenes to restore information experience. Please help me give warm welcome to the champion, newly reelected. Councilman Andrew. Former Councilwoman Tonya Durango. I see you here. Thank you for being here. And our chief of staff, John Edman, and Republican. And Attorney Bill Shibley. And especially the board of directors. Yeah. I'm leaving friends. I could. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Brian. Next speaker, please. Interview.
Speaker 1: Well, I hadn't planned on speaking, but I just had to come forward. I'm Francis. Some of the in Paris. And I was inside in district one. Councilmember Dan. Thank you for all your diligence and passion, love, understanding. And moving forward on this matter. And what a phenomenal way for the city owned property to have the Killing Fields Memorial Center. I hope that everybody that's watching this on TV and of course, all of you that are here, I have a heavy heart. I'm kind of visualizing what all happened. But I believe that the Killing Fields Memorial Center, when people see it, hopefully. They'll take a moment and they'll think about what happened. And then they'll move forward to try to help bring love, peace and understanding among our men in equality. And the gang members. Maybe you'll start looking at things a little different and look at the fact of what you can do to individuals and the fact it has on them their families and society. So I want to commend you. And this this is an absolutely historical moment. That's the reason why I was sitting there and I saw, no, I won't come forward to speak, but it's such a historical moment. I had to speak and say thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Vice Mayor. And I'll be brief. I'm simply honored to take part in this historic moment. It's no question that this project will certainly add to our rich cultural tapestry in our city. And it means a lot to see that the whole, you know, that this community is really and embrace this and champion this. Over the last decade, it seems like. So this is really a good statement to your leadership. Councilmember Andrews And the fact that this was former redevelopment space that is going to be, you know, a vacant lot that's going to essentially become an amazing, amazing landmark in the community. I think it's fantastic. So I'm honored to cast his vote in support of this tonight.
Speaker 2: Council member now.
Speaker 7: Thank you. I am too honored to support this vote. I'd like to thank Councilmember Andrews for bringing this project forward, and I look forward to the fruition of this project and a ribbon cutting. I also like to thank Vice Mayor Lowenthal for allowing my friend Bryant Bennett to take a little extra time speaking.
Speaker 8: And it Bryant Bean, thank you for speaking tonight.
Speaker 7: Thank you for your service to the Cambodian community and to consider the service you continue to provide to our fourth district community. You were in my newsletter last week, so just proves you're still doing things today. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 5: Thank you. I, too, want to thank Councilman Andrews for his consistent attention to the needs of the Cambodian community. He has ever since the moment I met him, he's advocating for the community and trying to make us all more educated about the issues that are of importance to his constituents and to such an amazing group of individuals who always come out and so gracefully and respectfully share your thoughts and your positions. And I really appreciate that. As someone who sits here and makes decisions, I really appreciate the manner in which you advocate for things. So it's it's something that is very respectful. And and certainly this is a huge accomplishment. So congratulations to you as well.
Speaker 2: Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 5: I'm glad that we're able to honor the Cambodian community. I know that it's been so very long. I'm looking at a lot of these reports and it's going back to 1998 that you had been starting this work. I'm sure it's been much longer than that. So congratulations on all of your hard work. And also to my colleague, Councilman de Andrews and his staff, who I know has been very dedicated to this through and through. So congratulations again.
Speaker 2: Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 0: I want to agree with my colleagues and what an example you are to members of the community that have a cause. You unite, you stand together, you turn out the numbers and you work together no matter if the issue is controversial like a few weeks ago or today. And I just want to tell you how much I respect each and every one of you. I'm in your opinions, and you're always welcome here. Thank you.
Speaker 2: And I also wanted to extend my congratulations to everyone that has worked very hard to bring this forward. It has taken a very long time, but it's the next installment in our shared narrative. I know that this particular memorial is to recognize the suffering as well as the prosperity of the Cambodian American community, despite the challenges that it faced and being here in your new home. But it is our shared narrative. It's a shared tapestry, as Councilmember Richardson mentioned, of our great city. I want to thank you for honoring us with the dignity, as Councilwoman Pryce mentioned, as well as the opportunity to share in your story and giving us the opportunity to celebrate together . What a dedicated and motivated and inspired group of people can do despite the hardships for all of that. Thank you. Bryant Bean. Thank you. Thank you to all the members of the community that are here, as well as those that are not here, that have been working very hard to have a place here for the Cambodian American community. Starting well before Cambodia town and going back to the U.S. in the seventies. And for your tenacity and for your stamina. I thank you. With that, there's been a motion and a second. Members, please cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So I know that many of you were here for that item. And if you did not want to stay with us till midnight, you are free to go if you'd like, or you can stay and hear the rest of our items. Madam Clerk, I think we go back to item two. Is that correct? That's correct. Okay. There's no oath required. So I'd like to turn this over to our assistant city manager, Mr. Tom Modica. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute all documents necessary for a lease with Killing Fields Memorial Center, Inc., a California nonprofit corporation, for City-owned property located at 1501 East Anaheim Street for the development and operation of a community memorial garden. (District 6) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05032016_16-0365 | Speaker 2: Madam Clerk, I think we go back to item two. Is that correct? That's correct. Okay. There's no oath required. So I'd like to turn this over to our assistant city manager, Mr. Tom Modica.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Vice Mayor, members of the City Council.
Speaker 2: Mr. Modica, maybe we can give folks about a minute to.
Speaker 7: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: Take our leave.
Speaker 4: Madam Vice Mayor, can you say something real quick? Yeah. I also want to recognize the presence of my former chief of staff, Ray Polk, up on top over there, who was one of the only Cambodian chief of staff's in the city of Long Beach with the only one. So thank you for being here and your support.
Speaker 5: Read this article and.
Speaker 7: Oh. Part of.
Speaker 3: The conspiracy.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. America.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Vice Mayor, members of the City Council. The staff report would be given by Amy Beauregard, Director of Development Services.
Speaker 9: Mr. Mays just told me that there better be a stellar report because he's not expecting any questions.
Speaker 0: Thank you.
Speaker 9: Madam Vice Mayor. Members of the city council. Tonight, we're here to give some of you a tutorial on our billboard ordinance and others a refresher on what we've been doing for the last year and a half or so. The city actually two years. The city council adopted a brand new billboard ordinance in June of 2014, and it was a very laborious process to get to that point, but it resulted in some very significant changes to our existing to our previously existing billboard standards. We essentially modernized the code and required that any new billboards require a conditional use permit. We did allow for electronic billboards to be considered in specific places. But as a caveat to that, there was a requirement for taking down existing static billboards in priority order in specific neighborhoods and commercial districts. Clearly, the purpose of the billboard ordinance was to incentivize the removal of the approximately 400 plus nonconforming billboards that exist throughout the city and to allow electronic billboards as a legitimate land use within the city of Long Beach. So what have we been doing since then is we have removed and had installed through a couple of applicants, a number of electronic billboards. There are two double sided electronic billboards currently in operation one on the 710 Freeway near 12th Street and the other one on the 91 freeway right near the 710. We have a another double sided electronic billboard that's approved but not yet constructed. And that would be on a portion of the MTA site that is adjacent to the 710 Freeway. And we have a two single sided billboards that have been conditionally approved, but they do need your concurrence in order to get those approvals. Tonight's request is that we make a change to the existing billboard ordinance that essentially amounts to a half a sentence that would allow us a little bit of flexibility in where we place the electronic billboards within the landscape freeway segments. And if we move forward with that, we have the ability to remove up to 138 static billboards with that half sentence change and potentially more to come in the future. I want to give you an idea of the progress that we've made to date. These are all estimated numbers. We think we have a handle on most of the billboard inventory. But as you probably know, billboards tend to pop up where we least expect them or they've been hidden by trees that get trimmed. And suddenly there's a billboard that we didn't realize was in the inventory. So to the best of our knowledge and with the help of of the majority of the billboard industry, we have been able to determine that there's approximately 500 billboard faces in the city as of 2011. We believe that last year's inventory, we got it down to about 456 and that if we we get your approval tonight on this ordinance amendment, we will actually be able to get that inventory down to approximately 320 billboards throughout the city. We also think that there's a pending application that would remove another 36 plus or minus faces. So that would get us down to approximately 284 billboards in the entire city in exchange for allowing a few electronic billboards on certain locations in the freeway. So I want to give you some visuals for what what this billboard program has done for neighborhoods and for corridors. This is right on Artesia Boulevard. You can see that it's a small space, but squarely on the street. And this is what it looks like when it's been removed. This is 2069 Long Beach Boulevard. Again, right along the commercial corridor. Notice that it was actually in somebody's front yard. And now the woman sitting on her porch, this one is on the west side, 1400 West Wardlow. It was a very large double faced sign. And this is what it looks like now with just one of the billboards removed. The other one on the far right of the screen was also removed as part of a conversion project. This is my personal favorite. This was a pretty significant billboard at 1320 Anaheim. I used to orient myself that I knew I was coming up to Atlantic because of this billboard. It is now gone.
Speaker 5: You can see.
Speaker 9: It went over the entire parking lot. So that's my favorite. So what we ended up doing is working with the billboard industry and many of the manufacturers to craft a very tightly worded ordinance. And it was only with the cooperation of the billboard industry and your cooperation that we were able to get there. However, we do believe that we are more restrictive in state law in one area and that is causing us some challenges in removing additional billboard inventory. If a billboard is freeway oriented and is within 660 feet of a landscaped freeway segment that's defined by Caltrans, it is considered adjacent and is subject to additional restrictions. So essentially, if Caltrans says that a freeway segment is a landscaped freeway segment, regardless of the condition of the landscaping, it cannot have billboards within 660 feet of that landscape segment. This map shows in Gray the landscape freeway segments that are within the city of Long Beach. All of the six or five freeway within the city, the majority, essentially all of the four or five freeway as it traverses our city, the majority of the 710 freeway and the majority of the 91 freeway, all of those are considered landscape freeway segments. I've overlaid that with our zoning classifications on where we would actually allow billboard conversions and it's a very, very small defined area. So normally billboard development is not allowed in these 660 feet of the landscape freeway segments. However, state law allows Caltrans to give billboard companies credits if they've removed billboards somewhere else in the state, either because Caltrans had to acquire it for a street project or they, you know, they just bought the billboard company out for some other reason. When that credit is obtained, then the billboard company can get a Caltrans permit for somewhere else in the state. Unfortunately, our city code is more restrictive than the Outdoor Advertising Act, and the use of these Caltrans credits to allow for electronic billboards is actually prohibited within our code. We believe that the proposed change would recalibrate the city's billboard or an ordinance to match state law, allowing the use of Caltrans credits and very specified, very specific landscape freeway segments in order to do that. Certainly, if you did not have Caltrans credits, you would not be allowed to construct in those landscape freeway segments. All the other criteria within the zoning code would apply. They are restricted to residential properties. They're only allowed in industrial properties. I l I am ig IP and commercial highway and commercial storage zones. So it's a very limited universe of locations that in an electronic billboard can go all. All new electronic billboards would still have to meet the requirements of removal and takedown. And there are still the remaining billboard size, height, shape, directional influences, lighting. All of those restrictions still remain. They're not allowed in residential zones. They're not allowed in park zones. Those would remain still off limits. We believe that the only affected areas. Again would be a very limited area on this 91 freeway and a small area on the four or five freeway. With that, I am open to any questions you might have. I believe the clerk passed out the red line of the ordinance, and you can see that it essentially just lines up our code to the State Outdoor Advertising Act. I'm available for any questions.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Miss Borough Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 0: Yes, Miss Bodak, while I think you said it would still comply with the regional blah blah blah, just in plain language, you would not be able to remove billboards elsewhere and then put a billboard in Long Beach. I just want to be clear on that. That that's what the legal easement.
Speaker 9: Correct. You have to remove existing static billboards within the city of Long Beach and use Caltrans credits in order to be able to construct a electronic billboard within the landscape freeway segment.
Speaker 0: Wonderful. I think that this is a great move in the right direction. I know that we still have some billboards in places that they we would rather not have them. I'd like to make one modification to the motion. I'd like to include that new freeway oriented billboards shall not be more than 50 feet above the nearest freeway lane. But if my seconder is okay with that, I see a nod. Then I'm very comfortable with the motion and the work you've done. Thank you.
Speaker 9: May I just suggest that there may be situations where the billboard company might require a variance due to sound walls or other topographic issues related to that.
Speaker 0: I think that that would go through the COAG process, wouldn't it.
Speaker 9: It would actually be a variance as well as a. If you do put a specific height limit on it.
Speaker 0: Are you stating that there are occasions where we where people would apply for them to be higher than 50 feet?
Speaker 9: Yes.
Speaker 0: I would be open to that. So 50 feet. And then anything above that would require a. Will you remind me what.
Speaker 9: It was there? Variance.
Speaker 0: I wanted to say if you've a variance, that sounds reasonable. Wonderful that I'll take that as my new ocean.
Speaker 2: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Vice Mayor. And so the 91 freeway runs entirely through Council District nine. This has been something that we've. This has been an ordinance that we watched closely for years. And the intent was really to remove blight. A number of blighted billboards, particularly on our corridors. And I remember a number of years back, we literally put up images, some of the same images that we saw today and said, hey, if this ordinance doesn't accomplish our goal of removing these, you know, taking down these blighted billboards, then it didn't make sense. And I think it's safe to say that this has been a success. We've seen just the number of conversions so far to the digital. We haven't received any complaints from the neighbors. We've been very open and transparent, particularly with the neighborhoods adjacent to the 91 about this. And frankly, residents are really excited to see a number of lots that have been on, you know, vacant lots with billboards in them on Atlantic in the middle of our business district, on our on Artesia in the middle of our business district. Those billboards are gone now. And now we can sort of talk about possibilities, community gardens, development, things like that that are possible on these lots. So so I'm very happy with where we are in terms of the changes I'm comfortable with, with what they are based on. I truly believe past experience is the best indicator of future performance if we make these adjustments. I'm really excited to see what can particularly what boards can come down. With respect to the The Lamar Project. So, so I'm going to be in support of this and I'm glad to see that the credits for addition will not be in lieu of local takedowns. So so I'm glad that that was clarified tonight that, you know, we can't use credits, Caltrans credits, in lieu of the formula that we've established as a council. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Councilmember your anger.
Speaker 4: Longer take you right there. I want to say that this this whole remake of this ordinance is a step in the right direction. And I think it's something that we need to look at carefully. There is a lot of blight out there with the preponderance of billboards that don't serve a real good function or just a lot of simply old. There's a lot of those billboards that are not maintained and not updated. So I think this is this would be an excellent way of taking care of that and removing some of those billboards that basically serve no purpose other than as blight. In regards to the the amendment, I totally agree with that. I think it's a good it's a good way of being able to not only address the concerns that some communities might have in terms of their height, but also be able to address the the the advertisers who are going to be using those billboards to send their message. So I actually support this amendment. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Councilwoman Mongo.
Speaker 0: I just want to thank my colleagues and Ms.. Bodak for the modification and the support. I think that this is a step in the right direction. I think that the less blight we have in our communities, the better. I want to thank the our predecessors who started on this path many years ago, and I think that we're moving in the right direction. So thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Is there any member of the public that wishes to address Council on hearing item two? Please come forward and state your name.
Speaker 1: Laurie Angel. I'm pretty familiar with the Billboard situation. I worked on it for years and we made a point of trying to eliminate blight on our landscaped freeways. So now we're going to give that up for the purpose of removing a few more in our neighborhoods. And, you know, there are states that don't even allow billboards on their highways at all. But we're going to give up our landscaped freeways for the purpose of taking them off of our corridors. When, in fact, that may occur. That's all right. You can look at me or you can look down. That's fine. So I'm just concerned that I mean, the other thing the irony here is that people are earning credits by removing billboards on landscaped freeways. And so now they can put billboards on our landscape. Freeways. I mean, what is the logic in that? So I don't really believe in giving up a nice, open, beautiful stretch of freeway for the purpose of accelerating a process that's going to happen anyway over maybe a little bit more time. I just think it's extremely short sighted. We have a nice looking freeway now. It's one of the best ones around. But we're okay. We're just going to give it up.
Speaker 2: Thank you. So anyone else seeing no further comment? Members, please cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 2: Thank you. At this time, we can take up concert calendar items 3 to 14 zero motion. It's been in motion in a second. So any member of the public that wished to address counsel on consent. See members cast your vote. | Ordinance | Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal code by amending Subsections 21.54.120.B.2 and 21.54.130.A, and Table 54-1 of Chapter 21.54, all relating to billboards, read and adopted as read. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05032016_16-0336 | Speaker 1: Item 15.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Sorry about that.
Speaker 0: Item 15 Report from Development Services Recommendation to receive and file an update on the proactive rental housing inspection program citywide.
Speaker 2: Okay. It's an emotion. And a second. Mr. City Manager.
Speaker 7: Yes? We have a report on the status of this program by our development services director, Amy Barack and her team.
Speaker 9: Madam Vice Mayor, members of the City Council, I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce to you Kurt Keating, my code enforcement officer from the city of Long Beach. And then Lisa Fall, my administrative and Financial Services Bureau manager. They have been intimately involved in the implementation of the ordinance since last year, both from a financial perspective, a strategic perspective, and then also the actual implementation of the program. Approximately a year ago, a year ago next month, the City Council adopted an ordinance amending the municipal code by adding a brand new chapter to the municipal code related to proactive rental housing inspections. The the program had previously existed. It had been codified under the California Health and Safety Code and had resided for a number of years in the Health Department. But as part of government reform in 2013, that function shifted to the Department of Development Services to better align it with our existing code enforcement functions. As a result of the move to development services, there was a desire to go above and beyond what the state's health and Safety Code requires at a bare minimum, and to enhance the program. So we embarked on about a 12 month effort to work with stakeholders on crafting an ordinance that would enhance the type of inspections that we do on rental housing. The Council had very robust discussions about this last year and had a number of specific recommendations that were included in the ordinance that was ultimately adopted by the City Council and that we're attempting to implement. We have since. So I want to step back and give you an idea of the volume that we're talking about. The city defines rental housing as four units or more. So if someone owns a duplex or a triplex, that is not considered a commercial property within the city's definitions, and this program only inspects or attempts to inspect those those units that are either a four plex or greater. We have within the city approximately 7500 buildings that are either a four plex or greater. And it totals about 67,500 units, individual units. And that's just for plex's and above. If we were to consider the stock of Triplexes and duplexes, that would result in approximately 17,000 individual properties and 88,000 individual units. We have a goal in the ordinance of inspecting these units in these buildings once a year. I will tell you that we have been having a very difficult time with the implementation of the program. Meeting that task, I had hoped that in year one, when we rolled out the program, that we would be inspecting approximately half of the buildings. We're closer to a third than a half of the buildings, or I should say we're on target to inspecting about a third of the buildings by the end of this fiscal year. However, we have done a number of other things that the City Council had asked of us last year, and that includes coming up with a comprehensive outreach program and a comprehensive communications program related to the to how we let people know about it. We developed a series of door hangers, fliers for both tenants and landlords, translated those into our four language access program languages that the City Council has directed and are distributing those when we go out on inspection calls, when we attend community meetings, when we attend resource fairs. We have within my department not only code enforcement, but we also have our affordable housing division. And we have a very close relationship with the health department as well. So these fliers are getting distributed by all of those resources as well. The city council also asked us to allocate some of the department's general fund moneys last year to conducting an RFP and selecting a consultant who would actually help us reach out to the more disadvantaged neighborhoods and really get tenants and landlords aware of the program. We have recently contracted with the successful bidder, which is going to be the Orange County Fair Housing Association, and we're working with them on. A scope of work that would allow us to reach out to specific neighborhoods in particular. The city council also asked us to to prioritize the those landlords that may be more challenging to deal with, that may have units that are subject to frequent complaints or are habitually substandard in some of their compliance issues. We do have a a working list of of those that we believe are the more challenging landlords that we're working on. We've also prioritized our inspection areas based on census data that focuses on the age of the housing stock, the population density, the density of the housing units and other census factors, so that we are focusing on where we think the most area of need may be. The City Council also asked us to consider a, um, an incentive program for inspections for those landlords or property owners who are better at maintaining their properties, tend not to get code enforcement violations and are generally providing much more habitable conditions for our residents. I will tell you that since the rollout of the program has been much more slow than we anticipated, we are not at the point where we we believe that we're capable of of providing a recommendation to you on what that incentive program would be. We also discussed the potential for a fee increase. Currently, there is a. I'm looking for. I'm blanking on the word. There is an annual fee that is a tiered fee process so that there are three or four different fee categories, three fee categories. So if you own a four plex up to a ten plex building, you pay one fee. If you own an 11 plex to a 20 unit building, you pay another fee. And if you own a building that is 21 units or higher, that's a third tier of a fee.
Speaker 5: The fees equate.
Speaker 9: To about $26 per unit. And I will tell you that that allows us to support a program with approximately 11 full time employees, nine inspectors and a couple of clerical to actually run the program with that level of staffing. As I said, we are about a third of the way through the 7500 buildings that we have to inspect on an annual basis. We do believe that a fee increase at some point is necessary. We also believe that a restructuring of the fee so that it is a flat per unit fee is going to be warranted. But I'm not coming to you today with that suggestion at this point. We still need to do additional analysis on that fee. We still did commit to having meetings with stakeholders on those fees, but it is something that would be necessary in order for us to continue to move forward with these inspections. That summarizes my report. We've provided you a lot of information as part of your staff report, and I and my team are available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 5: If it is okay, I'd like to defer to public comment first.
Speaker 2: Sure, we can do that at this time. We can go ahead and take public comment on item 15, please. Queue up. State your name.
Speaker 7: Good evening. I'm Dr. Ken Roth. You might remember me from December 1st when I appeared before you over housing stability issues at that time. I think that this is a gross waste of money to thank you. This is a gross this is a gross waste of money to inspect these properties. What you should do and what this council should do is to enforce state law. I was evicted on and actually won in court because it was I was evicted because I didn't want to have mice in my home. I paid for rent for ten months with mice in my home. I paid for rent for ten months with backed up sinks in my home. And so after ten months, I refused to pay rent any further. Given the law, the state law says I can withhold rent until those things were fixed. What happened? Instead, they came in, they fixed them and they evicted me. They took me to court and I beat them. I have a student here tonight that is no longer in my classes because she has been fighting the same battle in another district. She is a veteran. She is suffering from PTSD. Her sinks are backed up. She can't cook in her home. And when she went out and paid the plumber herself to pick to fix the house and ask her landlord to reimburse her, she was evicted or received eviction that has now been rescinded because I've stepped in and helped her with that. I also want to let you know that I have a number of my other students here, journalism students. And could you raise your hands? These are journalism students who are paying attention to what's going on and will probably be future watchdogs in our in our community. And I think it's important that that this this council begin to look at the 54%, the majority of residents in this city who are living in untenable conditions, because this body will not simply pass an ordinance to enforce state law. All you have to do is enforce the state law. Thank you very much for your time.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 5: My name is Lianna Noble. I'm a homeowner in the downtown area on fourth near Pine. I'm very active in the North Pine Neighborhood Group. And I found as I was getting ready to think about what I wanted to say tonight, I really thought it was very ironic that in the Long Beach Post today we had a great article about how the Newberry Lofts are going to soon be on the market. And that's great. That's one that's a neighbor building. But at the same time, we've got a story in the Long Beach Post about a renter who had similar horrible story to tell and has been living.
Speaker 1: That horror since.
Speaker 5: December of last year. I'm here as a homeowner because what.
Speaker 1: You do.
Speaker 5: Or do not do is are elected officials.
Speaker 1: Impacts.
Speaker 5: My neighbors who are tenants. And that impacts me and my entire neighborhood. And I'm very concerned that while I can hear the the hard work that staff has done, that they're telling us that only 30% of the units have been inspected that need terribly to be inspected. I am interested as a homeowner, as an activist in my neighborhood group, to know who the heck are these 87 properties? That evidently must be pretty darn bad that the staff has made a list of them. I'd like to know how many are in my neighborhood, and I understand that there's limitations to what the city staff can do or what you, as our elected officials can do about those kinds of slumlords, because that's what they are. They're ripping off my neighborhood and our city. And I would like to know who are the owners of those 87 properties? I would like to know what are the targeted neighborhoods based on the criteria that you were using? Because I know that there are many blocks and thousands of renters in my neighborhood who need not only these inspections, but also they need to be protected. I'm here tonight as a homeowner because the people who are my neighbors, who are tenants will not speak up because they know if they do, they will be evicted or they'll be threatened with eviction. So there are very important problems here, and they're urgent. And I urge you to take stronger and stronger leadership and utilize the public. Think you know what is going on so we can play a role and get rid of these slumlord.
Speaker 2: Your time is up. Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 7: Yeah. Hi. My name is Bill Hui. I'm the president of the Fair Housing Coalition. We are a civil rights organization for L.A. landlords, and we believe in equality under the law for landlords and renters. This rip and skip thing is very corrupt. It lends itself in L.A. Let me just tell you what's happened in L.A. landlords. We have a very unfair rent control system. So you have landlords who are collecting $400 a month rent for an apartment that's worth 15. I know the renters like that. That's okay. But what the city does is they come around and they cite landlords for not making repairs and they want the building in pristine condition. When you're collecting $400 a month, you can't do it. So what they do is they prosecute the landlords. So a lot of these landlords have put two and two together, say, hey, I'm getting out of L.A. So they sell their older buildings to developers. Now, in the last 15 years, 200,000 apartments, rent controlled older buildings have been torn down. At the same time, the homelessness population has exploded in L.A. The L.A. City Council doesn't have a clue how this happened. Just read the numbers. The cities own numbers. They've driven the landlords out of business who were making affordable housing available to poor people by overregulating them. So it's a good idea. Going bad now in the state of Minnesota, some of the renters got together with their landlords and they challenged the concept of these forced inspection skip and they won in court. And in Minnesota, scrap inspections are declared illegal. So now what's happening is predatory law firms are going Minnesota saying, hey, your your right to privacy was violated. That's like rape. Why don't you sue the city? So now all these people are suing. So we're doing that in L.A. We're going to start running some TV ads to inform renters that their rights to privacy have been violated and they're entitled maybe some money from the city. Imagine if a few thousand renters start suing your city for step inspections. We're going to turn the tide. And who doesn't like free money? I mean, people have principles where they can bend them a little bit for free money. So what I'm saying is get rid of Skip. I mean, sure, if a landlord there's good and bad landlords, there's good or bad renters for landlords are scum. Lord could go after it, but don't go in every apartment. Enforce your way in. Tenants don't like that. Tenants don't like them anyway. And if anybody wants to write to me it's fair housing coalition dot com Bill Hui BLM Joey White EarthLink dot net This is government out of control this step and reap thing and in L.A. the whole reap thing you have a person who's not even a lawyer sit in a courtroom, put on a judge's robe and adjudicates to take your rent money away. This is a denial of due process. We're going to Supreme Court with this. In the end, the city of L.A. is going to have to pay a lot of money to a lot of landlords and a lot of renters . I don't know if you want to bring that kind of liability down in Long Beach. So what is thin ice here? So walk softly. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: You.
Speaker 3: Good evening. My name is David Kinsler and I am a property owner in both the fourth and second district. And I am one of those people that take the. Being a property owner rather seriously. And as far as I know, since 1992, I have not been. No one has ever called code enforcement on any problems in my buildings, since for the last six years, I've been a member of a community group in the fourth District that has gone out on every fourth Saturday to pick up trash from, you know, couches and things from the alley. I've painted out graffiti. I've cleaned up weeds and trash from other properties around me. So I'm telling you all this to let you know that whatever decisions you make on this matter are going to affect people like me who are conscientious. And I represent the majority of property owners in the city of Long Beach and everywhere else. So I agree. You should be going after the number of people that are consistently violating code, that are constantly getting, you know, things like that. But you might consider for people like myself and the majority of other people in my position that maybe if there's an inspection and there's no violations and there's no people calling, maybe we get an inspection every three or five years. It'll save the city money. I can take the money that you would have put in inspecting my building into maintaining it the way you'd like to have property maintained in the city of Long Beach. And if any of you ever have any, you know, questions about. Anything related to, you know, owning and managing rental property. Again, my name is David Ensler. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Next speaker, please.
Speaker 5: Hi. This has been enlightening. My name is Linda montgomery. I am a property owner. I'm a landlady. And I'm also a realtor in Long Beach for Main Street real estate. We're going to have a problem with investors is one of the things that has not come up here. If we have to let them know that any property that they purchased is going to be inspected annually. I agreed with him saying that if a person is inspected and there's no problem with the property, why would you do it every year other than to collect fees? And again, with the fees being from 4 to 10 units, I think that's that's kind of excessive and bottom the bottom line on it is, is that if you have had complaints, everyone thinks that, you know, if their tenants complain that we can just snap our fingers and evict them and good luck with that. You can't just snap your fingers and evict anybody. It takes months. It takes a lot of money. You you lose money on rent, you lose a minimum of 3 to 6 months rent. And you've got to, you know, go to small claims court. It's a nightmare to evict them. And of course, if someone has a clogged up sink or has a problem with their property, if you're a good landlord, of course you're going to fix that because it's your property, it's your business. And a good landlord should not be penalized for for the bad ones. And I see that's what's happening here. And you're starting to police the properties. And the next thing we're going to be looking at is rent control. And nothing's going to hurt the city more than rent control. I'll tell you right now, it's the only reason we're getting investors to buy now in Long Beach.
Speaker 1: Because we are the last.
Speaker 5: Haven. And let's learn from other cities that made big mistakes. And let's let's stop this ball that's rolling down a hill that's going to cause us a lot of grief for.
Speaker 1: A lot of really good people.
Speaker 3: That's it.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Hi, Nashville. I came off stealing the domains here. I'm also United States that, um. I had a situation where slumlord. I'm still going through it. And in retaliation, she didn't ask me to move. Initially, I thought she had rescinded it, but then I found out when I went pay my rent this month on time like I always do. Never been. Never been short that she told me she had already rented my apartment to someone else. And I'm trying to figure out how she doing now. What I'm still living in there. But the situation came about retaliation because I asked her to fix the sink and she sent somebody to fix it. But two days later it was clogged up again. So I paid for it. And then it was the gas leak. The gas company came out and shut the gas out. She got pissed off at me about that and she said some rinky dink guy to come out there and fix it. And I still haven't use my stove. Now, this has been going on a year and my lease has been up and she waited for the lease to be up. She finally fixed it tub, which basically he had painted it with wild paint and it was peeling up and leaking. And that's a lead poisoning issue possibly. She ran a motel with that and once she glazed it, she did it the day before in inspection because I call for special inspection. That's why they came out and it didn't pass. So then it went to abatement and then, of course, housing authority is gonna pay for that. And it's a game. But it's our retaliation. Just because I actually have something fixed that should have been fixed, I should be able to cook. I should be able to come out in my house and have. PS As a student, I couldn't even think my grades was affected. They still affected. My PTSD is affected. And now I got to decided to fight this lady on this eviction, which I know is crap. Or try to move, which I got to pay for because I've already used a security. My last place I was in seven years. No complaint. No problems. This one is she's a bully. Any time you fix something, it's a threat. I got cussed out when I went in and I pay my rent the month before that. Literally cussed out and slandered. Crack it. I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't do drugs. I don't even fornicate. For real? Yeah, I'm serious. So I don't understand why you driving test drives and trying to lie to me now just because. I'm a college student and I know how to do my research and take pictures and document evidence. She met. So I just want peaceful, peaceful. And I know everybody out there ain't a slumlord. But I'm dealing with one. And as of May 31st, I will be homeless if I don't find a place because she refused to rescind it and she won't extend it. And like I said, I don't know how you go round from now when somebody's already living in their blessed city came out and found out that the building is unlevel.
Speaker 2: Ma'am, your time is up.
Speaker 1: So she needs. She got some other issues, too. Thank you for.
Speaker 2: Listening. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Sorry.
Speaker 1: My name is Celia McGill. I embraced it in the Long Beach for 29 years. I am here to speak on behalf of a number of the residents who do it to their workstations are enabled to be here in voice their experience. Long time ago I was limited, living under the same circumstance, some large conditions where the basic needs of a healthy home are not accessible for a number of residents of Long Beach. The residents could do it or will fear the local landlord. Retaliation have indicate they are building copper mine maintenance. It smell like a rats during an infestation they vermin and there is no response to these issues. We had to pull out the rental housing inspection program as a step forward since Broadway this week. We need more inspectors in. We need to haul this stuff. Well, thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Hi. I'm Francis. Emily Dyson Harris and I was driving district by law. I want to commend you for having a proactive rental housing inspection program and listening to everyone talk. There's some very concerning issues and concerns that everybody has. I'm sitting here trying to figure out how amicably everyone can be satisfied. The owners, the city and the residents. And it was mentioned that only one third of the inspections had been done. In order to move forward, more money's required. Well, maybe you'll have to have some kind of special call meeting to have an emergency thing, to try to figure out a way to get somebody to move forward on the inspections. You know, there's two sides to every story. And then the matter regarding concern of retaliation, that is a legitimate concern to the matter, concern of having a rent increases. That concern the matter. I'm wondering, you know, whether or not about having rent control. You know, some people want and some people don't. So I just want to say that I'm willing trusting you. You might have to have some type of special commission or task force where you have landlords, renters and people from the city, you know, all together to come up with a solution that's gonna resolve this matter in the fashion that we can move forward. Because every human being has a right to shelter, food and water and should be able to have contentment in their spirit. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Francis.
Speaker 1: Good evening, Karen. Or Eastside. And I live at seven Pacific at the Park Pacific Towers, which is a subsidized, affordable housing unit owned by the Wylie family. And I'm very fortunate with my housing. I was very lucky to get in. It took me a year to get in to my affordable housing, and our building is really well maintained. I know other buildings within the city are not and there is a lack of information on the part of people that live in the affordable housing buildings. They're all under the impression if they complain about anything about their units, that they can be evicted. We tried to work with them and tell them, no, that's not going to happen. But I've also lived in a variety of housing throughout the city. One place I rented, I discovered, had no hot water, and the person that was in the building in that unit before me had not had hot water for seven years and never complained because her rent was low. She boiled water to wash her dishes every night and she boiled water to bathe her seven, her daughter, which I don't know how she could live in that way. Retaliation is a real problem. If you complain about issues. I've had buildings where I have complained and it was not pleasant afterwards. We do have. Major housing issues are starting to have major housing issues in our community as rents escalated and they have been escalating over the past several years. People have discovered what a bargain it is to live in to buy property in Long Beach. And we're starting to see incidents. I have friends that are being evicted from their property because new owners have come in and they've decided they're going to redo the property. So there's no compensation for them, even though they may be entitled to moving assistance. They're just given the eviction notices. And this is happening more and more in our community. It's really scary to me about what's going on, particularly in the lower income neighborhoods where the property is reduced and people don't understand what their rights are about housing. So I think an inspection program is really a great thing to have and maybe might need some adjustments. It's it's new and see and I live next across the street from one of those problem landlords. My gosh, if you can do anything about him. Yeah, the neighborhood would love you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Next speaker, please. My name is Alejandro Costa.
Speaker 3: I live in your district.
Speaker 5: And I'm a property owner. About two years ago, I called code enforcement because one of my tenants was having the ceiling falling down from the water in the bathroom upstairs. It actually took about a year before everything could be resolved, and they ended up finally arresting the man upstairs. It was very interesting. Seven police cars in riot gear because they didn't know what kind of a nut that was after he was supposed to go to court, didn't show up in court, got a bench warrant and all that stuff. They got a locksmith at 100 and some dollars an hour to sit and wait. Then they were going to bust down the door. And I when they were starting to bust down the door, the guy opened it, said, Oh, hello. He ended up going to jail for one night and finally ended up buying out of the building. But the problem was not with the court wood coming out and.
Speaker 1: Having the inspection. It was being backing it up.
Speaker 5: Has an owner. There was nothing I could do. I gave my tenant.
Speaker 1: $100 off a month. I built some sort of mechanism to divert the water.
Speaker 5: Very interesting.
Speaker 1: Tubing.
Speaker 2: Taking the.
Speaker 1: Water that stripping off the ceiling.
Speaker 2: Into the toilet very had to be.
Speaker 5: Replaced every month. So just the fact that you're doing.
Speaker 1: Inspections and if you increase.
Speaker 2: Your rent, the.
Speaker 3: Inspection fees, we will just pass it.
Speaker 5: On to our tenants who will be very unhappy. So do you think they really want to be inspected? I have one of my buildings, never had any legitimate inspections. It just seems as though people when they get to the point that they can't pay the rent, they find.
Speaker 2: Odd things to call code.
Speaker 5: Enforcement about. I guess that might surprise you, but it does happen. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 7: Josh Butler housing language. It's had a few questions about the report and I don't expect them answered at this moment. But we did have a question with regards to the list of unresponsive and non-compliant landlords. There had been initially a request that that list be published and put online, I think in an effort to shame those slumlords who are providing inhabitable conditions. There were non-working plumbing facilities, rats, feces, problems that I know these good landlords are not are not putting upon their tenants. But we do have landlords that are and there is a list. And so we have heard that there are legal issues with publishing that list. Our question certainly would be, what is that opinion based upon and how are other cities able to publish their lists? The city of Chicago, New York City, they're able to publish their list of bad landlords when people come to their communities and they know who to avoid, what landlords to stay away from, and if there are bad landlords, folks that move here should know. We've anecdotally talked to a lot of tenants who are moving down to Long Beach because as people have said, it is affordable and they're ending up in terrible situations and they're ready to go. And these are folks that are the first time here. This is their impression of our city, and they think it's lousy. So we think that that's something that we'd like to see happen, is a list of our landlords that should be published, they should be shamed, and people should avoid wanting to be on that list rather than taking the time to incentivize the good landlords. Let's use our resources to go after the ones that are really bad, that are causing the problems. If they're good, then there's not a problem. We also have questions about the data that's being collected currently on the inspections and if we're actually what data is being collected so that we can measure the success of this program going forward. Are inspectors actually getting in to talk to tenants and what constitutes a completed inspection? When we say that we have completed one third of the of the inspections as that buildings, are we actually getting into the properties and to the units on the properties? And if we're not, then I think we have to reexamine why we're not. And I think that we all know that there's been a lot of trust that's broken down between tenants and landlords. We have tenants that are afraid to call their landlord for repairs. They're afraid to call the city for repairs because they're going to be they're going to be retaliated against. Those people here tonight that have said they've been retaliated against, you've heard people that have come forward for months who've been retaliated against for making simple, simple requests for simple repairs. And they end up out on the street. They end up and they don't go to court. They don't they can't take that risk. It's high risk, low reward for them. They go to court. The high risk is that they lose and they end up on a ten year blacklist. And if they win, they could stay in the slum, slum conditions. So they tend to walk away from those situations and try and move on with their lives. And so I think that we owe it to our residents to figure out a program that's actually going to hold our slumlords accountable, that is going to require our landlord to do some basic needs if they want to have a Goldstar program and needs to be included in more than just our code enforcement department, you need to include the health department and it's include the police department. If we're going to give out a gold star, it needs to be a true gold star. Otherwise it's just a Bronze Star. Thanks.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Josh. So just to let you know, I know that a couple of us have similar questions and so we will have those addressed during our discussion behind the dais. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 7: Hi, my name is Julio Ura. I'm a resident here in Long Beach in the Wrigley District, and I am a real estate broker and also a property manager. I manage properties throughout the county of Los Angeles, so I actually have experience in communities that are both rent control and not rent control and it is very frustrating. The whole situation here is very frustrating because even when we were talking about enacting this inspection program. I thought that it wouldn't go that route, and when it did, I felt blindsided. We do have properties that have issues. However, we already have large. That if they were followed through, they would take out the players that are harming these properties. Right now we are in a situation where we're listening to a report about being unable to. Do all the inspections when we already knew how many units were going to be inspected. We already knew how many people were going to be doing the inspections. It should not have been a surprise that there's no way that you could have done all the inspections in one year. And now you're talking about redoing these things every single year. How is that possible? And now you're talking about increasing. The fees so that you can hire more people to do it. It just keeps perpetuating on itself. We live just a few miles away from Los Angeles and looking at communities that already have rent control laws and there are disaster. They're a disaster because the program does not work. The units are being taken off of the market. There's less housing. There is increased homelessness. People do not want to invest in Los Angeles. I've got plenty of clients that want to sell their properties and bring them to Long Beach. And now we're talking to them about the possibility of bringing those same programs here. It just doesn't work. The intention is good. We want to take care of properties. We want to take care of tenants. But I believe it is short sighted. And I believe as you move forward, please speak with people that already have experience working in these programs to see what works and what doesn't. Because right now it seems like we're just kind of paddling along and saying, Let's try this, let's try that. It's not a good way to go. Thanks.
Speaker 3: Katie.
Speaker 0: I counsel. My name is. I'm going to read this because I get a little nervous. So. My name is Johnny Weir and I'm a property owner and now a resident of Long Beach. I've been managing and purchasing properties in Long Beach since 1998. I've sat in.
Speaker 1: This room and listened to many council meetings I've never shared until now.
Speaker 0: Because I feel that there is a need for me to share. I am.
Speaker 1: Very against rape or whatever.
Speaker 0: You want to call it proactive rental, PR, HIV, whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 1: It's not a good plan. I have a friend in Long in L.A..
Speaker 0: Melissa Cohen lost both of her properties to this.
Speaker 1: Rape. And she was not a slumlord.
Speaker 0: And she was not a greedy landlord, which I've heard people who work at the city refer to us as, which I don't think that that's a very positive way to refer to property owners.
Speaker 1: This ordinance can also be used and abused to defraud good property.
Speaker 0: Owners of their buildings. I urge you to do a little more research before you adopt more legs to this dangerous ordinance. If you'd like to speak with Melissa and a couple other people that have lost their buildings, I can arrange a meeting for you. I've heard a lot of tenants here and many other meetings talk about bad landlords.
Speaker 1: I'd like to talk a little bit about.
Speaker 0: Bad tenants because I've had my share of many of them. I'd like to talk about tenants who have have come to my properties and I've given them beautiful units.
Speaker 1: They've just destroyed.
Speaker 0: My beautiful units, brought bedbugs. They've hoarded and I've had to get them out of my properties. These are difficult things to deal with, and I deal with them all the time. It's hard being a good landlord and I do appreciate good tenants.
Speaker 1: Just a couple more things and I'm done.
Speaker 0: Tenants are my customers and I really work hard to give them a good service and product. It's not always appreciated by bad tenants there. There may be a few bad landlords who do not take care of their properties in Long Beach.
Speaker 1: But I know a lot of wonderful property owners.
Speaker 0: In Long Beach and this ordinance is not fair to them or me. This is not the answer to make Long Beach a better city. I've experienced abuse of power.
Speaker 1: With code enforcement several times, and I'm not a slumlord. And this opens up a door that can really harm property owners. I don't think code enforcement needs more power. I think they need less power. Please think about the damage.
Speaker 0: Your actions may cause.
Speaker 1: In strengthening a bad ordinance, and the lawsuits are going to follow that.
Speaker 0: Which is what's happening in L.A.. So thank you for your time. I know I'm a little passionate, but I.
Speaker 1: Also printed out.
Speaker 0: I don't know if you've already got the 13 pages of this ordinance, and I made a copy for everybody in this audience. If you'd like a copy after, I can.
Speaker 1: Give you one so you can read it. One thing in it that's a little creepy.
Speaker 0: Is that.
Speaker 1: We can be imprisoned or put in jail or $1,000 fine, which. Yeah. And we done. Yes. I'm sorry. I'm done. I'm passionate. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
Speaker 7: Hi. My name is David. We see. I don't know if this is the right forum. How many?
Speaker 3: They've done a third of the inspections.
Speaker 7: What have they found?
Speaker 2: So we don't do question. We don't.
Speaker 3: Do questions. Okay. So we have where do we find that information to?
Speaker 2: We can have a staff member talk to you after.
Speaker 7: Thank you. They never mention that in the council meetings. What they find they do. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Harris Lawless, and I'm a small property owner. I like to share with with you tonight a little personal story which is related to, you know, what is going on with the new ordinance that you try to go through with. I believe it was about ten years ago. I was also an owner of a couple small fast food places. And the council woman, Oropeza, decided that she wanted to switch the grading system from the health department to the restaurants from what was then and now to ABC. So anyway, there were some meetings in the council on the last do that I win and I talk there was leaning towards changing the system and going to ABC. So I said, Why people want to change the ABC? The argument was that couple older people, older people, when they walk by a restaurant, they cannot see the list of, you know, the grading list that the city of Long Beach had the health department. So I said, well, it took you almost three or four years to set up this law. And I think me as a business owner and original owner, it's a pretty nice system that you had because you had seven categories food preparedness, maintenance, blah, blah, blah, and everything else. So I said, How much is going to cost you to make the switch? I mean, she says $200,000. I said, the city is going to pay $200,000 to change something that, you know, they studied for years. And it works very well because all of a sudden, you know, somebody from the council decided that, you know, so. I guess after after the meeting, the vote was 5 to 4 in favor to leave the system the way it was. So now coming to what you're trying to do, this is a very, very touchy subject. I owned the property since 1978. I had a property on called a unit and the tenants that were there. After five years, they left and they called the city inspector. So I met him over there. The prop. The apartment was destroyed. So a young person came in. He says, What's going on? Look at this. Look at this. Look at this. I said, Just a minute. Let me take you to a unit just.
Speaker 2: In a few seconds. So do you want to summarize?
Speaker 7: Yes, that is for rent. So I work with him on a unit for rent and he says, this is beautiful, you know. I said, Well, that's how this unit was when I rented to these people.
Speaker 3: So anyway, I think.
Speaker 7: Getting into this inspection situation here, you should study it a little bit deeper. Okay. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: If there isn't any further public comment, I'll take it behind the dice. Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 5: Yes. First, I have a few questions, and then I do have, um. Some some suggestions and thoughts. So first, I want to thank everybody for their comments. I certainly appreciate the dialog and the comments that we've been talking about. Many of this is certainly it's very a hot topic, but it's definitely something I'm very passionate about because I've worked in the city for seven years. I've seen pretty much everything when it comes to housing, both great landlords, bad landlords and everything in between. So I'll have a few questions first for city staff. What was the criteria by which their housing was selected?
Speaker 9: So we did a request for proposals and we got a couple of respondents and they were actually the one that met the needs the best. We believe that they had a qualified staff to deal with the translation issues and that they have had similar experiences doing something like this in Orange County.
Speaker 5: Okay. And what are the the what's the time frame for them to work with both the Apartment Association and housing Long Beach?
Speaker 9: So we have been negotiating with them what the scope of work would be and where we would do the outreach. And so we're actually in that conversation right now.
Speaker 5: Okay. So we'll be updated at some point. Yes. Okay. Thank you. And then I noticed in looking at the memo, there were only since there's nine worst landlords, only four were included in the memo. So where are the other five?
Speaker 9: I'm not familiar with that property address.
Speaker 5: Just it says landlord one, two, three, four. But just shows property address cases violations. But there's only four landlords. So I don't feel like we have the full list.
Speaker 9: I do not know if you have a full copy of the memo.
Speaker 3: Oh, okay.
Speaker 5: That could be it, too.
Speaker 9: Because we have. We have a memo that was provided to the city council that does have all nine landlords.
Speaker 5: Listed options and. Mm hmm. Okay, perfect.
Speaker 9: We can get you a copy of that. It does not have the landlord name, but it does have landlord. One, two, three, four, five through nine.
Speaker 5: Perfect. Well, thank you. And then we have over 7500 units to be inspected. That's just including the four plex is in above. We only have nine full time inspectors. And so that would mean that if you were to attribute for each person to be about over 800 units, that each inspector would have to, uh, you know, they'd be delegated about 800 units each. So realistically, what would the time frame be to cover all of these inspections? I mean, we're only in, you know, 30%, a third.
Speaker 9: We we are also dealing with a situation where we're also getting reactive calls in as well. So we are figuring those into, um, we have to deal with those cases as well. If they are reactive code enforcement complaints, meaning that an individual has called to lodge a code enforcement complaint if it is for a four plex or more. We actually forward that over to the inspectors as well. So the inspectors are not only having to do the inspections on the 7500 buildings, but they're also also responsible for any of those reactive calls that come in over the course of the year. We have looked at some averages on what would be appropriate for an inspector caseload, and we think that ranges somewhere between 250 and 300 per year. But given the complexity of of cases, it could be lower or higher. We don't quite have that that sweet spot yet with the program.
Speaker 5: Okay. So it seems like it'd be maybe 3 to 4 years until we got through everything with the current staffing model that we have.
Speaker 9: Yes, at our current staffing model, it would take me probably three years.
Speaker 5: Okay. And what kind of technology are we using? I know and I don't know if it was the last budget or a budget before we had, uh, I think we allocated funding for iPads of some sort. So how are those being utilized? Because you know what a lot of the comments have been talking about was data collection. Yes. Importance of how are we collecting all that data?
Speaker 9: We are actually doing better data collection because we've updated our forms that have more specificity on the type of information we're collecting when we go into a unit. So we start assessing things like the the number of windows in a unit, the type of flooring materials that may be on it, whether it's carpeting or linoleum or tile . So we're getting into more of that specificity that we previously did not have. We do have iPads in the field. We are looking to do some internal enhancements with them and link them with our building inspectors on the other side so that we're using the same technology. So I do expect that in the next year that we will actually be upgrading our technology for the code enforcement inspectors in the field.
Speaker 5: Okay. Does that mean like new software or.
Speaker 9: Probably more connectivity with our Hanson system, which currently we don't have the ability to do in the field. So that's a key priority for us.
Speaker 5: Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. And I have a few, uh, suggestions, recommendations I'd like to make, but I just want to, I'd really like to just reframe the discussion because, you know, I know that we're, we've made this some people have made this about landlord against tenant, tenant against landlord. And really, I think the spirit of it from what I gathered was to ensure that there were inspections, to fully understand the lay of the land relative to people's quality of life. And essentially, of course, like we've talked about, become more proactive versus reactive. Especially serious issues and concerns, and especially with those those landlords that are not taking care of their properties, that are unresponsive to landlords, that are doing a good job in many cases, that are going above and beyond to ensure that their tenants are living in not just good conditions, but great conditions. I commend them. I think it's great. We have many of them in the audience as well. And, you know, I've talked to some of them that have said I wouldn't rent a place out in a place that I wouldn't mind living in myself. And I truly believe that. And I think if that's the landlord vision for that area, then great. That's exactly what we want here for the city of Long Beach. And I would say, you know, most landlords are taking care of their properties. They're doing everything they can to ensure that police isn't coming to their door every 5 seconds. Code enforcement isn't knocking on their door, but it's those landlords, that small percentage that are worsening our neighborhoods, the ones that are cheapening our neighborhoods, they're creating blight. They're adding additional city resources that, you know, definitely don't need to be expended on these on these properties. And so I believe that it's time to do a little bit more in that sense. I've suggested some things in the past, but I'd like to do more. There's three things I'd like us to work on in looking at this. First, the worst landlord list I believe needs to be implemented. We currently have. So this is a I wanted to share visual with my council colleagues. I wasn't happy with the response we received as to why we couldn't implement this list. There's other cities that are doing this. And clearly, as you can see here, we have nine of the worst that have been identified in the city of Long Beach. And we could come up with options similar to New York City. These, as you can see here, great visual, but you can see the actual landlord name if there's a property management and the various code violations. These are. Massive code violations that are happening. Uh. I think we can I think I can click here. If we go to the next one, you can see 100 worst landlords in New York City. It has a list. Again, their names, the buildings, units, violations similar to what we have on paper. But I think it needs to be publicized via a website. And however else we need to publicize it. Last slide. Uh. This is. So when you click on the name, you get this information. You can see the violation. You can see the details. The buildings. So I think that with these slumlords slumlords, I'll just call them that. Just like tenants have to be screened. They have to go through a whole process in getting an apartment. I think we should also know and screen certain landlords that are not taking care of their properties too. We should be given that opportunity. So. I would suggest that we can come back with some information that would create options similar to New York City, to Chicago, that would look at this worst list. We have nine. If there's more. Great. We can add them to the list as well. And also, I would say some of these landlords have commercial property that are the worst in the whole city. And I know I've talked to you, Amy, about a particular person that has the worst in the whole city. And he's gotten away with a lot. And a lot of these landlords have gotten away with a lot. So I'm hoping that in addition to this list, that we have their commercial property information as well, because I think that's important. To include here. Secondly, it's just an an over kind of view but I think with it's tied into this as well but in. I don't know if it's in here. But there's a link that you click on in New York City. And essentially what it does is it gives you a threshold of after so many serious conditions, whether it's you don't have water, you have live wire hanging over your shower, something deeply affecting quality of life. They should automatically be put into nuisance abatement or there should be some sort of threshold because I feel like we don't have any standard or threshold whatsoever. So I don't know how that how we do that, but that's my recommendation to the city staff to look at that and see what type of options we have and in that sense. And then thirdly, I do believe in the Gold Star program myself. I've been looking at a few different programs for incentives for good landlords. I spoke with the Apartment Association today. We talked about Utah. There's a good it's called good landlord ordinance. And so there's options that we can look at. It will lessen the load if you're doing well, and it may take quite a few of those inspections out or lessen some some fees. But I think it's a good way to look at what else we can do for those landlords that are going above and beyond. That information. I'd love to get back as well to counsel. And then overall, I would just say working as a field deputy in the first District, I want to know where these properties are on a continual basis. And I think I would assume that many of my council colleagues would agree that during council briefings it'd be good to get this information as well to know when, how or why, who these people are. I mean, hopefully we can get to this point where we have a slumlord list, but to have information at each council briefing that gives us a good working knowledge of who these people are. And that is it. I want to thank again everybody for their information. I want to thank everybody for their comments. I'm trying to be as comprehensive as possible here because this is very, very important. And I know I've talked to a lot of you on this issue, not just today, but ongoing for many, many years. And I want to be very clear. The focus is on those who do not take care of their properties. The focus is is that people are getting retaliated against. I mean, I disagree with some of the comments that it's hard to evict. People are getting evicted. I've seen it. I have the information. They're contacting my office. And you just put the eviction notice up and you don't even have to go to court. People will move out because they think they have no other option. So I want to leave it at that. I do hope we come back with this information. And I want to thank staff for the information.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzales. Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 5: Thank you. So I want to thank Councilwoman Gonzalez for. One, introducing us to some models that other cities are using that we could use here. I fully support us exploring that option and also for framing the issue in the way that she has. I have a couple of questions and was hoping staff could answer these for us because I think I've received a lot of misinformation today, and I think there's a lot of misinformation out there. But can you explain a little bit more in detail the outreach component of this and when that's going to kick off specifically?
Speaker 9: So we are we're instructed by a council to craft an outreach strategy that would go into more disadvantaged neighborhoods or areas. That language has language difficulties and reach out to those tenants in particular to inform them of code enforcement programs in general. And so the idea was to be able to provide resources and information to those tenants who may be either afraid to approach the city and call in complaints or don't know how. And so that was what the outreach strategy, the intention of the outreach strategy is. We did do an RFP, as I said, and we have selected a vendor that we're intending to work with, and then we'll be working with them to focus our outreach on on specific areas. In addition to that, code enforcement staff goes regularly to community meetings. Just next week we're going to the Hamilton community meeting. We have regular meetings with AOC staff, for example, in district to West to all sorts of organizations. Call us and ask for updates on code enforcement issues. We go to those meetings and we receive complaints from the members of the neighborhood associations. That's not part of the formalized community outreach program, but that is something that we do on a regular basis. As I said earlier, we've also attended resource fairs, both by the request of housing advocates as well as at the request of apartment association in order to continue that outreach.
Speaker 5: Can you tell me a little bit about the annual inspection component? What is that? What's the scope of that?
Speaker 9: So there's an annual fee and the ordinance calls for periodic inspections. Our goal is to do that annually in order to get rid of a backlog of inspections that we've been carrying since the program transferred over to development services in 2013. We are required to and what we do is we schedule inspections with the property owner so that they know the property owner or the management company, so that they know in advance when we will be on site. We we usually give them three weeks notice that allows them the opportunity to notify the tenants that we will be on site. We are required to inspect the common areas where required to inspect a minimum of 10% of the units. If we find units that have more than one violation, we have the right to inspect all of the units within the building and look for violations throughout the entire building. Part of the data collection is that we are now treating each unit as an individual case instead of lumping it into the same building so that it is allowing us to separate out the data with a finer grain of detail on the inspections and on the potential violations.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 5: I have to say, I agree with Councilwoman Gonzalez's comments regarding incentive programs. I think those are worthwhile and something that we should be looking into. I personally have an issue with the annual inspections and that component, especially when we haven't even given the outreach and opportunity to to work to see if there's any data that we can collect after the outreach. I think that it would be prudent to allow I mean, it's kind of an unusual outreach partnership that we've created. So I think it's it's it's going to be interesting to see what these organizations come up with working together. And I actually think that's that's an exciting opportunity for us. So that that's the only kind of component. I'd love to see the outreach get into effect, see how that's working before we start imposing additional restrictions on people who really aren't the subject of this. This regulation shouldn't be the subject of this regulation, the good actors. So those are my only comments.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Councilwoman Price, I actually like to go back to Councilwoman Gonzales, the maker of the original motion, and ask if the three items that you had outlined, are you looking for those to be part of the amendment to your motion?
Speaker 5: Yes. I'd like them to come back to the city council within. I would say, uh, 90 days if we can do that, to ensure that we're taking care of the options for the slumlords list or the worst landlord list. Looking at strengthening our our thresholds, which also ties into the landlord list. So similar to what New York City is doing, creating a threshold which I think would all be one in the same. And then thirdly, looking at options for a gold star list. And that is it.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Council member Yarrawonga.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mary. One of the most important things about any program that we're going to be implementing is obviously the communication and getting the information out. From the way I understanding this is going is we want to initiate that communication and that information to get it out in various languages. So having said that, it appears to me that we are not fully informed in terms of what the impact that program is going to have between once the information is being implemented. So I would I would support that this motion for now, not only because we do need more information, we need to know what's out there, what's happening, what's occurring. And having this kind of consultant doing the outreach and get and gathering the data is very important for us at this point. It's also obviously important to know that I think there's from what I heard today, Nancy, seeing people in the audience that there's there's generally some support for this in response to having to go out and get that information. Let's let's let's get a lay of the land, so to speak, and then take it from there in terms of how what direction the city wants to take, whether we implement a go step program or not. The data will tell us and the information will tell us whether we should implement the A We're Slumlord List or a policy that staff will let us know about that. In terms of what would be the legal ramifications of having such a list being printed and what are the potential liabilities that we would be under if we were to do this? And basically, it's it's a situation that lends itself to needing meeting the additional 80 days or needing the more time so that we can look at this more carefully and make a better analysis as to how we want to go. I realize that there are some programs out there. People mentioned L.A. not wanting to take up their program here. Does it work? Well, you know, Long Beach, we always consider ourselves very special. That I look at it the other way around. I, I see L.A. has been part of Greater Long Beach. But, you know, having said that, you know, we we have to be creative and we have to be innovative in many ways for our own special circumstances. We are a coastal city and we're one of the largest coastal cities in California. So we need to look at what the implementation we're going to have when it comes to rental properties and having a monitoring system that would ensure that people who come to live and work and play in Long Beach are getting the best experience they possibly can. And that means controlling our landlords and rephrase it, not controlling the landlords, ensuring that our landlords are responsible and being, uh.
Speaker 7: You know.
Speaker 4: I hope, but I opened up a can of worms right there.
Speaker 7: Okay. Let me let.
Speaker 4: Me just say that we I would like to see a program implemented that works for everybody. And I'll leave it at that.
Speaker 7: You know? Fine. Thank you. To Mango.
Speaker 0: Yes. Lena, I want to thank you for recognizing the good landlords, because good landlords that are burdened with less fees can afford to provide better units, more affordable rent. All of the things I know that you and I have had a couple of conversations, a couple of conversations about the things that would be valuable in a Gold Star program. And we've talked through that. While some individuals might find it valuable to sit in a meeting that learns about public safety because of where their unit is, another unit on the other side of town might benefit from an incentive program that provides incentives if you reduce the water usage of your unit. So for an example, we've talked a lot about conserving water in California in the drought. And when you are a owner of a property and you live in a property, you of course want your water bill to be lower. But when it is your tenant's property and your tenant pays the water bill, there's not as many incentives really to go out and change out all the faucets and all the toilets and the drought tolerant plants. So there could even be I know we talked about where Josh go, a Bronze Star, but really a gold star in terms of other things that are in the possibilities of setting everyone apart. So I just want to be sure on a couple of things. One, I to stand that bad landlords need to go. They make a bad name for all of us. They make it more difficult for us to get valid and good rent. And we need to make sure that bad landlords are out. And so we need to focus all of our attention on them. And with the number of inspectors that we have, we need to be focusing on the bad landlords. And therefore, I'm really confused about the word annual. So here's my my comment section of the ordinance passed by this body in June of last year states that it will be periodic inspections. There is an annual fee, but periodic inspections and what I'm hearing was proposed tonight was annual, but we do not have the staffing. So we're currently at approximately a three year cycle unless we change staffing. However, what I hear from Councilwoman Gonzalez is that we are not looking to go to an annual inspection program yet. We need to talk about the data. We need to talk about the facts. We might never want to go in that direction. We might want to focus on what Councilman Gonzalez eloquently said back in June of last year, which is a more ramped up fee and fine based penalty program for landlords that are bad, bad landlords. And to free up the resources, our incentive program, which I think we discussed extensively at the last meeting, is not included here. So when this comes back in 90 days, I would like to see some incentive programs proposed and I would like us to I know you said we're on an annual basis to get through the backlog . I think that we just need to stop using the word annual. We are not on an annual basis. We are not going to an annual basis. The ordinance instructs periodic and that is the policy made by this Council and nothing else at this time. So before we move forward on any regularly scheduled inspections of any time, whether it be every three years, five years, ten years, whatever it may be, I'd like to see the incentive program back before this body implemented and then data evaluating if it's been effective. Because I know that a lot of the individuals who came up here today that want to get rid of bad landlords also said, what does the data show? How many units have we inspected already in this year and how many were bad and were the bad? The bad actors because of reports in the community, some of which I've been out looking at property and I've made a few myself. Or are they because of random inspections? And so once we know that data, we can be in a better position. So just to be confirmed. I did not hear that we are doing annual inspections. Is that. City attorney, would you be able to verify where we are on this motion?
Speaker 7: You're correct in that the ordinance calls for periodic inspections.
Speaker 0: Wonderful.
Speaker 7: Whatever that I mean, that could be annually. It could be every three years. It's whatever the staff they currently said, staff doesn't isn't able to do it annually. The inspection fee is collected annually.
Speaker 0: Well, what I heard from this body today is that we are not looking to move in that direction. If I'm incorrect, I would love for someone to come in and say otherwise. But otherwise. I think the policy direction from this council is to continue to get through the backlog, see where we are, and to have a aggressive and supportive incentive program and an even more aggressive bad landlord program. And the reason I say that is because a staff report calls for annual inspections and they did not hear that from this body. And this body makes policy.
Speaker 2: If I could turn this back to the staff, Mr. City Manager, and get a clarification on what staff is proposing, and then we can have a follow up with what the council direction is.
Speaker 7: I'm going to turn that over to Amy.
Speaker 9: Staff is proposing, receive and file of this report that was requested to come before the city council.
Speaker 2: And that's my understanding as well.
Speaker 7: But those three had it.
Speaker 2: No, no. So I just asked the question. Sorry, I didn't mean to do a tennis back and forth. I just wanted to know from staff what they're proposing, which is accurate. And that's in our in the staff report. They're just asking they're asking for a receiving file of their report. The motion that was made by Councilwoman Gonzalez is to adopt the report, in addition to adding the three items that she mentioned to come back to the council with information in three months. Within 90 days. Correct. Within three months.
Speaker 5: And I think I failed to include in their. If we are going to enhance just some information as to how we're going to enhance our data collection. So what that will look like in terms of Hanson or additional software that will be using to ensure that we are getting the effective information on units. Also, just inconsistencies. I know that some code enforcements have gone, code enforcement officers have gone out, no violations found. Another code enforcement officer goes out, 11 violations found. So there's from what I understand, there can be inconsistencies there. It will help, I think both landlord tenant, just to have that streamlined, better technology, more information and better data collection. So I would include that as well.
Speaker 2: If I might just go back to the staff again. And so misspoke in the report as staff outlines what the recommendations are. Can you go over what staff's recommendations are as it relates to the subject of annual inspections?
Speaker 9: So based on past discussions with the city council, it was our understanding that the idea was to move towards annual inspections. In order to do that. We are not able to do that with our current staffing levels. We do not make recommendations in this staff report for enhanced fees. We do recognize that enhanced fees would be necessary in order to add the additional staff that would be necessary to do the additional annual inspections. As the city attorney did point out. The ordinance calls for periodic inspections that could be every three months, every six months, every 12 months or every three years, depending on on the will of the city council. In addition, we do have a reactive code enforcement program that we often visit the same units and do have information and will have information and data on the number of violations that we we record on both a proactive and a reactive basis. Our recommendation was to provide an update on the the initiative of the proactive rental housing inspection program, including where we were with hiring the community outreach component and then having a discussion, if you so wish, about adding duplexes and triplexes to to the inspection program. We have not previously recommended that in the past. I know that has been a point of discussion with the City Council. So we did again raise that issue in our receive and file report for your consideration.
Speaker 2: So, Mr. Barak, I appreciate that. And just bear with me on page two of five. In the second paragraph where it starts, staff recommends an expanded PR h IP that conducts annual inspections of all 7500 residential. We're often not sure what I said that to us. To some of us sounds as though it's a recommendation. And then when you go into the next paragraph, in addition to considering higher fees to increase the number of annual inspections completed, the Council directed staff to consider expanding the program to cover duplexes and triplexes. And I do recall that conversation, but hear how it's written. It sounds as though it's a recommendation. And so I think it would be very important for us to clarify that.
Speaker 9: Clarify that in terms of our recommendation or.
Speaker 2: Yes. Yes. The first part the first paragraph I outlined.
Speaker 9: So we were asked last year to provide a statistical report showing the numbers of triplexes and duplexes. We were then further asked in it via a two from four whether or not we recommended moving towards triplexes or duplexes. So that is our recommendation. That is for your consideration if you wish to pursue that conversation at a later date. We are not attempting to set policy with this staff report. We're attempting to be responsive to counsel's previous requests for information.
Speaker 2: Okay. So, Mr. City Attorney, in this staff report, when the council receives and files the staff report, it's not taking action on the recommendations that staff is making. We are taking it into consideration.
Speaker 7: That's correct. In order to change this ordinance, you would have to put something else on the agenda to amend the ordinance to either change it from periodic inspections to annual or tri annual or whatever it is that the council would desire.
Speaker 2: Okay. I appreciate that.
Speaker 0: Councilmember Mungo misspoke to reference the paragraph that Vice Mayor Lowenthal said. Would it be fair to state that maybe it was intended to say staff recommends an expanded wrap that conducts periodic inspections of all 7500 residential rental properties, as aligns with Section D of the ordinance passed by this body.
Speaker 9: I'm not really sure where this confusion is. We were asked to report back. We are. We're asked to consider what it took to do annual inspections. And that's what this report contains.
Speaker 0: So you are you are recommending annual inspections.
Speaker 9: We were asked to consider what it would take to do an annual inspection. If we were to if you were to tell us to do an annual inspection, we're recommending to you what it would take for us to do that.
Speaker 0: So as long as we do not approve additional inspection staff, we will not be moving towards an annual inspection program.
Speaker 9: As long as you do not make an amendment to the ordinance requiring annual inspections, annual inspections will occur on a periodic basis based on existing resources.
Speaker 0: Perfect. Thank you.
Speaker 2: And. So just to answer your question, Ms.. Burdick, the confusion comes from the sentence structure of those three lines, because the way it reads, I understand what you would like, where you are stating that the staff recommendations, you are basically responding to our question what it would take. And your statement is that it would take additional staff, but the sentence structure says something else. And so that's where the confusion comes from.
Speaker 9: Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2: Okay. Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 8: Thank you, vice mayor and and thank you so much to staff for for presenting this tonight. And and I attempted to the tone was really productive in my opinion hearing, you know, both sides housing advocates and apartment owners sort of saying the same thing. And what I heard was, you know, we should be more intentional about cracking down on bad landlords. We should protect tenants and we should encourage good, good landlords. And I think that makes sense. And that's sound public policy. I have a I have a question about process. My understanding was that initially there was interest in, you know, expanded stuff like reap the program with then this prep was recommended. Initially they came to council through the housing element and this pilot program. We were we asked questions and asked for recommendations because this was placed in front of us to consider. Now, I'm unclear on we have a proceeding filed tonight, but I'm unclear on whether we have a pilot program or not. So that my first question is moving forward, is there a program? If there is, when does it begin? And and what are the next steps for the city council?
Speaker 9: Yes, sir. There is a program we have been implementing it since last June when the City Council adopted the ordinance into the municipal code. It requires us to schedule inspections on a proactive basis with owners of properties that have four or more units. That is a completely separate function from someone calling in a complaint. So we are proactively going out and scheduling inspections of property units, which is a base requirement in the Health and Safety Code of the state of California. But this council did expand that program to add a little bit more teeth to it, and that occurred last year. So we do have a prep program. We do do proactive inspections of units in addition to our reactive inspection program, which is complaint driven.
Speaker 8: Okay. So in our proactive inspection, how often are the inspections?
Speaker 9: On our current schedule, it would be once every three years approximately.
Speaker 7: Okay.
Speaker 8: And the recommendation that was outlined in this and I understand the confused confusion about it's not the staff recommendation, but it's a recommendation from staff. This is this says that if we were go to one year, this is what it would require in terms of from a budgetary and staff standpoint.
Speaker 9: It is not proposed fee at this point because we've not had those fee discussions. If you are interested in going to an annual inspection, we would be requiring additional staff.
Speaker 8: I'm comfortable with the recommendation. I think sound public policy means let it do a little bit and work on it. I'm happy with coming back with some of these recommendations, looking at a Gold Star program. But ultimately, I want to have some finality to this on whether we have periodic inspections. To me, a proactive program means everyone gets inspected at some point, but it does not make sense to me if, you know, unless there's some trigger, like a transfer of ownership or something like that, it doesn't make sense to go to two annual on every single unit from a workload standpoint. Frankly, it doesn't make sense. So I want to make sure that we are clear in our process. So in the next three months we will receive a report on these recommendations will be when will we be in a position to have some finality on what what we're doing in terms of our program? Would that be an appropriate time or or do actions need to be taken within our budget?
Speaker 7: Let me jump in right now. Vice Chairman, Council members I think the direction that we have from the council and Councilwoman Gonzales provides that finality will come back within 90 days, answer those questions and the Council will have the opportunity to then give us direction on where they might want to go. Anything that would require any type of fee adjustment would be later on in the budget process. But at this stage, I think we can just lay out exactly where we are with rate and then talk about opportunities for the council to give us more direction. If they want to go a one year or a three year or two year in implementing and we'll have information on the Goldstar program as the councilwoman asked. And I think we have an out. Thank you. Great.
Speaker 8: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 5: Yeah. I was just going to clarify as posted is that, you know, the hope is that in these three months, we're finally getting to a place where we can come back and see what it is that we can do with incentives, but more importantly, with this worst list. And in the meantime, I mean, we're still giving them three months, this worst landlord list. It's still being very generous. So I'm hoping that in these three months, we're really cracking down on these individuals for everything that they've gotten away with, in essence. And so I just hope that we're committed to that. I know we will be. But in the three months that come back, I look forward to seeing, you know, options for that, more data collection options. And then, of course, like I mentioned, the opportunities for gold incentives. So thank you again.
Speaker 2: I wanted to also follow up on the data collection piece. We had Mr. Butler come to the mike and ask about specificity, Mr. City Attorney, about what data is kept. Are we going to look more deeply into publishing the list that the Councilman Gonzalez mentioned, or there are some legal barriers to it, considering that we've heard that other and we've seen with the slide that other cities are doing it.
Speaker 7: You may remember vice mayor remembers the council. Yes. We'll certainly work with staffing and put a report back together. Our concern is where in the process do you release those names? And the further you are in the process, the better we feel. Our office feels about the ability, legal ability to.
Speaker 4: Release the names.
Speaker 7: You just can't do it. If there's simply an allegation, you'd probably want to wait for the inspection to be completed, the violations to be reported at some point. There is is the possibility if council wishes to release those names. We're just concerned about the due process.
Speaker 2: And I think I can say with confidence that this entire body would support due process and ensure that this doesn't become just a shaming site for allegations made. But really sometimes the last resort for individuals who struggle with the worst case scenario. Landlord. And so I do think that that's that's where this council is going.
Speaker 7: Understood. We will work to get something back to you.
Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you. So there's been a motion and a second in the motion is with councilwoman. Councilwoman Gonzalez has three items for request for information to be back to this council in 30 days. Our understanding is also that based on Councilmember Richardson's request is though we are not taking action on defining what periodic inspections are, but at at some point in the very near future, that does have to be addressed. With that councilmembers, please cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Okay.
Speaker 3: Okay. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to receive and file an update on the Proactive Rental Housing Inspection Program. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05032016_16-0387 | Speaker 2: All right, Madam Clerk.
Speaker 0: Item 16 Communication from Council Member Richardson Recommendation to approve the use of Council District nine Fiscal Year 2016. One time funds in the amount of $10,000 to support the participatory budgeting process in the ninth District.
Speaker 2: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 8: This is a pretty straightforward request. We're in second year of participatory budgeting. We're having wild success with civic engagement. And we want to support that process. We want to continue to support that process. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Councilwoman Mongo.
Speaker 0: I support your protest.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Is there any member of the public that wish to address Council on Item 16? Seeing None members cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Councilman Andrews. Motion carries. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to approve the use of Council District 9 FY 2016 one-time funds in the amount of $10,000 to support the participatory budgeting process in the 9th District, and increase appropriations in the General Fund (GF) in the Legislative Department (LD) by $10,000, offset by a transfer of one-time funds from the Public Works Department (PW). | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05032016_16-0388 | Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Item 17 Communication from Councilmember Richardson, Councilwoman Gonzalez, Councilwoman Mongo and Council Member Oranga recommendation to request the city manager to work with the Long Beach Transit Agency to explore partnerships, costs, feasibility and options to update and modernize at varying bus shelters and return to City Council with recommendations within 90 days.
Speaker 2: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 8: This, again, is a straight forward request. You know, we we when we travel to other cities, we like to take take a look at what they're doing this this innovative or interesting or what we can learn. And and, you know, I was just sort of blown away by the ad shelters in Washington, D.C. at the last Fed ledge trip. So we did a little bit of research and had some conversations, initial conversations with Long Beach Transit about what can we do to take another look at our our bus shelter, our ad shelters and their condition? The public's expressed the need to improve these shelters. I know that we do it. There are you know, we have contracts with CBS and or upfront to advertise and all that. But what we want to do right now is perhaps explore, maybe have a joint committee with Long Beach, Long Beach Transit to explore opportunities to maybe integrate some technology or better signage or something that really improves this program that we have. We just tonight discussed, you know, removal of blighted billboards, and that was a focus. And we were able to partner with the industry to achieve that goal. And this is something that I'd like to explore here tonight, to partner with the industry, to explore the goal of improving these ad shelters to perhaps, you know, their ideas of having wi fi stations at ad shelters. There are ideas of perhaps doing digital digital displays at shelters. And so those are some of the things that I want. I want the city to go ahead, partner with Long Beach Transit to explore.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 0: I think this is a great program and I look forward to hearing what they come back with.
Speaker 2: And Mr. City managers and staff report on this.
Speaker 7: No, we'd be happy to comply with the request, though.
Speaker 2: Q Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 5: I just want to thank Councilmember Richardson for bringing this forward, because we've talked about this numerous occasions and how they need to be maintained, just a basic level. But then we can go a bit further and make it a little bit more creative. But, you know, some of them there's one on Anaheim in Long Beach Boulevard that, you know, is just in in I think it's the most utilized in all the city are pretty well utilized. And it'd be nice to have an extra element of shade. I mean, I know we have some easement issues with the property owner, but some shade or I've even seen like where you've had bookcases. I mean, we can get really creative here and I think it's an opportunity to do that. So thank you.
Speaker 2: Councilman Price.
Speaker 5: So, yes, on that note, I wanted to also include the possibility of having art or local art at these shelters, because we often get requests from people to do that. So the scope can be broader than just advertisements that be great. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I appreciate that. And Councilmember Richardson, thank you for bringing this forward. I wanted to just add a word of caution to staff. I think staff is aware of this. I don't see I see our public works director here as well. So the city of Los Angeles expanded its bus stop improvement program with bus shelters and contracted with CBS Taco, which I think is a fine company. And recently it was stated in the paper that many of those agreements fell apart because the city fell short in approving the permits and doing things in a timely manner. But in addition to that, I also want us to know that we may have priorities as a council and a city to have amenities at certain bus stops that we believe are high volume, perhaps depressed, economically depressed areas, but they don't necessarily align with advertiser's goals. So that might not be the best location for advertisers. And so there is a inherent there can be an inherent conflict between advertiser goals, bus shelter, company goals, city goals, councilmember goals. And so I'd like to hear. How you hope to balance out or ensure that where we think. The bus stops near the greatest treatment, as well as limited transit based on volume of activity. How how would you try to ensure that that is what CVS would do?
Speaker 7: Well, a lot of what you're talking about would not be CVS. It would be actually Long Beach Transit. So how they could work to enhance their build their areas in other areas of the city, whether they, you know, back in the day, they did a lot of art, as you're aware of. They haven't done some art for a while. So we could talk to Mr. McDonald about that and then also get his ideas about about what we're doing with our ad programs as well.
Speaker 2: Right. So when we look at partnerships as transit agencies, oftentimes we give the opportunity to advertise to companies so that they pay for the infrastructure. So unless you're telling us that Long Beach transit is going to pay for the infrastructure.
Speaker 7: That this transit does, the infrastructure for the non ad bearing busses.
Speaker 2: For the non end.
Speaker 7: And then we help through the advertising company make sure that the ad bearing bus shelters are clean and safe and all that. So those are the things that we're going to pay a lot of attention to, given what Councilman Richardson said, and we'll sit down with them, Mr. McDonald, next week to see where this takes us.
Speaker 2: And that's great. My word of caution from my own professional work is the ones that are ad bearing. We have to be forthright and be sure that there is an equity because what will happen is you'll have bus treatments that are better in places that have greater impressions for advertising. And we want to make sure that locations such as the one that the councilman mentioned are addressed. And I know lobbies transit well. We are very different from other cities. I know this. Thank you. Councilman Richardson.
Speaker 8: I think you're right. There is a balance. But we have at varying shelters today, and it looked terrible. And frankly, wherever they are, we need to do something better. Even if it's a static it even if it's what they have today, the standard has to improve. We just have to I mean, this conversation needs to happen fairly, but, you know, it's going to take some time, I imagine. So I think we start on it sooner than later. So when this contract comes up again, we have a plan or maybe we even in that contract early and have a strategy. But but I tend to agree with your words of caution. I think this will be complex, but we should try it.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. And is there any member of the public that wish to address Council on item 17? See Nunn members cast your vote.
Speaker 5: Oh, I'm sorry. Something. I apologize.
Speaker 2: Yes, that's okay.
Speaker 5: We're just talking here about add bearing. Is that correct? That's it. So would it be possible to add a friendly amendment for all bus shelters.
Speaker 7: That we were going to talk about all bus shelters with Mr. McDonnell, because specifically the one that you had mentioned is not an ad barring location of. It's certainly very, very busy. We talked a lot with transit before to enhance that station. They probably need to do some type of a eminent domain, take on the business to provide more seating or shelter and things. We've had lots of conversation there at that because that's a key bus station there. So we will talk to lobby students about all of our bus our bus shelters on this. But again, primarily, we'll look at the ad bearing ones as well.
Speaker 5: Okay, great. And I will say, you know, working with transit, it was great forth. And we were able to work with the Arts Council years ago to get a really nice art piece there. So there's other opportunities available. So thank you.
Speaker 2: And there are examples of that in the East Village, too, at the bus stop there. So they do do great work. Thank you for that clarification. Members, cast your vote.
Speaker 1: Motion carries.
Speaker 2: Item 18. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Manager to work with the Long Beach Transit Agency to explore partnerships, costs, feasibility, and options to update and modernize ad-bearing bus shelters and return to City Council with recommendations within 90 days. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05032016_16-0379 | Speaker 2: Item 18.
Speaker 0: Report from Development Services.
Speaker 2: Recommendation to.
Speaker 0: Receive and file the Sustainable City Commission Staff. Report on electric vehicle charging infrastructure policy and drag the City Manager and Development Services to implement the recommendations relating to EV infrastructure as part of the triennial update to Title 18 of the Long Beach Municipal Code Citywide.
Speaker 2: Councilmember Richardson, would you like a staff report first? Yes. Staff report first.
Speaker 7: Amy Burdick.
Speaker 9: Madam Vice Mayor, members of the City Council, back in November, you asked that the Sustainable City Commission look at recommendations for expansion of electric vehicle infrastructure within the city. The Office of Sustainability in the Department of Development Services worked with the Commission to provide some recommendations to them, which they adopted in March. And that's attached to your staff report. If you so approve this, these recommendations that the Sustainable City Commission is forwarding, we would then implement them as part of the Title 18 update, which is required to be adopted by January of this coming January 2017. If you have any questions, I'm here to answer them.
Speaker 2: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 8: Great work and thank you.
Speaker 2: Councilwoman Mongo.
Speaker 0: Looking forward to it.
Speaker 2: And Council member Supernormal.
Speaker 7: Yeah. I have just a question of staff in terms of the location. Signal Hill is included here and I was just kind of curious why circle.
Speaker 8: Audi in the fourth district would get one station and then human Nissan in signal hill gets.
Speaker 7: Three. And if.
Speaker 9: So we were looking at the maps of where the available stations are. The Nissan Human actually provides three charging stations on their site. That is a service that they provide to their lessees of electric vehicle cars. It is not free. You have to go and actually provide. You can go and charge your electric vehicle there. But you do have to pay a fee. There is a statewide network, an informal network that advises all EV owners of where the nearest charging stations are, and they're clearly listed in that.
Speaker 7: I appreciate that clarification. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. And I have one question. I'm just scanning the report, see if it's jumping out at me. What is the number of charging stations that the plan includes?
Speaker 9: We currently have 107 throughout the city. What we're looking at is really beefing up the the private sector requirements in the future to exceed the state requirements. So that's the main thrust of our plan. What it would essentially require is that almost all new construction would have to require ev ready infrastructure, which is the conduit at a minimum for the EV, but not necessarily the charging stations. So the bigger your construction is, the more conduit and actually the more charging stations you would actually have to implement.
Speaker 2: And then thank you. And then my follow up question regarding the Southern California Edison program, their initial announcement of 30,000 or so new charging stations within the service area, are they still on track for that? And if so, how many would Long Beach get under that?
Speaker 9: We don't have that information. I can provide that to you. I'll have to talk to the Office of Sustainability. Who's tracking that?
Speaker 2: That would be great, because 30,000 sounds like a lot, but I have a feeling these scaled back. So if we could get that back to council in a certain way from that would be great. Is there any member of the public that wishes to address Council on Item 18? Seeing None members cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to receive and file the Sustainable City Commission staff report on electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure policy, and direct City Manager’s Office and Department of Development Services to implement the recommendations contained within it, relating to EV infrastructure, as part of the triennial update to Title 18 of the Long Beach Municipal Code. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05032016_16-0380 | Speaker 2: Item 19 Report.
Speaker 0: From Development Services recommendation to accept a donation of 350 electric vehicle charging stations from Mercedes-Benz and direct staff to develop a program to distribute the charging stations free of charge citywide.
Speaker 9: Madam Vice Mayor, you'll see a theme here. So not only are we going to be boosting our EV requirements in the triennial building code update, but now we have the benefit of a donation by Mercedes-Benz USA of 350 high speed charging stations. If you accept this donation, we will be working with the Office of Sustainability to create a program to donate these to eligible property owners. They would be these are residential grade EV charging stations. The property owner would have to pay for the electrical permits. Some properties may require upgrades to their electrical panel because these this is to 40, not to 20 and not 110. So we would have to deal with that as well. But the value of this donation is is fairly considerable. And we do want to thank Mercedes Benz for their consideration in allowing us to to bring this opportunity to you.
Speaker 2: Great. Thank you, Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 0: Yes. I just am so thankful that Mercedes Benz has continued to be a good community partner since they've moved into the district. They are continually striving to support our neighborhoods, and I think this is just another great example of the work that they're doing. So I look forward to that. I do have a quick question. If someone wants to change their. Electrical, what would it cost of a permit of that magnitude?
Speaker 9: B It's about a seven $52,000, but it depends on whether you have to change out your electric panel as well. So if it's an older house, you might have to change out your electrical panel as well and upgrade it.
Speaker 0: Well, I think that considering what a charging station would have cost the homeowner, I still think this is a significant value. So I look forward to hearing the distribution model that will be considered. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Councilwoman Gonzales. Councilman Price. Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 7: This is this.
Speaker 8: Is a pretty cool program, I think. I just want to say that.
Speaker 7: I.
Speaker 8: Would I would hope that when we craft the program to give them away, we do consider and I have to say this, we do consider equity. I mean, this is a huge investment. Somebody might potentially get 20 $500 charging station. So we should think about, you know, making this available to, you know, community, you know, low income communities or communities who may not be able to afford it and afford it otherwise and may consider an electric vehicle because we make this available. I don't know how we do that, but I think we should certainly explore it when we craft this program.
Speaker 9: Certainly, I think the Office of Sustainability is very good at providing resources throughout the city, so I'm sure that they're going to come up with something creative.
Speaker 7: Awesome. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you, Councilmember Richardson, for raising that. Would you like those metrics or the program design brought back to the council? Not not formally, but as you know to for from.
Speaker 8: I think we should when this happens, we should launch this thing.
Speaker 5: Yes.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay. So Councilman Mongo and Councilwoman Gonzalez, as part of the instruction to staff, would you be okay with asking them to outline what the lottery program. Framework is and and then have the council involved and in being supportive and active in the launch of the program. Okay.
Speaker 3: Sure.
Speaker 2: Is that fine, Ms.. Burdick?
Speaker 9: Absolutely.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Is there any member of the public that wishes to address Council on Item 19? CNN members cast your vote. Motion carries. Okay. Item 20 Report. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or his designee, to accept a donation of 350 electric vehicle charging stations from Mercedes Benz USA; execute any and all documents necessary to effectuate the donation; and, direct staff to develop a program to distribute the charging stations free of charge, subject to review and approval by the City Attorney. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05032016_16-0381 | Speaker 2: Thank you. Is there any member of the public that wishes to address Council on Item 19? CNN members cast your vote. Motion carries. Okay. Item 20 Report.
Speaker 0: From Development Services and Fire Recommendation to request the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance amending Title 18 of the Long Beach Municipal Code in order to adopt and amend the 2016 edition of the California Building Standards Code Citywide.
Speaker 9: Madam Vice Mayor, Members of the Council, we are required by state law to update the building code, which is in Title 18 of the municipal code. Every three years the state will come out with their new building code standards on July 1st. We need to get the new triennial code in place by January 1st, 2017. We are requesting your permission to work on an ordinance to do that.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilmember Richardson. No. Thank you. Is there any member of the public that wish to address Council on item 20? Seeing None members cast your vote.
Speaker 1: Motion carries. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare an ordinance amending Title 18 and other development-related sections of the Long Beach Municipal Code in order to adopt and amend the 2016 Edition of the California Building Standards Code. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05032016_16-0383 | Speaker 2: We took item 21. Item 20. To.
Speaker 0: Report from Health and Human Services recommendation to execute an agreement with the California Community Foundation on behalf of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals to accept funding in the amount of $1 million to implement the Heals Zone Initiative. District nine.
Speaker 2: Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 8: I think this is a really proud and proud moment. I was on the on the ground floor as the chief of staff, working with my current chief of staff, Shauna, on crafting heels on phase one. And that was $1,000,000 initiative over three years that really activated and helped and was a driving force with with a lot of excitement and engagement with the Uptown Renaissance. And then here we are three years later, we have evidence we can show that we have, you know, active fitness stations in two out of our four parks in our district. We have tremendous things to show. And this has been recognized by being renewed as one of a few communities to be renewed for another million dollar commitment. So this is important. This is this is big. This this is you know, we should tip our hats to all the community members involved, to our health department that's involved and really led this because this is a this is really a tremendous moment. So so I'd like to just have quickly a quick staff report on some specifics on what how far this funding will go with this grant and what this really means for our department.
Speaker 6: Cleaning. The hills zone to the phase two will allow us to really move forward in terms of transforming the community so we have opportunities to engage in healthier behaviors. We're going to be looking at walking and biking for safer routes, buying affordable fruits and vegetables, fresh fruits and vegetables that are close to home, exercising in parks and participating in active afterschool programs. So we had a large you know, a lot of community members come together and determine what the next strategies would be. And as we all know, it's a lot easier to be healthy when you have access to healthy options and you're encouraged to use it. What The Hill's on funding is doing is really it's really providing those opportunities. So the key programs for this round are creating a fruit and vegetable exchange where residents can come and sell and exchange their own, the things that they grow, fruits and vegetables in their own yards. Activating Northbourne Beach Bike Hub, where we'll be working with community members so that they can maintain their bicycles. They'll participate in bike safety workshops and then do community bike rides. So really making sure people are out exercising. We'll be working to beautify the roads to schools so that students are more encouraged to walk into bike to school more often. We're working on street improvements to make sure it's safer for community members to walk and bike. We'll be working with the Jordan High School students to increase healthy eating on campus, creating more opportunities for community gardens and North Long Beach, providing free fitness and nutrition education opportunities in Halton Park. Working to increase our access to work and fresh or cal fresh so that people have access to food in locations where they may not otherwise be able to get to them and then enhancing their children's chronic lifestyle prescription program, which means they actually write prescriptions for healthier eating and active physical activity moving forward. Um, so those are the key things for the next three years that will be moving forward, building on what was achieved last time. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Council member Urunga.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a quick question, perhaps, for the council member. A lot of the areas that we look at when we're talking about health zones, there are also a lot of fast food establishments. McDonald's. For your local. Those types of stories. We have a lot of fast food and there a lot of temptation because it's convenient. I mean, people don't have to go very far to get food. Is there eventually going to be a through this program to look at the types of new businesses that will be coming in that that are less unhealthy , less healthy? Well, that's.
Speaker 8: A fair question. We didn't get to focus on that so much in the first round. We did, you know, support a farmers market that lived lasted two years and a mobile farmstand that was at Grant Elementary School. I think there are some opportunities with round two, with phase two giving, you know, the momentum around the success or agency properties are finally being developed. So there might be some opportunity that weren't available before that we can explore now in terms of bringing in or having health play a role in the development that takes place in the hills zone. So that. So thanks for asking. But yeah, that's an opportunity.
Speaker 4: Because obviously that that is the the biggest issue there is the availability of fast food and and people taking advantage of it because it's convenient. And that's where our health problems arise. But I want to congratulate you on this. And, of course, I want to commend the health department for their work in putting this together. There's nothing more meaningful than having an increased ability to exercise. And and that when you exercise you here, you're working your body and you're working your mind as well. So congratulations.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilmember. Is there any member of the public that wish to address council on this item?
Speaker 7: Good evening, honorable members of the Council and Vice Mayor. I just wanted to find out if I have a suggestion that the program, which Mr. DAVIES and Jose had at Halton Park, be continued. Maybe if that could be a model for bicycle repair, etc.. I don't believe he's doing that anymore, but it was an excellent program and I just wanted to make that suggestion.
Speaker 6: That program actually is part of this event. Sorry, I'm over here.
Speaker 7: It was called piece 90805.
Speaker 8: It's got a name. It's now it's operator but is back.
Speaker 6: Yeah. So it's back.
Speaker 8: Thank you. Was a part of this.
Speaker 6: Yeah. Thank you.
Speaker 8: It's called, it's called bike uptown instead of bike. 90805 now. Yes.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to comment on item 22? SINGH None. Members Cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement, and any subsequent amendments, between the City of Long Beach and the California Community Foundation, on behalf of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, to accept funding in the amount of $1,000,000 for the period from April 1, 2016 through April 1, 2019, to implement the North Long Beach Healthy Eating, Active Living (HEAL) Zone Initiative: HEAL Zone Phase 2, and execute all necessary documents and agreements with partner agencies. (District 9) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05032016_16-0385 | Speaker 0: Motion carries. Item 24 Report from Police Recommendation to provide a response to L.A. Metro four RFP Solicitation for transit law enforcement services citywide.
Speaker 2: Councilman. Councilwoman Gonzales.
Speaker 5: I'm just thankful for this information. I know it's been a long. Discussion and having PD possibly enforce our metro stations. And I'm glad to see that we're moving in that direction. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilmember Your Honor.
Speaker 4: It makes sense. Let's go for it.
Speaker 2: Mr. City Managers or staff report.
Speaker 7: By senior council members. We don't have a lot of information to share yet tonight, but what we're basically asking tonight is just for permission to respond to the RFP. Commander Rich Conant is here and he'll be in charge of that. Commander Conant has any brief remarks. Good evening, Madam Vice Mayor and City Council. Item 24 is for an RFP for transit law enforcement services for the Metro Blue Line. The police department is currently completing our staffing model and we will be prepared to present the staffing model on May 28th per the schedule for Metro Metro's RFP. We're looking at policing ten stops in the city and it's a great opportunity for the police department to improve the quality of life for our Long Beach residents with our services on the blue line. And I'm available for any questions.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Commander. I appreciate that. I wanted to congratulate city management and the police department for continuing to pursue this. This has been a long running discussion, as Councilwoman Gonzales points out, probably the entire time that we have had the blue line in the city and. Definitely not in. In any criticism of the county's efforts, but really acknowledging that it is too much to do. The system is very big and it is a lot of work. And for us to be able to have the opportunity to. Patrol and protect the stations that are in Long Beach would be tremendous. And I have to imagine that it can only have a positive impact on our public safety efforts. So thank you for keeping with the goal and I wish us luck. The deadline is May 28th, is that correct?
Speaker 7: Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 2: And do you know when they will let us know?
Speaker 7: I do not at this point.
Speaker 2: Okay. That's fine. Is there any member of the public that wishes to address the Council on 24?
Speaker 7: I don't think I can ask questions, but right now the county has the exclusive contract to patrol metro lines and bus metro bus service. And there had been some problems right here in Long Beach that lasted for years with an errant deputy. His name was Deputy X. I can't really tell you his real name because probably I could get sued. But he did racial profiling. And I just wanted to know if the sheriff was still going to be involved in this or was Long Beach going to be pretty much taking over unless it was a back up type of issue because there were some really serious problems that that defied solution for over two years.
Speaker 2: Okay. So thank you for that. I can answer that briefly and just wanted to share that. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is the funding agency for the Law Enforcement Services, and so they provided the exclusive contract to the county. It seems that as of February 2016, they made. They established an opportunity for local law enforcement agencies to provide transit law enforcement services to support bus and rail operations in the entirety of the L.A. Metro Service area. Sorry, that is a mouthful. And so we have the opportunity to bid for that. And so my understanding is that they are interested if local agencies are interested. Is that correct? Commander.
Speaker 7: Yes, ma'am, it is.
Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you. Would that members cast your vote?
Speaker 1: Motion carries. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to provide a response to Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Request for Proposals Solicitation No. PS24750 for Transit Law Enforcement Services; and obtain authority for the Long Beach Police Department to submit a responsive proposal to furnish labor, materials, and other related items for the performance of a contract. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05032016_15-1327 | Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Item 25 Report from Technology and Innovation Recommendation to authorize the implementation of a lift services pilot program for the provision of Internet services for a period of one year, and to execute a lease agreement with famous Daves of America for the lease of lights lit lit services in an annual amount of $11,988.
Speaker 2: District two may have a staff report.
Speaker 7: Brian Stokes, our technology and innovation director. Vice mayor, members of the City Council in order for the city to provide possible Internet service function to local businesses. The Technology and Innovation Department is proposing a limited one year pilot program to provide broadband services are commonly known as lift services. This proposed lease agreement under the pilot program would provide these services to famous Dave's Long Beach. As the initial participant lists, services are including the provision and equipment installation, the management and support of all services that are required to provide high speed Internet access. These lift services will allow FEMA's Steve to receive the high speed Internet connectivity while sharing the same conduit as the city's municipal fiber. We are completely segregated. Segregated, and the city networks do not pose any risk for any type of security breach. Famous Dave's was primarily chosen for this because of their inability to obtain high speed Internet services from other providers. Also, the proximity of unused city fiber and a minimal cost for the city to configure it. Install the proper equipment on Fima Stephen's premises. With that, I'm open to any questions.
Speaker 2: Thank you for that. I wanted to ask just a basic question, but why don't major internet service providers provide service to that location? That is the Pike Circle. And there's a tremendous amount of enterprise going on there. So I'm a little surprised. Do we have an answer to that?
Speaker 7: That's that's a very good question you think would be very profitable. But we do not know why they do not, you know.
Speaker 2: Interesting. Okay. And then. Are there other pockets similar to this in the city?
Speaker 7: Yes, we are looking at other areas that could potentially benefit from a municipal run, fiber and connectivity. That's part of an assessment that we are taking. And as the infrastructure the city grows, it could be potential openings for other people to join in on this pilot.
Speaker 2: Okay. And sorry. I don't mean to appear startled. I'm just a little surprised that that that exists. But are there any assessments during the pilot phase of reassessing anything during this phase?
Speaker 7: Primarily for us. It's making sure that we have the capability to provide that type of service. We are bringing an additional capacity to our current broadband access and then we're bringing that over to them. So if it's something that we're able to maintain and that they can use efficiently, then that shows that it's been a successful initiation and something we would want to grow from there.
Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you. Thank you for that. And I wanted to mention and he's not here in the audience, but Mr. Schneider, Kurt Schneider, who's the owner of Famous Dave's. I'd like to thank him and his team for being as diligent as they had been in their efforts to get Internet service to their restaurant and hopefully eventually to the rest of Pike's Circle. It was quite a surprise for me and my staff to find out that. That was a black hole of sorts for connectivity. So Curt came to our office sometime ago and presented the lack of service and the great need to get it somehow soon. While I realize he was speaking specifically for his establishment, I do think opening up this issue to the light of day gives us an opportunity to make sure that the circle is served somehow, one way or another. They have done a tremendous amount to make that a much more attractive location for all of us in Long Beach and our visitors. And so I think working on getting connectivity is something that we should do. And I know you're working on it, and I want to thank our team that has continued to try to make this happen. And I'd like to applaud you for getting us to our current position. And I'm hopeful that the outcome of this pilot will be positive and that we're able to continue moving forward. I know that a couple of councilmembers have mentioned that there are similar pockets that they're aware of. And so it's a good direction for us to move and. Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 5: I just want to say thank you as well to Brian and his team for staying on this. I know a lot of us have been prodding and asking you about what the next steps are, so I appreciate it. Do we have a map of the fiber that we have currently? I know there's been one kind of floating around, but I don't know that we have to have a formalized map at this point.
Speaker 7: We we do have a map of where Cityfibre is currently running. What we don't know or aren't able to yet to provide is what's really available, because we're not yet to the state where we could provide this services to other parts of the city. The primary map is mainly covering areas that we do service for our own public inter or our private internet such as police substations, the ECAC, other city facilities that we would want to grow on as part of that master fiber plan to expand and then decide, is this something that the city is capable of performing and moving into that arena in the future?
Speaker 5: Okay, great. Thank you for the clarification.
Speaker 2: All right. There's been a motion and a second. Is there any member of the public that wish to address council on 25? SINGH None. Members Cast your vote.
Speaker 3: Bass, man.
Speaker 0: Motion carries. Item 26 report from Water Commission and the Water Department recommendation to receive and file a report from the Long Beach Water Department regarding the excellent quality and safety of the drinking water in Long Beach Citywide. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to authorize the implementation of a Lit Services Pilot Program for the provision of internet services for a period of one year; and
Authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute a Lease Agreement with Famous Dave’s of America, Inc., of Minnetonka, MN, for the lease of Lit Services, in an annual amount of $11,988, billed monthly at the rate of $999 per month. (District 2) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_05032016_16-0377 | Speaker 0: Motion carries. Item 26 report from Water Commission and the Water Department recommendation to receive and file a report from the Long Beach Water Department regarding the excellent quality and safety of the drinking water in Long Beach Citywide.
Speaker 2: Councilmember Urunga.
Speaker 4: Yes. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I'd like to postpone this item to next week. I think it's an important public health issue that we need to ensure everybody receives. And given the late hour of tonight's meeting, I think it would be more appropriate if we do it next week.
Speaker 2: I would second that. So there's a motion to move this item to next week. And so any public comment on that? None. Members, cast your vote.
Speaker 1: Motion carries. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to receive and file a report from Long Beach Water Department regarding the excellent quality and safety of the drinking water in Long Beach and to assure the citizens of Long Beach that various factors that caused the lead contamination crisis in Flint, Michigan do not exist in our city. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04202016_16-0358 | Speaker 1: I should have known that. Yeah. Thank you. Anyone else it? Fine. Okay, then we can move on. Okay. We have one item and we're going to take three separate votes. And first of all, I'd like to have the crow, please, with me those three items.
Speaker 2: Communication from City Clerk Recommendation to adopt resolutions declaring the official results of the Long Beach primary nominating election. The first resolution is declaring the results of the primary nominating election held in the city of Long Beach, California, on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. For the purposes of nominating and or electing candidates for three offices on the City Council from districts numbers two, six and eight, and directing the city clerk to issue a certificate of election to the candidates declared to have been elected at the primary, nominated like election resolution to certifying the results of the consolidated primary nominating election held in the city of Long Beach, California, on Tuesday, April 12, 2016. For the purpose of nominating and or electing candidates for two offices on the Board of Education of the Long Beach Unified School District, and for two offices on the Board of Trustees of the Long Beach Community College District. Resolution three Proclaiming, Calling and giving notice and giving notice of and providing for the holding of a general municipal election to be held in the city of Long Beach on Tuesday, June 7th, 2016. Designating the ballot, listing and adopting provisions relating to translations of and charges for the costs of candidates statements.
Speaker 1: Thank you. We can take it behind the wheel if you like, but we can have a vote on each one of these three motions at this time. And public comment and then answer. Fine. Is there any public comment?
Speaker 2: Okay. All right. Frances, Emily Dyson, Harris. I reside in District one and I'm absolutely elated. That District two, six and eight. You have. What a challenge. But I know that you were called and what a lot of work. But you have such a passion and commitment. I just admire you and what an absolute asset you are to the city of Long Beach.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Francis. Anyway, instead of Mr. Tyson.
Speaker 3: Sure. I'd like to just take this opportunity to say thank you to our city clerk. I know this was a new experience, first time election here in Long Beach, and I think it went off without a glitch. I know you, too. You and your your your team and the city clerk's office. I know. See many of them sitting up here. I know you had a great deal of community volunteers to help make this successful, this election process successful. I certainly wish we can get more people to participate in the process, and that's the challenge that we can work on together over the next few years. I'm certainly committed to doing that, and I I'll just be remiss if I didn't say that I was pleased with the outcome. So thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Like that. And excuse me a minute, Miss Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: Yes. I just wanted to thank our city clerk and our city clerk team. I think they did an amazing job, especially under her leadership for the very first time. So congratulations to all of you for a great, you know, your great work. And, of course, congratulations to our new and new newly reelected colleagues. It's been a pleasure working with every single one of you, but especially you two. And it's been I'm glad that we get, you know, four more years with you. So thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I don't a damn about your rank.
Speaker 5: Thank you, I guess. Acting mayor.
Speaker 1: Acting. Acting. Acting tonight? Yes, sir.
Speaker 5: I want to also learn my voice to congratulating the two members of my city council colleagues, Mr. Austin and Mr. Andrews, for their reelection. It's been a great two years for me, working with you and looking forward to another two years, at least for the present, when we're going to do this again in two more years in 2018. But I'm sure that the city clerk by that time will be a veteran of elections in Long Beach, which is going to do it again this coming June for a runoff election there, much smaller than what you had to deal with the primary, but challenging nonetheless, because that's the nature of elections. So I want to congratulate you on a job well done for this time around. You did it in the primary, which is great. And the two candidates were launched a very formidable campaign that resulted in this election in the primary. So congratulations, both of you, and congratulations to the other candidates. But I guess we'll be dealing with that in just a moment. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. Congressman Turner.
Speaker 0: Thank you. And I'd like to echoed those sentiments of my colleagues in congratulating Mr. Austin and Mr. Andrews. And again, special congratulations for doing it in the primary ended. Andrews for making history in winning a in in the primary. And I'd just like to say I did my part. I tried to lighten the load on the city clerk by not having an election in the fourth District. And I think that worked so well. We had to try it again in four years that same way. So thank you very much and congratulations.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. And also, I'd like to give my comments on the first of all, I'd like to thank the city crew for being so helpful and doing that count because it came out in my favor. But those are the type of things that I think you will see here in the city of Long Beach. I know it's your first time, but if you have candidates like Austin and I, you're going to always have to sit around and watch some votes come in from anywhere and everywhere. But I still want to thank you, and I'm glad they came in from my district. I don't think anyone want to do another term or trying to do a write in, but if you do that, I'm just telling you it's no easy chore. But you can do it if you claim it. And I want to thank all those individuals out there who supported me and especially our city clerk who was there. I don't know whether you got any sleep or not, but I know they were really pushing you. But thank you again. And I'm like to have that. I'm so glad that the counts came out in my favor and that's about it. Thank you again. Okay. Well, anyone from the public like to come up and say a few words as any. Who? Who are they? Are they? Who are you.
Speaker 6: Mr. Acting Mayor? We have a number of candidates for our management assistance program. They're going through her tour of the city, and they're all wanting to join the city of Long Beach. And they've got their assessment tomorrow. So we thought we'd since they were here, and this is a monumental occasion, we'd invite them just to come in and witness for a couple of minutes before they move on to the next event.
Speaker 1: Would you like to come down and say a few words?
Speaker 6: No, they would not.
Speaker 1: Because we're trying to we're trying to extend this council meeting. They're never the short. So don't you ever get this idea.
Speaker 0: If you folks would like to attend the airport meeting with us at 6 p.m.. Feel free to drive up there. That's where three of us would be.
Speaker 1: Okay. Oh, well, fine then. Okay. We're going to stay.
Speaker 3: Can I add a friendly amendment?
Speaker 1: Yeah, you already have, Kerry. That's. That's one that will allow us to keep this going. You guys won't have anything to do. Mr. Orson would like to put that in, but as we have spoken and everyone, I want to thank everyone for coming out here today, especially the individuals who didn't. We had our council meeting last night, but this was a special meeting. Was Scott together? And you see our mayor, the vice mayor is not here and and I sit in when they are not here. But I want to thank you individuals who for coming down and getting a chance just to see just this is just the tip of the iceberg, what you're looking at today. We usually are here about one or 2:00 in the morning when we started for. So if you want to become a part of this, just kind of get ready for it because it's exciting. It really is. When you can have all your constituents and people just call you every day and tell you what a bad job you did. And so it's okay, but you just kind of let that that'll soon pass too. So thank you guys really seriously for coming down and getting this quick moment of Sam and Francis. You are the greatest. Come back up. Yeah, we have plenty of time. Branches we climb. We don't get out of Detroit.
Speaker 4: Yes, we have. We voted yet.
Speaker 1: Not yet.
Speaker 2: Oh, I just want to say and I couldn't sit there and not say this, commending the clerk as well as the city. There's quite a number of people in the districts that are seniors and persons with disabilities and absentee ballots coming in but was so awesome as the city has a need ballot, which persons with disabilities were able to use and that that machine is quite phenomenal. And the reason I know all about it, when I served on the city's Advisory Commission on Disability. So I believe by having that we've moved forward and they're going to hopefully get more about machines. But I want to commend you for the job well done. I just could not sit here because more and more people with disabilities and I would say half and I don't really like the word disability because I believe we all have a purpose on this earth. We all have a gift. We have a choice of either fulfilling or just sitting back and not doing much of anything. But I believe by having certain things like that, it kind of helps a person to be able to be involved. And I just want to thank you for that.
Speaker 1: Thank you again, writers. And when you.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Francis, for those comments. And you raise another point that I meant to say, but I did not get too excited with a congratulate congratulating my colleagues. You know, the voter turnout, again, very disappointing, what, just over a tad or 10%. You know, we still we have our elections committee. I hope that once we get together soon, we can address that. We still have a long way to go in terms of voter education and voter participation. 10% is I can't say it's unacceptable because at least those 10% participated in the process. But that's another 90% that have not and are not and not engaged in the political process. I know that one of the things at play that comes into play is the fact that there is a possibility of voter fatigue. You know, we had elections here in April, June and November, at least this year and next year. And in two years, we're going to do it again for our for our. Midterm elections as well as our are general elections where we get the districts, including the mayor and city attorney and city prosecutor and city charter so we can do something between to address our elections between now and then. It would be great, but I hope that we can work with the city clerk in devising some kind of new ideas or new ways to get voters engaged in our election process, because this has been very the last two elections have been very, very dismal. And it's just it's just very, very low, low turnout. And you know what that means? 10% of the people control 90% of what we're doing here in the city council. So I hope that we can speak further on this at our elections committee and try to address the turnout, because it's just it just it just means something needs to be done to improve our turnout.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: Yes. And I was just going to address that as well, that at the I think we spoke briefly of the city clerk. And I had to address that to talk about a recap of this past election and then look forward to digging into some of the data as to what we can do going forward. I know she has some great ideas and I think collectively we can come up with some other ideas that we can bring forward. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman. Awesome.
Speaker 3: Well, I have to say, it's very encouraging to hear our election committee make some commitments to to dig in and try to help with their voter turnout. I think I had to take away from this election that not all of our residents are privileged to the same level of information, not only from public offices, but also from our newspapers. And I think as election committee, one of my recommendations would be to engage them a little bit more. We you look at a district like mine that has, you know, a very, very diverse. You want. People in one half of the district are more informed about what's happening in a community that they don't even live in. Right. Then the people who actually live in the community and think that when you have that that that level of disparity in terms of information, it opens the door for misinformation in campaigns. And so we ran into quite a bit of that this time around. And I'm certainly committed to working with you, my colleagues, and anybody interested to improve in how we communicate and engage residents. I mean, because that's the there's a I would say there's a big void in terms of information, and it creates a situation where folks are disenfranchized in the process. So I think we can improve that.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Eisen. Okay. You guys know we have no more opportunities to do that anymore. No one else you'd like to speak again? You can come up all day long. Okay. Since you don't. Okay. Well, now we will not. We will skip the announcements. Oh, no. Well, let's take this vote to make us legal. Okay. Three votes. Three votes, you guys. Okay. For the record, you're voting on the.
Speaker 5: First resolution at this time. There was a motion and a second.
Speaker 1: Okay. Please cast your vote.
Speaker 2: Motion carries. | Resolution | Recommendation to adopt resolution declaring results of the City of Long Beach Primary Nominating Election held April 12, 2016 for the purpose of nominating and/or electing candidates for three offices on the City Council from District Numbers 2, 6 and 8; and | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04192016_16-0336 | Speaker 0: Thank you for that. Madam Clerk, let's go straight to item 20, as we had announced. Report from Development Services recommendation to receive and file an update on the proactive rental housing inspection program citywide. Mr. Modica. Was this an item that was going to be postponed?
Speaker 3: Correct. I believe Councilmember Gonzales wanted to make a motion to postpone. Okay.
Speaker 0: Councilman Gonzales?
Speaker 4: Yes, if I could, I'd like to ask the council that we postpone this for a future date. I believe the first date in May, as we would have the majority of our council, all of our council member colleagues here. So that's that would be my motion.
Speaker 0: Is there any member of the public that there's been a motion and a second to postpone it? Does anyone want to address the Council on the motion specifically to postpone this item?
Speaker 8: Very good. You click as the address as long as you're postponing it. I would offer this amendment that we also add to that postponing until the same period of time. Item number three on this council agenda, giving the Council an opportunity to review the credentials of the consultant the city is hiring. If you read it as extraordinarily important issue. But on the agenda, it shows nothing about what the credentials are of the individual that will be responsible for advising the city on such a seminal project relative to the wetlands around the third district. So I week certainly is not going to rock the boat. Nothing's going to happen or two weeks. So I would suggest you somebody make a motion to add that to that. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Goodhue. Is there anyone else that would like to address the Council on item 20? Please come forward. And this is just to post. We're postponing it so we're not taking it up. Okay. Thank you. All right, members, cast your vote. Motion carries. Do you have, Councilman Austin? Yes. Councilman Austin's here. All right, motion passes. And item 27. Report from Public Works recommendation to enter into a cooperative implementation funding agreement between the City of Long Beach and the California Department of Transportation for the Long Beach Municipal Urban Stormwater Treatment Recycle Facility Project City Wide. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to receive and file an update on the Proactive Rental Housing Inspection Program. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04192016_16-0345 | Speaker 0: Motion carries. Do you have, Councilman Austin? Yes. Councilman Austin's here. All right, motion passes. And item 27. Report from Public Works recommendation to enter into a cooperative implementation funding agreement between the City of Long Beach and the California Department of Transportation for the Long Beach Municipal Urban Stormwater Treatment Recycle Facility Project City Wide.
Speaker 3: Mr. MODICA Thank you, Vice Mayor, members of the Council. We're extremely excited to be here tonight to give you a presentation on L.B.. This is a fantastic partnership that Public Works has been leading along with Caltrans is going to be our funding agency. I won't steal their thunder, so I'll turn it over to them. But we are just beyond ecstatic that this is becoming a reality and is going to help us with our long term liability for stormwater, help our beaches and also have a reclaimed water source. So with that, I will turn it over to Craig Beck, our director of Public Works.
Speaker 6: Thank you very much. Good evening, Vice Mayor. Members of the City Council. I share Assistant City Manager Monica's enthusiasm for this project. It really is an exciting day to talk a little bit about Long Beach Marston and this project that you have before you this evening. So what is Long Beach must. It is a municipal urban stormwater treatment facility. And what it's intended to do is essentially treat stormwater runoff that goes through our storm drains before it's pumped into the L.A. River. So we'll show you in just a minute. A slide that will talk about our cities tributary, tributary, watershed system and how it discharges into the L.A. River. This facility in phase one will treat approximately 43% of that water runoff. It meets the city's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System, or NYPD's permit requirements, and really helps the city avoid potentially very costly fines if we do nothing to treat this water moving forward. So this is a little snapshot, a map. The facility is intended to be constructed adjacent to the L.A. River, just south of the Shoemaker Bridge. And you're all thinking, well, aren't we rebuilding the Shoemaker Bridge in the near future? And the answer is yes. We are going to be rebuilding the Shoemaker Bridge in the near future. But this project will be in coordination with not only the Shoemaker Reconstruction Project, but also a Green Greenway expansion that will ultimately connect Drake Park to Cesar Chavez Park. So as Tom mentioned, this project wouldn't be part wouldn't be possible without our funding partners. And this is truly a partnership between the city and Caltrans. Tonight, before you is the request to approve a reimbursement agreement that would allow for up to $28 million for design and construction of L.B. Mass. This project would include the interception, diversion and treatment of both dry weather, urban water runoff and the first flush of rainwater. So some of the dirtiest water that we see is when we get the first inch or so of rain. And it would allow for the treatment of that water again before going into the L.A. River. And we all know that the L.A. River flows into our bays and our beach areas. This initial phase will allow us to treat approximately 5000 acres of the watershed system. So how does it work? You're probably familiar with some of the pump stations that we have along the L.A. River. The pump stations are where all the storm drains drain into. We do have some screening functions in the pump stations now to keep large debris from going into the river. But it doesn't really treat the water. And this project is intended to divert the water as it goes to the storm drain system. It'll flow down to Long Beach, mass. It'll be treated at Long Beach and then pumped into the river. If we have a really large storm event, the water would flow through the pump stations into the river as it's currently designed. But this, again, is really intended to treat dry, dry weather runoff in that first flush. So what are our next steps? Well, first, with council approval tonight, we will finalize the agreement with Caltrans. We'll start moving forward with the design. We'll get a environmental impact report completed. We'll have to obtain permits. And you can see some of the agencies that we'll be working with to obtain those permits. We'll construct a facility and then we'll all be able to enjoy a cleaner river and beaches. So what's next after we get the facility constructed? We're really also looking right now at future phases. One of the real benefits of the design that we've put together is it will allow expansion. And I showed you on that map that roughly it covers 43% of the city's watershed that drains into the L.A. River. We'd like to capture 100% of that watershed with this facility. So with future funding and future expansion, we'd be able to capture all that. Currently, the your staff has filed an application with the Rivers and Mountains Conservancy for $2 million to build a wetlands in conjunction with this facility. We're really looking forward to hearing about that funding and moving forward with that project moving in the future. We want to create retention facilities that would then allow us to use the treated water for irrigation of not only the new Drake Chavez expansion, but also other parks within our downtown region. So lastly, I want to make sure that we take a moment and thank all of our partners tonight. We have with us Scott McGowan, who's the chief environmental engineer for Caltrans. We also have Constantine contacts. He's the watershed manager at Caltrans. They've been great partners as we move this forward and we thank them for being here this evening. We also have Richard Watson from Watson Associates, Kiko Anderson, who's helped us along the way. He's from Kuwait Consulting. And your own stormwater compliance officer, Officer Tony Revell. That concludes your staff report. And we await any questions you may have. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Council member, Urunga.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mary Lou. More than anything else, I just want to give kudos to staff and and to all our partners in joining us in this effort. It's a great opportunity to not only get involved more as we've been trying to do with the L.A. River, we see all the consequences of what happened north of us. And so this is a great effort to be able to use some of that runoff and clean it up and repurpose it and reuse it. We don't have enough recycled water in in Long Beach and into our parks. And I see this as a project that's going to greatly benefit at least those two parks right now. And hopefully, as this project moves forward, that there will be other projects included as well as in my area, as well as Advocate Park in Silverado, which are in the West Long Beach area, which but the river as well . So I want to thank the staff for their efforts.
Speaker 0: Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 5: Thank you. I too want to commend staff on their excellent work and on their collaboration and partnership. This is a huge. Financial partnership, and we're very grateful to staff for pursuing it and working so closely with Caltrans, as I know we do on many projects. So thank you. And I think this is going to be great.
Speaker 0: Thank you. And I'm sorry I missed calling on the maker of the motion, Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: That is okay. I too, just wanted to extend my very many thanks to our public works team and our consulting team, Kay Koa and Tony and Craig and Caltrans. We appreciate the partnership. I know just looking at the larger picture, we just had a meeting in the first District relative to the Shoemaker Bridge. And so looking at that whole region and reimagining it with be must is is really a very exciting all the pieces are moving together and sitting on the I7 ten project committee. We see it in an even larger scope and it's still very exciting as one of the longest or as one of the 710 communities. So thank you very much for the partnership and the hard work. We appreciate it.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzales. Councilman Johnston.
Speaker 9: Yes. I'd just also like to add my congratulations and thanks to our staff for their great work. This is a huge shot in the arm for for our city, as well as the L.A., the lower L.A. River. And looking forward to seeing this this project work. I did have a couple of just brief questions regarding the wetlands restoration grant. I know it's $2 million from Rivers and Mountains Conservancy. How large a space are we looking at restoring and how many acres would that be?
Speaker 6: Councilmember Austin will be approximately four acres. And I'm trying to find the map here. So the area that expands where Schumaker is now, it will essentially be on both sides of the Long Beach. Must. You'll have to envision. If I had a point, I could point to you. But it's. Oh, wait, they're telling me I have a pointer. Look at that. So this area right here, which is some of our downtown green open space, this will be recaptured once we do our shoemaker bridge expansion. And then the idea is we would connect the greenbelt all the way through to this area here. And then this is Drake Park here. So the lower level of the bluff would connect all the way through. The wetlands area is roughly built in right along this section.
Speaker 9: That's fantastic. Thank you for Francine. That question. And then I did have a question in terms of the timeline in which we think this project will actually come to fruition.
Speaker 6: About 30 days. No, I'm kidding.
Speaker 9: That's pretty good.
Speaker 6: We hope to celebrate its grand opening in roughly three years.
Speaker 9: Okay. Thank you very much. Great work.
Speaker 0: Mr. Beck, did you say grand opening in two years? Is that what you said?
Speaker 6: Well, I said three years, but you'll certainly be invited to the grand opening.
Speaker 0: When's the groundbreaking? That's what we want to know. And that's and I also wanted to actually I want to thank Tonio Revelo and his team for bringing this project full circle. Just a personal congratulations to Tony. Tony is one of our unsung heroes. I know some of you have seen him in the council chamber, in the audience, as as we have items that deal with storm water. But he's someone who's completely dedicated to clean water and to reusing water and and really making sure that we end up using what we can more than once. And so personally, from me, Tony, for someone who's worked in the water industry almost 20 years now, I want to thank you for your commitment. I want to thank you for the excitement that you bring to my office when you bring projects like this. And I think one of the favorite things I have heard from Mr. Rebello is saying to me that no one loves trash more than you do. So thank you for that. And, Mr. Beck, you have a great staff. I'm so glad you are able to lead this project forward and see it to fruition. And I will definitely be there at the groundbreaking, at the grand opening. And it's a great day. And Councilmember Your Honor is correct. We do not it's not that we don't have enough recycled water as much as it is the cost of piping it throughout our city. So having a treatment facility where the source of the runoff is is just it's a gift. It's a huge gift. And I want to thank our partners for helping us with this and helping us make this happen, because that is really a wasted resource that does become runoff and it's right there. So thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Is there any member of the public that wishes to address Council on item 27? Please come forward.
Speaker 8: Very good to be clear, because this is surely an outstanding project. In fact, if you read in the copy, the email that I sent you, that it went up to General Troy about 3 hours ago on feedback from yesterday's seawall or breakwater issues and study. The L.A. River flow and that which comes down to it. And the quality water was number one, number one on the priority list of those groups that were at my table, and I'll go into more of that later and so forth. But they they recognize the import of that apparent technically just in the balance of the 2 minutes, as is related to this, in cleaning up the rest of the water. That can be done in the second thing, and I suggested to the colonel, we stopped the general, we stopped the yada, yada, yada, and we will move forward by the end of the summer with the lowering of the breakwater in two specific locations, pursuant to the plan that both Johnson and Vicksburg have agreed upon, which will give us the title of Flushing. But the title flushing really doesn't solve the problem. What solves the problem is what's going to be done by this. And then the convening authorities have to lean on those upriver to do the same thing. But as I say, I'll get into more than that. But it's an outstanding program, so forth, and it's a step in the right direction. And we're not going to have to wait. We'll have the breakwater lowered in right places before the end of the summer. So it will be ahead of your grand grand opening, thanks to check the email that should be in your box there.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Good here.
Speaker 7: Thank you. I think I'd be in error if I didn't. Thank you as well. I forget your name. There should be a line back here of people thanking you and your department because you were doing one of those jobs that we all need. And if something comes up that happens in error or wrong, we're going to complain to your office. Thank you so much for what you're doing. And and having clean water and readily available water is such a privilege. Every morning I start my day looking at a young kid from Africa and his dream is being fulfilled because for the one time in his life, he has pumped water. Thank you. God bless you.
Speaker 0: Q There's been a motion and a second members cast your vote. Thank you. Tom mentioned Kerry's. So let's go back to. The consent calendar. So a motion for consent. It's been in motion in a second. So any member of the public that wish to address the Council on consent. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute all documents necessary to enter into a Cooperative Implementation Funding Agreement between the City of Long Beach and the California Department of Transportation, for the Long Beach Municipal Urban Stormwater Treatment Recycle Facility project, and any necessary amendments regarding the scope and or term. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04192016_16-0335 | Speaker 0: And that is our last speaker for this time of public comment. There'll be another opportunity at the end of the meeting for, again, items not on the agenda going to our regular agenda if we can take up item 19. Madam Clerk. Communication from Mayor Garcia recommendation to approve the nomination of Councilman Austin to represent the City of Light of the Lower Los Angeles River Working Group. Thank you. There's been a motion by Councilman Price and second by Councilman Gonzales. Councilman Price.
Speaker 5: Good luck. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Gentlemen.
Speaker 4: Both My congratulations. This is exciting and a really good person to be representing us, so. Great job.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Is there any member of the public that wishes to address Council on hearing on item 19? Councilman Austin.
Speaker 9: So first of all, I'd like to thank Mayor Garcia for the nominations. And thanks to our California Resource Secretary, John Laird, for the appointment. I'd also like to recognize our Assembly Speaker, Anthony Rendon, for his vision in creating the Lower Elwha River Working Group through his legislation 8530 last year. This working group will develop over the next year a revitalization plan for the L.A. Lower L.A. Working Group and the communities that it runs through. And that includes the District nine, districts eight, District seven, and, I believe District one. And I look forward to working with each and every one of my colleagues and communities and getting their input. The revitalization plan was prepared. A revitalization the initial revitalization plan was prepared in 2007 for the upper 32 miles of the L.A. River. However, the lower 19 miles of the river have no such plan. And through my work on the Gateway Cities Council of Government, we're working to identify and address the needs of communities along the lower L.A. River. This working group will be an important step in fully incorporating the river into recreational open space, educational, cultural and artistic opportunities . And I look forward to working with the mayor and other members of the working group over the next year. I'm honored to have this appointment. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman.
Speaker 1: Yes, my name is Richard Gutman. I live at 602 West 37th Street in the Wrigley Heights area of Long Beach. Anyway, I know of only two large parcels of undeveloped land along the Los Angeles River in Long Beach that would be suitable for creation of a park or open space. One is the former Boy Scout Park at North Long Beach. The other is the oil operators site in my neighborhood, Wrigley Heights. Councilmember Austin has been a big supporter of the community's development, developing that project and the Boy Scout camp. He spoke to the development glowing terms just before this council unanimously approved that project. The same developer now plans a very similar project, pardon me, on the oil apparatus property and that already and he already has that property in escrow for purchase. To expect Councilman Austin to now act on behalf of residents in obtaining this property for open space or parkland when he is clearly a big supporter of this kind of residential development by the same developer, it's too much to ask of him. It's a ready made conflict of interest. I would therefore ask Councilman Austin to recuse himself and allow somebody else to be appointed. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Next speaker, please. Thank you. My name is Regina Taylor. I live at 3206 Oregon Avenue and feeding off of Richard Guzman's comments. I would like to say to that I think.
Speaker 7: That he should recuse.
Speaker 2: Himself because of an.
Speaker 0: Apparent conflict of interest. I would also like to point out.
Speaker 7: That Abe FiveThirtyEight.
Speaker 0: Created the Lower L.A. River Working Group. This group is statutorily responsible for developing through watershed based planning methods, a revitalization plan. And I would think that the considerable amount of expertize to do.
Speaker 7: There are many people.
Speaker 0: In the community who attended the first meeting at Assembly Member Attendance Group in Lynwood. They had, they have vital direct interests in the river. And what happens to it? I would hope.
Speaker 7: That if you do.
Speaker 0: Not recuse yourself, that you would at least make use of this vital resources.
Speaker 7: That you have in the community.
Speaker 0: Who would love to participate. When we showed up at that meeting, I think there was about ten or 11 of us compared to.
Speaker 7: Any other city. We want to be represented. The people do. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Members, please cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 21 Report from Economic and Property Development. Recommendation to Increase Appropriations in the Tidelands Operations Fund in the Economic and Property Development Department by $1.7 million for a transfer of Queen Mary lease revenue to the Queen Mary Fund District two | Agenda Item | Recommendation to approve the nomination of Councilman Al Austin to represent the City of Long Beach on the Lower Los Angeles River Working Group. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04192016_16-0337 | Speaker 0: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Members, please cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 21 Report from Economic and Property Development. Recommendation to Increase Appropriations in the Tidelands Operations Fund in the Economic and Property Development Department by $1.7 million for a transfer of Queen Mary lease revenue to the Queen Mary Fund District two . Thank you. Councilman Price. Too many.
Speaker 5: I have no comment.
Speaker 0: Thank you, sir. Mr. Marco Staff Report.
Speaker 3: Mr. Mike Gove. The Staff Report.
Speaker 6: Vice Mayor, Members of the City Council. This item relates to ongoing funding for the Queen Mary Historic Preservation and Capital Improvement Program. You may recall in November.
Speaker 8: Of last year, City Council authorized the.
Speaker 6: Preparation of a restated and amended lease with Urban Commons LLC under certain terms and conditions. One of the terms was to direct funds equivalent to the passenger fees collected.
Speaker 9: From Carnival Corporation by.
Speaker 6: Urban Commons into the Historic Preservation and Capital Improvement.
Speaker 9: Program Fund.
Speaker 6: Rather than relying on percentage rent. This mechanism creates a reliable, ongoing source of funding to continue to preserve, restore and maintain the Queen Mary. Because the restated lease has not yet been executed.
Speaker 8: Staff believes it is appropriate to capture a percentage rent for Flight 14.
Speaker 6: Into the Historic Preservation and Capital.
Speaker 9: Improvement Program Fund.
Speaker 6: In lieu of the passenger fee equivalent until such time as the restated and amended lease is executed and the alternate funding source is established. These funds will be critical to continue to repair and restoration of the Queen Mary. Recently, certain expansion joints had been discovered to.
Speaker 8: Be severely rusted, affecting the structural.
Speaker 6: Integrity of the ship and resulting in the temporary closure of the Promenade Cafe until repairs can be made. These repairs are estimated at $625,000. Remaining funds will be used for other anticipated emergency repairs or to fund repairs of items identified on the approved capital improvement program list.
Speaker 8: So staff request.
Speaker 9: City Council approved the.
Speaker 6: Recommended action and this concludes my report.
Speaker 0: Thank you. So any member of the public that wishes to address Council on item 21. CNN members cast your vote. Motion carries. Item 22 Report from Financial Management Recommendation to award a contract to Cape Toyota for the purchase of 32 Toyota RAV4 hybrid utility vehicles in a total amount not to exceed $1 million citywide. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to increase appropriations in the Tidelands Operations Fund (TF 401) in the Economic and Property Development Department (EP) by $1,702,448 for a transfer of Queen Mary lease revenue to the Queen Mary Fund (TF 410); and
Increase appropriations in the Queen Mary Fund (TF 410) in the Public Works Department (PW) by $1,702,448 for various capital and historic preservation projects, offset by the transfer of Queen Mary lease revenue. (District 2) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04192016_16-0339 | Speaker 0: Thank you. Is there any member of the public that wish to address the Council on 20 item 22? See None. Members, cast your vote. Motion carries. Item 23 Report from Health and Human Services Recommendation to execute an agreement with the State of California. Department of Public Health Office of AIDS in the amount of 3.8 million for the provision of HIV AIDS health care services citywide. Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: Be great to get some stuff if we can. But otherwise, I just wanted to congratulate our team for for this item.
Speaker 0: Mr. Modica.
Speaker 3: I thank you. Kelly Clapper, director of Health and Human Services, will get the staff report.
Speaker 2: Good evening. Approximately 4250 people residing within the city of Long Beach are living with HIV. We have about 100 new cases each year and we have contract with the state of California for 28 years to provide care within the city of Long Beach. Our services include HIV, medical care, linkage and adherence to care and medications, health and risk reduction, education and health care navigation. We find that African-Americans and Latinos continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV in our community. So this grant includes special allocation to support outreach services for HIV positive individuals of color and is geared toward engagement and retention in HIV, medical care and other support services. In addition, we received about 560,000 more dollars this round than we did in previous years. And for this is to increase staff, our staff capacity around early intervention services. They're really geared toward linking new positives with HIV, medical care, referral to the services they need. Health, education and literacy training to enable clients to navigate the HIV system of care. I'm open to any questions, and with that I conclude my report.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilman Austin?
Speaker 9: Yes. I want to thank you. Thank you. And congratulations to the health department. This this department is largely funded through through grants. Grants like this one that will go a long way to to helping many of our residents in the 4200 over 4200 residents living with HIV. It's pretty, pretty significant to go a long way to help them think.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Urunga.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mayor. As many of you know, I used to work for the health department. I was the administrative officer there, and I saw many of the programs that they would offer. And it was a big hit that the department took a few years ago when the the vehicle license fee went away that be used to fund a lot of these kinds of programs. And I'm very happy to see that the health department has not backed off from its mission to provide services. And that's what makes this health department great. And that's what makes this the city of Long Beach great and having its own health department to be able to respond to these types of services that are much needed in the community. And I and kudos to to the Director Collopy and to her staff for continuing to look for grants that provide a very much needed service to our communities in Long Beach.
Speaker 0: Councilman Andrews. Yes.
Speaker 10: Also, I'd like to give kudos to Kelly for this, because the fact that the need is there and you guys went out and did a job and able to continue to, you know, congratulate you on such a fine, fine job. Thank you again.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you. Is there any member of the public that wishes to address Council on item 23? CNN members cast your vote. Councilman Austin. Motion carries. Item 24 Report from Parks, Recreation and Marine recommendation to execute a one year agreement with the County of Los Angeles for reimbursement of expenditures in an amount not to exceed $500,000 | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement, and any subsequent amendments, between the City of Long Beach and the State of California Department of Public Health, Office of AIDS, in the amount of $3,808,592 for the provision of HIV/AIDS health care services for the period of April 1, 2016 through March 31, 2019; and
Increase appropriations in the Health Fund (SR 130) in the Health and Human Services Department (HE) by $560,622. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04192016_16-0341 | Speaker 0: Thank you. Sir, any member of the public that wish to address the Council on item 24. Seeing None members cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 25 Report from Police Recommendation to receive and file the application of Sushi San Maru for an original application of an ABC license at four or five for Pine Avenue District one . Councilman Gonzales?
Speaker 4: Yes. Commander Lisbon, is there a staff report?
Speaker 8: Uh, yes, councilwoman, there is. And so honorable vice mayor and members of City Council, this items an application for a new type 41 on sale, beer and wine. ABC licenses for a restaurant. This restaurant has been operating since 2007 and they're just now applying for an ABC license. The police department has conducted our investigation. We don't anticipate any adverse impact with the issuance of this license, and that concludes my report.
Speaker 4: Thank you very much. And I think we'll go forward with supporting the the motion, the recommendation.
Speaker 0: Councilman Austin. Great, sir. Any member of the public that wish to address Council on item 25. CNN members cast your vote. Motion carries. The great item 26 report from Police Recommendation to receive and file the application of Chipotle Mexican Grill for an original application of an ABC license at 4250 Long Beach Boulevard District eight. | ABC License | Recommendation to receive and file the application of Michael Eutseok Kim, dba Sushi Zen Maru, for an original application of an Alcoholic Beverage Control License, at 454 Pine Avenue.
(District 1) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04192016_16-0346 | Speaker 0: Is there any member of the public that was to address this council on 26 c none. Members cast your vote. Motion carries. We already took item 27. Item 28 Report from Public Works and Parks, Recreation and Marine Recommendation to award a contract to cease legacy construction for the Drake Chavez Soccer Fields and Greenbelt Project for a total contractor contract amount not to exceed 2.8 million District one. Mr. Marika?
Speaker 3: Yes. Thank you, Vice Mayor. This is a very significant project over at the Drake Chavez soccer fields in Greenbelt project. We do have a short PowerPoint presentation that will be given by Craig Beck, our director of Public Works. We also have Marine Night, our director of Parks Rec and Marine, who can answer questions as well. Mr. Beck.
Speaker 6: Thank you. Good evening, Vice Mayor. Members of the city council. Tonight we bring before you an exciting project. We talked a little bit before when we presented the Long Beach Must about doing a greenbelt connection between Cesar Chavez and Drake Park. This is the first phase of that, what we'll call a master plan. It essentially includes 8.75 acres that we are going to turn into a park. You see the map before you. This includes an artificial turf soccer field for an area that is significantly underserved for soccer fields. There will be large grass multi-use areas associated with the project, open landscaped areas, pedestrian walking trails and onsite parking. If you're familiar with the area, it's currently underdeveloped and basically vacant dirt fields. Part of the project includes an artificial soccer field, as I mentioned. There has been some discussion internally and externally about artificial turf, soccer fields, and I think focusing on whether or not crumb rubber is an appropriate substance to use on these artificial fields. In sometime back, the Parks and Recreation Commission took a position that they believe that all infill material for artificial fields should be organic. So your staff went out and looked out at different options and decided that caulk and sand is the best infill material and are moving forward with this project, including caulk and sand. So what are some of the benefits of using using artificial turf versus a regular grass field? Certainly in our times of water conservation, that is probably the biggest issue that we believe is a benefit of using artificial turf. It significantly reduces the need for water usage. The fields themselves are much more durable, meaning that you can have more playable hours per field. You don't have to take them down, have them not being used and reseed them to allow them to regrow. There's certainly lower maintenance cost for these type of fields and improves usability and performance for soccer players. Unfortunately, given the drought situation and our inability to water some of the fields throughout the parks, you will notice areas where grass isn't growing. And we also have problems with gophers at certain locations.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: Yes. Thank you for the staff report. And I want to thank city staff, both parks and public works for their their work in this. I know we have had some a lot of discussion on this topic. And so I just want to let you know and really my sentiment, you know, the I've talked to a few residents in the in the area specific to the Wilmore area who will be utilizing this quite frequently. And they're very thrilled to have a new park in the area, specifically greenery, because we haven't had that for some time. So it's exciting to see almost nine acres being completely transformed into a beautiful park space for this for this area . You also did a great job at answering many of the questions relative to maintenance, which I think is important. I wanted to ask another question. Who are our current contractors now? For the park. For park maintenance. For a Drake Park.
Speaker 2: As a landscape is our current for Drake Park. Okay.
Speaker 4: And I just want to ensure I know our Willmore community has been concerned with some of the issues in the past. I know we've done a you know, we've we've gone a long way to improve those. So I just want to ensure that our current contractors are very well aware of this this maintenance program I'm seeing here , you know, brushing eight, air raiding, sweeping from 4 to 6 weeks, upwards of four months. So they're very well informed of this this process. And I just want to ensure that that's the case.
Speaker 2: And actually, that type of maintenance is covered in the contract that.
Speaker 0: We have with our construction contractor. So there isn't a timeframe that they will be.
Speaker 2: Maintaining it and performing those duties.
Speaker 0: Okay. Great.
Speaker 4: And what is the projection, if any, for saving water? Because I know that that's a huge issue and this would certainly save a significant amount of water. Do we know a percentage or.
Speaker 7: We can anecdotally look at.
Speaker 4: A turf field.
Speaker 5: Versus the synthetic. So an.
Speaker 0: Annual water usage.
Speaker 5: For it to keep a turf field as we would like.
Speaker 0: To keep it nice.
Speaker 5: And green would be anywhere from 900000.
Speaker 7: To 1.2 million.
Speaker 0: Gallons of water in a year.
Speaker 2: This synthetic turf, this is not an.
Speaker 0: Irrigated or.
Speaker 5: A.
Speaker 7: Field that has.
Speaker 0: Automatic irrigation in it, but it will need on occasion some watering down and some hosing off.
Speaker 5: And so that equates to anywhere from about 90000 to 120000 gallons.
Speaker 0: So it's a significant savings in water use per year.
Speaker 4: Okay, that's pretty great. And. Okay. And then in addition, I know we went from the discussion of Crumb Rubber and now we're at a discussion with this organic infill. What was how much more does it cost the city to go with this organic infill compared to the crumb rubber? Because I know there was a significant uptick in costs.
Speaker 6: Councilmember. We looked at different options from rubber, cork and sand and a coconut fiber material. There is an uptick in cost, but it was not significant between the crumb rubber. There's roughly a $300,000 charge for the turf field component, and we attribute about 100,000 for the organic versus the crumb rubber.
Speaker 4: Okay. Great. And I think those were all of my questions currently. I know I think some of my other colleagues may have some more questions, but I want to thank you. And I know many of my residents, I'll just reiterate, are very happy to see this. I know they'll still be questions and this really sets the tone for the rest of the city. But it's certainly a very good step in the right direction in terms of what we need to do for many of our parks. So thank you very much.
Speaker 5: I'm supportive of this project.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Austin.
Speaker 9: I want to, first of all, congratulate our Councilmember Gonzalez and her residents for getting a new park and having some greater opportunity for active recreation. I did have one question because I do see that this could be something that we move forward with in other areas of the city. What? How much? Or is there a benchmark or best practice for the use of court in seeing in other cities? Do we have any examples that we can look to? Today.
Speaker 6: Catherine Roston So we did reach out to Field Turf USA, which is the largest manufacturer of artificial turf material in in the U.S. They do have a number of cork and sand turf fields going in in Northern California and some scheduled in Southern California, but none currently are installed in Southern California. So we'll be one of the first.
Speaker 0: Councilman Andrews.
Speaker 10: Yes. I just want to congratulate Council Councilman. Woman You know, Lena, for this because the fact that you and I think it came in the right time, good time, because all our kids are really seriously so into soccer and this project here will really save us a lot of water to use. And also it'll help the kids who don't have a place to play and can be there from sunup to sundown. And that's a good slogan is, you know, high tide kids, a good kid. And this will really definitely keep them tired. Thank you very much of this project.
Speaker 0: Councilwoman Gonzalez. I mean, you're anger. I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: She can go first. No, thank you, Mayor. I want to congratulate the Parks Recreation Department for putting this forward as well, because they really did some research in trying to get the right type of artificial field out there where we have a couple of other projects in line. I know I have one in my in my district with Advocate Park. We're looking at the possibility of putting in an artificial turf out there for our soccer fields. And I know that if Councilmember Mongeau were here, she'd also say the same thing in terms of what the artificial turf is going to be going into her area as well. So I want to also add my congratulatory remarks to Councilmember Gonzales for being the first to put it out there, and at least it gives us an opportunity to evaluate it, look at it and see how tired the kids get and take it from there. So thank you very much. Thank you, staff.
Speaker 0: Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: Yes, and of course, I forgot a question. This is more related to the Pembridge house because they had been formally asking about parking areas for a near their their their property because of many events that they do. And so I don't know if that was worked into this plan at all or if that's even. This had been years ago that they'd been talking about this. I know they'd talked to Ora before when he was here, and I think George when he was here in the Parkside. But since we have two new directors, I'm expressing this on the dais now.
Speaker 0: And my understanding is it hasn't been contemplated within this design.
Speaker 5: But it's something that we can chat a little bit off line about and.
Speaker 0: See what the issues are and what their needs are and how that works.
Speaker 4: Thank you very much.
Speaker 6: I guess, Councilmember, I just add to that that this project does include a parking lot and there are walking paths that will allow you to walk from that lower level up to the upper level park, which is where the Bainbridge House is. So while it may not be adjacent to their property, certainly if they were going to have an event, somebody could park in that lower parking lot and walk up to that event at the Bainbridge House.
Speaker 4: Okay. Thank you. I saw the lot and I didn't know that it was I didn't know how far close it was. But that may help. But if there's additional information I get from them all, I'll chat with both of you offline. Thank you very much.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Council Councilmember Supernova.
Speaker 10: So my understanding is this hasn't been tested in in Southern California, this particular organic material. Do we have data from where it's been utilized in areas of the country with similar climate conditions, temperatures, etc.?
Speaker 6: Cancel membership or not, we do not have data. However, what we did do is extended warranty with the manufacturer. This field is fully warranted for eight years for full replacement. So if it fails in that time, we will have a for a new field replaced.
Speaker 10: Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Is there any member of the public that wishes to address Council on item 28? Please come forward.
Speaker 6: Good evening to this very esteemed council. I'm Pastor Eddie Jones, president of the Los Angeles Civil Rights Association. But I do own property in Long Beach. And my concern is, is that since this type of material has never been used, we want to make sure that it's held healthy, too, that it doesn't cause cancer or any other kind of sickness. And it's a good thing that kids like to play soccer, but. Kids also like to play football and basketball and. You know, other games. So I hope that this park is not only a soccer field and not only a place for soccer, but a place for basketball football. Whatever other games that you can think of, the kids can play outside of the park. And also I hope and pray that it has exercising apparatuses for other people who like to work on their cardiovascular system. And I hope it's. Safe Safety, which is number one in any city. Safety is a priority. So we hope that this will light it and that it can. Have a safe environment. That's the priority. So we know that the field has never been used anywhere else in the United States or anywhere else. But we just want to make sure that it doesn't do anything to affect anybody health wise, whether it's their heart, pituitary glands, lungs, whatever. We just want to make sure healthy is the priority safety and healthy. And also to most of all, I'm here tonight not only about the city council meeting for the park and everything, but also. The crime and the shooting they took place last night. So I'll wait till public comment, but very concerned and hopefully we can all work together to build these type of parks all over the city, Long Beach. And if we keep our kids busy, maybe we'll cut down on crime.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good evening. And Cantrell and I have bombarded your offices with questions about this, some of which have been. Answer today. I'm very much in favor of new soccer fields. I think the straight park is extension is a wonderful idea, but I still have some questions about. There's no mention of cost to install this field. Or any comparison to cost for property prepared for properly prepared natural grass fields. I'm assuming you didn't make that comparison because you're looking at saving water. Artificial. Fields do need water. Today it was stated that 90 to 120000 gallons would be needed for the artificial field. I was wondering, are you putting a sprinkler system under it? Which is what? The artificial turf field that I have seen in Hawaiian Gardens has a sprinkler system. Otherwise, you're watering the rest of the park. So this is just a small area that you're going to be saving water. I can't believe there's that much difference. There's no mention of washing these fields, which is necessary to wash off blood, vomit, sweat, dirt. And also there is no. Indication that you're going to fence this field. I have given each one of you a copy of a picture. This is at Hawaiian Gardens. You can see they have a fence around it. They have a full time recreation person standing guard at the soccer field, allowing only the soccer players and the coaches and the refs to go on to the field. The parents and people watching the games sit on bleachers. The players are not allowed to take any kind of sports drink food. All they can take is water because these fields are like a rug. If you spill sports drinks or gum or food on them, they have to be cleaned. Which is not what you have to do with grass. So since. There is no other place that you can see. One of these fields. Thank you, Miss Cantrell. Your time is up. I think you should make a lot of more questions about what's going in here. Thank you. Thank. There's been a motion. Oh, sorry. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Hi there. I think I am going to second the motion with that, Mr. Councilmember, and I was suggesting as it relates to some hard data. I am a former world class athlete that actually brought soccer to Long Beach. And one of the concerns that I have whenever you're playing on artificial surface and it hasn't been addressed by any information that I've been requesting, is a study on the injuries that takes place. It's been my experience and it's been documented in a few places. I, I actually spoke to the, uh, the guy, uh, at Catalina. He said that, uh, that he's aware that, uh, there's about three times greater injuries on artificial turf as it relates to serious injuries regarding ACL injuries. I've been asking, uh, both the Department of Public Works and the, uh, parks for information, and I haven't been getting anything from them. There's just been a complete lack of information regarding this this project. We have a lot of questions. I'm not going to get into all the details in a in a minute and a half, but none of them have been answered. One of the problems that we're having is that there's a trust issue that we have in the past regarding artificial turf as it relates to the parks. It's not with these people, but it has been persistent. Just the push for artificial turf, the wish for more durable material in the face of the fact that we may not even have those numbers to justify the, uh, the durability, the need for the durable surfaces. I'm just asking that that we can, if we can, um. I mean, things like price analysis, we have documentation, apparently that that tells us we chose this particular artificial surface over the others. But we've seen no technical analysis of that. The reason why we did this, that it's required by law is public law. We've been trying to get it and it's just we can't find it anywhere. Disinformation has to exist, but it's like a cover up. Nobody's giving us this information. It's backup information that we want to see that justifies the report. I'm not saying that they're lying or anything. We want to see where they base this stuff off of. What's the difference between durability and the warranty? There's a difference. I also used to be a government contractor, contracting officer. There's a lot of things that's missing. All I'm asking is that we delay this decision a bit so the public can get some information that they've been asking for as it relates to this. But otherwise, I love this park. It's a great thing. I just have a problem with the the artificial turf that we're looking for. And I do that. And we should compare it with grass, have some kind of a comparison and do that.
Speaker 0: Thank you.
Speaker 8: Very good you, Kirk, as the addressed when we start talking about sports that take place on terra firma. I know very little on water. Yes. But what I've heard here. Seems to me should rate should raise in any intelligent community some red flag sufficient enough to follow the advice that the people have made. And step back and take a take a look. There's going to be something for in so a few weeks more getting more information can only help the issue and not hurt it. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: I just want to thank the speakers today for their comments. I know that my Willmore community could not be here tonight because they have been currently going on right now as we speak. But in speaking with them, they they do remain supportive of this field and would like to go forward. So I ask that my council colleagues support this item. Thank you.
Speaker 0: And Q Members, cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 29 Report from Technology and Innovation Recommendation to award a contract to Long Beach Community Action Partnership for the Operation of Public Access Television in Long Beach in an amount equivalent to one third of the public, educational and government funds available each year citywide. | Contract | Recommendation to adopt Plans and Specifications No. R-7002 for the Drake/Chavez Soccer Fields and Greenbelt Project; award a contract to C.S. Legacy Construction, Inc., of Pomona, CA, in the amount of $2,491,377, and authorize a 15 percent contingency in the amount of $373,706, for a total contract amount not to exceed $2,865,083; authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any necessary amendments thereto; and accept and adopt Mitigated Negative Declaration No. 01-13. (District 1) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04192016_16-0343 | Speaker 0: And Q Members, cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 29 Report from Technology and Innovation Recommendation to award a contract to Long Beach Community Action Partnership for the Operation of Public Access Television in Long Beach in an amount equivalent to one third of the public, educational and government funds available each year citywide. Thank you, Councilman Austin.
Speaker 9: Yes. As you know, public access television returned to Long Beach just a few years ago and Long Beach Cap was a leader in making that happen. They have opened up their doors. They've educated many people on public access. They're running stories and current events of interest to our public on cable cable television frequently. And I'd like to just stand in support of renewing their contract and ask that you do the same.
Speaker 0: Now, Caitlin, we actually go to staff report accounts when you were actually. You.
Speaker 1: Well. Yeah, man. Yes. Thank you. I also want to lend my voice of support for this project. I mean, it's been a long time since we've really had a a good community access type of program out there, programing that you offer, Derek and I want to congratulate you on that and thank you for your support of the community. You try to be as comprehensive as possible in trying to get as many viewpoints in your programing as much as possible. And I'm really appreciative of that because it's a it provides a very important part of our communicating with our community. And the public access is one of those venues that really gives an opportunity for the community to get involved, to get engaged and to express their viewpoints. And you are out there taking taking that that reporting. So I'll be I'll be supporting the same.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Morgan. Yes.
Speaker 10: Yes. I just want to also commend you on that. Keep up the good work. You guys are doing a great job. Thank you.
Speaker 0: And I fail to ask for a staff report, so let me go ahead and do that.
Speaker 3: Thank you, vice mayor. We can provide that also. Before we get started, we'd also like to thank Derek Simpson and his whole group. We have a tremendous working relationship on the staff level and it's great to see this continue. So with that, Mr. Brian Stokes, our director of technical innovation, will give a brief staff report.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, Madam Vice Mayor and City Council before you as a recommendation to adopt the specifications and award of contract to Long Beach Community Action Partnership or L.B. Cab to operate the public television in Long Beach for a period of three years with an option to renew two additional one year periods at the discretion of the city manager. L.B. Capp has been operating the Public Access Digital Network or paid net since October 2011 and over the past five years, L.B. Cap and Paid Net has transitioned into a full service community media center and public access television station, a pattern that empowers our residents to create media to tell their own stories in Long Beach . And we're very pleased to have L.B. Capp in the city to provide these media services to our community. And that concludes my report.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Pryce.
Speaker 5: Thank you. I, too, want to thank the entire crew. I know that Councilwoman Gonzalez and Councilwoman Mango and I had the pleasure of being interviewed in one of the shows, and we really appreciated the opportunity to talk about some of the issues that we think are important to the community and to the youth, specifically women in public office and women running for office. I think those were really important issues, and above and beyond that, you do a lot of great work for the community and I'm really grateful to have you as our partner. So thank you.
Speaker 0: Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: I, too, want to thank you and congratulate you.
Speaker 5: You know, you've you've talked.
Speaker 4: About issues that some people don't like to touch, like poverty. And I think it's really important as as Councilman Price said and as others have said, that that you're taking on those topics and that you're really doing so with great passion, but very informative as well for the public. So thank you.
Speaker 0: Councilmember Super. Now.
Speaker 10: I just want to echo the comments of my colleagues. And I was interviewed all by myself, by Derek, and I was so impressed by his research. He knew more about me than myself. And also, thank you for all the other things you do in the community. It's really great.
Speaker 0: Great. Is there any member of the public that wish to come forward? Mr. Simpson.
Speaker 9: Good evening. Council members and staff. Derek Simpson, executive director of Long Beach Action Partnership. And Lisa Amico, who is director of our apartment operation. I just want to thank you on behalf of our board of directors and the staff and the community that we serve, which is all of your districts. We're really proud that we just opened up. That village is a real partner at satellite location. We're about to open up on an Eldorado park as soon as we get some tables squared away over there we are in the first district at the library. We're in the ninth district. So we're really trying to get these resources out to the community as best we can. The one thing that we would like to ask of you tonight as well is to encourage your constituents to become members of partner, because it's your stories within your district that can really make this a greater resource for the community. I was quoted in the paper when we first got this contract of saying that the regional media only comes to Long Beach for murder and mayhem, and right below the fold was all the regional media for a big arson issue. And so we want to use this as an opportunity to tell all the positive news about our community as well, to give a balance for what goes on in our community. And we think we're working hard towards that, but we can't do it without you. And we appreciate all the support. And I would like to say to you, Vice Mayor, before you get out of office, I'd love to get to interview you as well to talk about your legacy while you've been here and Councilman Andrews, since you've made history here. We've got to get you on. All of you have been on Pat and Adam one way or another, but I've not had the honor of actually sitting down with you, so I'd love to do that with both of you. And I'd like to allow Lisa to say a few words as well.
Speaker 0: I just want to thank the Council very much for your support of public access. Not all of our colleagues nationwide enjoy such support from their city council. For colleagues, I know this would be a much more stressful situation with a lot of people in support. And it's just it's so wonderful that the Long Beach City Council really recognizes the value to this community. And that's why I believe we are still the only station, public access station to come back after the passage of DeLuca. I don't know of any other one in California.
Speaker 4: That's come back after 50 of.
Speaker 0: Them closed. So thank you so much for your support. And we look forward to just continuing to do our best. Thank you.
Speaker 9: A special shout out to Dennis. Thank you so much for stepping in and taking over after Dean Smith's retirement. He's been great city staff. We have that great working relationship and I look forward to some big things from partner TV. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. It's an emotion and a second. Members, cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 30 Report from Economic and Property Development, Development Services, Financial Management, Library Services, Parks, Recreation and Marine and Public Works. Recommendation to declare ordnance making findings and determinations regarding contracting for work usually performed by city employees and authorizing the city manager to | Contract | Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP TI 16-041 and award a contract to Long Beach Community Action Partnership, of Long Beach, CA, for the operation of Public Access television in Long Beach, in an amount equivalent to one-third of the Public, Educational and Government funds available each year, for a period of three years, with the option to renew for two additional one-year periods; and authorize City Manager, or designee, to enter into the agreement, including any necessary amendments thereto regarding the term and/or scope of services. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04192016_15-1313 | Speaker 0: Thank you. It's an emotion and a second. Members, cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 30 Report from Economic and Property Development, Development Services, Financial Management, Library Services, Parks, Recreation and Marine and Public Works. Recommendation to declare ordnance making findings and determinations regarding contracting for work usually performed by city employees and authorizing the city manager to enter a contract with Plenary Edge. More civic partners for custodial maintenance and Security Services read and adopted as read citywide. Mr. Modica. Staff report.
Speaker 1: Vice Mayor, members of the council, this is for you. Tonight is the second reading of the Prop l ordinance relating to the new Civic Center. So it includes the changes as made at the original reading, and it was delayed in coming back to you as the negotiations had continued with the IAM. And so it is before you tonight as this is the last council date prior to the deadline.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilman Price.
Speaker 5: I have no comment on this.
Speaker 0: Councilman Austin.
Speaker 9: I'd like to hear public comment.
Speaker 0: Sure. Is there any member of the public that wish to address the Council on item 30? Please come forward. State your name.
Speaker 1: Good evening. Members of the council, Richard Suarez representing the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. This evening, the city manager asks you to violate the MBA, the Myers Melius Brown Act. The IAM has a simple request that the Council does not break the law. And item 30 of the agenda. The city manager recommends that the council approve the property ordinance and execute a project agreement. The City Council must refuse to do this because it is illegal. The parties have not concluded bargaining over the contracting out of I am representative bargaining unit work relative to the Civic Center project. Indeed, the parties just completed a fact finding hearing last Friday on April 15th. And the fact finder will issue his report no later than May 6th of 2016. The AM is hopeful that the Fact Finders Report will provide critical assistance in bringing the parties to a mutually agreeable resolution of the Civic Center project. Contracting out the council should not terminate bargaining before the Fact Finders report is issued. In addition, under section 30 505.7 of the Government Code, the Council must hold a hearing on the Fact Finders report before it can implement the city's last best than final offer. Accordingly, if the city council takes action recommended in Agenda Number 30, the city will violate the MBA. The AM therefore demands that the city remove item 30 from today's City Council agenda. Furthermore, it must be pointed out that the proposal study is flawed. It is not cheaper to contract out. The report has intentionally inflated the cost of city provided services to make chases bid seem cheaper. The Council should order an objective, fair, properly study to be prepared. We've met several times over this issue and when we were at an impasse, we followed the law and the law said we go to a fact finder, which for all intents and purposes is a neutral. And this individual last Friday heard. For me, and it heard from the folks representing the city's position. As most times when a neutral is involved, he or she is afforded a certain reasonable amount of time to render a decision. This is the process. Invoking this agreement today violates that process. So we are simply asking that we continue the process and see what the fact finder has to say. And then based on that. The charter, I believe, based on the information that has been given to me, allows you, the council, to then take a vote on that decision. That's all we're asking you to do. Thank you for your time.
Speaker 0: Thank you.
Speaker 8: Very good. You see, Jess, just so I understand it, what we're talking about is maintenance. And the building that is going to drive us, everybody realizes we'll drive as further down the road to bankruptcy is. That's what we're talking about, right? So taking a few more weeks to study it. Really? He's not going to. Impacted. It may, hopefully. Slow us down that road to bankruptcy. So I would suggest. Stepping back. Listening to what was just. Imparted to by certainly one more knowledgeable on the subject than me. I don't know what the hurry is to. Go down that path of bankruptcy. But give it some thought, please.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Austin.
Speaker 9: It's just a really quick question for our staff regarding the bargaining process. How many bargaining sessions do we have on this particular matter with the.
Speaker 3: I believe we've had in excess of 12.
Speaker 9: And since when?
Speaker 3: Since I think we originally started the prop l process and the request for bargaining back in September, I believe, of 2014 2015. We did negotiations and meet and confer in December all the way through and through the last several months.
Speaker 9: Okay. And in terms of the mentioned fact finding, why were we, in fact finding.
Speaker 3: There is a provision in state law that once you reach impasse, there is the ability to go to a fact finding process.
Speaker 9: So can you explain to the public listening what impact path actually means?
Speaker 3: Sure. For that level of specificity, I'll have Alex Vasquez give a overview of the fact finding process.
Speaker 0: So essentially the fact finding process involves fact finding a panel, a neutral, a representative by the union and represented by city. Each side presents their case and the decision comes back before the council to take into consideration.
Speaker 9: So. So impasse means that after 12 bargaining sessions, we weren't able to reach an agreement?
Speaker 0: That's correct.
Speaker 9: Mr. Modica, is there any sort of financial implications toward regarding this particular entering into this agreement?
Speaker 3: There are. And I'd also like to add a little bit of history is we originally had some bargaining sessions or some meet and confer prior to the vote to get council direction to it, to move forward December 15th. We actually then took additional time to go back to the table and to do additional negotiations and did that throughout January, end of February before reaching impasse. We did notify our partners the IAM that on on January 28 that we had a hard deadline in order to, you know, that we had to make a decision at the end of April in order to keep forward and keep the pricing that we had secured for this project. Otherwise it would be a significant increase in price. And we had we also implemented what was called an early works agreement in order to secure additional time to try to reach agreement. So given all those factors, we do expect, A, that if we do not close by the end of this year and, you know, by the end of April that there will be significant increases in price in terms of interest rate fluctuation. And the contract that we have with our partner will.
Speaker 9: And a significant increase in cost for a civic center does not serve anybody's interest. Our city employees or the city or the taxpayers of the city of Long Beach at all. I do want to just raise my concern, and I think I raised it here several months ago when we were talking about moving forward with the Civic Center Project Project and particularly the the operations and maintenance component of this regarding a number of city employees who were subject to potentially being displaced. And I think the city council made a a I think most of us made it made it very clear that we did not want to see any of our city employees, existing city employees, lose their jobs as a result of this. Was that communicated at the bargaining table?
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 1: And if I may add, Councilmember Section four of the Prop L finding this evening states that city employees who whole classifications identified in the Appendix C of the Prop L study who are assigned to the Civic Center facility, shall not be reduced in our position, duties or compensation as a result of the execution of this contract.
Speaker 3: So we have a very firm commitment. Not only did through this process, we add back in the security officers, which were originally contemplated in the prop l, but that was the council decided to keep the security officers in the building. That's included in tonight's action, as well as that commitment that none of the affected employees and I believe there are eight would would be impacted in any way. They would absolutely have a job with the city.
Speaker 9: All right. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: Yes. Thank you. I think my question was Councilmember L Austin's last question. I just wanted to reiterate the fact that no employees currently will be reduced in hours, positions, duties, etc., in this realm. I know we had a few facilities maintenance employees who came to my office directly and who weren't hearing information from any side. And so I understand that there's negotiations going on, but, you know, this is their livelihood. So I want to make sure that this is, you know, addressed. And I see that here. So thank you for answering the question. I appreciate it.
Speaker 0: Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 5: Thank you. I want to follow up on some comments that were made by Mr. Suarez regarding legal procedures and aspects. It's my understanding, based on the item, as I as I've read it and reviewed it, that the recommendation by staff is to move forward tonight. And that's based on input from the city attorney, is that correct?
Speaker 1: Vice Members of Counsel That is correct. The firm has created an exception to the requirement of exhausting the fact finding process, and we discussed that within the bargaining unit with the city under operational necessity. And I think some of the comments made by the Assistant City Manager and our communications to the AM regarding the hard date and the fixed deadlines and the consequences of missing that date, meet the requirement of the operational necessity.
Speaker 5: And what are some of the consequences associated with the city missing that date?
Speaker 1: Some of those would include and I'll let somebody else maybe answer that has more. But a fixed price proposal would expire. The city would need to renegotiate the proposal and significant possible increases in the cost. The city could incur termination penalties and lose the value of the moneys expended. Regarding the design. It jeopardizes the project due to the fiscal constraints and all that. Mr. Conway.
Speaker 6: I think in addition to the financial impacts relative to a delay.
Speaker 8: To a project, there is also.
Speaker 6: The, I think, safety impacts in delaying the.
Speaker 9: Project as well.
Speaker 8: This is our fastest process to.
Speaker 6: Bringing a safe facility to the city.
Speaker 8: For its staff and its visitors. And any delay to that process.
Speaker 9: I think exposes us to potential liability.
Speaker 5: Great. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Members, please cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. When a new business we have item 31 communication from Councilman Andrews, Councilwoman Price and councilmember super non recommendation to direct the city manager to support Senate Concurrent Resolution one or two, which would name the Los Alamitos Bay Bridge or any | Ordinance | Recommendation to declare ordinance making findings and determinations regarding contracting for work usually performed by City employees and authorizing City Manager to enter a contract with Plenary Edgemoor Civic Partners, LLC, for custodial, maintenance and security services, read and adopted as read. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04052016_16-0286 | Speaker 0: Okay. We're going to go into we have a hearing, so let's go and do our hearing first and then we'll go right into public comment. So, Madam Court.
Speaker 1: Report from Financial Management Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing and adopt resolution amending the master fee and charges schedule citywide wide.
Speaker 0: Mr. Modica.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Members of the Council. The staff report we're given by Lia Eriksson, our assistant director of Finance.
Speaker 4: Good evening, Mayor, and members.
Speaker 7: Of city council. City Council's approval.
Speaker 4: Is being requested for the second quarter changes to the master fee and charges schedule. These fee changes are identified in attachment eight to the City Council letter for the second quarter adjustment process.
Speaker 7: Five departments have proposed a total of.
Speaker 4: 43 fee changes to the schedule, along with 14 fee deletions. The Master be in charge. His schedule is.
Speaker 7: Updated at least twice a year and it's allowing departments to meet city council stated policy on user fees, which calls for full cost recovery whenever appropriate. City Council last approved an amended master fee in charge of schedule.
Speaker 4: As part of the FY16 budget process.
Speaker 7: Some examples of the fee changes included in.
Speaker 4: Includes a change in fire inspection fees to reach full cost recovery.
Speaker 7: And increase in the fee for expedited copies.
Speaker 4: Of birth certificates, which is an optional.
Speaker 7: Service available to help department.
Speaker 4: Customers and an increase in the.
Speaker 7: Private hauler tip fee at the surface. In order to continue continue to charge market rates and get closer to full cost recovery.
Speaker 4: The full list of fee changes and deletions is available in attachment to the Council letter. This concludes my staff report and department representatives are here to answer.
Speaker 7: Any specific questions you may have on.
Speaker 4: The proposed fee changes.
Speaker 0: Okay. Let me go go into public comment. Any public comment on this item? Please come forward.
Speaker 8: Very good. You click as the address. I have a problem with charging the non not for profit paradigms that work out of the row out of the Archer Rowing Center. The same rates as you charge commercial operations and those charges go to the very good. We could get tremendous support from the Marine patrols and in previous years, we never had to pay. For the at a commercial rate, and I would suggest the council revisit that. Again, we're talking only about the events that are the not for profit high school and junior high kids and Cal State. And if you go back and look at that, I think you'll find it a rather ludicrous charge that these nonprofits, the same way we do commercial, i.e. people doing filming or other projects that are commercial enterprise and so very commercial in nature. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Any of the public comment can get a close up the public comment and go back to deliberation from the council. So start off with I have a motion in a second. Councilman Richardson Knope. Okay. Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 7: I think that there is some great, great and creative things in in the fee schedule. There was a specific item in the airport section about the legend's restaurant and potentially renting it out. I've had some questions with city staff and there's some questions from the community. So at this time, what I'd like to request to get some refinement and make sure that we know what we're doing on all the airport related fees. If we could pull those out and bring those back in six months once we have some more details. If the maker of the motion is open to that, I'm the secondary, so I would definitely be open to that. And I think it would give us an opportunity to ensure that we have some clear footing and understanding of.
Speaker 4: The dialog.
Speaker 7: Of the memo.
Speaker 3: Councilmember I don't have any issues with it, but I do want to hear, since you referenced that staff raise that concern, I do want to hear from staff if there are any challenge with that.
Speaker 7: So I think that the challenge was in the transition from Bryant to our interim director that maybe we hadn't gotten information out to the community.
Speaker 8: I think.
Speaker 6: That's true. So we are totally okay with this motion. I would.
Speaker 0: Like to clarify that I.
Speaker 5: Hope would only impact the new fees, not the.
Speaker 7: Correct. So anything in place now let's keep it. If there's a new fee or an adjustment of fees, let's make sure we get that out into the community and then at that time, bring it back with the next fee schedule revision. Absolutely. Thank you. Great.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzales.
Speaker 4: Thank you. Yeah, I think we have been a little bit more mindful in what we can do here. I have a couple of questions. I know in here we had addressed a parking meter fees and I believe there was a number of $2. And what was that number exactly? Because I saw the Belmont Shore area was $0.75 and then there was $2 for.
Speaker 5: The $2 is in the pike. And that's what we had already established in the park. So no new parking fees are being changed or proposed as part of the master fees and charges.
Speaker 4: Perfect. I just wanted to clarify that. And then as far as the street lighting in the polls are the street lighting. I guess my question was just to clarify that a little bit. So it would be the the adding the lighting and then the wattage as well would be two different fees, is that correct?
Speaker 1: Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: Based on the wattage, there would be one.
Speaker 7: Fee that and so the cheapest one would be.
Speaker 4: $1,955. And that includes ten years of electricity costs based on the.
Speaker 7: Size of the wattage. And it would.
Speaker 4: Range up to $2,971 for the highest wattage.
Speaker 7: Fixture. And you would pay once for.
Speaker 1: The installation of the light.
Speaker 4: And the ten years of energy cost. And this is still something the council offices can pay for, in addition to any residents that want to pay for it as well. That is correct. Okay, perfect. Thank you very much.
Speaker 0: Councilmember Durango.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Mayor. In regards to back to the parking meters, is there a. Need or requirement to charge parking on Sundays. Do we do we charge on Sunday?
Speaker 5: We do. I believe in certain areas, but not in others.
Speaker 6: I received a couple of complaints from my from some of my residents in regards to Easter Sunday when they parked downtown. And they were they got a ticket for parking in a parking meter on Easter Sunday. Just wondering if if we have a part of the ordinance requires. No, no, no. Charging on holidays and weekends, some weekends. Could we look at maybe not charging on Easter Sunday?
Speaker 5: So actually, I can't remember. We used to not charge on certain Sundays and now citywide we do charge on Sundays. We actually, in the municipal code have a list of certain holidays that are considered official city holidays that we do not charge on Easter is not one of those that the city council has in the past defined as a as a city holiday. So that's something that the city could do through an ordinance change, obviously, with the addition of the city attorney. And then there would just be a revenue impact for doing that. But we try very, very hard to explain that to people. It's been much better now that we can actually write it on the meter itself. We did have a number of of miscommunication with people who believe that that was a city holiday who did not get that information.
Speaker 6: So we're going to look into it and report back in terms of whether it be possible or not. I know we're not supposed to mix religion and state affairs, but I think it would be worth at least studying it.
Speaker 5: Certainly, we can look at that.
Speaker 6: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Councilman. Super or not.
Speaker 5: Thank you. I just have a question for staff and maybe Lisa Erickson can can quantify this a little bit. My understanding was and we we installed a light on an existing pole for 20 $500. Okay. And that's that's a great service we can offer. My understanding as of yesterday that he would go up to 40 $100 because we're going to accommodate the cost of electricity. The numbers you just quoted earlier, I don't think we're in line with that. Or maybe I'm just not hearing them. Right.
Speaker 7: So actually.
Speaker 4: The yeah, it does look like the, the rate the.
Speaker 7: Requested, um, well the cost. We decided, I think that 40 $100 number might have been a 20.
Speaker 1: Year number and we went down to ten years. And so it is cheaper than what might have been cited. We chose not.
Speaker 5: To. You just answered it. Thank you very much.
Speaker 0: Okay. Seeing no other council comment. Councilman Mongo, I think has a. You've made your requests already to remove those those fees from the airport. So we've made a note of that. Members, please, going to cast your vote.
Speaker 1: Motion carries.
Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. So moving on to public comment over the first three speakers can come up, please. Uh, I have I think it's Herman Castellanos. I think that says LaShawn Browne and Carmen Collier. Please come forward. | Resolution | Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing and adopt resolution amending the Master Fee and Charges Schedule. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04052016_16-0314 | Speaker 0: Great now that we have just gone through through consent. So we are on to the regular agenda. We're going to let's go ahead, take item 16/1, please. Madam Clerk.
Speaker 1: Item 16. Communication from Mayor Garcia. Recommendation to request the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance for an updated city of Long Beach job order contracting program and return to the City Council for review in 45 days.
Speaker 0: Great. Thank you. You have a request in front of you. I've been working our offices and working closely with our city auditor is a city auditor's office on our Jose contracting program. This is a program that is used by the city, as we all know, for a variety of smaller construction projects like roof repairs, doorway replacements, other parking improvements. A lot of these programs that are that are in place have ordinances tied to these programs. So we wanted to make sure that there was also an ordinance and a legal framework for for this program, so that we're always improving it and making sure that we're always providing the the best possible program that's transparent and that is also uses best practices. So that's what we have in front of us. And with that, if I can get a motion in a second, there's is there any public comment on this item? See no public comment. Members, please go ahead and ancaster votes.
Speaker 2: Can I speak? Yes. First, I just wanted to like to commend the mayor for bringing this item forward. This is a good legislation and it simplifies JLC process while creating more transparency. This is a wonderful legislation. Thank you, Mayor.
Speaker 0: Thank you. And Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 4: I too. I just wanted to thank our mayor, as well as our city auditor, for coming up with a very mindful approach. And so I appreciate this and thank you very much.
Speaker 0: Great. Thank you. Members, please go ahead and cast your vote.
Speaker 1: Motion carries.
Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. And I want to I just want to make sure also, we took a moment, our city auditor, who was very instrumental in this also today, and her team won an award that we probably all heard about that we read about in the newspaper. So let's congratulate Laura and give her a round of applause and her team as well. I believe it was a it was an award just in there from a pretty prestigious, pretty prestigious award that looks at audits. And it was one that was focused here, here for us, for our city to make obviously, obviously continuously improve our operations here. So thank you, Laura, for for that work. Next item is go to the regular agenda, which I believe is number ten. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare an ordinance for an updated City of Long Beach Job Order Contracting Program and return to City Council for review in 45 days. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04052016_16-0296 | Speaker 0: Okay. Next item, please.
Speaker 1: Report from economic and Property Development recommendation to receive and file a report on a proposed transient transient occupancy tax incentive program citywide.
Speaker 0: Mr. West.
Speaker 5: Mr. Mayor, council members, this is something we've been working on.
Speaker 6: For some time and we can bounce it off the city council. It has to.
Speaker 8: Do with the the.
Speaker 6: Distribution of some of our successor.
Speaker 5: Agency properties to potential hotels.
Speaker 6: Our assistant city manager, Tom Morgan.
Speaker 5: Is going to walk us through the proposal. Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Mr. Mayor. Members of the City Council. As the city manager, city manager mentioned, we are looking to give you an update on a proposed transit occupancy tax incentive program. For a long time, the city has had a very successful program for our retail sales tax, where we partner with our local businesses to grow business and also to grow city tax revenue through that program. That typically is a program where we agree to share a certain amount of sales tax over about a 15 year period in order to help grow the business and grow our sales tax at the same time. And it's been very successful with auto dealerships and a number of others. What we'd like to do is we'd like to, after looking at the market and seeing where hotel development is and looking at what a lot of our neighbors are doing in order to incentivize additional hotel development in our city, we are proposing to do a total incentive program, very similar to the sales tax rebate program in general. This program would utilize future TOT from a hotel project and contribute to the project cash flows, increasing the project's return on investment and making the project financially feasible with the goal of increasing this industry and also receiving additional total money for the city. This program would be available to new hotels with desired locations, design and operational characteristics. We would look at a minimum of 100 hotel rooms, a minimum total generation of $500,000, and we'd have to have an identified financial gap. The amount of the total to be shared would be would not exceed 50% of the net incremental growth, and it would expire upon reaching the agreed upon limit of city participation. So tonight, we're not asking for any action. We're essentially asking, you know, for you to receive and file an update. We are also going to be coming back. We're going to be certainly doing a pretty complex study to really look at the hotel market need and the gap and the general type and characteristics of those gaps. We'll be coming back with an analysis that identifies the location, design and operational characteristics of hotels that are more likely that are the likely ones to meet our city goals and encourages economic development. And we'll also be looking at other cities and their approaches to this market. With that, we expect to be back in in a couple of months and we stand by to answer any questions.
Speaker 0: Great. Thank you. I know that obviously any any sort of changes or any big policy decision will be made by the council once all the information is presented in a few months from now. Is that correct?
Speaker 5: Correct. We'd be looking for you to come back and actually establish the program similar to what we've done with the sales tax.
Speaker 0: Great. Thank you. Council. I'm sorry. Actually, we have a motion in a second. Let me first go through any public comment. No public comment. Councilman Richardson, any comments?
Speaker 3: Sure. I think this is it's smart and I think it puts us on par with other, larger cities. And I love that where, you know, we're potentially going to consider, you know, labor, peace and all those things with hotels over a hundred rooms. I look forward to seeing more. But at first glance, I think this is the good. This is good work on behalf of our city staff. Thanks.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilman Andrews, anything on your second note, Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 7: Thank you. I appreciate that. The city's gonna look at this from a very study based approach. I know that we've had some properties that have come up where people ask if it would be a good site for a hotel. We've had new hotels join the fifth District. And so with that, it's usually a call to other hotel owners or managers and or Steve Gooding at the CVB to kind of talk through those things. So I will appreciate the empirical data. I'll also appreciate that we continue to appreciate the hotels that are bringing in the total tax and make sure that they're on level playing field with any new competitor in the market to make sure that we all stand united, to bring the biggest conferences here and to bring the best.
Speaker 1: Opportunities for all of those.
Speaker 7: Organizations to the city. So thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman. Super not.
Speaker 5: Just a follow up on Councilwoman Mungo's statement, and it may be part of the study. Mr. MODICA You can address this. It may be in there already, but just the that we're going to analyze the existing hotels. And I'd say this about any industry, even auto dealerships that we don't create incentives that are favor the new folks more than the existing discounts. Remember, we're very much aware of that. And that's something we do want to look at. We are at this point looking at new construction, but we are very cognizant of what that type of incentive program does to other businesses. And we'll definitely be looking at that.
Speaker 0: Okay. See no other public I see no other council comment on this. Again, this is just to receive and file members. Please cast your vote. I did public comment.
Speaker 1: Councilwoman Pryce. Motion carries. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to receive and file a report on a proposed Transient Occupancy Tax Incentive Program. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04052016_16-0292 | Speaker 0: Okay. Next item, please.
Speaker 1: Report from Library Services recommendation to execute a vehicle donation agreement with the Long Beach Public Library Foundation to accept the donation of a 2016 Ford Transit van to be used as a mobile studio city wide.
Speaker 0: Okay. Councilman Richardson.
Speaker 3: Sounds like a lot of fun to look forward to seeing the movie studio.
Speaker 7: Councilman Mongo excited to add the asset to our city, a set of great resources for our community.
Speaker 0: There's a motion in a second. I know we have some council members. Is there any public comment? No public comment. Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 4: I'm also very, very excited that the Library Foundation and the city can work together to bring library services to, you know, all parts of the city. It's very exciting, especially so learning that these kids will be involved in steam. So very exciting. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Councilman Durango.
Speaker 6: Glad to add this to our library assets and being library month. Good job.
Speaker 0: Okay. Members. Bruce Gordon Castro votes.
Speaker 1: Motion carries. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute a Vehicle Donation Agreement with the Long Beach Public Library Foundation, to accept the donation of a 2016 Ford Transit Van to be used as a Mobile Studio. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04052016_16-0297 | Speaker 0: Out a 14.
Speaker 1: Report from Parks, Recreation and Marine recommendation to amend contracts with Aztec Landscape and merchants. Landscape services for grounds maintenance services for an aggregate annual amount not to exceed 3.8 million citywide.
Speaker 0: Caleb Andrews. Okay. Say a council member. You, Ringo.
Speaker 6: You want to pronounce that company again?
Speaker 1: Azteca.
Speaker 6: Okay. Thank you. Very good.
Speaker 0: Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 7: Just as a point of clarification, I noticed in the documentation that this is our third and final extension. Could you talk a little bit about the RFP process or the bid process that's come in and what that timeline looks like?
Speaker 6: Marie Knight.
Speaker 4: Good evening, Honorable Mayor. Members of the City Council. The item before you tonight is to amend contracts with the city's two grounds maintenance service contractors as landscape and merchant landscape services. Specifically, the department is seeking approval to increase the contract authority for both of these firms in an amount not to exceed $710,068 to account for maintenance needs at newly added or improved street medians, parks, dog.
Speaker 7: Parks.
Speaker 4: And other open spaces that have been added since the contract was originally approved by the City Council in September of 2013. The Department is excited to have added or improve such facilities as Baker, Minnie Park, Chaddock Field, Jackson Street and El Dorado Dog Parks, South Street, Medians, Mother's Beach parking lot and around the Belmont temporary pool facility
Speaker 7: . Just to name a few. Additionally.
Speaker 4: As part of the increase in the contract authority, the Department is requesting a 10% contingency to address any future park or street medium projects that would require grounds maintenance services in the future. And finally, there are.
Speaker 7: Several locations.
Speaker 4: That are being removed.
Speaker 7: From the scope of the work.
Speaker 4: Where the contractors are no longer providing service. This is the last year of our contract, so we will begin the RFP process and I'm going to.
Speaker 7: Ask Steve to go through that.
Speaker 6: Honorable Mayor, Members of the City Council. That is correct. The contract will be ending at the end of next year. So staff right now is already developing the bid specifications and service levels for the 190 plus locations that we have identified as part of this contract. So we expect to be doing that over the next few months with the kind of bid package development later this summer.
Speaker 7: So I just want to be mindful that while I appreciate there are adjustments that can be made to the scope of work, I, I really hear from the community members that are using our parks that we need to write into these contracts, incentives and penalties for the contractor when they don't behave. For example, the other day are and I know Steve's aware of this, we've it's actually a little bit further ago now, but before Christmas, we spent a considerable amount of money repairing some of our parks. And then it took a truck during maintenance, just drove right through it and caused some issues. And those workers and or the company need to take responsibility for those areas and or know what we're doing. And so if not with this scope of work, if possible, I would like them added immediately. If not, I will be very, very adamant that they need to be added to the new RFP process because if there are not incentives, then they're at least needs to be penalties. But I would prefer an even playing field to make sure that our parks maintain themselves as Premier Parks in the country. So thank you.
Speaker 0: Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 4: I think Councilman Mungo brings up a good point. I think while our department does such an amazing job, I think we have had issues in the past with our maintenance. And so I would just kind of piggyback to what she's saying is to ensure that we're I'm sure we're being very clear with them as to the standards that we'd like to keep up. But just to ensure that that sentiment continues forward, especially with these new extensions. So thank you.
Speaker 0: Okay. Councilman Richardson.
Speaker 3: I actually want to echo Councilmember Gonzalez. I know that, you know, they have a lot of work to do. But I've seen instances where, you know, we go and we trim it and we trim, trim, trim and maintain so deeply that we ruin, you know, the landscaping in the medians. So I want to make sure that while we are expanding it, we're being reasonable in terms of what we're asking them to do so that we get quality public service, our residents get a quality service out of the deal. So I would just add that.
Speaker 0: Councilman Rango.
Speaker 7: Thank you. I appreciate the comments of my colleagues. And I also wanted to put a formal thank you out there and a welcome to you for coming on board. We're excited to have you. Again, thank you to Steve Scott for all the work you've done and props to Hurley for all that you've done in the intermediary steps of ensuring that we have those good relationships not only with the contractor, but also in the places where volunteers were able to step up and work together to improve the parks program. Last year, I think you did a phenomenal job. The community and my staff just acclaim and say all of your praises. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. There is a motion and a second member. Please go ahead and cast. I'm sorry. What do we do? We didn't do a public comment on this. Public comment? Okay. Members Frisco and Castro votes.
Speaker 1: Motion carries. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute all documents necessary to amend Contract No. 33071 with Azteca Landscape, Inc., of Ontario, CA, and Contract No. 33259 with Merchants Landscape Services, Inc., of Santa Ana, CA, for grounds maintenance services, increasing the aggregate annual contract amount by $358,674, for a total annual amount of $3,513,938; authorize a 10 percent contingency in the amount of $351,394, for an aggregate annual amount not to exceed $3,865,332; and execute any necessary future amendments thereto, provided that the aggregate total amount of contract authority is not exceeded. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_04052016_16-0315 | Speaker 2: Okay. Item 17. We've done 16. Have we?
Speaker 1: That's correct.
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 1: Items item 17. Communication from Councilman Andrews Andrew's recommendation to approve the use of Sixth Council District Fiscal Year 2015. One time infrastructure funds in the amount of $11,444 to fund the city of Long Beach costs. That includes public safety for the 10th annual Cambodian New Year parade.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I myself. I was you. There's a slogan. And we always have heard of where you were. Young or old. You know, Abraham Lincoln said, you know, and the best one is said is a house divided cannot stand. And we all stand by a Cambodian community. You know, there's a parade. It's the 10th year. And we definitely need all the help from all our, you know, community and our constituents and mostly on the diocese. You know, we got the fact that they put something together that was a long time coming. And I would just hope that most of our colleagues here would be a part of it. And I would just like to let the Cambodian community know that we are behind you and hope that you do the right thing in order to make sure that we keep our Cambodian parade, you know, as active involved as it has been for the last ten years. Thank you so. Oh, good. Is there any more comments? From the diocese examined comments from the public. Public comment. I see. No. Vote on. I'm a yes.
Speaker 1: Motion carries.
Speaker 2: Item 18. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to approve the use of Sixth Council District Fiscal Year 2015 one-time infrastructure funds in the amount of $ $11,444.03 to fund the City of Long Beach cost that includes public safety for the 10th Annual Cambodian New Year Parade in the Sixth and Fourth Council District. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03222016_16-0122 | Speaker 2: I don't. 14. Report from Public Works and Financial Management. Recommendation to award a contract to Waste Management for recyclable collection services in an annual amount not to exceed 3.5 million citywide.
Speaker 0: Okay. Mr. West.
Speaker 7: Mayor, council members. Over the past few weeks, there's been a huge amount of misinformation provided about the procurement process with regards to the recycling RFP, which we have attempted to correct. Each of the four firms have a financial benefit from securing this contract, so it is natural that they will be doing everything possible to secure the award for their company. This is a very common practice in California and throughout the nation. Recycling and trash procurement is one of the most competitive procurement processes any city can undertake. In large part due to the length of the contract period and the large costs of providing the service. Recognizing early on that the procurement process for recyclable collection services would be a high profile, sensitive one. City staff hired H, F and H, an independent consulting firm, highly regarded industry expert in refuse collection and recycling procurement. Their role was to lead us through this process from creation of the scope of work of the RFP to the evaluation of the proposals. An RFP procurement process was selected to find the best value for the city, which includes a number of criteria affecting the service, including implementation, cost, revenue to the city, potential disruption of services and service reputation. H.f. and H is an expert in compiling various proposals and comparing apples to apples. As in many cases, firms will have varying benefits or costs in their proposal. They are highly respected for their expertize transparency and independent analysis. HFA and H has served over 300 public agencies and managed over 70 competitive procurements. In fact, each of the four firms we considered has each used the H, F and H forms and bidding process in the past, and each has won under that process. In summary, city staff has taken all the necessary steps to conduct a transparent procurement process by hiring a chef and H. A highly regarded and reputable independent consulting firm. However, since questions have been raised and with the memorandum from the city auditor stating that she has concerns based on the issues discussed at the March 8th meeting, I feel the best approach at this point is to reject all proposals, rebid the contract and request new proposals. We need to ensure the issues raised are properly reviewed and addressed. If they prove to be factual. To respond to that request to the request of the auditor. I will be engaging in an independent. I will be engaging an independent financial firm to review the concerns and have input from both the city auditor and city attorney. The city auditor and the city attorney will have the ability for complete input into this review, and the result will be a report to the City Council on its findings within 30 days. There are improvements that can be made in any process. Improvements recommended by the review would be incorporated into the rebid process. The study scope would include the following a review of all written protests and comments and a review of all verbal allegations made at City Council made at City Council by vendors. A review of RFP forms as to whether they were confusing or otherwise problematic. A review of the information submitted by proposals and whether that information was properly utilized. A review of basic steps in the RFP process, including the request for additional information and including the role of the consultant use. The firm will be able to talk to anyone they wish and will get input from the auditor and the city attorney and the draft results will be reviewed by them. Finally, I do need to point out that any option other than awarding the contract to Waste Management will necessitate. We negotiate with Waste Management to provide interim recycling collection services while we perform the review and new procurement process. Their contract with the city expires in June 2016 and has to be renegotiated before it can be extended. We will engage in those negotiations immediately and return to the City Council with a recommendation. Thank you. This concludes my report. HLN is here tonight and is available to answer any questions anybody might have.
Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. There's a there's a motion any second. I'm going to start with Councilman Richardson.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So so, first of all, thank you, Mr. West, for for this report and for keeping us up to speed on this. And thank you, City Auditor Dowd, for the memo. I did get a chance to take a look at it. And so I have seen the questions that have been raised from different parties in particular, and and now this this memo from our city auditor. So I do see what prompted this new recommendation from our city manager. As I see it and as I've been following this, it looks like there's, you know, three options that have been placed on the table. On the table. The first was the first staff recommendation, which is what's actually on the agenda tonight to approve this contract. Then there's the second staff recommendation, which is to conduct the third party review while running concurrently through a new bid process. And my understanding is that that still would require us to go back to the the agency that has the contract and renegotiate because their their term will expire in June. Then there was the option from the motion two weeks ago or last week that requested the 4 to 6 month audit from the city auditor. And those all seem like, you know, it doesn't seem like there's a perfect solution here. So what I'm what I'm hoping would exist is a fourth option and what that fourth option is. My first question would be how long would it take to conduct the third party review? That's actually a part of tonight's recommendation. How long would it take to conduct that review and help us determine whether there was a foul in the process? If there was a foul in the process, then fine. We push the button, go back, rebid the process, extend the contract and take those additional steps. But isn't there something isn't there a fourth option that takes less time before we, you know, so we can find out if there was a foul and use some third party. So I guess that's my first question. Is city manager, is there a way to do a shorter review, you know, 30 to 60 days, something that does not trigger us to go back and extend the existing contract? Is that a possibility?
Speaker 7: Councilmember My recommendation in my recommendation tonight, that is one of the recommendations that I would engage a financial consulting firm which would complete that study within 30 days.
Speaker 10: And would that avoid us from having to extend the contract because the rest of your recommendation right now is to rebid it and then we would have to extend that contract, correct?
Speaker 7: If we rebid the contract, we certainly would have to renegotiate with the current vendor.
Speaker 10: So because I think I mean, I think it's great that we do have an auditor, but we do have a city attorney and we have a number of eyes that we can place on this process. I think that what you know, it's I think asking for a 4 to 6 month audit seems like and after I find out everything that goes into this, it seems like sort of the nuclear option. And I think there's a number of steps we can take to find out if there was a foul before we go a go and commit the resources to a 4 to 6 month study. So before we make a decision on the contract, I want to know, was there a foul? So what I'd prefer to do and I'm going to make this into a motion, I'd prefer that we go forward with the first half of your recommendation, which is conduct that review within 30 to 60 days that does not trigger renegotiate , you know, renegotiating an extension and rebidding come back to the council so we can see with a third party review so we can see whether or not there was a foul, if there were if in fact, there was a foul. Then we can the city council can make that decision. So that would be my motion. I would also, as a part of that motion request, that the city attorney, city auditor, that they all play a role in this, whether it's they are part of the group that selects this third party contract, this third party evaluator, you know , if you will. But I would like that to be a part of that. Is that so? That's my motion.
Speaker 0: Okay. There is a motion and I think there's a second by Councilwoman Price. Is that right?
Speaker 1: There is. But I have a friendly a couple questions and a friendly.
Speaker 0: Okay, Councilman Price. Okay.
Speaker 1: So. I have a few questions here. First of all, I agree with Councilman Richardson's assessment. I can say unequivocally nobody that I've talked to wants to restart this process. So I think that's the one thing everybody is in agreement on is not wanting to start this process unless, of course, there's some indication that that would be a prudent course of action after some analysis, which we have no evidence to suggest that that would be the case. I think our intent, at least my intent with the agenda item last week was to just have a second, a neutral second set of eyes, take a look at the process. And while I think a longer audit would be the best course of action, I understand that we have some timing limitations and that the 4 to 6 month period presents a host of concerns. So I'm okay with this. The route that we're going, the friendly that I would make is I would like the city attorney's office, since they're a neutral, kind of not connected, they don't oversee any department that was involved in this process. I'd like the city attorney's office to select the the vendor who conducts the review. So that's the first friendly that I would make.
Speaker 10: Absolutely. I think that's that was my tent by saying involve them but I prefer the language you selected so we can have the city attorney who wasn't involved make that make that call to.
Speaker 1: Select the the the vendor that we work with. And then second, for the city attorney to kind of oversee the review process and report the findings back to me.
Speaker 10: Did you mean city? Did you mean city auditor? No.
Speaker 1: City City attorney. Attorney.
Speaker 7: Okay.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: City. I think that would be that that's that's an entity that's not connected with any department that was involved in this process. And I think since we're now using not an in-house reviewer, but a contracted reviewer, I think that would make the most sense.
Speaker 4: Sure.
Speaker 1: And and then in regards to the the timing of this, I understand that we've labeled it a 30 day review. But but frankly, I think it should be the amount of time that's necessary to do the work, hopefully somewhere less than six months. But if it's 30 days or as Councilman Richardson said, 60 days, I don't think I think that if we get to June and by the way, Mr. City Manager, is there a date certain in June when the contract expires June 30th, June 30th. So if it would be possible for us to have this the findings of this review come back to council like mid-June, you know, the election's going to be kind of a busy time. So maybe the meeting after, if we could have them come back, that'll give us time to determine whether or not we're going to be moving forward with staff's recommendation or we need to. Go further. So I would recommend June 14th. That comes back by the city attorney with recommendations.
Speaker 10: Or no later than.
Speaker 1: No later than.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 10: And I would accept that and let me clean it up then since initially I said, you know, who could be involved as a city attorney, city auditor, I think since given these friendlies, I think we should just keep it clean and just say the city attorney.
Speaker 1: That's fine.
Speaker 10: Period.
Speaker 0: Perfect. Okay. We're going to keep moving forward here. Councilman Price, did you have any additional comments or, you.
Speaker 1: Know.
Speaker 0: OC suggested I'm going to restate this just to be very clear. What we're essentially taking the recommendation to re rebid and restart the process the same time. That I missed that first part.
Speaker 10: So that's the part we're not doing. So what we're doing is just restate. We're going to conduct the review that takes, you know, sometime between 30 and 60 days, as long as it does not trigger the contract extension. We're going to do the review. Based on that review, the council will decide either to award the contract as recommended or we begin the process again. Got it.
Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. That's actually completely different than what I heard.
Speaker 10: With with the city attorney.
Speaker 0: Conducting. And the and the person conducting the review is the city attorney.
Speaker 10: No. They select.
Speaker 0: Selection, selecting the third.
Speaker 10: Party to provide oversight to the process.
Speaker 0: Perfect. Okay.
Speaker 7: And, Mayor, if I may, I.
Speaker 3: The what I heard from.
Speaker 7: The city manager is the scope of the services. I want to make sure what I'm signing up for here. So the.
Speaker 3: It would be to.
Speaker 7: Come back to the were in working with the independent financial firm within 30 days before June 14th to.
Speaker 3: And I'm just going to read it's.
Speaker 7: A review of all the written protests, the comments, a review of all the verbal allegations that were made at the council meeting, a review of the forms, and then a review of the information submitted by the proposers and whether the information was properly utilized and considered. And then the basic steps in the RFP process, including the request for additional information in the context and the roles of our consultant, and that this firm would would be talking to anyone and everyone in the city that they needed to in order to get that information. At that point, they will come back with some sort of a an opinion on the process and what happened. And if I understand Councilmember Richardson correctly, at that point, council can make a decision to either reject all bids if there were problems.
Speaker 3: Or if they believe that the.
Speaker 7: Process was fair. You can make your determination on who to award to.
Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 1: And Councilman Price, I do I do have some clarification on that scope. But since I seconded the motion, one thing that wasn't included in the scope that the city manager specified, although I think it is included in the broader umbrella but wasn't spelled out and I think it should be spelled out is I've met with three of the four vendors and every single one of them has pointed to some numeric equation or numeric value that was reported that in their opinion. That to me raised some concerns about what actually was and put it and if everybody was on the same page about the numeric value. So I think the scope should involve, you know, again, this is this is not our industry. So that's why we're hiring someone to help us with it. But the replacement of the containers and the value of the recyclables, whatever criteria was factored into the equation, because when we're speaking with these vendors and they're telling us this number was an accurate or this, that's really not something that council members should be interpreting, in my opinion. So if they can look at the numbers, the data that went into the calculations and make sure that everybody was operating from the same understanding, I think that would be that would give me a lot of confidence in this process
Speaker 0: . Q Councilmember Oranga.
Speaker 9: Thank you, Mayor. Basically, as I said last week, I wasn't approving the direction that the City Council was giving the city attorney or the city order in this. I still feel that the process took care of itself and with that in mind, like to ask staff if they could go over the process again from beginning to end and how long did it take and how much staff time was involved in getting these bids evaluated and to the point of last week where we a recommendation was made.
Speaker 7: Councilman to restate the question.
Speaker 9: Describe the process from beginning to end as to how we got to the point of last week where you made your recommendation to go with waste management.
Speaker 7: Our public works director, Craig Beck. I think you might want to introduce our consultant.
Speaker 9: By the way, as a consultant here.
Speaker 7: So. So, Craig, could you introduce our consultant?
Speaker 0: Yes. You're mayor members of council tonight. We have a representative.
Speaker 8: From that who who worked directly with staff in the preparation of this RFP and who analyzed the responses and who has done this a number of times. And I'll ask him to generally walk through the process and. Provide some more information about how the groups were put together and analyze. Good evening. Mayor and council members. The City of Long Beach released an RFP to the city's purchasing division on April 21st, 2015. Pre proposal meeting was subsequently held on May 11th, offering all the proposals proposers an opportunity to ask questions. Written responses to those questions from the pre proposal meeting were issued on May 13th. 2015. And then after the pre proposal meeting, written questions were subsequently accepted until May 22nd, 2015, and then written responses to those questions were provided by the city on June 10th, 2016. The proposals were due on July one, 2015. A written proposal summary that was prepared by our office, dated August five, 2015, was sent out by the city to each proposer to confirm our understanding of their proposals, and that included the proposed first year compensation. Responses to that communication were submitted by August 12th, 2015.
Speaker 9: Could you stop right there for a second?
Speaker 8: Yes.
Speaker 9: This backtrack a little bit. Who are you? How long have you been in business? What's your track record in doing these kinds of auto proposal reviews for not only the city of Long Beach, but for other jurisdictions as well?
Speaker 7: Build up. Build up.
Speaker 9: Tell me you're credible.
Speaker 8: Tell me who you are. We're very credible. And we have done more of this work in the state of California than any other firm that's out there. We were founded in 1989. I joined the company in 1991. And since that time, this is all I do is solid waste work. I don't do roads one day and transportation the next day. All I do 52 weeks a year is solid waste and recycling work. I've personally been involved in approximately 30 of the competitive processes that we've taken cities through and have negotiated many, many more contracts than that. We don't work for any of the trash companies. We only provide these services to public agencies to avoid any sort of conflict of interest that would occur if you were to work for garbage company on Monday in the city on Tuesday. I think that would be a problem. So after the responses were received to our summary of proposals that completed the preliminary evaluation and then additional cost information was requested from the proposers under a fixed ten year term, the initial seven year term included a three year option to the city to extend. So to get a better price, the city package the three year option with a seven year fixed term and said what would that do to your price for ten year? And the companies responded in writing, providing that ten year cost information. The last step in the process was all four proposers were interviewed by the city's evaluation team. Then we prepared an evaluation report, provided information that the city staff and city staff prepared the documents that you've that you've seen after the preliminary staff reporter draft staff report was prepared or not, a draft eight staff report was prepared. Public indicated that there they believe their costs were less than what was shown in the report. Essentially, Republic didn't complete its proposal form correctly. They made a mistake. They're human. People make mistakes. They were provided an opportunity to correct that mistake and information that was provided subsequently to the council. And so you've seen their numbers go both ways. The bottom line is, even if you take their corrected figure, it is still higher than that of Ed Coleman Waste Management, and it is higher than that of the current rates. This is a request for proposal, not a request for bid. So you can still you don't have to throw their proposal out, which you would do in a bid process. You could still accept it if you choose to. You can accept any one of the four proposals that are before you. But their proposal is not as cost effective as the ones from waste management that go.
Speaker 9: Is that complete?
Speaker 8: Yes.
Speaker 9: Okay. In terms of a staff time, a city manager, how much staff time was put in on this report from beginning to end, from May to last week or two weeks ago?
Speaker 7: From the last two weeks.
Speaker 9: Up to that point from eight to the.
Speaker 7: Oh, the entire RFP process. Boy, I'm going to turn that over to our public works director or perhaps Jason McDonnell, our purchasing officer who did the RFP.
Speaker 8: Councilmember. We would estimate that there were hundreds of hours involved in the analysis as well as the RFP preparation.
Speaker 9: Now going back to the process itself and at the point where one of the three agencies submitted, I'm assuming that they submitted a complaint. That the process was somewhere flat. Was that was that a process in itself also to revisit or review the contentions that were being made by this other this other agency? And what was that? What did that include?
Speaker 8: Council member the process to review a bid protest or in this case, an RFP proposal protest is stated within the specifications and allows certain timelines. The responses were acknowledged and based on the complexity of this process, there was additional time requested by the city to respond to both a letter of concern from Echo and a specifically called out protest by Republic. So there was additional work done at that time to review and consult both with the consultant as well as city staff in the Environmental Services Bureau.
Speaker 9: So the consultant was also a part of the protest review period.
Speaker 8: Yes, sir.
Speaker 9: Okay. So in essence, what is being moved in front of me by Councilmember Richardson is to add is to and he and this is a statement I think that he made was. He wants to know if there was no foul foul in stat's review of the complaint. Now. From what I understand up to this point, there was an RPG put out. People applied, they were reviewed, a recommendation was made, a protest was filed, the protest was reviewed. And the staff came with a recommendation. Yeah, correct. Yes, sir. To summarize it very briefly. Okay. So at this point, I want to thank you, obviously, for your remarks, but there is nothing that I've seen at this point to indicate that anything went a fall. That there is a misinterpretation of figures that there has been any kind of malfeasance, as it was mentioned before. I think that having the third party review with H.f. and each was was fair. It's a third party review. It is a consultant and city manager or maybe city attorney. If you were to go to a third party review, who would you hire if not H.f. and H? Who is there somebody out there?
Speaker 7: I certainly don't have a name as I sit here today. We would have to go find someone and I would get names of folks who have to do this kind of work.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 9: So and that's and that's my contention. I think that what we did was we did the best we possibly could. We had the best of the best involved in this. And so I want to make the substitute motion to go back to the original motion, which is to accept staff's recommendation for the the proposal that's presented.
Speaker 0: There's emotion. I don't see a second there. A second? There is a second. Okay. By Councilmember Austin, which is the original motion. Councilman Austin, do you want to speak to the second?
Speaker 11: Yes. This is and I want to thank all of the bidders for for their interest in serving the city of Long Beach. I want to thank staff for their exhaustive work on this. I want to thank the council members for for weighing in. But I tend to agree that we are we may be duplicating our efforts. Again, it seems to me that there has been a third party independent review and a third party governing this this this process. The outcomes are not necessarily what everybody necessarily wants, but it seems to me that. Our actions could be perceived as disruptive. It would disruptive to two services. If we don't, we don't make a decision soon. And and so I'm very concerned about that. I'm concerned about our ability to to continue to actually get recycle or have recycle services. I don't want interruption. It's clear that for the past 20 plus years, we've had pretty decent service. I haven't heard too much of in terms of disappointment with the services that we we currently have here today. I've looked at the YouTube videos. I've reviewed a number of the the the claims and understanding that this is a very, very competitive process. I think council member Urunga is assessment is is is is actually pretty spot on here. And so therefore I'm seconding the motion and recommending that that the rest of the council follow suit.
Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. Now, just before I continue, I want to make sure we can get to the public as well. If unless I know we're going back through another round of folks that have of councilmembers are unless there's objection, I'd like to go to the public and they will come back to the speaker's lists unless there's objection . Okay. Councilman, you really want to clarify something about your motion? Yeah.
Speaker 9: I want to recommend. I want to make clear that my motion is to receive and file the city manager's report and to accept the original proposal from city management to award the contract as proposed to waste management. Okay.
Speaker 0: That's the that is the substitute motion on the floor. We're going to go to any public comment and it will come back to the speaker's list of the council without objection, seeing none. Okay, great. Any public comment on this item? Okay. So there is no public comment on this item. So I'm going to go and go back to the council. There is no there is. Okay. We got to make up our minds if there's public comment or not. Please, guys, if there is. Let's do that now.
Speaker 3: Good evening, Honorable Mayor Garcia and members of the council, the city of Long Beach. My name is Jeff Snow and I am with Republic Services and Rainbow Environmental Services of Huntington Beach. I am wearing a purple tie tonight because to me, this contract is still about recycling. Recycling and sustainability in the city of Long Beach. And I'd like to share some recycling performance data at the mayors and councils. Pleasure Based on the March 9th City Council meeting. Staff presented the 26,749 tons were recycled for the city of Long Beach in the prior year, just down the road using advanced murf or material recovery facility technologies using a workforce with the tenure of ten years on average where they're paid well, provided full benefits and workforce development opportunities, and with outreach to residents that increases their participation and set out rate. Based upon the actual performance validated by the state of California. Cal Recycle for the city of Huntington Beach. The same Long Beach results would have been nearly 50,000 tons recycled instead of 26,000 through Republic Services Program and Rainbows Material Recovery Facility. We do think that recycling and diversion is important to the citizens of the city of Long Beach, and we urge council and staff to evaluate the actual recycling performances of the Smurfs. Again, we invite all to come and visit our facilities, see what our processes, what our outreach, and what our programs can do to enrich this community's sustainability. Diversion and commitment to the planet. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Next week, please.
Speaker 8: Good night. We are.
Speaker 3: I'm representing the drivers of the company that pick up your recycling problem, which we've been doing for 20 years, over 20 years. Whether we're right, whether it's clean and we want to keep on doing it. We went through. All this process I think is long enough. We will need to go to extension or anything. We just want to keep on doing what we're doing well. And we've been doing it for so long. Just please ask you, we ask you to consider it right now and get it over with. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: Good evening, Mayor. Council, city staff and guests. My name's Jeremy Harris, senior vice president at Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. Tonight, I'm here on behalf of our Chamber and Long Beach area businesses. We're here due to the recent comments made in the press and the various correspondences that have been made public regarding the proposal process for the city recycling collection services that we're discussing tonight. We welcome the opportunity for an independent third party. Review has been discussed tonight. We believe this is a permanent move. The Chamber is not only concerned with this particular process or this particular bid or RFP, but the entire bidding and process long term. Time and time again, members and non have contacted the Chamber regarding the city's RFP and bid process. Each time we've ensured these businesses that we believe staff is provided the utmost care and due diligence to the process. In fact, we've openly promoted the city's bid proposal process through multiple media channels to our members and interested businesses. So that is why we are here tonight, to ensure that when the process is further put under the microscope, which has been made apparent with this particular bid, that we take notice with these concerns so that we may appropriately educate our members about the process through the city. It is with this understanding that we ask for an independent and thorough review of the process. We find it prudent and unbiased that if a third party comes in and does this, it is the best way to move this process. This item with the city recycling contract and services forward and ensure our business is of a fair process moving forward in the future. Thank you for your opportunity to address you tonight.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor and City Council. My name is no Legado Mondo. I'm actually the executive director of Long Beach Blast, a nonprofit here in Long Beach. Been around since 2000. And we are committed to this city and to the youth and to education. And I must say, although I'm not here to talk about the bid process or the RFP, I do want to talk about waste management and their commitment to the city and to the youth of our community, because they not only are here obviously bidding this contract and wanting to serve the public, but also want to serve our youth. They support us, which supports the community of Long Beach, not only financially but also with their time. One of our board members is from Waste Management, Janine Hamner. She's here. And again, as somebody who cares about Long Beach, and even though this might be all about dollars and cents, we have to think about who is committed , who is putting their money and their time and their effort to our community. And that's waste management. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. See no other public comment. I'm going to go to close public comment and go back to the council and then we're going to go to vote. Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 2: Since we have the consultant here, I thought I might ask just a few quick questions of things that had been posed to me via email of my constituents over the last two weeks while we've had this time. They had asked whether or not the time our RFP process took is significantly similar to other agencies of our size . Would the consultant be able to speak to that?
Speaker 8: Yes. Similar.
Speaker 2: And. Would you say that what an average cost would be of putting together an RFP of this magnitude for a have you have you worked on an RFP of a similar city? And did it cost plus or -10% of what this bid cost?
Speaker 8: Yeah. We've been involved in processes that have run from 100, $250,000 for the whole process start to finish.
Speaker 2: And this one cost.
Speaker 8: I think this is right about 100.
Speaker 2: And so if we're a significant city of great size, we were on the lower end of that. Is there any contributing factors to why that was?
Speaker 8: It's only a recycling contract. Most of the cities have integrated trash, recycling organics programs, all the residential, all the commercial, all the roll off. And they're actually by dollar value, far larger than this one here at Long Beach for much smaller cities, because this is only the recycling piece, which is a very the smallest piece of the solid waste stream in the city of Long Beach. Municipal crews provide the residential refuse collection, which is a much larger activity than the recycling. And the commercial is provided by multiple commercial haulers that compete on for business rate at the individual account level. So we're talking about a very small portion of the entire solid waste stream here in Long Beach.
Speaker 2: And typically does your firm prepare the report or do the city staffs of each city that you do the research for typically perform those reports?
Speaker 8: We typically develop the evaluation report and then the the city staff develop a staff report with their recommendation to council.
Speaker 2: So that's significantly similar to what happened in this last round as well.
Speaker 8: That's correct.
Speaker 2: Do they typically have up to four adjustments in discussions after the interview phase asking for different variances.
Speaker 8: There's not a standard there. Every city's done things differently if they've. So I think it's important to understand that what the was was trying to be achieved here is to allow everybody the opportunity to propose on the same thing. And as an example, when the initial proposals came back, they were for seven year terms and with all the carts being replaced and one of the vendors proposed, well, if we don't replace all the cards in EUR four, we can provide a more cost effective proposal. And they gave an alternative cost. And so to ensure we had apples to apples, we went back and asked all the other vendors. We said, well, if you were to do that, what would that do to your costs, too? So, you know, the situation was tailored to the circumstances that you had so that the council wouldn't be placed in a situation where you had one company that provided a proposal under one set of circumstances and another company saying, well, here's this alternative proposal, and it's much better when the other companies haven't had an opportunity to propose on it. Mm.
Speaker 2: And the last major question that I received via email was about understanding the commodity of recycling and how. The prices change and how a vendor would even be able to predict what recycling revenue to the city might be and what that does to a bid.
Speaker 8: Recycling commodity revenues are an important part of what the vendor is going to get back to offset portion of their costs of operation, as well as what they'll remit in revenue sharing to the city. Trying to predict commodity markets is like trying to predict what the stock market is going to do each year for the next ten years. It's a nearly impossible exercise. That being said, the vendors do the best they can, but they may make very different assumptions about what those commodity markets are going to look like. So it wouldn't make any sense for the city in evaluating the proposals to put as an offset to their cost evaluation what different proposers are projecting in the commodities markets, because they all make very, very different assumptions and in the end they're all selling to the same commodity market. They may make and use the stock market example again. They all may make very different predictions about what that market's going to look like, but in the end, they're all going to participate in the same market.
Speaker 2: And so with that flexibility and commodity, as you can tell, many of my residents are very read up on the issue, some of which used to be city staff. Is there a reason that we don't standardize the revenue requirement of recyclable contracts? And is that we Stan standard across all bids across many cities in the region? They are not standardized, is that correct?
Speaker 8: Well, most cities don't have a separate recycling contract. It's a small piece of a much larger contract. And the and the recycling pieces is very modest. And so that's not the focus when you're looking at a trash contract.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I appreciate you being here tonight. I appreciate you standing by your work. I appreciate the work that the city staff have done, and I look forward to hearing the comments of my colleagues.
Speaker 0: Councilman Price.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I already spoke. So I'm going to be very brief. I just want to say, I heard what Councilman Urunga and Councilman Austin said, and you were going to have to agree to disagree on their points. I think in light of what the city auditor has pointed out, we're talking about we were talking about a six month review process. I think Councilman Richardson. Was very thoughtful in his desire to compromise for something shorter that allows a review, while at the same time allowing the process to move forward. You know, it's it's this this whole losing side of the forest for the trees argument. We're talking about a short window of time to be able to say that we did everything that we could to ensure that the process was fair. This is not at all about the companies. Let me just start by saying all three of these companies are stellar companies. There's no doubt about it. None whatsoever. I've met with all three companies. I've met with their representatives. The City of Long Beach would be well-served to have any one of these three companies representing it. And Waste Management has absolutely done an amazing, outstanding job over the last 20 plus years, no doubt about it whatsoever. But that's not what we're here to do. We've gone out to to bid. We've opened up the process. We haven't opened up this process for decades. And every single one of the vendors has pointed out something that warrants some additional consideration. And we're not talking about an extensive process. We're talking about 30 to 60 days to make sure that we feel confident in the process before we vote to move forward on a ten year partnership. I met today. I've met with all the representatives and again, I have nothing but positive things to say about all of them. But I do have to highlight I met with Ed Co today and I just I want to say every single one of these companies has been a class act. But I was taken aback by Ed Coe's. Just there, there, there demeanor during the interview. I mean, they had nothing but amazing, positive things to say about the people that are competing for this proposal. Amazingly positive attitude towards the city of Long Beach, towards wanting to do work in the city of Long Beach. You know, they have some issues with some of the calculations, but certainly it's not something that they're going to protest. That's just not how they do things. As as they explained to me, whether you choose to follow their philosophy or not. That's just an example to me of what good quality companies we're dealing with here. That in a meeting with me tonight before this item, they had nothing but positive things to say about the people that are bidding against them on this project. And really, their their ask was, we think a second set of eyes would be prudent. There are some things that they would have, you know, like to see included or not included that they feel were a big factor in the final price recommendations that came down. And that is the same with Republic and even Waste Management and talking with them. I've learned that there are there are probably had they not been the recommended bids, some issues that they would have had with the numbers. So this really isn't about every single one of these companies is great partner. This is just about taking the additional 30 to 60 days with Shorten that process, we've taken the full official audit out of it and said, You know what, let's have an entity that's not affiliated with this process. Select someone to help us take a look. We lose nothing by doing this. We lose nothing. No, there's no credible argument that anyone can make that says we lose anything. Even waste management that I've spoken with their representatives, they understand why we're doing this. They understand that we've made efforts to shorten this process. And I think they're willing to be a ten year partner with the city. An additional 30 to 60 days is not too much to ask in terms of an investment. I think everyone that we're working with is patient enough to understand that process. Again, we want to be if if the staff recommendation is what the reviewing body says, you know what this was all the numbers are accurate. Everything was reported accurately. The process was great. We can vote on that. No problem. I have no problem voting on that. I just don't want to vote on that, especially knowing what I know now in terms of some of the things that have been pointed out, I don't want to do that until I personally have a second set of eyes, take a look at it. And my understanding is that the consultant that we hired wasn't here to give it a second set of eyes. They actually were the consultant that was hired to do the process. They weren't brought in to review the process. They were the company that helped us do the initial process. So it's not we haven't had a review of the process. So I think I thank my colleagues for listening.
Speaker 0: Councilman Richardson.
Speaker 10: Thank you. I'm going to clarify the intent here, and I'm going to appeal to my colleagues to try to find some consensus here, because the intent was this was a compromising consensus building motion. So so I do want to thank all of the companies that submitted. I'm pretty confident that most of them, if not all of them, probably would have done a great job. And that's why I don't think we should immediately throw out the baby with the bathwater. I understand the diligence that did go into this process. What I'm looking at seeking is clarity and confidence in casting. No doubt on the process we can get to a yes or no. And you know, the I read the auditor the memo from the auditor. The city manager acknowledged it and changed his recommendation. I can't reconcile that by going back to the original recommendation. I count on the city manager, our city attorney, our city auditor to provide good advice. And I'm looking at a change in position because it's okay to take a moment, take a pause in, you know, and review the process. That's okay. My motion is to substantiate whether or not there's an issue and, you know, and save money while we do it. That's what I consider a hybrid or a compromise. It should provide more confidence to this process. It saves money from a 4 to 6 month process. That would also include an extension of a contract. But it preserves the integrity of the the original bids by just reviewing whether that process was legitimate or not. I. I would rather verify or dispel doubt and convert that doubt into certainty of yes or no. And that's the intent of this motion. So that said, given that I don't have a dog in this fight, I think that most of these companies will probably do great. I'm going to appeal to the to the SEC, to the substitute motion maker and the second tier that said, you know, I understand where you're coming from in terms of, you know, wanting to not take any additional precedent in this process. But do you do you have any issue with taking a moment? We're talking 30 to 60 days so that the entire the entire council can feel as confident as the two of you do. And that's really what the question is. I don't I don't think we should go into a split vote. All of our interest is doing the right thing here. So I'd like to have a response from if we could.
Speaker 0: Well, actually well, I'd actually counsel my rank of next. And so counseling for your anger.
Speaker 9: Are you done? I mean, if I respond, do you see what I'm done?
Speaker 10: I just wanted to ask you.
Speaker 9: To roll with it. I'm just getting clarification. Brother is getting clarification. Okay. The the the intent of my motion. The intent of my motion. You know, I certainly agree with all the comments have been made thus far that the three agencies have all three being class acts. I mean, I've met with all three of them as well. They were very cordial, friendly, open, obviously concerned about about the whole process, but they were professional and competent. And there was no question that either one, any one of them could do an outstanding job for the city. But. My issue, if anything, is that there was a selection made. There was a process. They competed. They turned them in. There was a protest. The protest was reviewed and the recommendation came forward. That's where our man is that there was a process. And anything going beyond what the recommendation already is, is a spent is a is an expenditure. We're investing more time. We're investing more money. We're investing more staff to continue the process, even if it's for a month. To revisit this whole this whole process here. I have a question also for the for the firm H.f. and h have you ever encountered anything like this before where you're being you're being asked to step aside and have a third party review of a contract or a recommendation that you've already done before this happened?
Speaker 8: No, we've never seen a third party review.
Speaker 9: Okay. So it's it's precedent setting in this case. And, you know, I'm not sure that we want to go that route, but I leave it up to my counsel colleagues in that respect. And in terms of staff. I'm sorry I lost my money. I didn't lose anything. I just can't read my own writing. Okay. Well, that would be that would be basically my, my, my, my comments there is that. My issue with this and the reason for my motion is that the process was a process. Staff invested a lot of time. Thousands of hours in this hole, in this whole issue. And staff came back with a recommendation. My my whole point in this is not whether we want to find or go on a witch hunt to find something wrong. There was a protest filed. And basically what this country is going to do is say that that the protest has validity. Even though staff found no validity. But in the end and the council. Those who are supporting the the well. Let me rephrase it that the the the proposal, the original one is that to go through an audit that's out of the window now. So I guess I found my comment. So in this now not that it's it's it's changed the game to a certain to a certain extent city manager now that the the the city auditor has been taken out of the equation. Where where does that put you now in terms of your recommendation with with the report, the staff report that you filed today?
Speaker 7: Councilmember regarding the study by an independent third party firm. I'm standing firm with that given the auditor's memorandum, so I have to respect that.
Speaker 9: Okay. So you're you you you stand by the actual because you already you've been you been requested or asked to. Have a third party review, whether it's a moderator or not.
Speaker 7: No, Councilmember, I've not been. No one's asked me that question. Given the memo that the auditors sent, I felt that the best way to deal with that would be to have an independent review. I'm certainly okay going off the for 30 or 60 days before without rejecting the bids. But certainly I think I have to stand with the independent review because I do have to respect the auditors memorandum, though. That's very serious. Okay.
Speaker 9: Well, I'm going to stand by my my my motion only because I think that staff invested a lot of time, a lot of money, a lot of, I guess, blood, sweat and tears in getting this whole contract go to the city council and in a timely manner, starting from last May to two weeks ago. So I no Councilmember Richardson. I will not I will stay I'll stay by way of initial motion.
Speaker 0: Vice Mayor Lowenthal.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and I appreciate the conversation. And I know that Councilmember Yarrawonga spoke very emphatically during the last time we took this item up, and and I have a lot of respect for his position. I come from a couple of decades worth of history with our peace and bid processes. And the last thing we want to do is really waste anyone's time or waste anyone's resources. And the government procurement process is is a lengthy one. It's it's not expedient and sometimes it's not efficient, but we do the best that we can. And our standard, to be sure that we did the ultimate best is is a high one. And so taking a little bit more time, as much as. As much as I begrudge that it does in the end, allow us the confidence to make the decisions that we do. With this particular situation, I and I want to concur with Councilwoman Price. Every person representing a company that spoke to me and my office regarding this issue had only the best things to say about their competitors, which is unique. It's hard to find that in in a competitive industry. And I want to thank all of you for taking that approach. No one disparage the other regardless of where they came in the ranking, but all spoke to the integrity of the process and laid out their case, which is their job. That is what they're supposed to do. Our job is to feel absolutely confident in the recommendations that we're making or that we're voting on. And I feel and I believe and I think that with this particular recommendation, I'm not as confident as I'd like to be to make that decision. And so I appreciate Auditor Dowd's report. I appreciate that our staff took a look at it and came forward with a recommendation. What I'd like to support and ask that we all support is a 30 day review, as the original motion indicates of of the process, and then come back and see what our recommendation is at that time. So with that, colleagues, I recommend that we go back to the original motion. I do respect Councilmember Yarrawonga and and Councilmember Austin's position. It is a correct one in in on the face of it, because it is time, it is resources. And you feel strongly and I agree with Councilman Richardson, I'd like to feel that strongly with my vote. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Councilman Austin and then Councilman Gonzales. And we're going to a vote.
Speaker 11: Thank you. And they say we always agree up here. I don't think that's the case. And I do appreciate the comments from my colleagues. Everybody is making reasoned comments here this evening. My my my concern has been been obviously the process and and, you know, just entertaining that you know, there has been something wrong with the process when. But in our city auditor's memo was certainly eye opening. I'm curious this evening hearing the original motion, why the city auditor was removed from the process? No, because it states that it's going to go right through to the city attorney only. And so she she raised so many pointed points during her entire memo. The original motion has has actually sought to to eliminate her. And so this is this is this is not a mea culpa or anything like that. I do think that it is important that we we move forward in award of contract. I think it is. We're running out of time. We are going to bring an issue back and then literally have two weeks to to make a decision. And and and even possibly if we decide to kick the can down the road a little bit further, renegotiate with with with a two week window. I think we are really putting a lot of strain and have put a lot of strain on our on our city staff on this particular RFP. And and as a council, I think it is our job to try to inspire confidence for them as well. This is and I'm really concerned about about setting a precedence here because, you know, we reward or award our fees and contracts week after week after week here. Now, none of them have been this contentious and none of them have literally been dragged through the mud the way this one has has been and dragged through. And so as as polite as each and every one of the respondents to our RFP have been, and they have all been been great to work with. I think they all continue to be stakeholders in our city in one way or another doing different type of services. The the the process I will say I am I'm a bit disappointed in how. The, um, this this is this is kind of played out. And again, I'm concerned about really setting up a setting a messy precedence here. But that's it. I mean, I'm it sounds like the votes are here. And and, you know, if we all stand with the council member, you wrong on this motion if it this motion fails, then, you know, we will deal with the original motion. I want to thank my colleague, Councilman Richardson, for for looking for that compromise. And and again, I think, you know, we are we are prolonging the inevitable. But if it requires us to spend more resources, to spend more time to make sure that that everybody is competent, then then that's that's something that we can do as well . And I will be be supportive of doing that. But honestly, I'd like to go with the original motion. And again, I have to to question the city manager here because your point is well taken. You came forth with a work or make a recommendation a week ago and and or two weeks ago and now because of the auditor's report, which was based on what was heard here at city council, mostly because and that's what I read it was based on what was raised at council and public comment and from colleague and from council members. She raised concerns. Um, and I don't know if that was necessarily based on raw data or, or any, any real review of the process and so forth. For you, Mr.. City Manager, your recommendation is something that we have to weigh very seriously. Um, why specifically the turnaround again.
Speaker 7: COUNCILMEMBER I'll repeat what I mentioned to Councilmember Turanga. The I, the city auditor prepared a memo that raised issues and questions. And I believe in our city auditor. I'm taking that very, very seriously. And given what was in that memo, I think we should definitely go back and do the 30, 30 day look see with an independent firm. And I truly believe that. And um, we have a memo from our auditor stating concern and we have to respect that.
Speaker 11: Okay. So with that, I'm going to withdraw my second from this motion. I will. And I'm going to give deference to our city manager, because I think we need to to read those signals and read those cues. But I certainly hope I certainly hope, Mr. City Manager, that when this comes back, that that if there is any sort of malfeasance found in here in this process, that people are held extremely accountable for that.
Speaker 0: Okay. Councilman Gonzales. And are going to a vote.
Speaker 1: Right. I think everything has been said, as you know, to what I wanted to say. But, you know, I think with such a large contract, you know, there's questions that naturally raise. And I don't think that any of us have questions that are out of the norm. I think many cities go through something similar like this. And so with that, I mean, you know, we're looking at the auditor's report. There's been questions raised as to that. I think the city manager did a great job in terms of kind of stepping back and realizing that this council really needed to take an extra look at this despite everything. And I don't I don't negatively look at our city process and think that it was done in any way, shape or form, in a malicious way or anything was less than high integrity at all. I just think that this is a large contract and we need to make sure that we're doing things in a way that this council I think feels is most necessary, is just taking an extra review. And I think I hope it goes to the former of 30 days versus the latter, but we'll see. And that would be my my support. I would certainly support doing an independent review. So we'll.
Speaker 9: Official.
Speaker 1: We'll go from there. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Ringo.
Speaker 9: Just to make it official, I will withdraw my motion.
Speaker 0: Okay, great. And I'm just one thing I think that needs to be said after this conversation. I just want to repeat that. No one up here. This is a process has gone through. There's been a had an independent person go through the process that's kind of well-respected in the industry. Staff has worked very hard. I want to thank staff for working hard on this. They have been working very hard to respond to all the questions and the inappropriate questions from the council as part of their deliberative process. So I just want I want to thank them for that, but I just also want to want to clear up and make sure that we're pretty clear that no one is accusing anyone or has accused anyone of doing anything inappropriate. What has happened is questions have been raised that people have the confidence to move forward and make sure that this big contract is being awarded in the right way. And there's nothing wrong with taking another. We're taking a look, which is what I think the council is is saying. And so there's a motion on the floor. Castro votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries. | Contract | Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP PW 15-091 and award a contract to USA Waste of California, dba Waste Management, of Long Beach, for recyclable collection services, in an annual amount not to exceed $3,500,000, plus an annual Consumer Price Index adjustment; and authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the agreement for the term of July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2026 (ten years), including any necessary amendments thereto regarding the term and/or scope of services. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03222016_16-0244 | Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next item.
Speaker 2: Item 15 Communication from Councilwoman Price, Council Member, Super Councilwoman Mango and Council Member Richardson. Recommendation to request City Auditor to review the bid responses for the residential recycling collection services and report findings of the review directly to the City Council at the earliest possible date.
Speaker 0: I think this would be a receiving file, Charlie, at this point, so that's correct. Okay. Can I get a motion there? Receive and file.
Speaker 2: Move to receive?
Speaker 0: Okay. I think I think Councilor Richardson sends the wrong items on the screen. Is that right or were they switched, as it were? Correct. Right. Yeah. Okay. We're good. The receiving file and public comment and receive and filing.
Speaker 8: Not just on this, but any motion where your recommendation of your city auditor is to take a course of action. That action, that recommendations should be followed. Fact, if it were followed more often, we probably would not be in the financial condition we are in now. It matters not how long it takes, as long as red flags are up. You need to take the requisite time. To make the right decision. Otherwise, that red flag goes up and every time you follow that and duplicate ignoring the city auditor, the red flag goes up even higher and the stench gets even greater. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Senior the public comment cast your vote. And Stephen finally.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 0: Next item, please. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Auditor to review the bid responses for the residential recycling collection services. The responses should be analyzed based on qualifications, cost, recycling revenue to the City, environmental benefits, compliance with the terms of the Request for Proposal (RFP), as well as any additional criteria the City Auditor deems appropriate; request City Auditor to report findings of the review directly to the City Council at the earliest possible date; and request that City staff provide the City Auditor with all documents, analysis, and emails related to procurement process for this RFP in an expedited manner. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03222016_16-0263 | Speaker 2: Item 18. Communication from Councilmember Odinga, Vice Mayor Lowenthal and Councilwoman Price. Recommendation to request the city attorney to draft a resolution in support of the California Coastal Trail Association.
Speaker 5: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Councilmember Urunga.
Speaker 9: Thank you, Ms.. Mayor. First, I want to thank my colleagues, Vice Mayor Sue Geelong, Athol and Constable Susie Price for signing on to this item. The California Coastal Trail Association is organization dedicated to the idea of a contiguous coastal trail from Oregon to the border in Mexico. The city of Long Beach would be able to highlight our world class beaches, recreational resources, biking, pedestrian trails and all that as part of the vision for the California coastal trail. So I encourage my colleagues to please join me in supporting this item. Thank you.
Speaker 5: Thank you and thank you for asking me to be a coauthor. I appreciate that. And I think it's the right thing to do. And thank you for your service on the Coastal Commission. I know it has been. Less than easy these last few months, but I'm very proud to have you represent us, so thank you. Sarah, any public comment on item 18? Please come forward.
Speaker 8: Yes, I fully support this. The only thing I can think of of enhancing this is to take the requisite steps. To enhance and strengthen the Coastal Commission by adopting some of the suggestions that are being put forth now relative to making sure that there is transparency and that there are no private communications, i.e. any communication with an expert in ex parte communication. Must come to an end. It must be a matter of public record. And I think that would help the Coastal Commission in Chief and. Help our Coastal Commission member avoid some embarrassing problems. Thank you.
Speaker 5: Thank you. There's been a motion in a second. Members, please cast your vote. Motion carries next item please. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Attorney to draft a resolution in support of the California Coastal Trail Association; and request City Manager to consider including the California Coastal Trail Association annual recurring membership fee of $1,500 in his FY 17 Proposed Budget. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03222016_16-0275 | Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 5: Next item please.
Speaker 2: Report from City Manager Recommendation to execute an agreement with Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation to conduct an integrated design and technical analysis of the Long Beach portion of the L.A. River in an amount not to exceed $250,000 citywide.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Mr. City Manager.
Speaker 7: Yes. We have a report here from our deputy city manager, Arturo Sanchez.
Speaker 8: Good evening, Vice Mayor Lowenthal.
Speaker 3: And members of.
Speaker 7: The City Council. The item before you.
Speaker 3: Is an agreement with the L.A. River Revitalization Corporation to conduct an integrated design and technical analysis of the Long Beach portion of the L.A..
Speaker 0: River. The L.A. River Revitalization.
Speaker 3: Corporation has assembled a technical team that includes Gehry, Partners Olin and Geocentric to develop an integrated design that looks at the entire river.
Speaker 0: So this is really exciting.
Speaker 7: They're looking at the entire 51 miles.
Speaker 3: But they're going to start the first phase of their analysis down in the lower portion in this area of Long Beach. And so their first phase of their analysis will actually begin down here. Commitments have been made by the Ramsay.
Speaker 7: The Santa monica.
Speaker 3: Rivers and Mountains Conservancy as well. And we are essentially just contributing to the pool of money that's looking at a way to revitalize the entire stretch of the Los Angeles River in a holistic way that will add recommendations and layers as to the types of developments that we can have in our portion.
Speaker 7: That would be.
Speaker 0: That would fit in.
Speaker 3: Well with whatever other recommendations they have in the upper portions.
Speaker 0: So the recommendation from staff is.
Speaker 3: That you authorize the city manager to execute an agreement with the Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation to conduct the integrated design for the Long Beach portion of Los Angeles River in an amount not to exceed $250,000 for a term of 12 weeks.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Mr. Sanchez. And I want to thank staff for bringing this item forward. And I'm looking forward to our participation in this process that is long overdue and very exciting. That renowned architect Frank Gehry and his firm are working on the very iconic parts of what this river revitalization will be about. So I'm definitely looking forward to that. Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 1: Of no comment.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 10: I just wanted to chime in and say how exciting this is. And Mr. West and Mr. Sanchez, you guys are doing a great job on this, how you figured out how to how to pay for this. And I want to I want to say, as a community that has the river in it, I'm really excited to see improvements here in Long Beach to our river. So congratulations. You have my support and to the leaders, the mayor and other districts with the river in it. This is really exciting for for all of us. So I you know, this is another big thing for our city that we should all be excited about and seeing how it develops. Thanks.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 1: I, too, just wanted to share my excitement. This has been a long time coming. I want to thank the city staff, Arturo and and Pat, as well as the mayor, for keeping this on our radar. I know we're hearing it a lot out there and the 710 Project Committee, and they've included that. And it's exciting to know that Long Beach will now be a part of of this. So thank you for all your efforts.
Speaker 0: Councilman, you Ranga.
Speaker 9: Thank you, Mayor. I represent the seventh District and a river runs through it. I want to thank staff for supporting this. I think it's it was a no brainer in the sense that so much is going on in the northern portion of the river and we need to take care of ourselves in the southern part of the river. So I want to thank Stephanie for doing this.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Emotion. In a second, public comment on the item saying please cast your vote.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 0: 22. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute an agreement with Los Angeles River Revitalization Corporation to conduct an Integrated Design and Technical Analysis of the Long Beach portion of the Los Angeles River in an amount not to exceed $250,000 for a term of 12 weeks;
Increase appropriations in the General Fund (GF) in the City Manager Department (CM) by $250,000, offset by FY 15 Year-End Surplus; and
Identify additional funding sources for the remaining cost of $250,000. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03222016_16-0265 | Speaker 2: Motion carries. An exciting report from Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications and Fire and Health and Human Services and Police recommendation to execute a contract with the City of Los Angeles to receive and expand Department of Homeland Security grant funding for the 2015 Urban Area Security Initiative grant in an amount not to exceed 5.3 million citywide.
Speaker 0: It was emotion and a secondary public comment on this item. Please come forward.
Speaker 8: Very good. A heads up relative to the specter of having all federal money suspended for any purpose to the city of Long Beach. These are the the Sorento. Pathway project. That has not. The Sorento pathway project has not come before this council yet. But in essence, this Sorento pathway project is supposed to be finished or started. At the conclusion of the current phase of the Naples Seawall Project. The Feds have approved that project to finish that first phase off. What is in jeopardy is the Sorento.
Speaker 7: Pathway.
Speaker 8: Because of the chicanery used in designing the plans. Those plans, which are now marching in formation, are directly at war with federal l federal aid laws. What the feds are going to require is that the Sorento pathway be completed. And completed in a manner that someone in a wheelchair. Can start at the Eastern End at the Bay Shore Bridge and travel all the way down through the end. If not. If not. And until that's done, all federal grants. For any purpose to the city of Long Beach will be suspended because they don't want the Gloria Allred of ADA knocking under general law. More importantly, to do so, to give the middle finger to the ADA community by doing what the Sorento packed some of the Sorento path residents want, i.e. they don't want them in their front yard. And part of this problem belongs to previous city councils that look the other way and allow them to build out onto public walkways or public areas and so forth. So I caution you very carefully in terms of federal grants. There's a good possibility they're going to be suspended until the plans for Sorento pathway are approved by the feds, and that pathway is completed. Then and only then will the money flow to the city of Long Beach for any federal, out of any federal, and which will also then trigger a suspension by county and state. You don't mess with the admirals. Thank you.
Speaker 0: No other public comment. Cast your vote, members.
Speaker 2: Motion carries. Excited report from Financial Management Recommendation to adopt resolution approving the annual and Five-Year Reports for the Transportation Improvement Fee Park and Recreation Facilities Fee via facilities impact fee and police facilities impact for you citywide. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute a contract and all necessary amendments, including term extensions, with the City of Los Angeles to receive and expend Department of Homeland Security grant funding for the 2015 Urban Area Security Initiative Grant, in an amount not to exceed $5,377,994 for a period ending May 31, 2018; and
Increase appropriations in the General Grants Fund (SR 120) in the Department of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Communications (DC) by $200,000, in the General Grants Fund (SR 120) in the Fire Department (FD) by $2,319,098, in the General Grants Fund (SR 120) in the Health and Human Services Department (HE) by $225,500, and in the General Grants Fund (SR 120) in the Police Department (PD) by $2,333,396. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03222016_16-0268 | Speaker 0: Next item.
Speaker 2: Item 26 Report from Parks and Recreation and Marine recommendation to execute two contracts to allow Long Beach Animal Care Services to provide a variety of services to decrease shelter euthanasia of Cats District five.
Speaker 0: There's a motion and a second I'm actually going to have I've had a couple requests for a staff report on this. So think of a staff report, please.
Speaker 7: Sure. We have Ted Stevens, our bureau manager of animal care services, and also interim director of Parks and Rec, Steve Scott.
Speaker 1: Are you sure that's really Ted Stevens?
Speaker 7: I know he's disappearing before our very eyes.
Speaker 8: Okay. I'm not sure where to go with that one, but. But thank you.
Speaker 5: I guess it must be the stress of the coyotes.
Speaker 8: No, it's intentional. I would think the mayor and the council members. Thank you for having me here tonight for a chance to speak briefly on this. We're just formalizing some contracts with the Found Animals Foundation Foundation and Stray Cat Alliance to continue some life saving progressive programs here in the city of Long Beach that are aimed at helping one of the most at risk animals in our city. And that would be the community cat and the kittens that are born from them. And these these efforts have. Have had a significant impact in increasing life outcomes and reducing euthanasia and euthanasia in the shelter.
Speaker 3: And we're looking to continue those programs.
Speaker 0: Thank you. And can you can you talk about those programs are exactly.
Speaker 8: So just briefly, the programs that we're mentioning here would be Kitten Foster program. We're looking to transfer between 3 to 500 kittens to the foster program that the Found Animals Foundation runs out of their adoption shop in Culver City, where they will take over the care and feeding of the animals until they get old enough to be spayed or neutered and adopted into loving homes. And unfortunately, kittens are one of the most at risk animals at any animal shelter. And this is going to allow us to save several of them through this agreement. It also briefly, I can touch on the community cat program where we span neuter cats that are outdoor cats. Many of them are owned, some are loosely owned. Some don't necessarily have any identified owners that we know of, but somebody is taking care of them. These are healthy cats that have no illness, no injuries, but would not make good pets due to their temperament. But they are they do have a home may not be a perfect home, but it is a home that they know and the home that they have. And as long as they're healthy and happy, this program gives them the opportunity to live out their lives in a humane way without reproducing and having any more babies and kittens and reducing a lot of the negative impacts that they would have in the community.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilman Price, to have anything on your motion.
Speaker 1: I just want to thank Mr. Stevens and his team for doing excellent work. And we always look forward to your reports because there's always progress that you are reporting. So thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 2: I am so excited that found animals has put our trust in TED and our animal control services. Usually they focus on really large organizations and I know that we are growing, but compared to some of the bigger animal control agencies, to be able to receive this funding and to have these kittens and cats have this opportunity, it says a lot about you and how far you've brought the animal agency in the last few years. So thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Vice Mayor Lowenthal.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I, too, wish to thank Steven Scott and Ted Stevens for bringing this item forward. I suppose in a perfect world, we wouldn't have feral cats throughout the community and thousands of unwanted strays in our shelters and every animal's spayed or neutered and has a loving and safe home. As Ted talked about, the sort some of these cats do have home is just not perfect. And we wouldn't have the no kill versus kill shelters debate, which is painful. We can all agree that this is not a perfect world and this is a great progressive next step in expanding our efforts and our existing partnerships with these two organizations. I appreciate the feedback that our office has gotten from folks that are both against and for the item. But I do believe this is the right thing to do, both for feral cats and kittens. Our goal is to increase spay and neutering while decreasing euthanasia in our shelter. And that can't be said enough times. This contract and these relationships help us do just that in a very humane way. It's not perfect. We know that. I think you'll even have our staff share that. It's not perfect, but given the options, it really is the best way. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilman Mongo, I think. Is that Quebec up or no? Okay. Council Councilmember Austin.
Speaker 11: Thank you. And I intend on supporting this item. I do have a couple of questions based on questions that were presented to me by constituents just over the weekend. I think this is very timely. The constituent reported a feral cat population in her neighborhood and states that we've actually. Animal Services has actually come out and picked up cats and and and and fix them one way or another. But also they return them back to the community. Is that is that the practice?
Speaker 8: Yes. That that's what this this program is.
Speaker 11: Okay. So you return them back to wherever you caught them, and. And they're just. Just out there. Yeah.
Speaker 8: We're if they are healthy, if they are not healthy, we will not rerelease them. If they come to us. Healthy of good weight in good condition. It's. The assumption is that there is someone taking care of them, someone's feeding them, providing them with shelter and food and water. And like I said, it's not the perfect life for them, but it's you know, they are in a healthy condition. Okay.
Speaker 0: Thank you. And I know that, Mr. Stevens I know that was not part of this report. But what kind of related is the animal care services just opened up a what's now its largest kind of secondary adoption center over in Councilman Austin's district at the new Pet Food Express, which is a great new service to the community as well. So congratulations on that. That's really wonderful. Any comment on the item, please? How are you doing? Hi, good to see you.
Speaker 2: Anna Wong, I am the program director for the Return to field program here in Long Beach. I have been since the inception. I wanted to address Councilman Austin's nervousness. And I understand many of you, your offices have contacted me directly when your constituents have had issues and have needed some help, especially during kitten season. We've been happy to go out and help them with that. This is not a program that's simply putting cats back out. We spent an enormous time and energy educating the city of Long Beach and the contract cities on the return to field program and its benefits. We've already seen a massive reduction in impound rates, which Ted Stevens can go over, if you like. Those numbers. We've seen a massive reduction in euthanasia and we have had a reduction in kitten in pounds so far this year being the third year, we expect to see a dramatic drop in those in pounds. Along with the return to field, we have done what's called targeted TNR, which is trap neuter return. So when kittens are impounded at the shelter, we get the addresses where those kittens came from. We go back, we trap those cats that the constituents did not trap, and we are fixing those cats as well. The fiscal impact is zero to the city. Basically. This is something that we are doing with the grant from the Richardson Foundation found animals and we would like to continue to do it and we appreciate all of the positive response that the Council has had on this. We thank you for your support and gone out to many of your neighborhood meetings and spoken to your people out there. And I'm happy to continue to do that with any issues that you guys may have.
Speaker 0: Thank you very much, Casey, and no other public comment on the issue. Thank you for all your work members. Please go ahead and cast your votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. Next item, please. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute contracts, and any related documents, with The Michelson Found Animals Foundation, Inc., of Los Angeles, CA, and the Stray Cat Alliance, of Los Angeles, CA, to allow Long Beach Animal Care Services to provide a variety of services to decrease shelter euthanasia of cats, from April 1, 2016 through March 31, 2017, with annual renewal options through March 31, 2020, at the discretion of the City Manager or his designee. (District 5) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03222016_16-0269 | Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. Next item, please.
Speaker 2: Report from Parks, Recreation and Marine and Financial Management recommendation to execute a contract with Lo Cerritos. Wetland Stewardship for the maintenance and management of environmentally sensitive areas for a total annual contract amount. Not to. It's not to exceed 419,000 citywide.
Speaker 0: Okay. Can I get a second, please? CARNEY public comment on this item. See. Now, please cast your vote. Absolutely. Councilman Price, before we.
Speaker 1: Vote, I just want to I know Lenny was here earlier. Is he still here? No. I just want to thank staff for working so well with our contractors. They do amazing work, and they do a lot of work in an hour in my district. So I'm very grateful for their efforts and happily support this item.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Please cast your votes. Motion carries. Next item. | Contract | Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP PR16-023 and authorize City Manager to execute a contract with Los Cerritos Wetlands Stewardship, Inc., of Long Beach, CA, for the maintenance and management of environmentally sensitive areas, in an annual amount of $364,800, and authorize a 15 percent contingency in the amount of $54,720, for a total annual contract amount not to exceed $419,520, for a period of two years, with the option to renew for two additional one-year periods, at the discretion of the City Manager, or his designee. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03082016_16-0236 | Speaker 0: Motion carries. Item 11. Communication from Councilman Andrew's recommendation to request the city attorney to draft resolutions consenting to inclusion of City of Long Beach properties in the California Home Finance Authority, PACE programs and Associate membership in California Home Finance Authority. May I have a second, please? On item 11. Members. Oh, it wasn't working. Thank you. Councilmember Andrews.
Speaker 7: I swear.
Speaker 6: I have to recuse myself. I have a conflict of interest.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilman Andrews.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Vice Mayor. Okay, before I start this, I'd like to make a motion to amend my agenda item to include only commercial and industrial properties at this time. Properties Assessment Clean energy financing programs for commercial, industrial and agricultural properties to address high upfront costs of property owners who wish to improve their properties through installation of measures that will generate renewable energy or reduce their energy and water use by offering low cost financing. The base program allows constitution of these projects to proceed and I and process stimulate building activities and overall local economy. Reduce peak energy demands. Install electric curb plug ins, increase property value, and generate savings on utility bills for property owners. There are currently two state legislative items that have passed in the favor of PACE programs. That's SB 555 page community facility district and AB 811 PACE Construction, Construction Asset Assessment Program. I support these items. I'm asking the city attorney to create two resolutions that will approve the following actions. One, The first resolution authorizes the city to join the JPA as associate members and permit commercial property owners within the incorporated areas of the city to participate in this CHF SB 555 Community Facility District. Second. Resolution authorize the city to join in the JPA as an associate member and promote commercial properties and owner within incorporated areas of the city to participate in the CHF AB F-111 authorized purpose program. Not like the Modal Amendment.
Speaker 0: Does a secondary accept? Thank you. So there's been a motion and a second. Is there any member of the public that wish to address council on this item? Councilman Austin.
Speaker 5: Yes. I'm just just I'd like to give a little bit of clarification regarding the program and specifically the JPA associate member. What would role and responsibilities and who represents the city on the JPA? And then I have a follow up question after that.
Speaker 9: Yes, Madam Vice Mayor.
Speaker 7: Members of the City Council, the PACE program is something that we're very familiar with. The way that it's set up and state law is a city has to, by resolution, opt in. And that really is the extent of the city's involvement. So once the city opts in, the city council is allowing this agency to operate on our behalf. We are very familiar again with this process from commercial and industrial. We have a number of firms that the council has already opted in and allowed them to participate, and this would be adding another one for commercial and residential. So if that helps answer the question in terms of the JPA, I don't believe we sit on the JPA, but I am. Yes, we don't believe we have a seat on the JPA.
Speaker 5: And I guess the just the obvious question is how does this benefit this program benefit the city of Long Beach?
Speaker 7: So the goals and objectives of the space program is essentially to provide another financing mechanism for certain types of improvements for greenhouse gas emissions. So, for example, if a business or industry wants to replace all their lights with LED lights, they could have a financing mechanism through your property tax. Same thing for solar. So we've we've looked at.
Speaker 9: This property or this process.
Speaker 7: It's very good in terms of the underwriting standards for commercial and industrial. We as staff do have some concerns about residential because there are some cases where you're not really using a FICO score, you're not testing whether or not there's means to repay. And it's fairly high interest rates. There are other things available. So that's why we're fully comfortable with Councilmember Andrews motion to move forward with commercial industrial.
Speaker 5: Thank you very much.
Speaker 0: Councilwoman Mongo. Did we opt.
Speaker 1: In as a city for residential?
Speaker 7: So many years ago. We opted in, yes. As a residential program, and that was before residential programs really existed. So we opted into the county program. We had been working very closely with the L.A. County of L.A. on their program and were very comfortable with the way.
Speaker 9: That they were structuring their program. There were a couple of other.
Speaker 7: Programs we were being offered that we didn't feel had quite the consumer protections that that we would want. In the end, two of those firms, the L.A. County, changed their own program and actually adopted two of those firms. So they are operating right now in our city as residential. We continue to have some of the same concerns that we did before. We'd really like to study it for about a year to see what's going on with those residential properties. And at that point, if the council is comfortable moving forward, we can look at some others. But we we do have some concerns about whether or not those firms could lead people who don't aren't quite financially literate to enter into some financing agreements they may not be able to afford.
Speaker 1: So I second your concern as a resident of the city of Long Beach and a county employee. I received a letter with a seal of the county on it and a quote from our Environmental Protection or environmental director from the Internal Services Department. And I think it was a surprise to many in the county that such a thing existed and the Department of Consumer Affairs was contacted and reviewed the documentation. And I think that it really speaks to is it good for us as a city for neighbors to upgrade? Yes, but not at the risk of the interest rates, fines and fees that are in the place. So I think the city staff are doing excellent work in determining the the the new additions to the team. I know there are really good operators in this program, really great contractor, some of which are Long Beach contractors who should be able to get this work just as well as any other contractor. But I had some of the same reservations, so I really appreciate and I support this commercial and industrial version of this program. Thank you.
Speaker 8: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Is there any public comment? Please come forward.
Speaker 3: Good evening. Honorable Council members and staff. I'm Krystal Crawford. I'm State Director for Y Green Energy Fund. And so I'm here this evening to, first of all, thank Mr. Andrews and his team for bringing this forward. We've also had an opportunity to work with your staff and have some discussions with staff about the Why Green program, and we very much appreciate the opportunity to at least initially offer our program to commercial and industrial properties, although we would certainly like to continue working with your staff and with the council members to explain how our program protects residential property owners and actually provides an excellent an option for people. And again, pace is an option. There are other financing tools available, but there are differences of course. And so I believe this council and your staff, as has been mentioned, is very familiar with Pace. But I'd just like to mention a couple of things about why. Green We are one of the oldest and largest pace administrators in California. We were one of the original companies coming forward after the legislature created Pace. We are the only company that is operating under the second legislation, SB 55, as Mr. Andrews mentioned, which does offer some advantages to your property owners. And so we think that offering an additional choice to properties property owners in the community of Long Beach is a plus. Choice is always an option, of course. Today why Green is is has funded and approved over 20,000 projects for a value of over $1,000,000,000. We've completed over $300 million in projects and we're operating in seven of ten of the largest cities in the state and in I believe it's four of six of the largest counties. So, of course, the city of Los Angeles has endorsed our program, along with San Diego, San Jose, Fresno, Sacramento, Oakland and Santa Ana. Just to mention a few, we make it our priority to protect property owners by providing detailed disclosures and information and also having processes, consumer protection processes in place. So again, we would welcome the opportunity to begin operating in your community with the limitations that Mr. Andrews has proposed. We are in favor of that and would ask that the Council bring our item back, work with we would work with the City Attorney to bring this item back with the resolutions at your next council meeting. And we do have property owners and contractors who are very interested in taking advantage of our financing options. So thank you again for the opportunity to be considered and for the thoughtful presentation and comments this evening. And I'm available certainly to answer any other questions that you might have.
Speaker 1: Councilwoman Mongeau, I want to thank you for coming, and I want to thank you for the work that you do training contractors. And I think that, especially in our senior community, sometimes the additional fees are the best way to go for them, because I'm financing through the property tax with a short term goal of eventually selling. I see all of those benefits and I appreciate you as a contractor and I also appreciate that you understand that we have to be weary of some of the others. So thank you very much for that. Yes.
Speaker 3: And so, again, thank you for the comments. And we look forward to meeting with you and talking more about the why green program and what we can do to protect your residential property owners and address your concerns.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Members, please cast your vote. I'm. Please come forward. I already called for public comment. Is there anyone else that would like to make a comment on animal 11? Thank you.
Speaker 7: Larry. Good to clear. Because these guys were full disclosure. I didn't hear all of the staff report. But one of the things that did capture my attention in the subsequent comments of people was that there. Some financial services companies available to help entities that are I think they used a very tactful word, financially not literate or financially illiterate. I'm wondering whether or not that might be worthwhile for this city to consider entering into a contract with some company like that. Given the very sage comments offered earlier today relative to the replacement of this facility and that which is published for you to read on the Long Beach report relative to the very credible Teri Jensen of how unwise your financial. Path that you focus on is and I think that would certainly classify being financially illiterate. So if there are programs and I believe there are be worthwhile for this council to consider entering into. And I think one of the one of the recommendations they would make is the same one. Either they is to. Fire the city. Certainly fire the city manager replaced the manager, the mayor, with a federal master. Til until we get back on a financial track that allow us to slow the projection and the path we're on to becoming a a something akin to what one would find in a fourth rate city, which is within the next 60 years, where we will be unless there's a marked reversal. In the trajectory that we are now on. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Kate. Members, cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 12 Communication from Councilman Andrew's Recommendation to approve the use of six Council District Fiscal Year 2015. One time infrastructure funds in the amount of $20,000 to fund community improvements in the Sixth Council District. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Attorney to draft the following resolutions:
1. Resolution consenting to Inclusion of Properties within the City's Incorporated Area in California Home Finance Authority (CHF) Community Facilities District No. 2014-1 (Clean Energy) to Finance Renewable Energy Generation, Energy Efficiency, Water Conservation and Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Improvements and approving associate membership in CHF; and
2. Resolution consenting to Inclusion of Properties within the City's Incorporated Area in the CHF Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program to Finance Renewable Energy Generation, Energy and Water Efficiency Improvements and Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure and approving associate membership in CHF. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03082016_16-0224 | Speaker 0: Kate. Members, cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 12 Communication from Councilman Andrew's Recommendation to approve the use of six Council District Fiscal Year 2015. One time infrastructure funds in the amount of $20,000 to fund community improvements in the Sixth Council District. Councilman Andrews.
Speaker 8: Yes, I agree with you. And once we got the.
Speaker 4: Estimate for two point. Okay. You right?
Speaker 8: Thank you, Vice Mayor. This mobility item is a support of the first. You know, I established Parklet outdoor area outside of downtown Long Beach and the Fourth Street Retro Road. This community driven project is great for the Wrigley neighborhood and the open space is the mobility is just what our neighbors need and is all within walking distance from their homes, along with the support supporting the group of the local business in the Wrigley area. This new park that will be supporting the development of a Willow Street pedestrian friendly from the showing and traffic and slowing down traffic and bicycle pedestrians and improving streetscape and enhancement. With that said, I would like to request the approval to use a six district fixed fiscal year 215 one time infrastructure funds in the amount of 20,000 to help fund this project.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Andrews, there's a motion and a second councilman around here. Would you like to address it?
Speaker 7: Councilmember Andrews and I share that Wrigley area and this is Bono's. It's been an iconic business in the Wrigley area, and I fully support this. This idea is one I hope that my colleagues do as well. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. So any member of the public that wishes to address the Council on item 12. Great. And Councilman Andrews, this is wonderful. Thank you for adding this to the district. People really enjoy it.
Speaker 8: Thank you. First time.
Speaker 0: It's wonderful. Members, please cast your vote. Motion carries. Item 14. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to approve the use of Sixth Council District Fiscal Year 2015 one-time infrastructure funds in the amount of $20,000 to fund community improvements in the Sixth Council District. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03082016_16-0219 | Speaker 0: Emotion carries. Okay. Item 15 Report from Economic and Property Development. Recommendation to execute an exclusive negotiating agreement with Westland Real Estate Group for the development of 6101 through 6141 Atlantic Avenue. District nine.
Speaker 4: Councilman Richardson.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Vice Mayor. This is an exciting step for the ninth District as this lot has been vacant for more than ten years. Entering into this new new agreement with Westland makes a lot of sense for our community have been very invested in the Uptown Renaissance, particularly very strong participation in our Uptown Business Improvement district. We look forward looking forward to beginning this site to to best determine the best use, the best use for this site. And since Westland owns the other half of the block, this is a real opportunity to leverage that into one consolidated full block retail development that will revitalize the middle portion of the North Atlantic corridor. So thank you so much and I encourage your support.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Richardson, Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 3: I'm very supportive of this. My counsel colleague in the North, it's really exciting that we'll start to see some more good development in North Atlantic. And I know he's been working very hard on this as well. And thank you to Mike Conway for all of your work in this as well. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Is there any member of the public that wish to address the Council on item 15 saying none? Members cast your vote. Councilman Andrews. Motion carries.
Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you. We appreciate that. We're going to go back into item number 13, which is an item by Councilwoman Gonzales, Madam Clerk. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute all documents necessary to execute an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement with Westland Real Estate Group, for the development of 6101-6141 Atlantic Avenue, Assessor Parcel Number 7125-036-900. (District 9) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03082016_16-0233 | Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you. We appreciate that. We're going to go back into item number 13, which is an item by Councilwoman Gonzales, Madam Clerk.
Speaker 0: Communication from Councilwoman Gonzalez, Vice Mayor Lowenthal and Councilmember Suranga recommendation to request the city attorney to draft a resolution in support of declaring March 11th, 2016, as the 25th Annual Latino History Day and congratulate Hispanics organized for political equality for their service to Latinas.
Speaker 2: Councilwoman Gonzales.
Speaker 3: Yes. First, I'd like to ask our city attorney. I think we the language says resolution, but we would just like to change it to proclamation. That's all. I just wanted to make that clear. And then I first want to, you know, in celebration of of Women's History Day, which is very exciting, it lands today. I'm also very proud to announce the amazing hope a Hispanic organized for political equality. It was I'll tell you a little bit about it. And, of course, what I did and played a role in in that. And then who is here to talk about it? I'm very happy that she's here. Thank you. It was founded in 1989 by dynamic and civically engaged Latinas from across California. Since then, hope, which we love to call it, has been working very hard to provide a critical voice to Latinas to develop their personal growth, prosperity and political knowledge. The core programs include the Hope Leadership Institute, to which I am a graduate in 2013, very proud, along with my chief of Staff, Solicitor Renata Smith, who is in 2003, and Susana Gonzalez, who is the former chief of staff to then Councilmember Robert Garcia. She was in 2011. We're all very proud as we like to call ourselves Hope Sisters. I certainly wouldn't be here running for office and in this seat if it wasn't for the HOPE program. And I certainly mean that from the bottom of my heart and a little bit more. Ally is the first and only statewide leadership program specifically designed for professional Latinas in California. The goal is to train Latinas in vital leadership and advocacy skills, enabling them to create fundamental change within their local neighborhoods and across California. Other programs include Latina Action Day in Sacramento, which also includes a program for high school Latinas and Latina History Day in Los Angeles, which focuses on professional and personal development as this is my second year in office. I'm very glad that we have also organized a group of women from the city to attend Latina History Day this Friday, which will be upcoming here. I'd like to present and I'm honored to present my dear friend, but also one of our leaders in the Hope Institute, Belinda Barragan. She's here to share more about the program and about, of course, everything we do. So thank you, Belinda.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilmember Gonzalez.
Speaker 1: And good evening, Mayor and council members. My name is Belinda Barragan and I'm the programs and policy director for Hope, which stands for Hispanic.
Speaker 0: Organized for political.
Speaker 1: Equality. And it's just such an honor to be here to receive a resolution from Councilmember Gonzalez, because we did see her go through a process and a transformation. It's just been so amazing. But she's had it in her the whole time. But this year marks the 25th year that we celebrate the accomplishments of amazing Latinas. We will be highlighting key contributions that Latinas make to our nation and discussing critical issues in our communities, such as human trafficking and being engaged in the 2016 elections. We all know how important that is, and we want to make sure that our participants from the conference that day take away, you know, what their role is. And that hope has remained dedicated to improving the education, political and economic status of Latinas. At the conference, we conduct workshops around building a personal health plan anywhere to college access. We have a youth program as well, which is the Hope Youth Leadership Program, and that's for 11th graders. And we bring to them the importance of STEM careers and the importance of personal branding for Latinas in general. And as you all see in testimony here with the council members, Latinos are breaking glass ceilings and pioneering into areas where few women once ventured. Latinos are business owners, executives in our country's largest corporations, civil servants, and are appointed to powerful positions. So Latino History Day celebrates contemporary Latinas who are building the foundation for future generations. And I'd like to invite all of you to join us, if you can, on March 11th. That is our Latina History Day. And again, just thank you for this honor. And Councilwoman Gonzalez, it's such an honor. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you very much for being here, Belinda. And it's really an honor to be a part of the program, and I know that I'm very proud that Long Beach is now recognizing this as a day, and I believe everyone in three here in the state of California, one in three women is Latina. But we still make $0.42 on every dollar that our male counterparts make. So that's certainly a long way to go. But we'll still keep fighting and we'll make sure that we see more women, especially Latino women, in in places that we need to see them. So thank you very much for your work, Belinda.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I just wanted to add, obviously, I think you all know, I think the world of hope and it's an incredible organization. And I remember when at the time. Neighborhood. Deputy Lena Gonzalez came up to me and asked, I'd like to do this program called Hope. What do you think? And I said, absolutely. And in fact, a hope. Sister graduate Susanna Gonzalez, who was my chief of staff when I was a council member, is also went to the program and encouraged, I think, Councilwoman Gonzales to go through the program. And it's been, I know, a great experience for her and I know it's a great experience for everyone that participates. So just thank you for your great work. Councilmember Ringo.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Mayor. I want to thank Councilmember Gonzalez for allowing me to participate in this resolution. Many years ago, in another life, I was a recruitment officer for the city of Long Beach, and I participated in the in that Hope Day as a recruiter and giving a workshop on employability and job opportunities with the city of Long Beach. And as a result of that, I know that we got a lot of good candidates to apply for city jobs back in the day. Also, my chief of staff, Sylvia Luna, was honored by being on the cover of the program for the hope function back in, oh, about a few years back, I guess. And this year I'm going to be sending my field deputy, Jessica, Jessica, Jessica jets away to the this hope history of annual Latino History Day to get that experience. And I want to thank all the members of Hope and everything they do for mentoring Latinas and getting them ready for the the real world when it comes to participating, not only politically but also in the workforce. I want to thank you for all you do.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 6: Just wanted to chime in and say, I keep hearing so much about this hope organization and the word is spreading. And so now my chief of staff, Shawna Stevens and Marina and our internal lists are all going to this event on on Friday. So I might as well just pay some pay a membership and become an honorary member. I go home to a Latina. My wife is Afro-Latina Puerto Rican. My daughter is quarter Rican. So I just wanted to congratulate. Thank you for bringing this forward.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Any public comment on the item? Sure.
Speaker 1: Good evening. I'm Mayor Garcia and council members. My name is Alex Moroz and I'm a resident of the Bluff Park neighborhood here in Long Beach and a new team member to hope. It's such an honor to have Councilwoman Gonzalez and my councilman Susie Price and the city of Long Beach recognized this great organization. In my short time with Hope. I've seen the great work that the organization does for the California Latino community, and I'm excited to celebrate Latino History Day on March 11. This proclamation is a kickoff to our conference, and we'll be featuring some amazing speakers, including Virginia Espino, a historian at the UCLA Center for Oral History Research. Carmela Lopez, actress, filmmaker and activist and president of Heroic Films. And Elizabeth Vazquez, CEO of We Connect International, a corporate led nonprofit that helps empower empower women business owners to succeed in global markets. Thank you again for your support of the Latino community across Long Beach and across California.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much. Next week.
Speaker 0: When I started this.
Speaker 1: Honorable Mayor, Council Members and audience my name is Hilda Hiroto and I am a second year at Cal State Long Beach. I am a sixth District constituent. I am also a legislative intern for Councilwoman Lina Gonzalez. So I am extremely proud to call myself a Latina and very happy to be working for one as well. On February 26th, I got the opportunity to attend the 15th Annual Latina Conference at Cal State Long Beach. So as I was sitting there with the roomful of women that identified themselves as a Latina as well, I felt so empowered, so motivated in my educational goals through the connection and the mentorship with other Latinas at Kelsey Long Beach. So this was such a safe place for me and all the other Latinas that.
Speaker 3: Got together to share experiences.
Speaker 1: And and we each promoted self-development opportunities.
Speaker 3: So I can definitely say that this.
Speaker 1: Conference impacted every single individual that was in the room, because not only were there Latinas in there, but there were different races who attended this conference as well. So with me saying this, I would like to personally thank Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez for bringing this item to the council. It brings me great joy that I am a Latina to see this going on and recognizing all Latinas on March 11th.
Speaker 3: It is such an honor to be here as well on such a historical day.
Speaker 1: So thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 1: Good evening, everyone. I'm solicitor Rudy Arthur Smith, the proud chief of staff for my awesome councilwoman. I am a hope graduate, as she said of 2003. And when I first took the program, I thought, Oh, I know everything. But I didn't know everything. And that's the power of the Hope network that we have throughout the state is that we learn that we don't know everything and we've got to dig deeper, ask the questions for the benefit and the empowerment of our community as Latinos across the state and frankly, across the nation. That program helped me to come out of my shell in many ways and to question different policies throughout the state when it comes to women and women of color. So that program really changed my life. I am thrilled that my council woman had the opportunity to do the program and we're going to continue to be inclusive of all of our Latinas in the city who would like to do that program as well. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Any other public comment? Mr. Goodhue, please come forward.
Speaker 4: You don't comment on everything.
Speaker 7: Very good do. Clark has the address. I'm always not always the brightest bulb around. I may share this story before. Up until about two years ago, I didn't know what a Latina was. And that came, but was brought to my attention when I was writing down on the Blue Line. There was some woman at the far end of one car that seemed to think that the 300 some people in those two cars were interested in Saga of her life, that she was broadcasting live over the phone and making it worse. That the ringtone was best described as the worst chick that Rodney Dangerfield would ever have. As we approached and got off the Fifth Street Station, somebody riding who was apparently next to her said, you know, there's a cell phone store over there. They can teach you how to get maybe a more less obnoxious cell phone ringtone and also how to tone down the volume. And somebody said, well, you can't say that to her. The guy said, Why not? Well, she's a Latino. She's a Latino. I think a better and I think we should not have one day to celebrate. And I think this goes for all groups, no matter what they are black, white, green polecat, good looking, but ugly or whatever. What we do is give them not one day, but a three day weekend starting, and we'll have it in the middle of the summer and the longest day of the year. And then every group black, white, Hispanic, next, whatever can spend the day there, spend that weekend pandering up and marching up and down over a hill over dale around the corner, up one street, down the other, doing whatever they want for the three days. And then that's it. The only people we should recognize. In a special way. Are those? In the military, first responders and those that are kid orientated and so forth, youth orientated. Everybody else's longest day of the year, we'll call it Pandering Day. And then get that out of the system. And we will save time. The people won't have to troop down here to the city council. We can move forward with the business of state. That way it gives them more time. Almost 72 hour, a little short of 72 hours to parade around, march around, and every political hack in town can go down and try to line up votes. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Actually, Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 3: Yes? I just want to invite all of the Hope sisters that are here to join the mayor and myself as we present you with the proclamation and the two leaders that are in my office. I want to thank you every day for your hard work. Hilda is running for student senate at Cal State Long Beach. I'm very proud of her. And Celeste is just amazing every single day. So thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Thank you. We've concluded public comment. So no other council comment. Please go and cast your votes on the motion for the resolution.
Speaker 9: Mayor. This would just be receiving files and she'd use.
Speaker 7: It to a proclamation.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Receiving file, please.
Speaker 0: Councilwoman Pryce. Motion carries.
Speaker 2: Great. Thank you. We're going to go ahead and move a couple of items up. We'll be doing the two items on the recycling issue here. Before we do that, why don't we do it through 24? Briefly, which is the ballot designation. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Attorney to draft a resolution in support of declaring March 11, 2016 as the 25th Annual Latina History Day and congratulate Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE), for their service to the Latinas in the City of Long Beach. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03082016_16-0244 | Speaker 3: That would be my preference. But the item that's appearing on our screen right now, it's 20. Okay, perfect. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Okay. Great. So essentially, we're going to take up item. Item 27 and 20 at the same time that we'll be voting on item 27. And so the staff report from item 20 will here first essentially so that we hear staff proposals that that. Okay, Councilwoman.
Speaker 3: That's fine with me. I'm going to defer to you on that.
Speaker 2: Now, that's that's that sounds fine. So, staff, why don't you guys go and give your report as to what what you've done as far as this process? And then we'll I'll turn this over to Councilwoman Price and we'll do that motion and we're going to take a vote first on the on the motion in front of us to to move this on to an RFP. So. Mr..
Speaker 9: City Manager Thank you, Mayor. Councilmembers. For the past year or so, we've been working on wrapping our recycling services through our Environmental Environmental Services Bureau. We brought on board the services of a nationwide consultant. So with that, I'm going to turn this over to Jason MacDonald, our purchasing manager, as well as Craig Beck, our interim public works director, to walk us through the RFP and recommendation. And thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mr. Manager. Mayor, members of the city council. We have a quick PowerPoint to walk you through the presentation tonight. So basically, why do we have recycling here in Long Beach? Besides it being a good thing, we actually have a requirement under the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989 to do recycling that the city needs to do waste reduction, offer recycling in an environmental safe disposal manner. We started our recycling program here in Long Beach in 1993. We've been providing that since that time. Additionally, in 2012, AB 341 added mandatory recycling for commercial properties. The city provides generally recycling service to multifamily units that are ten units or less, and those that are larger will typically go to a private hauler. So currently the city contracts with the Waste Management, who services approximately 118,000 active accounts with curbside pickup. This contract ends at the end of June 630, 2016. And so we're before you here tonight to talk about a new contract for recycling services. Last year in 2015, roughly 27,000 tons of residential waste was collected. Residential recycling, excuse me. And of that many times we find that people put non recycling items in recycling bins. And so that has to be sorted and pulled out. And so we're seeing roughly a 19.5% residual material that then has to either go to the landfill. But in Long Beach, it goes to surf. So with recycling, there is some value to those recycling materials. And in our sharing agreement with waste management, that generated roughly $605,000 in. Last year. There's been some discussion about how all the materials are sorted through waste management. They currently collect the materials in Long Beach and they're sorted through facility potential industries in the city of Wilmington. And we're going to turn it over to Jason McDonald's, who's going to walk through that procurement process.
Speaker 9: Mr. Mayor, city council members, as the city manager indicated early last year, staff began the RFP process by consulting with HFA consultants. Their expertize and experience is broad and includes work among all of the eight largest cities in the state as well as many other agencies. In April of 2015, the RFP was issued and responses were due back to the city in July following an authorized request. Each proposer provided a revised proposal. Staff conducted interviews in November and following evaluation. A notice to award was posted in January. Which leads us to tonight. In the procurement process. Of these, we received four responses to the RFP. Last year, staff received and evaluated those for four proposals against the RFP criteria and H.F. engage supported that work through their analysis and standard forms. The core contract requirement included provide providing weekly curbside recycling collection for up to 123,000 accounts to operate clean burning, alternate fuel powered collection vehicles and which included a ten year return with no renewals. The unique proposal features offered by each proposer were included in the analysis of the matrix that was provided. At this point, the staff is recommending that the City Council consider award to waste management. The competitive price was offered from Waste Management with a first year savings of $387,000 from the current contract. Waste Management's proposal included unique proposal features. It is a represented company with labor. With Union labor. There is no transition plan required as waste management is the current provider. There is no disruption to service or to residents. Waste Management has a record of 22 years of quality prior service in Long Beach and Waste Management maintains the best safety record when compared to the industry and the other proposers. During the review and evaluation process, staff determined that there was an opportunity to reduce costs by pushing the term to ten years and subsequently asked vendors to provide updated pricing when the city issued the notice of intent to award. A protest was received from one of the proposers and that is not uncommon in a large procurement such as this, where there are a lot of a lot at stake. Republic contended that the staff had not accurately reflected their pricing and missed some of the enhanced features of their proposal. Staff took additional time to review the concerns of the protest, issued a memo to City Council and responded to the Republic with the updated findings. That memo indicated that even with Republic's proposed alternative lower price was used to analyze their proposal, it is still significantly higher than the recommended vendor. Staff also updated the attachment to include all enhanced bid features for all vendors.
Speaker 2: So in summary, this is a large contract with a significant term term as being recommended at ten years, but because it provides the best rate for the city's ratepayers. To ensure a proper recruitment. The city hired one of the top consulting firms in this field. There are multiple features to consider beyond price, which is the reason for utilizing the RFP process. After a full review have been provided to recommendations to the city. One Initiate a contract with Ed Co, who was ultimately the lowest proposer at $3.4 million in the first year contract, or to initiate a contract with the waste management for the best combination of price and features and the least impact to customers. Their first year price was $3.5 million. That concludes staff report and we're available for questions. Thank you. I'm going to turn this over to Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you to staff for that thorough presentation. And what I have no doubt was a very thorough process by the staff in regards to this project and this process. In the words of Craig Beck, this is a large contract with a very specific and lengthy term. And therefore, I think it's important that the process that we go through for the selection of this city partner be one that we believe is a thorough process, is a comprehensive process, and is a process that a an objective second set of eyes can look at to. Weigh in on whether or not the process was fair and included all the numbers. I will tell you that I, along with several of my colleagues I know have met with. Three of the four vendors who bid for this contract and all three. Of the four vendors that we met with, all three of them indicated some aspect of the process or the numbers or the figures that were used that they felt was not done accurately, whether it was the accuracy of the numbers used or whether the final numbers were inclusive of the equipment that the RFP called for, or whether there was a process that was followed through the bid submission protocol that was consistent. It seemed to me that there were questions by all of the vendors, even though they may not be resulting in a protest that warranted a second review. So I have no doubt that city staff did excellent work. But in light of the recommendation that was just put up on the last slide from the consultant, it appears to me that there were at least two vendors who were recommended by that consultant. And based on conversations I've had with the folks who were involved in this process, I want to make sure that both of those vendors are qualified. Both of the numbers that were stated are accurate and that they involve the all of the different price points that were called for in the RFP and that there was really nothing about the process that was of concern. So in regards to item number 27, the specific request would be that the city auditor conduct an audit of the process. We are not require I am not requesting by way of this agenda item for a new process, a revised process. I just would like the city auditor to review the process and make sure that all the numbers that were reported, all the things that were called out in the RFP were included accurately throughout the entire process. And again, in my opinion, it's the process for me that's very important. I don't have a particular horse in this race. I've worked with all three of these companies, all their representatives. They're all great companies, wonderful partners to the city. I'm sure any one of them would do a fantastic job for the city. I want us to be confident in the process that was followed so that even if people don't agree with the recommendation of staff, in the end we can all stand firm and say that we agree with the process that was used.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilwoman Mongo.
Speaker 1: I just believe that this is a large contract. Decisions between seven years, ten years and the amount of money per year. I mean, we're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars over time and a huge impact to our community. So I believe that the city auditor does excellent work. I appreciate the report she's used recently put out. I know this is a lot of additional work, so I'd love to hear from her and what the timeline would look like. But I think that an extra set of eyes is always a good thing.
Speaker 2: Council member Oranga.
Speaker 7: I too, would like to hear what the creator would have to say in terms of this, because, you know, although the recommendation at the bottom says that there is no. Where is it? That there is no budget impact on this item. There is. There's always a budget impact when you have staff reviewing something that other staff already did. I mean, we're duplicating this process to return it to a certain extent, and I'm not sure to what end are we doing this? I mean, if it's to evaluate the process and the process is good or it comes out positive the way it should be, then we've basically turned our wheels and I don't see any benefit from that other than the waste of the city. Auditors Time to review this, this, this, this, this project here. So I don't see the end game here. I mean, if the end game is to review the process, find a fault in it, and if there is and what is going to be the process after that, I mean, that that's my concern is that staff went through a process. They had an outside consultant review the the proposal, the outside consultant did the interviews, reviewed the figures, did everything that they were supposed to do. And I'm thinking as a nationally renowned consultant, I'm sure that their job is good. Otherwise, they wouldn't be here. But I'm just concerned that if we we open up a Pandora's box to a certain extent and we're going to review this huge contract, because that's the that's what I'm hearing, that it's too big for us to have just one set of eyes, that we need two sets of eyes. Then why don't we do that with all our contracts that are of this nature and huge and have the city auditor be in the process to begin with that right from the get go as opposed to after the fact. So I'm not going either way with this. What I what I am concerned about is the fact that it's a duplication of effort in this respect. And I'm not I'm not seeing the or understanding the endgame here. So you review the process. Fine. Then what? I'm just a little bit perturbed about that in the sense that it's a duplication of effort here.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you, Councilmember Price, for bringing this forward. I think that you're sincere in thinking about the integrity of the process and the integrity of our governing body as well. It's always good to proceed with caution. And, you know, we're fortunate to have city auditor down. So when numbers are called into question, we do have that set of eyes, that additional set of eyes. And this is indeed an appropriate case to make sure that we make sure all the numbers are calculated the right way, the eyes are dotted and the T's across with this process. So thank you and I support this recommendation.
Speaker 2: Councilman Austin.
Speaker 5: Thank you. I just have a few clarification point questions. Thank you for bringing this forward. This is and it's turning to this process seems to be turning into a bit of a mess, no pun intended intended here. The the process in which Councilmember Price is talking about, I have a little I have a few questions regarding the scope on what what does study in the process really mean? If you could provide me some clarification on that, that would be be very, very helpful. Number one, you don't have to do it right away for city staff. I'd like to know when when was the last time we were awarded a recycle or went out for an RFP for a recycling contract?
Speaker 2: Mr. West, can someone answer that question?
Speaker 5: When was the last time we went out for recycling contract, and what was the impetus for opening up a RFP for this contract?
Speaker 9: Mr. McDonnells Looking at that right now.
Speaker 2: Councilmember. From what we understand, we've done the RFP once and that was for the initial vendor and we have not done an RFP since. This is the first RFP we've done for recycled services since 1993, I believe.
Speaker 5: KAHN And what was the impetus to open up the RFP? What created this process?
Speaker 2: I believe the extensions to the contracts are ending. As I mentioned, this current contract ends in June this year. And so we need to either do an RFP process or extend the current contract.
Speaker 5: Okay. And is there a and then this is, I guess, a question for for staff. Is there a precedent for us doing such an audit tour for our piece? Have we done this through the city auditor's office before? Would this be a first time?
Speaker 9: I'm I don't think we have a history of that. We're not sure of that. But of course, this is a big ticket item and the city council has purview over policy. So this is something the city council certainly has purview over to to review. Again, this, as Mr. Beck pointed out. This certainly is a very large RFP.
Speaker 5: Okay. I get that. And I am one who is I'd like to err on the side of prudence and caution as well. And then lastly, in this item, I do not see a time specific for the audit to come back. Is this an open ended audit or do we do we would we like to have this back within 30 days, 60 days matter others. Do you have any idea? Let's look.
Speaker 2: Why don't we have the the audit? I would highly recommend if this is the direction we go, that we do not rush the process or the auditor. So let's have her make some comments on what she thinks the timing will be.
Speaker 3: Thank you. If the Council desires.
Speaker 1: Our office to.
Speaker 3: Take an independent look at.
Speaker 1: This.
Speaker 3: We would most likely begin within 30 days, and we would most likely not knowing what we would find once we get in. We would like up to six months. To to come back. 4 to 6 months at the best.
Speaker 2: And by the way, 4 to 6 months is not a that's that's common in these types of things.
Speaker 1: If, you know, to ensure, as was mentioned.
Speaker 3: Um, a thorough and fair process was followed. We certainly wouldn't want to rush it, considering there has been a number of questions and concerns and protests and so forth surrounding this. This would be something that our office would take seriously and look at and make sure we spend the time to to review the process. And I'd be happy to go into a little bit more of what we'd plan to do, if you like.
Speaker 2: Councilman Roston and.
Speaker 5: I, in terms of what you plan to do with that, would be addressing the scope question.
Speaker 3: Yes, right, exactly. And the initial the original contract. Right now.
Speaker 1: That that's fully.
Speaker 3: Expired, the council agreed to allow it to go forth, but it is an expired contract. The city did hire a consultant to help with this process.
Speaker 1: So we would look at the consultant and what the the work of the consultant, the scope of work the consultant put together. We would look at the the whole RFP process. We would review the proposals.
Speaker 3: The pricing sheets.
Speaker 1: The calculations, verify accuracy. We would review communications, we would review any other.
Speaker 3: Relevant documents that we would deem appropriate throughout this process and look at any documentation available to ensure. An accurate and thorough and fair process.
Speaker 5: Thank you. I think that adequately answers my questions. And I would just say, you know, we've apparently had this contract in place for 25 years. Six months to study seems reasonable.
Speaker 7: So.
Speaker 9: Mr. Mayor, Councilman, what I do want to point out that the bids under review do expire in about April.
Speaker 2: So just just the current the current bids. Correct. Mr.. Mr..
Speaker 9: Beck.
Speaker 2: Yes, Mayor. Members of the council, I think there's two things that need to be considered. So the current contract ends at the end of June this year. The auditor's office is looking at a six month audit process. We're going to need to come back to council and extend the current contract to ensure that we have recycling services available to our communities. That would be one item that we'd want to bring forward. And then additionally, depending on what recommendations come forward, it would be more than likely we'd have to go through a different process because the current vendor proposals are only good for 180 days, and that would conclude prior to the auditor's office being able to conclude her audit.
Speaker 1: Councilwoman Mongo. So I have a couple of questions. One, I didn't mean to give the impression that any one contract is too big for this council or our staff in any process. I would, however, state that having worked on several RFP and several audits and sole source a sole source contracts and the such, I think that there are key questions that have come up that are of concern specifically that only one of the four bids was a closed envelope bid, that there was discussion between city staff and vendors. I think those are issues that cause me concern. They might all be okay, but again, I was not into the process enough to know and understand that, nor was I briefed on those changes in the situation as they progressed. It is not only because of the size of the contract. I think that if the contract was much smaller and had those staffing types of issues, we should look at it. I think that there has been a review of our contracting process as a whole, as a city that we want to be prudent in advance. So I guess I bring another question to the table. Since you would have to bring back an extension to the current contract. And since we would need to know if. The current bids, if they were valid at all in the first place, would would be if the vendors would stand by those. Would it be appropriate to ask each of the vendors via a formal written notice to provide a response to whether or not they would let their bids stand for consideration and review? So instead of us losing out on April that they would bring those to a say June. I'm trying to figure out what eight or I'm sorry, 4 to 6 months plus 30 days would be June extension. So if you bid and you thought it would be which. Okay. So my colleague said it would be July, so. If we could get them to say we agree that should you commence services by whatever what that would look like? I don't know what the legalities on that. So I defer to someone and stuff.
Speaker 9: Yes, we could certainly that's appropriate. We could certainly ask the vendors in writing to stay with us while we do this process and get back to the Council on the responses immediately.
Speaker 1: So I think that that would provide some safety. I think that. I think that it's always good to look. It's hard to be the contract that gets looked at because, again, there's a starting point and we're not looking to say here, force all forward, all contracts, go to the city auditor, but more of a here are the things we did right here are the things we could have done better. It doesn't necessarily mean they were wrong, but it's a good internal process at any time. So I would ask that the maker of the motion and sometimes the secondary, I would accept that we include asking the bidders to extend the term of their bid and then come back to the council with a two from four with that information for us.
Speaker 3: In case I would expect I would accept that. But I would I hope that we're all on the same page and that we don't want to start a new process with new numbers, because that certainly wouldn't be fair to Waste Management or Ed Co, who got the recommendation from the consultants. So I would like us to not start a new process, but just evaluate the process we've already been through. So as long as we're all on the same page, that's accepted.
Speaker 2: Mr. West, is that clear? Is that possible?
Speaker 9: I think that's something we'd have to work with the auditor's office, but certainly we would work toward that end, of course.
Speaker 2: Let me just keep going through the list. Councilwoman, are you okay?
Speaker 1: I guess I would just add that if there was found to be gross malfeasance or any issues at that level, then of course we'd have to make a consideration. But should it have gone? Legally well, but could have gone better, which we all know. I mean, just take an average day on the street. You may have rolled a stop sign. You could have done it better, but maybe you didn't. Maybe you didn't. So looking at that, I think is a prudent approach.
Speaker 2: Councilman Andrews.
Speaker 8: Yes. Thank you very much. I want to thank our county, a woman, Mrs. Price, for bringing this item to the devices with the part that was already answered for me, and that was with our city auditor when, you know, she she seemed like she made it very clear that we're not going to rush this. And I don't. Whatever time it takes in order to get it done, I think that would be most prudent to me and to anyone else. And I want to thank you again, Mrs. Wise, for bringing this forward.
Speaker 2: Councilmember Supernova.
Speaker 8: I think I'm just trying to sort out Councilmember Mungo's. Proposal here. I just have. If there's a way we can make a vote tonight that it's contingent upon. The bid's not being reopened, I think is maybe a different way to phrase it. And I don't know how we as this body can. We certainly can't require that. I don't think my whole idea on signing on to this originally was to examine the process. Just as Councilmember Price stated, the price was right again. So I just just is opening up a whole new issue. And I we can say it here. I just don't know if our actions, our vote tonight can freeze these bids. It just doesn't make sense to me. But that's that's that's my issue. And I would hate to have Mr. Parking to have to sort this out on the fly right here tonight. But he's in conference right now with the mayor, so maybe we'll see.
Speaker 2: Councilman Price.
Speaker 3: Thank you. I will have to say, I agree with Councilman Super now that that's an additional aspect that I had not considered. I did communicate with the city manager before I submitted the item just so that he knew where my thought process was. And I didn't want staff to be surprised, but I didn't anticipate this. So I'm going to defer to the city attorney in terms of how we can limit that, because the whole point of it is and to answer Councilman Miranda's question, I agree with a lot of the concerns that he raised. And in response to what is the end game, I guess the end game would be for us as council members to be able to stand tall and in the face of an allegation that the process wasn't fair, that we can say, you know what, we had someone in office that we trust and rely on and depend on . Take a look at this. Potentially up to $70 million contract, which is really the biggest contract other than the civic center that this body has passed. To be able to say that we we have confidence in that process. And although one or two of the vendors may not agree with it, we have faith in the process and we can support staff's recommendation based on the faithful trust, but based on the process. A lot of these issues that have come up are really very unique to the industry. So what the RFP called for was specific items that are very unique to the industry. And I, for one, am not an expert in this industry. So when someone has an allegation that a particular number wasn't considered or a particular requirement that was called out in the RFP wasn't included in a bid, and therefore the bid was artificially lower than another bid. That is something that I should not be analyzing. I don't think that's fair to the vendors. I don't have that expertize. In response to Councilman Austin's question of me in terms of the scope of the process, I appreciate the city auditor giving us a preview of what she would go into or her office would go into. But I did jot down some notes just while my colleagues were talking. And I think at the very least, the scope of this review should be a review of the RFP process and the information that was requested to gather the figures that were submitted by each vendor to determine one, are they qualified? And two were the figures responsive to the RFP? A review of the proposal submitted the supplemental proposals that were submitted and the manner that those proposals were submitted and to determine whether that's consistent with our custom and practice. And finally, whether the ultimate or final conclusions that were evaluated by the consulting firm included accurate figures and numbers throughout the the various proposals that were submitted at the request of city staff. So that that's just I literally wrote this out while we were talking. So I don't know if any of my colleagues want to add to it, but I think that would be a good start of a scope. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Mr. City attorney. Yeah. Mr. City Attorney wants to weigh in. So, Amir.
Speaker 9: Charlie Mayor, members of the council, if I may, in my notes, I think the the auditor had mentioned that it could take up to six months. My math I'm not I'm it just puts me in September possibly October and to ask the and we certainly can ask the vendors the folks that had submitted the four entities that submitted proposals to stand by their bids, but we're going to ask them to extend that another year. I think that may be difficult for them to do or they may not be willing to do that. And I don't think the council has I think one of the council members mentioned we have the authority to require that of them. It would be a voluntary by them to do that while this process moves forward. So I think the option tonight would be if it's going to be an extended period of time, council staff would have to come back and go and negotiate with waste management to continue. The contract has expired. As the auditor pointed out, we're on a month to month contract with Waste Management through June to seek some sort of an additional extension from waste management, not only to do the time necessary that you're asking the auditor to do, but possibly another six months beyond that because of the transition period in the event the waste management wasn't selected. So you're really looking at possibly adding a year or more to this process. And it may be that at the end of that review, you're back at a whole new RFP, which may be additional time. So there by stopping where we are today, I think there's risks involved with the council decision. Clearly, this is you can go forward with what you'd like to do today, but those are some of the risks as I see them from sitting right here. We can't control what our vendors will do when we approach them and ask them to stand by their proposals for the additional possible year before we would make a decision.
Speaker 2: Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 1: So I do want to be clear that. We're not starting on this path thinking that people did things wrong. But more, as Councilman Price said, that we want to stand by the decision. We're not accusing staff of doing anything wrong. It is quite likely that everything was fine. And so the new six month consideration, I guess, is there a possibility of. I think this is a big decision. Is there a possibility of taking up this item later in the evening when we've all had a moment to simmer and think about the information that's been provided to us ? Or I'd be open to motioning to table it for a week.
Speaker 4: Okay.
Speaker 1: Oh, we're not meeting next week. Okay, so let's table for two weeks. Let's all think it over. I think the extension and the six months and a lot of things have come into play. I still would like to. I just think there's a lot to consider that's come up tonight.
Speaker 2: So I've got to make sure that that's a suggestion to the maker of the motion, because the. Making the motion is Councilman Price. So is that a substitute? Is that a friendly?
Speaker 1: Friendly.
Speaker 3: Well, I would like. I mean. I would like to vote on this tonight with the contingency that. The vendors are asked whether they will stand by their numbers. Stand by their their proposal throughout the process. And if the answer to that question is no, then we have a change in circumstance and we can bring it back and then decide what we want to do. But I think at this point, we're giving we're just tabling it for two weeks and giving staff no direction in regards to this process. To me, that doesn't mean I would like to vote on it with the assumption that the the four vendors are going to submit the same are going to commit to keeping the numbers through the through this process.
Speaker 1: So may I? I think I should have again, lots going on. And so I think within that two weeks we could potentially ask them and have a response of whether or not they are going to. Originally my intent was. Give me just an hour to digest what I've thought about and read through my notes while we go through other council items. But if we want to lay it over a week or two weeks, two weeks gives us the time for staff to ask them to stand by their. Decisions. Record bids.
Speaker 9: We could certainly do that and provide information to the council as soon as possible.
Speaker 3: Well, we have several colleagues that are queued up to speak. I'd like to hear what others have to say before deciding whether to accept that that that friendly. Because what I'm hearing as most of us want to see a an audit of the process completed. And so I don't see the downside of voting tonight to move forward with an audit, assuming that everyone is going to commit to keeping their numbers. But I'd like to hear what my colleagues have to say.
Speaker 2: And just as a reminder, we also have have yet to do public comment, which we should do also as well. Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 6: Just following this this discussion. I'm not clear if there is a way to just I don't I'm not hear from staff that it's not possible to move forward. I heard the city city attorney say that there are concerns with that approach. But I guess what I would like to hear from city staff on, is there a way to give give the city council, a way to give you direction? Do you have a recommendation? It sounds like there is interest in doing some sort of an audit. I don't know the whole, you know, extended life of the contract. Six months that I don't understand that. But you guys are more handy with it. Is there a way that you can get us a recommendation that we can move forward with tonight and not have to come back in two weeks and have this conversation again?
Speaker 9: Mayor Councilmembers I think it's clear that we do have direction, whichever way we go, that we immediately reach out to the vendors and see how long they'll hold these prices and then come back with that information to the council. Whether the council votes tonight will do that or whether they decide whether the council decides to hold off on the decision. But regardless, I think it's very clear for direction to the staff that we are going out to the four vendors and asking if they will hold their prices and come back to the council with that information
Speaker 6: . What I would like to know, and I'm okay with that, if it sounds like that's that's a good direction, then I'll support that. What what I'd like to know is whenever a contract comes up in the future and someone has the idea to send it to the city auditor, I'd like to just know that that is something that we can actually do and don't have to figure out what that looks like in the process. So I'm hoping that because I have never witnessed this in the time that I've worked here, I'd like to have more clarity on how this process will work moving forward. Thanks.
Speaker 2: Councilmember Ringa.
Speaker 7: As I indicated before, I really don't. See the purpose of not being able to vote tonight on a contract and then have the audit take place. I mean, normally correct me if I'm wrong. Normally when you have a process in place, a selection is made, a deal is done. Then you go back and you audit the process in terms of making sure that all the I's we're dotted, the T's were crossed, that the process with the process that was followed and it's not the purpose of the audit to change things is not it's not it's not that purpose. That's not what it's for. What it's for is just to ensure that it was fair that the. All the announcements were made, the RFP was was fairly distributed that the number of of vendors that applied were treated fairly, that they were given all the information that there was a bidders conference with each one of them, that they allbut dissipated, that they all understood what the process was. And apparently from the recommendation that was presented to us this evening that took place and it's all good. However, there's always going to be and there always has been. We had one item tonight that we removed from the agenda because it was a protest that that's going to happen. And that's okay. Because that's that's part of the process is to submit a a complaint, if you will, for lack of a better term. But the point is, is that if this audit is going to change anything, then we might as well just rebid it and do it again, because the numbers are going to be different. They're going to change. And if you're asking the vendors if they can hold to their current numbers. Then you're asking them to change to a certain extent, because then everything is going to it's going to be another another contract again. If you follow my my my logic here is because you're not you're you're telling them if you hold your numbers to the present time, six months, up to a year from now, then we're going to be good. But from a year from now, things are going to change. You're going to be different, prices are going to go up, the demand is going to be different, the prices will go up again. So, I mean, I don't really see the purpose of this discussion to hold off on this contract, turning it off in in in favor of having an audit of the process when that audit can basically change everything. So if that's the point, if that's the case, then let's just put a stop to this whole thing, review the process and then. Have a rebid because it's going to change again in a year. If you're looking at September, October two to finish this, it's going to change. We're going to have a new budget for the city and we're in a budget process now. What's the effect of that going to be in terms of our future with this contract? So, I mean, I really don't see where we're going with this in response to you. All you want to do is audit the process, not the contract. Then let's go ahead and do that. Let's. But vote for the four for the contract and then do the audit. And if the audit comes up with something, we know how to do it better next time. Of course, it'll be ten years from now, and I'm not going to be here. But but the point is, is that I really I really don't see any benefit from from this this this procedure that we're having right now.
Speaker 2: Councilmember Austin.
Speaker 5: Thank you. And I'll just be short and brief. I think I made my comments earlier, and I have to agree with much of what Councilmember Urunga has stated. I think this is this is a bit unprecedented in terms of requesting an audit prior to awarding a contract generally and from what I've experienced over the last several years . Processes are audited afterwards. And so I guess the question before us here today is, you know, do we do we vote on what staff is recommended, recommended? Are we questioning the the integrity of our staff, which I think sends a dangerous message and. Do we move forward with this audit post awarding the contract? I mean, I think that those are the questions before us. And again, I think this is this is where we may be headed down a dangerous path in terms of setting a precedent for for for future our peace.
Speaker 2: Councilman Price.
Speaker 3: You know what? I see the city auditor walking up and I know we haven't had public comment. I'm going to reserve my comments for now. I just want to be brief and say that I will put two staff members on this as quickly as I can. We have no idea what we will find when we get in there. So I wanted to give allow enough time for a worst case scenario. So we will do everything we can to speed this along. All of our audits, we allow city management or the department in which we're auditing time to respond to our findings of audits
Speaker 1: . So that's a three week process in itself.
Speaker 3: So if you have a month on the tail end and a month on the front end, that's two months, and then we'll get in and get out as quickly as we can. But again, we just don't know what we'll find once we get in. And just rest assured that.
Speaker 1: We'll stay focused.
Speaker 3: And only look at those things that are most relevant to the request by the Council.
Speaker 2: Councilman Price.
Speaker 3: I still want to hear from the public. I have to say, I don't I respect councilman iran a great deal. But what i'm hearing him say is despite. The comments from several colleagues saying that a review of the process would be prudent on a $70 million contract. What I'm hearing him say is even though some of you have questions regarding the process and the numbers, I think we should go ahead and enter into a ten year contract with a vendor with whom we are not confident in a process and then have that process reviewed. And if it comes back, we've learned some great lessons for the future. The bottom line is we're picking a partner for ten years, so I think we should feel confident in the process before we enter that contract because we can't then get out of the contract or into a ten year contract. So what we're trying to say is before we enter a ten year, $70 million contract, we should feel confident with the numbers. And if he does, then that's that's great. But I think the many of my colleagues I'm hearing say that they would benefit from a second set of eyes looking at it. That's really what an audit is. The end game of an audit is to bless a process either before or after the process is completed. The problem with blessing this process after the contract is entered into is that it's a contract between two parties that's going to last ten years and have a value of $70 million. So if there are lessons to be learned. Right, but that's a very costly lesson for us to enter into. So that's my thoughts on it. What I would like to do is, is is vote on this tonight. Ask council staff to go forward and and see if they'll commit to their prices. And if they don't, then I would expect that staff would come back to us and let us know that that the vendors did not commit to keeping their prices and allow us to reconsider. Because right now the options that I feel we have is vote on a ten year, $70 million contract, or ask the city auditor to review a process before we vote on the contract. So those are our two choices, and I'm comfortable. I would like to in fact, I would be recusing myself from a vote on who to give the contract to at this juncture, because I don't have faith in the process. So that's where I would be standing on it. But if the majority of my colleagues feel with, as Councilman Turanga does, that they're confident enough in the process to go forward with a vote tonight, then that's that's the decision. But I think that it's it's prudent to wait and have a review.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I mean, to get a public comment and then I will go back to the council. Please come forward for you. Identify yourself for the record.
Speaker 7: Very good. Hugh Clark, as he addressed the councilperson for third district, is to be commended for bringing that forward. And this is proof positive, again, that somebody in the 13th floor needs to be fired. The councilwoman put it in very excellent perspective. Although she may not agree with some of the things I say. This is the second largest contractor that we're entering into. Second only to the buffoonery here. In the rebuild. I can tell you this. Just from a business standpoint. I know. And it was would be unreasonable it would be reasonable to assume that some of the contractors won't hold to that price. They are not going to sit around and wait for that period of time, which is okay. There are plenty of people out there doing that. But what stinks to high heaven? And I'm sure that I'm surprised the M.D. warning signals didn't go off, that we had something this large. Get the buffoonery on out of the 13th floor is just absolutely absurd. You don't hold off and slip in at the last minute. Only in a corrupt paradine would you have that a contract. Of this magnitude. It's just more of it. One nice thing about it, it will be more information for the FBI to figure out just how many corrupt people we have here. I don't know who it is, but you just don't. When you have a contract this size, $73 million and you're rushed through. Without highlighting what the options are and what the downside is and the magnitude of it. That does not speak well for anybody. They provided that brought this forward. And I appreciate the fact that some of your agendas may be social and some of the skill levels are such that you don't get through to these little details. But from this individual's perspective and I think a lot of people share, there is absolutely no confidence in the buffoonery and the mental midgets on the 13th floor. Whether or not. You're in the any council members are in the pocket. Of some of these applying, I don't know, but that that will have the eventually flushed out. But I think it is unreasonable to expect all of the people to hold to that price for the period of time that it takes to do the job they should have been done in the first place.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 8: Richard Suarez. Good evening. As you all know, I really don't have a dog in this fight. But it is alarming to me that a contract that is has now gone out to bid for over 20 years that this kind of debate is going on. I applaud the council. Woman Price I think that another set of eyes you owe to the community, I don't know, especially if there are reports from some of these vendors that they believe they feel that the process wasn't done adequately. Who knows? But to the extent that someone is concerned that the vendors would not wait another two or three weeks or two or three months over a $70 million contract, I think that that's just pure business. I don't know how many $70 million contracts are out there. And if I were a representative of one of these companies, I don't know that I I'd say no. Let's repeat the whole thing again. Our price has an expiration date at the end of the day. Waiting until the last minute to deal with a problem is something that I've that I've dealt with here with this city, with your staff, relative to the people. And now we're dealing with the consequences of waiting until the last minute. Just a few weeks ago, you approved a $900 million excuse me, a $900,000 a month Band-Aid because we didn't have adequate time to deal with issues. So I don't understand the question. I don't understand the concern. 23 years a vendor gets. The right to do business with the city and in no way, shape or form suggesting that that vendor isn't a contender. But if we can put some sunshine and some daylight into this thing, how is that wrong? Where do we go wrong? And doesn't the community rest better? If we've all done our due diligence. There has been a dereliction of duty here. To allow a contract to go unquestioned for 23 years is unacceptable. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 0: My name's Pat Mangum. I'm a city.
Speaker 3: Employee, 27 years, and I'm.
Speaker 0: Also a current member on the I Am negotiation.
Speaker 3: Team. Anyway, I was looking at Agenda 20 and what caught my eye.
Speaker 0: Was the annual consumer.
Speaker 3: Price.
Speaker 0: Index adjustment that goes.
Speaker 3: Along with this contract.
Speaker 1: For the term of ten years.
Speaker 0: What? Surprised me is sitting during negotiations.
Speaker 3: The city negotiator has offered. US employees.
Speaker 1: 0% for our first year pending contract.
Speaker 3: 0% for the second year. 1% for the third year. But on the other hand, they're offering. A consumer.
Speaker 0: Price index adjustment for each.
Speaker 1: Year of the.
Speaker 3: Ten year contract. Well, I was really surprised the city was willing to do this to me. It's fair. I have nothing against the business person.
Speaker 0: Or the vendor doing good business.
Speaker 3: With us and getting this. But in turn, I.
Speaker 1: Think it should be fair. For the city employees to get this.
Speaker 3: We're not asking for something ridiculous. Consumer Price Index adjustment. And I would hope that when our contract comes up. Before you and you see it that you take that into consideration too. When it comes to US city employees who have been here year after year after year doing good services for everything you see around here, helping and maintaining this place. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Please come forward.
Speaker 5: Good evening, Mayor. Council members. City staff. My name is Trayvon Grant Representative with Republic Services to 531 East 67th Street 90805 300 over 300 proud employees here locally. And out of those 300, over 100 of them live in the city of Long Beach. For 36 years, I've been a resident within the city of Long Beach. And on the record, I've I've experienced a process that I believe to be as flawed. And, you know, I usually don't like to talk unless it's facts. And fortunately, we've been able to share quite a few facts with all of you. And I like to remind you of some of some of those tonight. For example, there are four different cost proposals that were submitted perceptually requesting for multiple bids can be perceived as price shopping in my or in my industry.
Speaker 8: That's considered unfair.
Speaker 5: In fact, we believe the only bid that has any integrity is the first bid, which was a sealed envelope or box that was hand-delivered to this building personally by me. Second Republic Services prices were misrepresented and that at the very beginning got us off.
Speaker 2: To a bad start.
Speaker 5: We wanted to make sure that everyone understood that the asterisk that was clearly highlighted inside of the. Proposals need it to be clarified, needed to be understood. Third, this is a recycling contract. So if it's a recycling contract, why aren't we paying attention to the recycling revenue? We offered over 40% more when it comes to recycling revenue. However, this was not taken into consideration. Proposal enhancements were completely, completely drawn up, completely different than what we agreed to. And the most important part and I think this is the biggest obligation that you all have as council members is as once we trust to make decisions when things don't go the appropriate way. There was a direct violation of the procurement process. We received an email directly from the Environmental Services Managers Department, which clearly was evaluation. It was it was a. It was not in accordance to what the RFQ process asks for. So is it fair? I don't know. Let the facts do the talking. But we're here to support the city auditor to evaluate this process. That's what we're here for. We're just asking for you guys to make a decision. Let us be fair. Fair is the word here. Fair. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Speaker, please.
Speaker 9: Thank you, Mayor Garcia. Council members my name is Doug Corker and I'm the director of Public Sector Services for Waste Management here in Southern California. And we're here to ask you to vote no on item 27 and yes on the staff recommendation for item 20. I got to tell you, I don't mean any disrespect to anybody, but I don't see the logic in an auditor review. And and honestly, I'm more confused now than when I came in here, because I've heard a lot of discussion about reviewing the process, reviewing the process. But as I as I look at the language there and I read the motion, it's all about reviewing the bids. And it almost seems like a redo of everything that we just did. Let me tell you how it looks from our perspective. We just completed an almost one year comprehensive, thorough RFP process managed by H.F., a clear industry leader in recycling, a solid waste procurement whose process has basically been refined almost to the point that it's boilerplate. Every single proposer for this RFP has gone through scores of HSF and RFP processes. We all know the rules. There's no surprises. It's it is what it is. This tried and true process has led to a vetted, considered and valid staff recommendation. And what about that staff? That's your staff. They're hands down, one of the best in the business. They run outstanding programs consistently and they win awards over and over doing it. Simple fact is, they're reliable pros who always are looking out for the city's best interest. So we had essentially two sets of eyes reviewing everything a leading consultant supporting a first rate staff, following a tried and true process. So you can imagine our surprise when we when we saw the motion for the auditor review. Frankly, we think such an action is a very slippery slope, and it unnecessarily and unfairly undermines the process that we just spent the last year going through, and it threatens to undermine every RFP process for the city in the future. And basically the way I'm looking at it, the way we see it, it encourages anybody who's lost on a process or a bid process or anything else just to say, you know what, let's blow it up, let's take it to the council, they'll run it out to the auditor and everything will start over again. Adding insult to injury, we understand that the party that's making the most noise about staff's recommendation didn't even make it past the first round of the RFP. And rather than try to go back and say, Let's figure out how to do a better job next time, they're saying, let's blow it up for everybody. That's just wrong. Your staff's March 1st supplemental memo more than adequately addresses the issues raised. Mr. Mayor and Council. I have over 100 hardworking people who've been serving. They live in Long Beach and they've been serving the city in recycling services for many, many years. And they're wondering right now, are they have they earned the right to continue serving the city? We think they did. We'll ask you to please vote no in item 27. Vote yes on item 22 award. The contrary, sir, to waste management.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: Is it on? Okay. My name is Erica. I'm a case manager for a homeless shelter in Long Beach. But I'm really just. I've been living in Long Beach for 15 years, so this is actually my first time coming here. And it's very exciting. And it's an honor meeting, all of you. As you can see, I'm wearing a waste management T-shirt. I've seen waste management for 15 years, and I do respect whatever decision you guys make as in the audit. But what I've seen in Waste Management this year is they've been actually they've been really good. And one of my favorite things was actually the Special Olympics, and I was able to volunteer through them. And I've.
Speaker 1: Been through the Long Beach Unified School.
Speaker 3: District and I've seen how they've come to schools and they've taught. So I've learned a lot from waste management. I support waste management and also whatever decision you guys make. Yeah, that's all I had to say.
Speaker 1: As a citizen of Long Beach. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. And the other public comment on this. Please come forward.
Speaker 8: Good evening, Honorable Mayor Garcia and esteemed council members of the city of Long Beach. My name is Jeff Snow. I am with Republic Services and I am a native of Long Beach Millikan High School CIF champions in 1979. Thank you. Fifth District Council Member. I've been personally and professionally involved in over 30 municipal RFP s throughout Southern California. This one has a number of irregularities that make me lack comfort in that. In the completed validity. The level of analysis that was shown this evening to me misses a lot of the key points. Recycling. This is a recycling contract and the sustainability or capacity to endure aspect of it. I haven't seen where that's come into play. I am formerly the president of Rainbow Environmental Services in Huntington Beach, California, now a proud member of the Republic Services family. Our environmental campus in Huntington Beach is owned and operated by our company, provides a good green collar jobs to people in our material recovery facilities, and we recycle over 58 different items. Compared to what Long Beach recycles currently that's a tripling or quadrupling of materials that we're keeping out of the disposal stream. And I think that this contract has a lot to do with the sustainability for the city of Long Beach. And we are proud to have helped Huntington Beach just down the road, achieve state of California leadership in diversion and recycling through our outreach programs, through our advanced MERV Technology. As far as this process goes, I have never been involved in a municipal RFP where the evaluation committee didn't come out and do site visits. We don't buy cars or buy homes without test driving them. We never had a site visit to evaluate the strengths of our technology, our workforce development and diversity, and our entire approach to sustainability for our community partners. In closing, I see many irregularities in this process and I encourage Council to consider an audit to. Help make help allow you to make the most informed decision and the best decision for your constituents, for this community and for the planet. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Any other public comment, please come forward. If you're going to speak, please line up so we can make this quicker. Thank you. Yes, sir.
Speaker 9: Mr. Mayor. Members of Council Steve Southam, the President and.
Speaker 8: Chief executive officer of family owned and operated Atco.
Speaker 9: Were the largest family owned and operated company.
Speaker 8: Serving in the state of California.
Speaker 9: We also operate as Signal Hill Disposal. We're pleased to be here before you today. Obviously, looking at the proposal, as you see before you, we have the lowest.
Speaker 2: Overall.
Speaker 9: Value in.
Speaker 7: Terms of cost. The thing we would note to.
Speaker 8: You that is important is that our proposal included replacing 100% of the carts, and that's a rather.
Speaker 9: Significant liability.
Speaker 8: For the city.
Speaker 7: I think the cost proposals that you saw reflected replacing as.
Speaker 2: Needed carts from some of the others. There's 110,000.
Speaker 7: Carts out.
Speaker 8: There. So over $5 million of liability. And our proposal included.
Speaker 9: Replacing all of the carts, 100% of the carts, which we think offers significant value.
Speaker 2: And doesn't defer that liability.
Speaker 9: For future providers. In addition.
Speaker 8: Is a family owned and operated.
Speaker 9: Company. We're based here in Signal Hill. We have a brand new state of the art facility, both in terms of collection and processing. It's a vertically integrated proposal. And most importantly, we're here and available to answer any questions you might have. As always, it's the same group that's been here for the last 30 years. So, again.
Speaker 8: Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Seeing no other public comment means you get back to the council staff. Wanted to make a couple of comments, Mr. West, and then I'm turn over to Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 9: Yes, Mayor. I'd like to ask Jason McDonald to respond to some of the comments that were made. From the public and representatives. Thank you, Mayor. City Council members to address some of the concerns raised by Mr. Grant from Republic Services. Maybe starting, first of all, to make sure that we're all talking about the same proposal. In general, this is a proposal that was intended to be awarded at approximately 3.5 million a year for ten years, including in adding the cost of the CPI index. So that's somewhere closer to 35 million just for making sure we're in the same ballpark in the first claim by Mr. Grant that there is this is an allegation of price shopping. Under page 23 of the specifications in the RFP section 5.3, the city may contact the references provided in the proposal. Contact any proposer to clarify any response, contact any current users. Solicit information the city shall not be obligated to accept. The lowest price shall make an award in the best interests of the city of Long Beach. This, in fact, was not a bid. This was an RFP, a request for proposals. A bid would require us to maintain the lowest responsive, responsible bidder as the awardee. But in fact, city staff, through the evaluation, along with the consultant, made a determination that Waste Management's proposal was in the best interests of the ratepayers in the city of Long Beach. Mr. Grant's fourth claim the proposal enhancements were drawn up differently. The original matrix provided to the City Council included the differences between the enhancements among each proposer, not the similarities. Upon meeting with Republic Group that was corrected and all of the enhancements provided by every proposer was included on that matrix. Finally, with Mr. Grant's claim that the procurement process is was a violation of the process by direct communication. Again, same section of the RFP. The city may contact any proposal to clarify any response. Contact any current users of the service to solicit information from any available source. Additionally, in that context, I authorized that communication in the attempt to expedite and ensure that we were moving in a timely manner towards a ward. So that was my decision at that point. The purchasing manager I authorized the Bureau Manager of the Environmental Services Bureau. The last claim from Republic that there were no site visits. That is always the city's prerogative, and certainly city could have chosen but chose not to do so during that evaluation process. So just wanted to make sure that we have talked about a few of those items. Thank you. One last thing, Mr. Mayor. This has all been very quick tonight. So whatever happens, we've been discussing, I think we have some options that we can come back to within a very quick time, perhaps within two weeks, that might satisfy the needs of all the council and prepare that for the city council. It's something I don't think we should get into tonight because we need to study the issue a little bit. But there's definitely more options than just a yes or a no tonight that we can come back to give the council. An opportunity to look at this one more time as well.
Speaker 2: Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 1: I want to thank you for the feedback based on the public comment. I think that. First and foremost, as a council member, I try to do my homework. I met specifically with Pat West on this several weeks ago and discussed some of the items which in the two from fours that came out after that, which I've read all of them. I don't think that I got the. Full detail, as I did just now verbally, which I appreciate, and that is helpful. I do still feel that if we had another two weeks, I mean, I'd prefer a week, but obviously of council next week to just be able to meet with staff again and feel more confident. I think that would help a lot. And then at that time, no matter how confident we are or aren't. Because again, I've met with city staff on this and did not get the same answers. I didn't get I didn't have answers at that time. And I expected them to be in the two from force. And now here we are. And so I guess I would just be curious to know about the condition of my friendly.
Speaker 3: Gentleman Price to continue this to week so staff can come back with recommendations on how we can proceed. Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2: Okay. So the motion on the floor is to continue the item for two weeks. That's the motion of the floor. Councilmember Ringa. Before you go, let me clarify, because we're actually taking up both 20 and 27 right now. So this is this is essentially continuing both items as a as a package discussion. Is that correct? Interested attorney? How would you prefer to do this?
Speaker 9: We need to take two separate actions, but you can obviously continue both. And if you're continuing 27, it would be up to you to consider how you want to handle 20.
Speaker 2: They could continue both. It's up to you. Let me keep going down the list and then we'll go back. Councilmember.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Mayor. Actually, I would I would be in favor of continuing both because I was going to make a substitute motion to let's deal with 21st. And then that way we could look at 27 as being the one to evaluate the to do the audit. And then we could go through if the vendors would be able to hold their prices for the for the term of the audit. And that way we could decide everything clear on the board and we're done. But if we're going to hold both items, I would certainly support that. And one thing I want to correct, I mean, it's. There's a presumption here that the process was flawed. It's a presumption regardless of how you feel about what you say. There's a presumption there when it comes to consumer prices that she's going to recuse herself, excuse me, from the vote because she didn't trust the process. There is a presumption that there's something wrong. Okay. I don't want that to be the message that I want that I want to say, because then what we're saying is that if we were to award the contract, let's say we're saying that that the vendor who gets it in this case, Waste Management, is got a contract under under so shady circumstances. And I wouldn't want them to feel that way. That would I wouldn't want our our city management to feel that way, that that their they made a recommendation of a of a vendor based on flawed information. I wouldn't want that. I don't want that. I want the thing to be right. I want it done right. And if it's the process that is in question here, then let's question that not not question the the the validity of the RFP that we're out there. And I'm glad for that clarification of our RFP versus a contract because it is different and it doesn't have to be the lowest value which is still out there in terms of, you know, who did the lowest bid and who it was awarded to. So in this instance, if the city if city management, the city manager is willing to revisit this and come back with other options and other recommendations as to how we can fix this debate tonight and give it two weeks, I would certainly support that.
Speaker 2: Okay. Is there. Just before we move forward, is there an understanding of what the friendly actually is and what the is this continuation of both items?
Speaker 3: Really was. As to item 27, because when they come back, it's not going to be about their recommendation that is outlined in item 20 there. When staff comes back, they're going to be talking to us about the recommendation as to item 27 only. That's my understanding is that staff is asking for time so that they can come back with alternatives on how we can get this matter to the city auditor and continue with the bidders that we've already received not to come back for a recommendation, a different recommendation or something like that in regards to who to award the contract to.
Speaker 2: But then we still would have item 20 to vote on tonight.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think I think it's too different.
Speaker 2: So, Mr. City, joining you both?
Speaker 9: Yes, Mayor, members of the council, I think if I hear the council person from the third district correctly, if you continue item 27 and you would like to deal with item 20 in two weeks, I would take a separate action to continue that. And I think at that point it would of course be up to staff, but if they were going to bring back options, there's going to have to be council. They can have to come back any way to negotiate an extension with waste management, add more money to the contract to continue that for however long they believe it's necessary to meet the requirements of the Council for so. So there'll be additional items that would be placed on the agenda to that item. So I would do it separately as two separate items. In addition, Mayor Council members, we would like the opportunity to come back with a potential solution to this. And I agree with the Council on approach we wouldn't be coming back with here's a motion to make, but we could come back with an alternative procedure that could wrap this up for the city council. And it might not be something that just refers it to the auditor. It would just be an alternate procedure that the council could look at.
Speaker 2: Okay. So just to be clear, there's going to be. So we're going to two votes. One item 21. An item 27. Correct. Okay. Let me just get through the rest of the speaker's list and then we'll get back to the motions. Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 3: Yes. I just want to. I'm glad we have this discussion back and forth. This is a you know, definitely a a tough one for for all of us. But I think I'm I'm also good and supportive of kind of waiting and seeing what we get back from our city manager's office and then going forward from there. I think that's a really good step that we can do. It is a very large contract. And, you know, I think we're in a bind right now and in understanding this all and exactly what happened. So I'm I'm in support of that. So thank you.
Speaker 2: Councilor Richard Brenner.
Speaker 8: I'm on board also as an accommodation for staff and our city attorney and all of us.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Okay. There's we're going to take two votes. The first is to postpone, hold over for two weeks out of 27. Please cast your votes.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 2: Okay. We're going to go to item 20. If there's going to be, there'll be a motion to postpone item 20 believe that's the motion correct for two weeks. In a motion in a second. Okay. Members, please cast your votes on item 20. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Auditor to review the bid responses for the residential recycling collection services. The responses should be analyzed based on qualifications, cost, recycling revenue to the City, environmental benefits, compliance with the terms of the Request for Proposal (RFP), as well as any additional criteria the City Auditor deems appropriate; request City Auditor to report findings of the review directly to the City Council at the earliest possible date; and request that City staff provide the City Auditor with all documents, analysis, and emails related to procurement process for this RFP in an expedited manner. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03082016_16-0220 | Speaker 2: Okay. Unanimous. Okay. So both items to be continued for two weeks. Came, Madam Kirk. Next item.
Speaker 0: Item 16 Report from Economic and Property Development. Recommendation to execute an amendment to agreement with area to cover civic center consulting costs of $450,000 between February 15, 2016 and the anticipated execution of the Project Agreement no later than April 29, 2016. District two. Thank you. There's been a motion in a second. Councilman Gonzalez. Council member supernova. Was that a mistake? Did you, woman? No. Thank you. There's been a motion in a second on this item. Is there any member of the public that wishes to address the Council on item 16? Please come forward.
Speaker 7: Surprise. Let Larry go to you. Clark has the address. Yet another half a million dollars for the buffoonery of this complex being rebuilt. I think, again, that speaks well for the case of. Firing the city manager, replacing the mayor with a federal master to oversee. The financial operations of this city. I mean this the immediate action that you. Some of you were forced into doing. Others were not somebody like council person price had them the intelligence to see if you've got the second largest contract in the city's history for the year. It deserves much more scrutiny than was given. And here again, we have yet another example of buffoonery. And I would suggest probably every other week we're going to be getting things like this again and again. I just hope we can. The Feds can come here fast enough. Before we had. At least something standing. And I had. And at that point, I was also one other comment relative to the good, smooth final comments of the councilman or anger. I appreciate him saying those remarks and clarifying his remarks on that because nobody wants nobody wants the stench that comes from the 13th floor. Permanently attached to them. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Hey. Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Please cast your vote. Members, please cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 17. Report from Long Beach Gas and Oil Recommendation to approve and adopt the Long Beach Unit Annual Plan Citywide. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute an amendment to Agreement No. 33344 with Arup North America Limited to cover Civic Center consulting costs of $450,000 between February 15, 2016 and the anticipated execution of the Project Agreement no later than April 29, 2016. (District 2) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03082016_15-1238 | Speaker 0: There's been a and councilmember your anger. Good. All right. Councilmember Richardson. So any member of the public that wished to address Council on item 17 seeing none. Members Cast your vote. Motion carries. Item 18 Report from Parks, Recreation and Marine recommendation to execute the funding agreement with the County of Los Angeles for community engagement activities related to the countywide parks needs assessment citywide. Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 6: Is there a staff report?
Speaker 9: Certainly our interim director, Steve Scott, and our project manager, Meredith Reynolds. Honorable Vice Mayor and members of the City Council understanding that we all need parks. Over the last 12 months, the County of.
Speaker 7: Los Angeles has been conducting a countywide assessment of needs for parks and recreation.
Speaker 9: Opportunities in both cities and unincorporated areas. The goal of the countywide park needs.
Speaker 7: Assessment is to engage all communities within the county.
Speaker 9: In a collaborative process to gather data and input regarding these park.
Speaker 7: Needs. To that end, approximately 175 community workshops have been held throughout Los Angeles County, including six in Long Beach over the last three months. With that, I'm going to just.
Speaker 9: Very quickly hand it over to Meredith Reynolds to just provide a few details regarding the process that was utilized by the county.
Speaker 3: Good evening, Mayor. Members of the City Council. In February 2015, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a plan to produce a county wide, comprehensive parks and recreation need assessment to analyze current public parks and open space and cultural and recreational assets and needs. The effort dictated by the county but led locally by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine included providing data on the condition of park amenities in the city, hosting six community outreach workshops and bringing the community's prioritized list of park projects to the City Council for approval, which is presented for your consideration this evening. The assessment is on an aggressive timeline with a final summary report demonstrating park funding needs from across the county is anticipated to be completed by the county in June 2016. The county divided the city into five planning areas of roughly equal population for the area of northeast, southwest and central for the purpose of gathering comparable information throughout the county.
Speaker 1: A community workshop.
Speaker 3: Was held in each of the five planning areas. In fall of 2015. Staff performed an inventory of existing conditions of all park amenities, park location and acreage for regional parks.
Speaker 1: Community parks.
Speaker 3: Neighborhood parks and pocket parks. The city also prepared prioritized project lists for each planning area that reflected priority capital and rehabilitation projects for presentation and community outreach workshops. The result of each community workshop was a list of these prioritized projects for that planning area, which were included in your staff report. The county will develop a summary report that will include an executive summary, a description of existing conditions, the community outreach process, a list of Future Park needs, an appendix containing the full list of projects countywide. Should Future County Park funding become available. The county has indicated funding will not be limited or restricted to the submitted projects and will consider all funding priorities from cities. Should funding become available in the future, staff would return to council for approval.
Speaker 1: To apply as.
Speaker 3: Well as grant award appropriation per city policy. Contract costs for the outreach workshops, translation services and tabulation of community input totaled just over $19,000 and are currently unbudgeted. The county will provide a $12,500 stipend to help support these efforts. The city must enter into the funding agreement for community engagement activities related to the countywide park needs assessment in order to be eligible for the stipend. This concludes the presentation and staff is available to answer any questions. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Any public comment on the item?
Speaker 7: Larry. Good. You work as the address. I have not seen and study the staff report on that and where the. Parks specifically are located in the areas targeted. But I want to make sure that if it is something that has to be pulled from it. I read an article in the paper over the weekend about a. Half court, basketball court in Marina Vista Park. Which suggests that whoever suggested it is unfamiliar with the park are. Which is slated to be altered significantly in terms of the open channel project that is coming down the pike. And the Parks and Rec. The Parks Department did an excellent job in re-arranging the space. So currently there will be there will be no loss of sports paradigm that were there. But I want to make sure somebody doesn't slip in a way approving this measure that ill advised halfcourt basketball, fully support basketball, but there's not the room for it. So they've got to be some other place. But I wanted out of the record that that should not be included in any funding arrangements. Of that are flowing out of the county for this. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Members cast your vote. Oh, I'm sorry. Councilmember Your Honor, I'm so sorry.
Speaker 7: And I did just want to make a comment and thank Parks Recreation staff for conducting these these workshops. These are these are opportunities for the public to weigh in on improvements that they see. And I especially want to thank them for offering a sixth workshop with that was done completely in Spanish that really engaged or Spanish speaking community in this process.
Speaker 0: Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 3: I was about to say the same as well. I want to thank park staff for doing the Spanish only meeting as well as, of course a meeting in the West Side as well, which I think was really important for us. So we really appreciate it.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Members, cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 19 Report from Public Works and Financial Management Recommendation to award a contract to Cycle Hub for the operation of the Bikeshare program at no cost to the city for a period of five years citywide. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute the Funding Agreement between the County of Los Angeles and the City of Long Beach, for community engagement activities related to the Countywide Parks Needs Assessment; receive and file the project lists from the five Planning Areas and two regional parks in the City of Long Beach; and
Increase appropriations in the General Fund (GF) in the Parks, Recreation and Marine Department (PR) by $12,500. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03082016_16-0234 | Speaker 0: Thank you. Members, cast your vote. Motion carries. Thank you. Item 19 Report from Public Works and Financial Management Recommendation to award a contract to Cycle Hub for the operation of the Bikeshare program at no cost to the city for a period of five years citywide. Is there a staff report?
Speaker 9: Yes, there is a staff report. This is a very, very, very exciting night for our community. You might recall we've worked with a couple bike vendors over the past three or four years to to reach where we're at tonight, remember, Bike Nation and then next bike. And now we're working with Cycle Hop. So I can't say enough about our mobility team and moving this forward to get what they're going to present tonight. So. Nate Baird, our mobility coordinator, is going to make the presentation along with our interim public works director, Craig Beck. And I see our traffic engineer Eric Wickstrom in the audience as well, who was very instrumental in this as well. Nate.
Speaker 2: Good evening, Mayor. Members of city council. I'm going to start this off. This is a fun one that we get to bring to you tonight. I hope you can look behind you. You can see an example of one of the bikeshare bikes that will be deployed here out in our community.
Speaker 3: You want to bring it in the middle?
Speaker 4: Yeah, that would that would be.
Speaker 2: Good and be good.
Speaker 0: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So we're real excited to be able to bring this item forward to you this evening. It's it's almost a rite of passage for a community to be able to implement a bike share program. And I think working together with Cycle Hop, who's currently doing this in many cities and in close to us, Santa monica, that we're going to do a rollout and a celebration on Thursday. And we're hoping people can join the mayor and members of the council to announce bike share officially on Thursday. We will start with an original deployment of roughly ten kiosks and then we will roll the program out throughout the city. So I'd like Nate to spend a moment to go through some of the contract elements and the bike share program as a whole.
Speaker 9: By the way, as Nate comes down, I don't know what that says, that Nate felt he had to lock the bike here in the city council.
Speaker 0: The red light is on just in case.
Speaker 2: When it's unlike, you know, when it's unlocked, the lights are running. Good evening, Mayor and city council.
Speaker 9: As has been said, it's been a little bit of a long road.
Speaker 2: For us with bike share, but we're very excited to work with Cycle Hop now. We really believe they are the right partner and the timing is right now to really move forward. We've got the right operating model, the model that we wanted all along, no cost to the city. Um, we purchased the equipment with social bicycles, a really great equipment manufacturer. Um, cycle hop has a lot of experience.
Speaker 9: With this equipment.
Speaker 2: They're deployed at beach cities across Southern California. They're working more and more with a number of cities regionally. So they're just a really good fit for us. They also have experience with this no cost.
Speaker 9: Model in Ottawa and Phenix.
Speaker 2: So we think they'll be very successful with that model here that we've been looking for. Um, we're very happy with the rates that they're proposing. It's affordable for both tourists and locals, and we're excited to see them start.
Speaker 9: Installing very soon. Vice presidents like to point out. I see Al Crawford in the audience. So Al was our previous mobility bike coordinator, so he spent a portion of his life on this program as well.
Speaker 2: So I think one more thing that I would like to add just as information, we will be having valet stations for our bikeshare program at Beach Streets, which is coming up here on the 19th. So we hope that councilmembers will be available for that and maybe actually ride one of the bike share programs and then share with your community what a great experience it was. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you both Mr. Beck and Mr. Baird. This is exciting. I. I look at Allen Crawford. This is a long time coming and I think we finally landed in a place that's great. We are working with a reputable vendor, so I want to thank staff for your tenacity in making sure that our city has a program that we can be proud of and anesthetics alone. I do have to say it's a beautiful bike. Alan I have seen many bikes across the world for bike share other than maybe the red ones in France. They're not very attractive. They look clunky. They they're meant to be clunky because you're not supposed to drive off right off in them and then never come back. But this is very attractive and it's blue, so it's keeping with our coastal feel. So if you had anything to do with the esthetics. Mr. BACK Which I'm sure you did. Thank you. As you know, we don't do ugly in the city of Long Beach. We don't. Thank you. And Alan personally thank you for getting us started and keeping us on track with our bicycle mobility plan and all things bicycle mobility related. We are ticking off our our deliverables one at a time. And this is a really big one. So thank you for that. Councilmember Gonzalez.
Speaker 3: I can't believe the day has come. This is really wonderful. I know we've been talking about this for a long, long time. You know, since I've been here. And it's it's really wonderful that now we have a wonderful event that will be coming to downtown and we get to showcase these bikes. And I know that so many residents and tourists in downtown will be taking advantage of these opportunities. And I want to thank Public Works and Bike Long Beach and Allen for being here and just all of the hard work. I remember as a field deputy writing this by the bikes that we used to have, it were not very esthetically pleasing to the eye, but they got me around and I got to meet constituents and it was a really cool way to just get around town and showcase what we do here at the city. But doing this in this fashion is so much better and I look forward to what this will bring for for our downtown. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Councilman Richardson.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I'm really excited about this this program as well. I was able to so me and my wife on a trip to another city got a chance to try them out. We otherwise would not have been riding bikes that day. It wasn't in our plan. But when we saw that thing, we use that as a means to transit, you know, to move around instead of catching a cab or an Uber. And literally, we rode on those bikes all day. A very, very convenient program. So the first question is, are we going to have an app?
Speaker 9: Yes. Yes.
Speaker 6: Good. And then. And then my next question is probably going to be a really obvious question, because I've asked every time this has come to council, so do I. Do I have to ask Tom?
Speaker 9: I'll leave this to Nate. But we the first ten stations will be in the downtown. There are the same ten stations that we've reviewed for the past three years. But cycle hop is committed to us that they want to get up and operating with all 50 kiosks as soon as possible to get in all 52 square miles of the city. So we're anxiously awaiting that.
Speaker 6: So, like within a year?
Speaker 9: Easily within a year. Okay.
Speaker 6: Sounds good.
Speaker 0: Thanks. Councilmember Richardson. I'm older, so I have to get hours in the downtown first. I'm going to I'm going to cite my age.
Speaker 4: Speed it up.
Speaker 2: Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 3: Thank you. I'm very excited about this and I can't wait until we have locations in the third, so I encourage you to move the process along. I will be using one of these bikes at beach streets because my bike got stolen on Second Street a couple of weeks ago and so I have not purchased a new bike yet, so I'm glad that these will be available, hopefully on the eastern side of Broadway so that I don't have to walk too far to get one. But my entire family is excited about the event and we think I use this program in D.C. when I was there recently and found it to be a completely wonderful asset to have as a visitor. And I think I think this is going to be tremendous, tremendous opportunity for our city. So I thank my council colleagues who have been working on this for years. And I think staff and I have to say, Nate is such a pleasure to work with. He's such just a positive face when it comes to mobility. And I'm very glad that he's in our city. I'm excited about this project. Thank you. And your great to Craig. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Councilman Austin.
Speaker 5: I'd just also like to welcome my support. This is a great day that we are now finally awarding a contract and moving forward with this great resource for our residents and tourists here in the city. I too am looking forward to having stations in my district as we are currently as a city investing in and bike infrastructure throughout the city. Um, you know, we've, we've certainly done and done a lot of great work in the eight district to connect the city through to our bike infrastructure. It would be very important to make sure that we, these, these, these resources are are spread throughout the city. And so I'd like to lend my support, but I also echo Councilmember Richardson's sentiment and comments that, you know, we didn't need to make sure we speed them up and make sure that, you know, the downtown is a is a wonderful place to explore. But, you know, we want to make sure that everybody has makes their way uptown as well. So thank you.
Speaker 9: Vice Mayor. I do want to highlight another gentleman that's been involved not only with Charlie Gandy, with Alan. With Nate, it's Tony Cruise or Bike Ambassador. So Tony's here as well.
Speaker 2: I'm just going to a couple comments. Just I mean, I see Alan and Tony, of course, Nate Craig. I think about folks like Mark who also believe in this program. I've actually ridden this this actual bike at the last beach streets. Matthew and I took advantage and tested the bikes out. And they're fantastic bikes. They park easy. People are going to love this experience, using this experience all across the city. I just want to also add that staff is very aware of of my interest and I think of everyone's interest to include our university and colleges as part of this network. And I think one of the one of the first connections beyond downtown is going to be the connection to Cal State, Long Beach, and the connection to Long Beach City College. It's incredibly important that our students have access and really create these incredible corridors to and from our connecting point. And so I know that Cal State Long Beach is already in conversations with the city. It's very exciting and a lot of Beach City College, both campuses as well, are interested and they're just natural places for these connections. And so it's a very exciting program. I remember it seems like years ago, C.J., when you and I jumped on one of these to kick off this program, we rode around City Hall together and it's been a long time. And so I'm really glad that I think I bug pad about this monthly at least weekly. Okay so I'm glad it's I'm glad it's here. So with that members, please can you guys really do public comment? You did. Did you do public comment yet? Nope. Please come forward.
Speaker 9: Ellen Crawford, bikeable communities.
Speaker 7: This is a huge step forward for the city. It really is. But we talk.
Speaker 8: About how long it's taken. I give the city staff, I give Pat and.
Speaker 7: I really give Dr. Lowenthal huge credit.
Speaker 9: For getting us where we.
Speaker 7: Are today. We would not.
Speaker 8: Be here without that vision. We have a sign out here on city hall that says the most bike.
Speaker 7: Friendly city in America.
Speaker 9: And we look at that every day. We're going, no, we're not.
Speaker 8: But this takes us an enormous.
Speaker 7: Step toward getting toward that.
Speaker 9: Every world class.
Speaker 8: Bike city around the world has bike share. And now we will, too. And what I'm really, really proud of is what Nate has done with bringing cycle hop. What a contrast to our.
Speaker 7: Earlier conversation around recycling. Nate has selected the best vendor.
Speaker 9: For us in the U.S..
Speaker 8: Because you'll have to talk to Nate and he can explain why this is different from the New York model. It's different from the Seattle.
Speaker 7: From the D.C. model. It allows you to take bikes, leave them, get them. It's awesome. So again, Nate, thank you very much. Pat in particular, Suja.
Speaker 9: Thank you guys very, very much for everything you've.
Speaker 8: Done for the.
Speaker 2: City. Thank you. Any other public comment? Mr. Good you can forward.
Speaker 7: Very good who Kirk has addressed. I do think it's a great program. A couple of cautionary notes. I can't imagine that many people wanting to put it on one of our busses, the bike racks, and go a distance and so forth. But if so, I'd check the size of that to make sure that it doesn't encumber the bike rack because a lot of people put a bike. On the bus, on the bike rack that has a basket on it that precludes somebody going next to it and so forth. I suggest maybe it. Working with hotels in addition to the places you listed as places that would be a good place to have a business, bike station and so forth. Obviously, the hotels downtown can hit our bikes, you know, the transit area or I'm sure they're going to be set up down there. The one overriding concern that I had, and that's particularly with people in Long Beach, is riding the bike should not be a fashion statement. You're not going off to Nottingham Hill to do, you know, for a fashion statement. It's a transportation bill. The purpose of it is to get you from point A to point B and as responsibly as you would in a car. So you're not waving around, hey, look, I'm riding a bike. I'm socially conscious. You know, you get from point A to point B as fast as you can and be mindful of the traffic behind you in terms of automobiles and busses and so forth. And I see that as becoming a problem. So we've got to get inside of that and put the foot on the neck of that as soon as possible start. So if it's becomes the first time we see that, I don't see this much of a problem because I can't see any people other than tourists or maybe some kids of university people wanting to ride that bike. They're more they're faster bikes and easier to use, I think, in this one. But for the purpose for which it's, you know, to cater to tourist, fine.
Speaker 2: Okay. Is there any other public comment, Mr. Cruz?
Speaker 9: Even the mayor council. I know it's taken a long time for all of us to finally see this day. But I really feel that the time has benefited all of us because we have a it's a beautiful bike, as council Mary Alonzo was saying, and it's a very sturdy bike as well. And, you know, bike share has probably been going on, I would say, a total of ten years. And there's been many iterations of the bike in the program and I think it's so refined now that we are actually getting the cream of the crop in terms of the actual product and then the service here as well. And I want to thank all of you guys for hanging in there, supporting, you know, the vision. I think it's really a vision that, you know, that was brought to this community. And we have all kind of gotten behind and started to adopt and have completely adopted. And, you know, I think it's going to really benefit our community moving forward as well. And as a bike ambassador for the city, you know, I do get asked quite a bit. I have friends that live in Santa monica. They've got bike share, you know, plenty of friends around the nation. And they keep asking me, when is Long Beach going to get bike share? You know, you guys want to be the most bike friendly city. So now I get the opportunity to tell them that it's here. And, you know, I'm really looking forward to that. So thank you all very much.
Speaker 2: Thank you. See no other public comment. Members, please go and cast your votes.
Speaker 0: Motion carries. | Contract | Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP PW16-058 and award a contract to CycleHop, LLC, of Santa Monica, CA, for the operation of the Bike Share Program, at no cost to the City for period of five years, from March 9, 2016 to March 8, 2021, with the option to renew for two additional five-year periods; and authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the agreement, including any necessary amendments thereto regarding the terms of the agreement and scope of services. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03082016_16-0243 | Speaker 2: Next item.
Speaker 0: Communication from Councilmember Dunga, Councilwoman Gonzalez, Vice Mayor Lowenthal, Council and Council Member Richardson. Recommendation to request the city manager to establish a one month Long Beach Public Library Overdue Fines Amnesty program from April 1st, 2016 to April 30th, 2016, that will support the recovery of circulation materials and provide the opportunity for patrons to return overdue books.
Speaker 7: Councilman Turanga Yeah, I would like to have a staff report on this.
Speaker 2: Please show us.
Speaker 7: Mr. Mayor, members of the City Council, council member, Urunga, this is something that we've been in discussion with your office about. This is something that has happened and an amnesty program has been done at other libraries, including the county library system. We do have a number of books that are outstanding, that are materials that we would like to recover. And so we're prepared to move forward with this. We've been looking at the numbers and we believe if we target those books and the fines that are having to do with books that are actually going to be returned, that this would be a very good thing for the city and we could recover our property and then we would waive those fines. That maximum is about $5.60, I believe. So we think this is a good thing and we're prepared to implement it if the council agrees.
Speaker 2: Thank you. Councilmember Richardson. It's customary, Ringo.
Speaker 7: Thank you. First of all, I want to thank Glenda Williams for the the staff report and for working with us on getting this to to pass it back to my staff just right now gave me a book that was just returned today, and it was first checked out of February 1st, 1983. So imagine the lines on this. So it's going to work? I'm sure it is.
Speaker 4: Oh.
Speaker 7: Well, you know, my wife has I just got a notice in a letter today. My wife has some books overdue, so there is a vested interest in this. But other amnesty programs across the US have been very successful. For example, the city of Chicago earlier this month had 20,000 books returned during their amnesty program, and the city of Berkeley last November netted over $30,000 in weight fees and returned city property. We are looking for similar successes here in Long Beach that the story that needs to be told is that an overdue library book suspends your borrowing privileges. So returning the library book also restores your library privileges. The Long Beach Public Library has undergone a tremendous amount of modernization and programing for its patrons. The Overdue Fines Amnesty program provides our residents with the opportunity to return to the library. Of the almost 16,000 items that are overdue, approximately 65% are from teen and juvenile items items that are needed back in circulation for our young people. And this book is called Box in Love. So I'm guessing it's a teenage book. But then again, I don't know, I have an R rating on it, so I'm going to guess it's rated G. So I'm hoping that residents will take the time to participate in this program and return to enjoying the services that a great library system provides. And I hope that I could have the support of my colleagues on the site. Thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Councilwoman. Actually, Councilman Richardson.
Speaker 6: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Councilmember Arango, for bringing up this item. I think it's really timely. I think, you know, folks know we're really excited about our new library that's going to be opening in North Long Beach. So anything anything that gives us an opportunity to encourage people to go out and get their library cards or update their library cards in advance of that, I support it. And I would say that if anybody wants to join, we have a challenge going on in North Long Beach three with RECs challenge where we want to increase readership. Right now, on average, we do about 5000 books a month. Books are items checked out of our library and we want to, over the course of 100 days, increase our readership by 10,000 books or items checked out. So sorry for jumping on your item and saying that, but it was too, too close for me. For me, not it was too tempting. Councilmember Thank you so much. And I'll be voting in support.
Speaker 3: Councilwoman Gonzalez So I had the pleasure of being at the library for the last two days, helping run our DG camps and teaching these kids how to code. And then many of them said, you know, I asked them, raise your hand if you have a library book and or a library card, and most of them raise their hand. But one of them said, I do have a library card, but it has a ton of fines on it. And I'm really embarrassed to to come back to the library. I'm here, but I'm embarrassed to come and bring my books back. And so I said, don't worry, I think we have a solution for you if it passes. And so it's you know, these are middle schoolers that work. You know, they live about ten blocks away from the main library. And so his issue was that it was too far, you know, for him normally to come back and drop off the books. And now, you know, he has an opportunity to do that. And I know a lot of places have a day or a week. I'm glad we're looking at one full month for residents. And I think Glenda, for all of her amazing work at the library and all of your staff is just incredible working with them for two full days. It's just been really amazing. But I think this will be a great program. Now, as far as outreach, so many of our residents know these information will be in different languages because I know that, you know, in the Washington neighborhood and other neighborhoods, I'm sure, you know, those parents would like to know whether it's my or Spanish that they can do this
Speaker 2: . Thank you. Any public comment on the item?
Speaker 3: That was my question. I'm sure it's going to sound like a question, but they had a question mark. Great.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilmember Gonzalez. Yes. We will have this in different languages.
Speaker 4: It's going to coincide with a national library month. And we're just about ready for that. So we'll be able to add this information to all of our promotion. So it's just very timely and very happy to do it.
Speaker 3: Wonderful. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you. Public comment.
Speaker 7: Are you too quick as the address? I think it was a great idea. Chicago has done that before. I was there in 1972 when they did it. And the response was so big they had to shut down the library system for three days. So many books had been cut that come up, so forth, or we're overdue. A suggestion in terms of the outraged has just hit me now and I can understand a situation where a library is several blocks from many blocks, and particularly if they have to go through shooting fields to get there. Maybe a an arrangement can also be made with the local schools, like where that person where they go to school every day and they then can take that book to their library where our library can make the requisite arrangements to pick it up and so forth. That might be a solution. But overall, I think it's a great program should be done. But think about having the kids that are don't want them tracked down to their library because they feel is too much of a distance or whatever. They have to go to school, take it there and do their school library and interface with ours and take care of it that way.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Senior, the public comment please cast your votes.
Speaker 0: Motion carries. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Manager to establish a one month Long Beach Public Library Overdue Fines Amnesty Program from April 1, 2016 to April 30, 2016 that will support the recovery of circulation materials and provide the opportunity for patrons to return overdue books, thus restoring their library borrowing privileges at the twelve branches of the Long Beach Public Library system. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03012016_16-0194 | Speaker 0: Yeah.
Speaker 2: A report from Health and Human Services recommendation to authorize the city manager to execute all necessary agreements with the California Endowment to accept funding in the amount of $200,000 for the Long Beach Health Equity Framework Plan. City wide.
Speaker 10: Sort of staff report.
Speaker 3: Yes, vice mayor, council members. We simply would like to change the date on this. So we want the terms of the agreement. We'll go from February 1st 16th to two January 31st, 2018, not March 1st, 16 to February 22nd, 18. So again, just changing the agreement to start on February 1st 16, that will last until January 31st 18. And this is a wonderful opportunity for us to accept money from the California Endowment for this program.
Speaker 10: Thank you is Councilman Gonzales. I'm okay. All right. Councilmember Richardson. So any member of the public that wishes to address Council on consent calendar item number seven. Seeing None members cast your vote.
Speaker 2: Motion carries. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all necessary agreements, and any subsequent amendments, between the City of Long Beach and The California Endowment to accept funding in the amount of $200,000, for the period of March 1, 2016 through February 28, 2018, for the Long Beach Health Equity Framework Plan; and
Increase appropriations in the Health Fund (SR 130) in the Health and Human Services Department (HE) by $200,000. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03012016_16-0225 | Speaker 1: Thank you. Okay. Public comment is complete. We're going to take two items up. First, we're going to take both item 14 as well as item. I apologize. Item 11. So 14 and 11 will be the next two items and they will go on with the rest of the agenda. So item 14 Madam Clerk.
Speaker 2: Communication from City Attorney Recommendation to one Approve three ordinances of the people of the City of Long Beach relating to transactions and use tax to to impose the transactions and use tax to be administered by the State Board of Equalization and three to establish a budget stabilization fund.
Speaker 1: These are the second reading from last week's vote. I'm a city attorney. I believe we can take these all in one vote from.
Speaker 3: That's correct, Mayor.
Speaker 1: Okay. So second reading, public comment on the second reading, please come forward. There's public comment on the second reading. Please come forward.
Speaker 4: Mayor and council members. My name is Janet West, and I've lived in the city of Long Beach continuously for over five decades. I am opposed to this ordinance for multiple reasons. Why should we believe you'd listen to a citizen advisory committee when you're not currently listening to your citizens? Why would citizens of Long Beach make purchases, especially major purchases in Long Beach, when they could go to a local city and buy those items for 1 to 2% lower? You're moving expenditures out of the general budget. To this new ordinance money. And that just leaves more money in the general budget, which allows you to spend money on other items. Councilman Supernormal says that he's the new sheriff in town. But did he use Common Core math to determine year one vote can change the other eight votes? Councilmember Sue Burnham has supported the Citizen Committee in order that he can sleep well at night. Please save taxpayers money and businesses lower sales and just buy yourself a teddy bear. From The Beachcomber. The spending problem is demonstrated by looking at recent data. The medium income. A full time private sector workers in Long Beach is $41,455, which while the median income of full time city employees is 85,900. And what benefits? 111,940 between 2013 and 2014? Total Sitter City Employee Compensation jumped $11,000,336 602. That's a 24%. The reason we don't need a tax hike. Is that true? People are hurting financially. The private sector has a downward pressure on wages. I want city employees to earn good wages. But right now in this economy, you need to freeze their salary and benefits. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 11: By Tom Stout on information on file. Just the way this is written, approve an ordinance of the people. You have to be kidding me. This is not for the people. This is for you. That's the most absurd thing I've read in a long time. And you repeated it three times. You got to be kidding me. And what is that rainy day fund to stabilize the astronomical pension hit? We're going to take in 2021 $150 million, which will carry forward for another 15 years. Get off this thing about 700 positions. There were 700 positions that were not needed, that were funded so that you didn't actually have to make any real cuts and get off. The thing about pension reform. It's a farce. If we had reform, we wouldn't be spending $150 million in the next five or six years. Those pensions will increase by 10% a year, according to CalPERS. Not me, but CalPERS own information. Then one thing I've always wondered about on Prop eight. Yes, we needed to raise those the tax on oil, we need to raise it again. But it should not have been given only to police and fire. There are so many needs in this city besides them. That's what I don't understand. Compensation for police and fire is somewhere around 70% of the general fund. 90% of the general fund is compensation. About 10% or less provide services. How much do we have to. I mean, how much should it cost to be safe? Think about that. How much should it cost to be safe when you're some of your constituents ask you for more police protection? The Andrews comment was you got to pay more. Now we don't. We give you more than enough money. You know, and you say anybody that disagrees that the city has cut this their budget to the bone. I mean, what a demeaning thing to say to your constituents. Anybody that disagrees with you is wrong. I think it's the people up here that are wrong. So I guess it's going to be business as usual. You know, I you know, you talk about 67% of the people said this tax is great. Well, I don't know who you talk to. I haven't met any of them. You know, and you won't release the information about the study. So, you know, it's probably a farce anyway.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Stout. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Council members. My name is Peter Santillan.
Speaker 1: I am the business.
Speaker 3: Manager and secretary treasurer of Labors Local 1309, representing over 2000 members, the majority of them which live in the city of Long Beach and immediate surrounding areas. I'm just simply here to thank you for your prudence in moving forward with this matter ballot to help secure and pay.
Speaker 1: For the infrastructure costs that have been put off.
Speaker 3: For too long. Also, public safety putting off infrastructure needs is only going to cost more money down the road. I was thinking.
Speaker 1: On the way in.
Speaker 3: I know I have a problem at home with the leaking.
Speaker 1: Faucet and in the bathroom and I.
Speaker 3: Know the longer I let it go, more money is going to cost me.
Speaker 1: So.
Speaker 3: Infrastructure needs, of course, is a much bigger scale.
Speaker 1: And again, I'm just here to thank you for your prudence.
Speaker 3: And we will be doing everything we can to encourage our membership to help.
Speaker 1: This measure pass. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 7: Very good. You click as the address. If you want this measure to pass, what you've got to do is rewrite it to reflect the fact that you've abandoned the buffoonery inherent in replacing the city hall with what's your plan. But instead, I build here an income generating paradigm, two of them one hotel, another an office complex, and the main library will go, is what I suggested. Develop a paradigm where the or their rent as outside school do the requisite language. Promise that. All right. And once that starts, come back to the people. With a reasonable plan, a plan that would include we eliminate the full time mayor. And we reduced the number of council people. Two seven. That will demonstrate that you're serious about the future of this city. The previous speakers have hit the nose. Right. And this is right in the head, period. This is something like Bernie Madoff would perpetuate and put forward. I have yet to come across anybody that supports this tax period. Most of them recognize the buffoonery and the deceit. That everybody is buying into. You just got to step up to the plate and say, hey, we made a mistake and you had the ability to change that. You can have a nice fountainhead of revenue in this terra firma and this city hall complex now where the city hall is. I continue revenue stream. If you do it right. Absent that, you're just digging the hole. And, you know, when you find yourself in a hole, what's the first thing you do? You got to stop digging. Period. That's what you have to do. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: Ottawa Mayor. City Council Member. My name is Carl Song from the Central Area Sixth District. Now I know that this is difficult at this particular time when we are talking about raising any sort of taxes. But I want to let you all know that I am here to support the idea for a couple of reasons. If you look in a central area. When we talking about the infrastructure, indeed something must be done. Now I am going to talk about crime. In the central area. Often time my fellow Cambodian have come to ask to see whether or not they can get some help in time. But after I learned that many position has been cut. And there's a lot that need to be done. That's the reason that I come to the conclusion we have no choice but to support. This and they should to move forward. And I would hope that Mr. Mayor and a city council member think and make sure that this initiative will approve. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Song. We have one final speaker here coming down, and then we'll go to a vote.
Speaker 3: Mr. Mayor, Honorable City Council. My name is Jake Elwood. I'm the vice president of Long Beach Firefighters Association and also a resident of the fifth District. I'm here tonight to speak on behalf of all the professional firefighters to the city of Long Beach. For this agenda item, we support this measure. Today, earlier today, the Public Safety Committee received a report on the response data for the city of Long Beach for the fire department. And it was alarming. It was disturbing. And it needs to be addressed. Obviously, we are not meeting the response times for 91 calls for all of our citizens and on behalf of all of us. The only way to fix this problem is the restoration of services. Your fire department, your firefighters are behind this 100%. And we thank you. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There's a motion in a second. If we can, please go and cast your votes. And again, as a reminder, this vote tonight is to is to have the voters make the decision in June. So please cast your votes. And this is to put on the ballot for the voters to decide.
Speaker 2: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And now we'll go ahead and move on to the next item, which is, I believe it was 11. If I apologize, Councilwoman. PRICE Was it 11? Yes, Madam Clerk. | Ordinance | Recommendation to:
1) Approve an ordinance of the People of the City of Long
Beach, California, adding Chapter 3.62 to the Long Beach
Municipal Code relating to Transactions and Use Tax; | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03012016_16-0201 | Speaker 1: Thank you. And now we'll go ahead and move on to the next item, which is, I believe it was 11. If I apologize, Councilwoman. PRICE Was it 11? Yes, Madam Clerk.
Speaker 2: Item 11 Communication from Councilwoman Price. Councilwoman Gonzalez, Vice Mayor Lowenthal and Councilwoman Mingo. Recommendation to adopt resolution in support of the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. And request the City Manager to identify a current city commission that will partner with the CAC will be to complete a gender analysis study of Long Beach.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman Price to you.
Speaker 8: Thank you. Thank you for your patience, everyone who's here for this item? We were not expecting it to take this long to get called, so I appreciate you guys sticking around. In honor of International Women's Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender gender parity. To celebrate International Women's Day, my female colleagues and I are requesting the city attorney to draft a resolution in support of the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, also known as CEDAW. C does a landmark international agreement that affirms principles of fundamental human rights and equity for women around the world. In December of 1979, the United Nations General Assembly adopted CEDAW, and in 1998, San Francisco became the first municipality in the world to adopt a local ordinance. CEDAW offers countries a blueprint to promote basic rights and to open opportunities for women and girls in all areas of society. In addition to asking the Long Beach City Council to support CEDAW, we are also requesting the city manager to identify a city commission that can partner with California State University Long Beach to complete a gender analysis study of Long Beach after the Gender Analysis Study is completed. Our selected City Commission should examine policy reforms as outlined by the study and consistent with CEDAW in order to make recommendations to the City Council for the implementation of any policy reforms or additional programing that are consistent with the goals of Sweden. This very important legislation was brought to our office by our resident Nazanin Amani Nazanin, thanking us and is a member of the Women's Intercultural Network and is leading the campaign of cities for CEDAW. I hope the City Council will support CEDAW and our work to ensure women and girls are treated equally in all areas of our society . I'd like to ask all of the women and men who are here tonight in support of this item to stand and be recognized. Thank you to my colleagues who signed on to the item, and I ask all of our colleagues to join us in supporting this item when we vote. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman Gonzales.
Speaker 8: Yes. I want to thank Councilwoman Pryce and I want to thank everyone here tonight for their work on this every single day. I know we get one night to recognize this. And when it comes back, I'm sure we'll continue the celebration. But it really speaks volumes as to what is possible. You know, when we when we initiate a study, when we look further into the quality of life of women. Many of us here work in male dominated fields and in politics and in my other life, in technology. And it's always how do we make sure that young, young women, girls, you know, I have all boys at home. But how do we make sure that young girls have opportunities like we do here on the dais? How do we make sure young women have opportunities to learn about technology, to learn about being on commissions, to learn about being in things that they didn't even think possible for themselves. And so I want to thank you again for all of your work. And I look forward to this coming back and recognizing this as a day to celebrate women. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Council or actually Vice Mayor Lowenthal.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Wanted to thank Councilmember Price for including me on this motion it and I'm really pleased to see that everyone has shown up for this item and thank you for your patience. We're privileged that you would bring this before us today and ask us to take action on it. While we don't have any jurisdiction over the major impediments that women experience throughout the world. It is a very strong statement that our council can make. The convention is the only human rights treaty that affirms the reproductive rights of women and targets culture and tradition as influential forces shaping gender roles and family relations. And so, as many times as we can heralded the merits of it. Hold it up. I think we can make progress. It still mystifies me that we have these conversations today in the 21st century. And I'm listening to Councilwoman Gonzalez talk about male dominated industries. I think technically I am as well, but. We all are, actually. When I look down the dice. But we've been privileged through the help of many people along the way, we have been able to succeed in areas that maybe many women have not been able to. And for that, I am personally grateful for all the men and women that came together to allow that to happen in my life. And I'm hoping that while it's somewhat of a travesty that we're having this conversation in this day and age, I am always glad when there is active dialog nonetheless and that continued storytelling and I think we can move toward the change you want to see. Thank you for bringing this to us and I'm obviously very much in support of it.
Speaker 1: Thank you, customary, Ringo.
Speaker 6: Thank you. I want to thank my colleagues to the right side of me. It seems like that's where all the women seem to be in the right side. But I do want to express my gratitude for you bringing this forward. I think it's a way long overdue. Is taking too many years to put this put this forward. And I want to share my thoughts with you and the fact that you have a partner with me in this issue. In another life, I used to work at Cal State, Long Beach. I was an administrator there. And when I had plenty of opportunity to talk to students about professions, about marketability, about employability, and when young girls would raise your hands, when I would ask question, what do you want to be? They would say, Nurse, I would ask you the question, Well, why not be a doctor? Or would they would say, I want to be a mechanic away where? Okay, why don't you be an engineer? It was always that effort to try to push them forward to be something beyond what they thought their own expectations would be. And I think it takes, as the saying always goes, it takes a village, but it takes all of us commitment to help our young our young women to see that they make it through life in a way without prejudice and without obstructions and without obstacles to be able to accomplish what they want to accomplish now, what we want them to accomplish, what they want to accomplish. And that's something that has always been difficult to, for some segments of our society to believe is that, you know, girls, too, and women have goals and ambitions and desires and they all all want to be career minded and want to be where they want to be, because that's where they can be. But the bottom line is that this is a long way, long overdue. And in my second phase of my life, working for the city of Long Beach, I was the city's recruitment officer for many years. And it was my goal to increase the numbers of women in in our in our employment, in our force. I was very pleased to see that during my efforts in recruitment, that we were able to hire the first woman firefighter in the region here in the city of Long Beach. And we've had been able to increase our representation of women in the police force as well. So we have made progress, but we have a long way to go. And it's it's a cultural change that we need to make within ourselves. It's a change of attitudes. And once we get there, we're going to be seeing a much better world. So thank you for being this, for bringing this forward. And I look forward to your voting and the audience when it comes again. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Andrews.
Speaker 9: Yes, and thank you, Mayor and I myself. It's a must that I, you know, so excited about this being brought to the diocese. Being a father of four daughters. And I had to weigh in because I have a wife that said after she saw this, you better weigh in. And I'm so happy that I am, because I think this is a great legislative item. And I commend that Councilwoman Price for bringing this item forward. And this is another huge step towards affirming that Long Beach, the city that stands for equality. And it's so wonderful to be a part of a situation of this type. And thank you again, Mrs. Price.
Speaker 1: Gentlemen, also.
Speaker 11: Thank you and certainly echo the comments, I think. Oh, Councilmember Urunga was very eloquent and as well as Councilmember Andrews. I certainly stand in support of this this item. I want to thank Councilmember Price and the the women to the right the right women for bringing this forward. And I just wanted to to also say what an honor it is to serve with strong women on this council. We are equals. And each and every one of them are shining examples of of of leaders, for for young women and for for many years to come. And you guys are all great role models, so thank you very much. It's an honor to serve with you all. I'm impressed by each and every one of you and happy to support this motion.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 2: Well, after that, I don't think there's anything else I could say. So I want to thank the people who came today to be supportive of the item. It means a lot to us. And thank you for the leadership you've shown in each of your industries.
Speaker 1: Thank you and public comment on this item. Please come forward.
Speaker 5: Dear Honorable Mayor Robert Garcia and council members. My name is Nazanin Amani. I have been a resident of Long Beach with my husband, who is here in support of Saeeda and my two sons for the past 25 years since we left Iran. I heard about cities for their campaign two years ago when I became member of Women Intercultural Network through my sister in law, Harmony, who is also in the audience. Who is the women's rights and human rights activist? Getting acquainted with Cedar. I was surprised to find out that the US Constitution does not grant equal rights for women. I was even more surprised to find out that U.S. and Iran are two of the six countries in the world who have not ratified this human rights treaty. Well, I couldn't do much about Iraq. Not yet, at least. But I took the initiative to bring this to my district councilwoman, Suzy Pryce. Attention, who brought us here today. Thank you very much, Susie. One of the many benefits of Cedar is raising awareness about many things, including domestic violence and moving forward to minimize it. And this is especially important in Long Beach since we all know our city is struggling with homeless issues. And according to a recent report from Good Shepherd, Child Shelter, domestic violence account for 21% of homelessness. I appreciate your time and vote in favor of this resolution in advance. And I also want to thank everybody in the audience who have taken the time from their busy life to be here to support the resolution. I leave you with this note that the civility of this society is measured by the way they are treating their woman.
Speaker 10: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 2: Dear Mayor and council members, I'm Francis Rosner, president of the American Association of University Women Long Beach Branch, known as AAUW Long Beach. Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you, and thank you to council women Gonzalez, Lowenthal, Pryce and Mongo for bringing forward this resolution in support of CEDAW. Since 1881, it has been the mission of AAUW to advance equity for women and girls. And we've been advocating in Long Beach since 1911 a long time. In 2010, our branch sent a resolution to the National Office of UW in support of CEDAW ratification in preparation for AAUW written testimony before the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law Hearing held on November 18th, 2010. We're here today still without national ratification, but with our AAUW Public Policy Action Statement still affirming our active participation in the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women and our commitment to ratification of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women or CEDAW. It's time for us to stop piecemeal inequity for half the populace. We've had the Suffrage Amendment, Fair Financing Laws, Title nine, which only applies in educational settings using federal funds. Women now allowed to be in most areas within the military and numerous attempts at pay equity. We tried to get the Equal Rights Amendment passed and we came so close, but it didn't happen. And even with the fact that numerous studies have proven that in communities where gender equity does exist, families are happier and healthier and businesses have stronger growth. Our 139 Long Beach branch members, women and men, are proud that our diverse and inclusive city, as you've pointed out, will be declaring for human rights, joining other large cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco as early adopter role model in this growing grassroots initiative to ensure gender equity in the United States. City by city once and for all. Once CEDAW is implemented within our city based upon the CRC will be analysis. Long Beach will already have gender equity policies in place as California and the rest of the nation are still passing laws about gender equity. One by one, we believe that acceptance now of CEDAW is an act of a far sighted city council. Our branch members are 100% in support of this resolution before you this evening. Thank you for your time and your thoughtful leadership. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Any other public comment? Please come forward.
Speaker 4: Hello. Happy Women's History Month. My name is Zoe Nicholson. I live at 8.6 Coronado in beautiful Rose Park and Second District. If you drive past my house today, you will see a suffrage flag hanging, which I hung at one minute after midnight last night. Good evening, Mayor Garcia, Vice Mayor Lowenthal, council members, administrator, city citizens of Long Beach and in particular, I want to thank Councilmember Price for considering that Long Beach might become a city of Cedar. I've been active in the American women's movement now for over 50 years. In 1982, I sat on a folding chair for 37 consecutive days in the rotunda in the Illinois state legislature, passing on water only. I'm rather serious about equal rights, which, you know, the era never passed. And to this day, women are not included in the Constitution. I am a scholar on the Equal Rights Amendment and a consultant on the ERA. Thank you for allowing me to speak.
Speaker 3: Here in March.
Speaker 4: This is one of 32 days legislated when we get to actually talk about women. Women hold up more than half the sky. Women carry most of the water from the shore to the family. Across the globe, women bear, feed, clothe and educate the young. We care for the sick, the aging, the dying. And yet we are disposable, discarded, stoned, tortured, gutted of our sexuality, denied education. We are forced to marry at age 12. We die in early childbirth. We are denied reproductive autonomy. We are raped as a weapon of war. We are denied mobility up the corporate ladder and even driving a car. The U.S. ranks a poor 75th in women, in leadership in the world behind the likes of China, Nepal, Rwanda. When you have an opportunity like this, I am asking you to grab it, to carry it, to teach it, to be it, to do it, to behave as if it passed already. It is the work only of the most advanced, privileged people who have this astonishing opportunity. As electeds, you get to bypass the uncivilized behavior of the United States Congress and become a Cedar City. And I am here to ask you to lift the women of Long Beach and hear this global heartbeat to be a Cedar City. Your mother wants you to do this. The four grandmothers of all directions want you to do this. Please stand with me in the clear light of day and say you have protected their daughters worldwide and become a City FC. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. That was wonderful. I was like, spoken word almost. Thank you.
Speaker 5: Dear Mr. Garcia and City Councilwoman. City Councilman. Um, I'm here on behalf of a woman intercultural network which is national sponsor of cities for See the Campaign Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women adopted in 1979 by the U.N. General Assembly. This international treaty is often described as the International Bill of Rights for Women. The six U.N. member states that have not ratified and or acceded to the convention are Iran, polio, Somalia, Sudan, Congo and United States. Actually, U.S. has signed but never ratified Cedar City's first. See, there is a campaign to protect the right of women and girls by passing ordinances establishing the principle of CEDAW in cities and towns across United States. The campaign was launched at a meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2013 by the NGO Committee on the Status of Women. And I was there when she there was cities foresee that was adopted that support the work of United Nations commission. On this status of woman. And support. And this says a woman and un woman. Many cities has already, as you as other people who spoke here shared that like san francisco and city of l.a. Has and washington has passed ordinances. As someone who has followed cedar for the last 32 years and have written extensively on the importance of CEDAW as a chair of Global Council Circles of Woman, Intercultural and Network that is Sponsor City for CEDAW nationally. A dream is coming true for me as a city, as a resident of Long Beach since 1974. And I never, ever thought that I would. See the day that the Cedar has been, you know, a resolution for being passed in our city. I want to thank Councilwoman Susie Price, which is for our district at the east side, of course, at Long Beach. And as we are embarking on a journey by passing a resolution. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. There's other public comment. Please come forward.
Speaker 2: Good evening, Mayor Garcia. Members of council.
Speaker 8: My name is Sonny Zia. I sit on the board of.
Speaker 5: Trustees, Alameda Community College District.
Speaker 2: My colleague Ginny.
Speaker 8: Baxter wanted to be here as well, but she couldn't, unfortunately, tonight. And I sent her support for this item. It's a great pleasure for me to be here in support of the resolution on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. I want to thank you, Councilwoman Susie Price, for your leadership in proposing this resolution.
Speaker 4: Along with your fellow.
Speaker 8: Council.
Speaker 4: Woman. It is truly great.
Speaker 8: To see our leadership take meaningful action and support improving.
Speaker 2: The lives of girls and women.
Speaker 4: In Long Beach. Thank you for going beyond words of support and.
Speaker 8: Looking at finding ways that.
Speaker 4: To impact gender equity by way.
Speaker 8: Of conducting an analysis and assessing pathways to make.
Speaker 4: Change for the better good of all our community members. It is unfortunate to.
Speaker 8: See us fight for equity. 36 years after President Carter signed CEDAW and after the Lilly Ledbetter Act, I'm confident with leaders such as yourselves.
Speaker 4: We can.
Speaker 8: Transform our nation to do better in.
Speaker 2: Closing.
Speaker 4: This.
Speaker 8: Gap and not be placed in the bottom.
Speaker 4: With third world countries.
Speaker 8: Of severe who have severe human rights violations.
Speaker 2: Like Islamic Republic of Iran.
Speaker 4: And Sudan. We can do better. We must do better. I thank you for putting this item forward, and I appreciate your approval of the recommendation before you. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Is there any other public comment? Please come forward. And is there any other public comment after this? This or last one? Oh, actually, we'll have the lady in the back. So let me actually go ahead. Yeah, go ahead, ma'am. Please go ahead. And I will do the lady in the back and then we'll close up. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Good evening, Mr. Mayor. And the Council. Women and men. My name is Ruchi Burman, and I am the chair of the CEDA task force in Orange County. But I'm also a harbor department employee, so it's my pleasure, with immense pleasure. I'm attending this meeting this evening, and I'm extremely happy that Councilwoman Suzy Pryce actually brought it to the city council meeting tonight. And I'm grateful to such a large Lowenthal, who I had met over a year ago, where we had talked about at the UN Women meeting or the conference where we had brought this up for the first time. So extremely grateful for this opportunity that we can hopefully pass this tonight. There's just one thing I would like to point out that the positive side of having a city solicitor adopted the city of San Francisco.
Speaker 5: When they adopted this in.
Speaker 4: 1998, they actually have dropped domestic violence cases, still down to 44%. So that is a huge positive side of having CEDAW in your city. So if, you know, not having that not having the reduction in crimes against women is not a big incentive. I don't know what is. So thank you and hope you pass this resolution tonight.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And I take the the lady at the top there.
Speaker 5: Hi. My name is Sharon Cottrell. Can you hear me? And I reside at 2035 East Broadway, and I've been a resident of Long Beach since.
Speaker 2: The first week of September 1964. Many of you were born here and.
Speaker 5: I've been involved in community politics for many most of those years. Not always have. I've been proud of this city, but I feel very proud tonight.
Speaker 2: And we always are trying to count five on.
Speaker 5: The city council when we want something. The people have spoken approvingly. I think we have seven already votes. I am old enough that when the women's movement, when we first began to agitate, to do things, to stand up for ourselves and try to get rights, the consciousness raising, the.
Speaker 2: First now National.
Speaker 5: Organization of Women. And there was a movement to have women's commissions at City Council. And there was a woman. Gosh, your name?
Speaker 2: Just Renee Simon. And I can't quite remember.
Speaker 5: Whether Rene actually was maybe the first city council person. Or she was running for city council. But whatever it was, it was the consensus that she lost because she championed a women's commission. So I just wanted to tell you that to show. So that was the late sixties or the early seventies. Say, 47 years ago. So that's a ways we've come. And thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Q We're going to we're going to take this back to to the Council before we do that. I just wanted to thank all of you that spoke that was that was really great testimony tonight. And we can all agree that women, quite frankly, make everything better. And I wish we had more women on on every body and in Congress and in corporate America. And it's good to see more women also at our universities now more than ever, which is which is really exciting. So thank you all that spoke. I'm going to turn this back over to Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you to everyone who came out and spoke tonight. I agree with the mayor that we had we heard some very powerful statements by the folks who spoke. And I'm really grateful for that. I neglected to mention that none of this would have been possible without my chief of staff, Julie Maliki, who worked really hard on this and really made herself a subject matter expert. That's that's kind of a big thing we do on our staff. Everyone becomes a subject matter expert on three or four topics, and she really became a subject matter expert on CEDA and knows more about the subject than I could that I could ever study or prepare for. So. And she actually, interestingly enough, sent me a a text that reminded me that she was so proud to see all the women here tonight. And she sent me a really sweet text about my grandmother and said, you know, she's smiling down at you tonight because my grandmother was a woman who was a single mom and the principal of a school at a time when women didn't even work and has really been a source of inspiration for me and my family. And my mom obviously worked until very recently as a single mom. And and I think, you know, I'm raising two boys. And the first time I took them to court with me in my my my day job, my oldest son, who was probably four or five at the time, there was a judge on the bench, a male judge, and he probably doesn't remember this. But my son turned to me and goes, Mom, they let men be judges too. Like the idea, like he had grown up seeing all these strong working women in his environment, that he was really surprised to see that a man could do the job. So so we've kind of changed things around a little bit. And, and I think my colleagues, as I sit here with my colleagues, I think they treat us as equals. We treat them as our equals. And, you know, I think we are very, very careful as a body, as we always should be, to be very respectful of the way that we talk to one another so that we shatter some of the stereotypes and gender narratives that we've been hearing for so much of all of our lives, and that we have a new approach to how we handle one another, even when we disagree. And I'm sure the men would agree that when we do disagree, the women always are the best arguers, for sure, but we do our very best to work with one another. And and I really appreciate the partnership that we have all built. So thank you very much, everyone, for being here.
Speaker 1: Thank you. That's true. That is definitely true. Councilmember Richard.
Speaker 3: I agree. I just wanted to chime in and just say this is an incredible, important resolution. And I sat back and listened to incredibly important and I listened to the lady who said, do it for your grandma. Do it for it. Right. And it moved me to speak up. I was going to sort of just kind of let this go because it was it was I'm obviously going to support this. This is a no brainer. But I felt the need and the urge to, you know, speak up. And honestly, you know, we are in a nation that values this, our first lady, as the Let Girls Learn initiative. You know, I'm watching Super Tuesday right now. It looks like we might have a woman in the White House pretty soon, not not campaigning at the dais, but I'm just saying when I'm watching on the news. But I think this is incredibly, incredibly important. Thank you so much for bringing this forward. And I've had a thoroughly good time watching this item.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 2: I think that Councilman Price brought to my attention that for the first time since I've been an elected official, I'm every female member of this council has a female chief of staff and actually the chief of staff. 14th floor is a super majority of women because even some of our male colleagues have women chiefs of staff. So I think that so maybe it's not a male dominated world, at least not here on the 14th floor of Long Beach. So thank you so much for all you've done to break those barriers to get us to where we are today.
Speaker 1: Excellent. Thank you. Thank you all again for coming. Great. Great resolution. Please cast your votes.
Speaker 2: Motion carries. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to adopt resolution in support of The Convention of the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), and request City Manager to identify a current City Commission such as the Human Relations Commission that will partner with California State University, Long Beach to complete a gender analysis study of Long Beach. After the gender analysis study is completed the selected City Commission should examine policy reforms as outlined by study and consistent with CEDAW in order to make recommendations to the City Council for implementation of any policy reforms or additional programming that is consistent with goals of CEDAW. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03012016_16-0198 | Speaker 3: Great.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you all again. And Mr. NOW, Madam Kirk, item 13.
Speaker 2: And I'm 13 or 12. Item 12 Report from Development Services Recommendation to request the City Attorney to prepare an ordinance designating the Alamitos Neighborhood Library, located at 1836 East Third Street as a Long Beach Historical Landmark District to.
Speaker 10: Is there a staff report?
Speaker 2: Madam Vice Mayor, members of the City Council. I'm here to talk to you about a potential recommendation to designate the Alamitos Neighborhood Library as a Long Beach historic landmark. As you know, for the past year and a half, we have been putting a renewed effort on our historic preservation initiatives. And one of those initiatives is to look at landmarking opportunities for both city and for private properties.
Speaker 8: The City Council recently.
Speaker 2: Revised the historic ordinance to allow us to go through the landmarking process more efficiently. And this would be the first project that we would bring to you under that new, more efficient ordinance. So with your approval, we would set a hearing and come forward with an ordinance to landmark this location, which does happen to be in District two. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Ms.. Burdick. And I wanted to thank the Cultural Heritage Commission for making this recommendation. This library is one of our jewels in Alamitos Beach. And I remember a celebration we had there for the library a few years ago, appreciating what a great piece of living history it is for the community and for the entire city . If it hasn't already been highlighted, the Alameda Speech Neighborhood Library, I believe Ms.. Highlighted is the oldest remaining building in our library system. And that's something that gives me great, great joy to celebrate and be sure that we forward this for a successful action on the recommendation. And with that, I've made the motion. Councilwoman Gonzales, would you like to address it?
Speaker 8: I just want to congratulate staff and the Cultural Heritage Commission as well. This is wonderful. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Thank you. There's been a motion and a second. Is there any member of the public that wished to address Council on item 12? Please come forward and state your name.
Speaker 7: Very good. You click as it is. It's a superb idea and it should be passed. It's a great building, great asset to the to the district and and also to the city. Thanks.
Speaker 10: Thank you. Mr. Good. You. Members, please cast your vote.
Speaker 2: Motion carries. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare an ordinance designating the Alamitos Neighborhood Library located at 1836 East Third Street as a Long Beach Historical Landmark. (District 2) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_03012016_16-0202 | Speaker 10: Thank you. Next item, please. Item 13.
Speaker 2: Communication from City Attorney Recommendation to Declare Ordinance Amending the Long Beach Municipal Code Relating to relating. Regulating the operation of electrically motorized boards in business districts. Read the first time and lead over for the next regular meeting of the City Council for Final Reading Citywide.
Speaker 10: Councilmember Price.
Speaker 8: Thank you. I want to ask my colleagues to support this item. This is an issue of pedestrian safety in only the designated corridors that have been identified. And actually, I think we may add on to those tonight through the course of our discussions. But this is a really important safety issue for those business corridors that want to be pedestrian friendly and offer alternate areas for people on bike, skateboards and hoverboards to move in. It's just not safe to have them on the same sidewalks as the pedestrians. So I urge your support on this item. Thank you.
Speaker 10: Councilwoman Gonzales.
Speaker 8: Yes. I want to thank Councilwoman Price for bringing this forward and for the language from our city attorney. I do have a couple questions. There are a few areas listed. It does say business improvement districts, but it does not include, when you look at the details, Pine Avenue. Can we include that into this first?
Speaker 3: Reading the mayor or members of Council Councilmember Gonzales The answer is no. Unless we take it back and do a new first reading next week. What we could do is adopt it tonight and then do an amendment to this ordinance and add any streets or areas. And we could bring that back in a couple of weeks to add the Pine Avenue. If you have specific locations on Pine Avenue you'd like to add. But adding it tonight would I would bring it back as a new first reading next week. So it's the council's discretion on how would you like to handle that.
Speaker 8: Well, what would be I mean, what would be the I mean, we would just delay we're delaying it anyway.
Speaker 3: Well, no. If you move forward this evening with first reading as written, it would come back as second reading next week. And then within a week or two after that, we could bring back an amendment to this ordinance, adding the exact location or any of the other locations that council may want to add to this. So you could move forward this evening as is, and we will bring it back and we can talk to your staff and get the location and bring back an amendment to this ordinance right away.
Speaker 8: Okay. Can you do that, if that's okay with our motion of.
Speaker 10: I'm sorry?
Speaker 0: Yes, absolutely.
Speaker 8: Okay. Great. Thank you. And then I have another just quick question. I appreciate that. Thank you very much. City attorney and Councilman Pryce. I just know a lot of our Point Avenue residents are in downtown. Residents have been very concerned with skateboards. And, of course, this would add to that as well. And so we want to make sure that that's covered. So I appreciate that and look forward to that. My second question, though, is there have been some other like verbiage of of hoverboards, but I've even seen two wheels, self-balancing. Would that have any? I think there was something else. It was called an electronic scooter. So I don't know if that language specifically would need to be in that amendment later on just to ensure that people all know that we're covering the same thing.
Speaker 3: Yes, we've looked at the state legislation and there is a specific exemption for the Segway type vehicles. And that was asked that we include that exemption for Segways for the downtown specifically, but in other areas and also for those type of emblems that would or are used by mobility impaired folks that need assistance. Those would be allowed under this ordinance. But we believe that the definition meets the hoverboard description and we would. Yes. Based on the state.
Speaker 8: Perfect. Great. Thank you to answer my questions. I appreciate it. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 3: I'll be supporting this. I just have a question. As I just scan this ordinance, I see a number of areas called out. What are these areas? Many members of the council. These areas are identical to the existing ordinance where it is posted for these skateboards. And so these are the areas that are currently existing in our code that and as we just discussed with the councilperson for the First District. These obviously could be expanded to include other areas if the city council would desire to amend this at a future date. Well well, I just noticed that some of the new bids aren't represented, but I'm actually okay. Our business district hasn't asked for this. I'm okay with it as as it is. So it did. So to be clear, because our business district has Jordan High School right at the heart of it. And I wouldn't want to give any kids any tickets if a kid is riding down with a hoverboard down Atlantic in the Uptown Business District because it's not called out. That kid is not subject to this, am I correct? That is correct. They're not prohibited in that area. Thanks.
Speaker 1: Israeli public comment on this item. Please come forward.
Speaker 7: Don. Don are speaking again. I just want to reinforce what Councilmember Gonzales said. Pine Avenue is a very key business district. And so everything from eighth Street on down to Ocean Boulevard, actually Shoreline Drive, even the entire length of Pine Avenue should be included in there. I can understand why all the other business districts, but not Pine Avenue. So please, please do include that. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Who are these guys? Now you have to identify yourself for the record.
Speaker 8: Hello. My name is Kiana. I live in the third district. Second Street is a great place to walk around and shop and eat. But when people ride skateboards, invite bikes, it makes it unsafe for walkers, same as for the hoverboards.
Speaker 2: Please support this item and vote for it. I want to thank the smart and Pretty.
Speaker 5: Councilwoman Third District.
Speaker 2: For bringing this item.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Did your mom write that?
Speaker 0: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Do you want to say anything? Say something?
Speaker 5: No, she didn't write it.
Speaker 1: Oh, you guys are. You guys are so cute. And the other public comment.
Speaker 8: This is what happens when working moms don't have childcare.
Speaker 9: And excuse me, I know she didn't want it because they didn't talk long enough.
Speaker 2: And they didn't. And and that'll be all. There are no further questions.
Speaker 7: Larry, could you clear Cassie address. I'm not a skater, dude or into that world, but I've seen on the news, as most people have, some of these hoverboards exploding, catching the fire. I don't know if. What we're exploring here. What if you're covering those? I would certainly want to include in there any prohibitions. Bringing them into any public building. And or on public transit if they're subject to being exploding or catching fire, so forth. I think it's you've got to put the foot on the neck of that instantly and so forth. So if these if that type of device has would have a potential for exploding or catching fire, then it should be banned from the appropriate city office and all city facilities, I should think, and certainly on any Long Beach transit busses. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Public comment. CNN, please cast your votes. And then, Madam Clerk, please read the next item, please.
Speaker 2: Motion carries in. That concludes our regular today. | Ordinance | Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Long Beach Municipal Code by adding Chapter 10.51, regulating the operation of electrically motorized boards in business districts in the City of Long Beach, read and adopted as read. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_02232016_16-0185 | Speaker 1: Next up is item 12. Item 12 is actually four items. And so this is the resolution work that the city attorney prepared after last week's vote on the June measure. So there'll be four different votes. Madam Court, do you want to read the first item, please?
Speaker 0: Communication from City Attorney Recommendation to adopt resolution calling for the placement of a general tax measure on the ballot of the June seven, 2016 regular election to adopt a transaction and use tax for a period of ten years. And also calling for the placement of another measure on the same ballot, establishing a budget stabilization fund.
Speaker 1: Before I turn this over to the city attorney also, are we can we take public comment for all these in one or do you want to separate those out?
Speaker 6: You can do public comment for all four items at one time.
Speaker 1: Okay. Did you have a mr. City attorney general comment, if I.
Speaker 6: May, may or members of the City Council pursuant to your request on February 16th, this office has prepared the following documents before you this evening. The resolution, as introduced by the clerk, calls for the placement of two items or questions on the June seven, 2016 ballot as part of that resolution attached, or to ordinances that must be approved this evening by a minimum of six votes by the Council. And the ordinances will return next week for a second reading as requested. The first item is a temporary transaction and use tax on the sale and use of all tangible personal property sold at retail in the city. The t, u t as it's called, will be for general purposes at a rate of 1% for six years, declining to one half of 1% for four years. The tax will sunset after ten years. The ordinance requires the establishment of a citizens advisory committee consisting of five members nominated by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council . A Draft to you. The draft ordinance has been reviewed by the State Board of Equalization, which will collect the sales tax if it's approved by the voters on behalf of Long Beach. Pursuant to Proposition 218, a majority vote of the electorate is required for the passage of this measure. Attachment B to the resolution is an ordinance which creates a budget stabilization fund or a rainy day fund. If approved by the voters. This rainy day fund would require 1% of any new general tax revenues to be placed into this fund to offset the impact of future recessions or financial hardships faced by the city. It also governs the expenditures from and the administration of this fund. The second item that you will be asked to vote on tonight is a resolution indicating the Council's priorities for the use of the t u t funds for infrastructure repairs and the restoration of public safety resources. The third item that you'll be asked to adopt is a resolution calling for the ballot arguments pursuant to the election code. And then the fourth item would be the resolution requesting the county consolidate these items for the city's election with the state primary election on June 7th of 2016. So to recap, the first item before you this evening is to adopt the resolution calling for the placement of the two items on the ballot, approve the language of the two ordinances, and adopt the ordinance requesting that t u t be administered by the body. The Board of Equalization. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. So want to go and do public comment on these items? Is there any public comment? Please come down. Please.
Speaker 0: Hello, everyone. Laurie Angel, Eighth Council District. I've come out pretty publicly on this and I did speak last time. My concern is that this measure came forward very quickly. First of all, there was infrastructure needs. I know that there's like a $2.3 billion backlog. It's been growing over the years. It's substantial. I understand that we don't have enough police services. Then we came up with a list of a laundry list of possible revenue changes. And then the next thing I know, we're doing a sales tax increase, which if I had my choice about what kind of tax to do, this would probably be the last one on the list, mainly because it adversely impacts business, it adversely impacts the economy. I would think that a measure like this that will impact business would have come before your Economic Development Commission first. This is a pretty serious problem and it's not very well thought out in terms of accountability. I appreciate that. Council member Mungo suggested a an oversight board, but it looks like an oversight in the language. It's supposed to look at revenues only appointments by the mayor. It doesn't really have any teeth. It isn't as though there is a distinctly outlying list of things to be done, and this is how we'll do them. It's going to be very difficult for the taxpayers to accept what you have on the table. I would like for something to be successful, but they need to see due diligence first. And I think it's unfortunate because just as with the last tax measure, it came too quickly that the public was not engaged. And I'm afraid that there are too many issues with it for to be successful. Rather than rush to get this on the ballot in June, it would be a much better idea to engage the public and find out what they would be, what they would more likely to support. Because I'm not quite sure that a sales tax is the answer. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 4: Good evening, John. Each 3600 Pacific Avenue. After last week's meeting, a call to question, call into question your claims of having done polling that showed strong support for this. I'd like to know more about the details of that polling. I did some polling during the whole of this whole past week, polling my neighbors walking around the neighborhood asking people I could not find a single household that had any support for this sales tax measure. None whatsoever. And they all threatened to flee with their dollars if it does pass. So I think you're off the mark there. The other thing that came up was why are we not seeking parity with Signal Hill on our oil extraction tax? It's nuts not to be there. We're barely at half of what Signal Hills will attract and taxes. I found 100% support for that. People volunteered that idea to me. Did you pull that? Or did you try to sell them on a sales tax measure? A push poll. There are 95 million people permanently out of work in this country in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Well, certainly no huge percentage of those live in Long Beach, but I'm sure there are a ton of families here that are still smarting from the Great Recession. There's a good many families that are now single income families that used to be two income families. How do you think you're going to pay for this if they choose to spend their money in Long Beach? Not everyone in Long Beach. Has a lot of money left over to give to you. I also am concerned, as is Laurie Angel, about an exodus of Long Beach sales tax dollars to other cities, most especially Carson with its new mall. They didn't get a football stadium, but they had a plan B. They're going to have a freeway centric shopping mall that'll probably rival South Coast Plaza. Now, people who live on the east side of town where my sister lives are already flee with her money to South Coast Plaza. People on my side of town, I guess, are going to be welcomed and herded into the new mall in Carson. How is that going to work for you? Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 7: Good evening. Tom Stout. The last proposal that it was brought up this evening was a measure on poorly written, poorly implemented, didn't pass. And I guess, you know, you guys did learn something which was surprising that you can fool a lot of the people, but not 66% of the. So now you're down to 50.1, and there's a lot of people that can be fooled out there. Just look who's been elected to sit on the council. This is a this council represents less than 20% of the actual voters in the city. That's pretty sad. Now with regard to. The 1% sales tax, you know, get off the thing only saying $0.01 tell the truth. That's going to be 10%. If the state puts some attacks on there, they want 2%. The county wants a half percent. The college wants 800 million more. This unit, Long Beach Unified, wants more money. Where is it all going to come from? Do you ever look at the add ons on your tax bill? It's amazing. It's truly amazing. There's never, ever going to be enough money to feed this machine. You added something to this wording and maintain service and maintain general services. That's a free pass to spend my money on. Anything you want. That's pretty pathetic on your part. Not unusual, but pathetic. And it just cost too much money to run the city. Compensation is always going up. CalPERS says they want 10% a year starting, I don't know, this year or next year for five or six years. That's about $150 million at the end. Plus we got an $8 million a year pension bond. So that's even more. So we're looking at probably close to 150 million. And that's not even given any raises away, which I'm sure coming or there wouldn't be this 1% sales tax on the agenda. You know, we talked about community centers. The Kroc Foundation wanted to give us a world class facility in the Andrews District. Yet he and his staff and the people sitting over here dropped the ball. $15 million. At the bottom line was what we needed to come up with. We couldn't. Yet we came up with $24 million to subsidize the families pensions. 1983, that subsidy started and it went on for 30 years.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Stout.
Speaker 7: You know, talking. I don't talk to you. I just come up because somebody sees it on TV. I know you guys don't give a crap.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mr. Stout. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 3: I echo and embrace what the previous speakers have said. I haven't listened to anybody I've talked to and listened for their feedback. All of them are opposed to this. We are in a very we're surrounded by other opportunities where people will spend their money. We'll miss those taxes. We'll miss those dollars. The only possibility that you can exist. In my view, passing this tax is to make it abundantly clear that 100% of the money will go for r0atis and streets. Nothing else? No. Rainy day fund. Period. And it really nail it down. You will promise to fire the city manager. Put those two things together and that would pass overwhelmingly. Period. And that's a good beginning to start with. I don't what proposing this. I'm not sure you people understand where your city lies and what is beckoning on the borders. Only a fool. Would make a major purchase within Long Beach when 5 minutes away they can make significant standing and a significant savings period. So reword it. Put it. Make it very clear that it goes for a-roads streets only. Period. Or highway roadways. Period. No. Rainy day fund. Fire. The city manager. And I'd even raised the specter of saying, if people want to reduce the number of council seats. I think we may be faced with something within the Mr. in his district that may have to close shut down. He may have to fire himself. Using the same logic that he fired. The Coastal Commissioner director. Now. He, of course, can blame it on previous council people in that district, but that would be an interesting conversation. So again, if you want to paston limit it to roads and highways via the city manager. At the basic minimum, you'll find no support for anything else. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. See no other public comment? Well, take this back behind to the council and close public comment. Councilman Gonzalez.
Speaker 2: Yes. I just wanted to reiterate my support for this item. I know that I've said this before, but I know it's a it's a little bit scary of a thought for many people. But I truly do believe that this is something that we need to do and allow our voters to be able to make that decision as to whether they'd like to go forward with this. I want to thank our city attorney for drafting this material and this information. I think it goes step by step as to what we are able to do with these funds. Should we get them? I do this for all of our city residents, especially those in as many people know. I like to advocate for areas that certainly need it the most. I have the historic neighborhoods. I also have areas that have very high crime rates, and we need this opportunity. And so I will just continue to read or write my support. I want to thank the city management team and city attorney for drafting this again. So thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Richardson.
Speaker 4: Thank you. So I've said it before, and I've and I'm going to reiterate it now. I think this proposal is modest. It's reasonable. I think that, you know, I don't know what the voters are going to do, you know, but I think they should have an opportunity to help determine their fate. There's no question that, you know, our infrastructure is failing. There's no question that we need to double down on core sort of core public safety services and, you know, our emergency response times. But I don't know that there's any solution is the perfect solution. So I think this is modest. I think it's reasonable. I think it does have so far, it's it's demonstrated there is sort of broad support for this. So that said, I think we need to send this to the voters. Thanks.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilmember Supernova.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mayor Garcia. How? First of all, I'd like to say I don't disagree with the speakers on many of their points. To Laurie Angell, if you went back and watch the videos several weeks ago, I made the very point you did. I asked staff, do we have enough time to educate the voters? They couldn't answer that. That's not within their purview. But. But here we are tonight. Here before us tonight. Politically, the easiest thing I could do is stand on a minority vote, go down in flames on a minority vote and grandstand on that. And a week ago, I just didn't have a good feeling about that. I don't sleep better at night if I'm on the wrong side of an eight one vote. So I read in the Longreach Business Journal and the Press Telegram the idea of an oversight committee. And so I spent the Monday holiday and all day last Tuesday working on that. And Councilmember Mungo brought it forward. And then after that was. Read. I asked the city attorney what would the next step be? And he said, it's going to I'll have to write that up and bring it back tonight. And that's where we are in terms of a need. I've said it many times before. There's no question in the Fourth Council District, we're the only district without a fire engine. We've had just anecdotally three houses that were total losses in my district due to fire. In terms of infrastructure. I have an entire western side of my district where only one street has been paved in 12 years. So we have some tremendous needs. But then the folks are cynical. They're not sure if we'll get this money, if they all get done anyway. All I can say to my constituents is new sheriff in town. We're going to address these things on an ad needed basis, not geographically. I really appreciate what the city attorney did. I think he's got a good proposal here. But I would just like to beef it up a little bit with a friendly amendment. And I'd like to read that now. This initiative will include a requirement that a citizen advisory committee will be formed to support the oversight of the expenditures from the proposed sales tax revenue. In addition, the Citizens Advisory Committee to have the Committee, the intent of the Council action shall be considered in any future expenditure of these moneys to ensure that expenditures are consistent with the intent of this body. Any budget recommendations regarding expenditures associated with the sales tax shall be presented to a financial to financial management for analysis and review. Financial management shall then prepare a report to the Budget Oversight Committee discussing the recommendations and their alignment with the legislative action that has been taken, by the way, of this motion. Further financial management will provide council with a quarterly report outlining the work of the Citizen Advisory Committee, as well as any approved budget expenditures. Although the action of this Council Mayor cannot bind these actions of future councils or mayors in regards to the expenditures of the proposed sales tax increase, this Council can state very clearly the intent of this action and expect that the public should hold accountable all future legislators in in regards to expenditures associated with these proposed sales tax increase revenues. And with that kind of language, I just think that's stronger than maybe we'd have with a different type of attack tack. So that's my motion.
Speaker 1: And Councilwoman Gonzales, would you be willing to accept that friendly, please?
Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely. I'll accept the friendly. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Councilmember Supernova and Councilman Richardson, you're okay with that as well. Thank you, Mr. City. Attorney.
Speaker 6: Mayor, members of council, Councilmember Cooper and all the I believe what you've added as the amendment would be included in the duties of the Citizens Advisory Commission, and I know that there's additional requests from staff in there to how we would address that is should this motion pass tonight? Our office would bring back a resolution, as we do with all commissions, establishing the Commission, and we would include your friendly amendments and requirements in that resolution.
Speaker 4: Absolutely.
Speaker 1: Great. Thank you. And and customer support. I'm very supportive of that. I want to thank you for for strengthening that. Councilwoman Pryce.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I have and I agree with the amendment that was just made. I do have a question that's come up quite a bit in the last week or two, and I don't know who the best person to answer this would be, but what is the difference? Or can you explain the 1% versus the $0.01 issue?
Speaker 1: Mr. City, Terry?
Speaker 6: Yes, it depends on how you read it. It's $0.01 on every dollar or 1% of the sales. So you see it written both ways or either way. And so it in in the way we've presented it, it's the $0.01 when we have in parentheses 1%. And we've run that language by the Bowie, the Board of Equalization, and they're fine with that language. But it is it's one way or the other is a 1% increase.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman Mongo.
Speaker 0: Yes. I want to thank Councilmembers Hooper not for strengthening the language. I think that our intent last week was to ensure that the voters have the say and the oversight that is necessary. I know that we're working really hard to be more transparent in terms of providing details to our council items in advance. And I think that seeing the detail of the budgets and expenditures in advance is a big component of that. And I think that another component of that is ensuring that once the money is spent, that it was spent on the things that we said that it would be and that there are components of that that taxpayers have control over because they shouldn't need to get their information through a public records request. Many know that if you ask of certain things from our office, we put a lot of staff time in responding to those. But this actually puts that on the city staff, which relieves us at the council office level for providing the constituent services in the district better. So I appreciate the strengthening of the language. I think it's an important part of our ability to grow our transparency and accountability to residents and the citizens. So thank you for that. Thank you, Charlie, for doing the best practices. I know we talked about a a couple of different scenarios and I'm looking forward to that coming back with Councilmember Supernova's added language. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilor Casper Castro votes.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Okay. Thank you. Item two, Madam Clerk. | Resolution | Recommendation to:
1) Adopt resolution calling for the placement of a general tax measure on the ballot of the June 7, 2016 Regular Election to adopt a Transactions and Use Tax for a period of ten (10) years, and also calling for the placement of another measure on the same ballot establishing a Budget Stabilization ("Rainy Day") Fund; | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_02232016_16-0188 | Speaker 1: Item four Police.
Speaker 0: Adopt a resolution requesting the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles to consolidate a general municipal election for two local initiative measures to be held with the statewide primary election.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Please cast your votes.
Speaker 0: Motion carries.
Speaker 1: Thank you very much. I'm going to just make a brief comment before we go on to the next item. I just want to begin just by thinking I think it's important that we think our finance staff and they've been working very, very hard on this issue, as well as our city attorney staff. And I just want to thank you both for doing this. And I want to say one other thing. I think it's important to be very clear. What the councilors voted on tonight and the night before is to give voters the opportunity to make their voices heard at the ballot box. It's not an endorsement of going in this direction. They will all have an opportunity on their own to make those decisions. But it's giving the voters the option. This is now in the hands of the Long Beach voters. And over the course of the next few weeks and months ahead, there'll be a robust city wide conversation. So I want to thank everyone for working hard on this particularly want to thank Mayor Foster and Mayor Beverley O'Neill, who have both advocating to give voters a choice to put this measure on the ballot. And I want to thank the Council for their diligence. Good questions. And in particular, I want to thank those that advocated in to adding the Citizen's Oversight Commission and strengthening its ability to monitor these funds as well. So thank you all the way around and of course, to our city attorney and finance staff as well. And with that, we can move to the next item. Madam Clerk. | Resolution | 4) Adopt resolution requesting the Board of Supervisors of the County of Los Angeles to consolidate a General Municipal Election for two local initiative measures to be held on June 7, 2016 with the Statewide Primary Election to be held on that date pursuant to Section 10403 of the Elections Code. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_02232016_16-0178 | Speaker 1: And with that, we can move to the next item. Madam Clerk.
Speaker 0: Report from Development Services and Public Works recommendation to receive and expend $25,000 dollars in grant funding from the Knight Foundation Fund to prepare a comprehensive update to the existing Bicycle Master Plan and execute an amendment to contract with ALTA Planning and design for the Bicycle Master Plan update for a total amount not to exceed $500,000 citywide.
Speaker 1: Mr. City Manager. And we have a small attic.
Speaker 6: Yes, this is all part of our city livability initiatives. The bicycle masterplan is part of our circulation element with the general plan. I'm going to turn this over to Development Services Staff. Lisa Fallon. Linda Tatum.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Mr. West. Mayor and City Council. The item before you is to accept a 25,000 grant from the Community Foundation to amend a contract with ALTA planning and design and to increase appropriations of development services. This is to allow us to update the Bicycle Master Plan. Alta has a good scope of services provided with a large community outreach service outreach program to a number of different groups. And a lot of strategies will be included in the master plan. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. There's a motion and a second itinerary. Public comment on this. CNN. Please cast your votes. Oh, I'm sorry. Vice Admiral Lowenthal, I'm sorry about that.
Speaker 0: That's okay. I just wanted to compliment our staff for all the work that they've done on this. I know it's it's been a very, very long narrative, and every bit of work that goes into it is something that's a source of pride for me. We continue to be proactive in our efforts to help our city to be recognized as one of the nation's most bicycle friendly cities. And this new master plan will continue to serve as a guide to developing and maintaining our bikeways and bicycle friendly roadways. I, I don't get tired of saying this, but our city is an example of our ability to connect our urban communities with our suburbs, suburban communities. And this updated plan will only increase those possibilities for us. So for me, as I wrap up my tenure here this summer, our commitment, our continued commitment to adding on to our bicycle infrastructure is a constant source of pride for me. So for that, I thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Can I get emotional? Okay. There's emotion any second on this. Councilor Richardson's. You have any comments or. No? Okay. I see no public comment on this, right? No public comment. Please cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries. Excited Report from Economic and property development. Recommendation to execute a First Amendment to agreement with Long Beach Transit. To extend the agreement for six months to provide sufficient time to optimize the Belmont Shore Employee Rider Pass Program City District three. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute all necessary documents to receive and expend $25,000 in grant funding from the Knight Foundation Fund via the Long Beach Community Foundation to prepare a comprehensive update to the City of Long Beach's existing Bicycle Master Plan (BMP);
Authorize City Manager to execute an Amendment to Contract No. 33842 with Alta Planning & Design, of Los Angeles, CA, for the BMP update, in an amount of $200,000, for a total amount not to exceed $500,000; and
Increase appropriations in the Development Services Fund
(EF 337) in the Development Services Department (DV) by $200,000. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_02232016_16-0179 | Speaker 0: Motion carries. Excited Report from Economic and property development. Recommendation to execute a First Amendment to agreement with Long Beach Transit. To extend the agreement for six months to provide sufficient time to optimize the Belmont Shore Employee Rider Pass Program City District three.
Speaker 1: There's a motion and a second. Councilman Price, did you have any comments or.
Speaker 2: I do. Thank you. The Belmont Shore Employee Rider Pass program is a very successful program that was started in March of 2013 and modeled after the Cal State Long Beach program, which provides free transit to All Long Beach State. I'm sorry, all Long Beach Transit busses to eligible students, faculty and staff at Long Beach State with the Belmont Shore Employee Rider Pass program, employers in Belmont Shore provide a free bus pass to all employees in order to encourage transit ridership. Currently, we have over 500 Belmont Shore employees taking advantage of this program, which reduces pollution and most importantly, given the area helps ease the parking challenges we face in the shore. I appreciate staff extending this program for an additional six months as we work out a long term agreement with Long Beach Transit to continue providing bus service for our Belmont Shore employees. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Is there any public comment on this item? Please cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute a First Amendment to Agreement No. 33371 with the Long Beach Public Transportation Company to extend the Agreement for six months to provide sufficient time to optimize the Belmont Shore Employee Rider Pass Program elements in anticipation of a long-term amendment. (District 3) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_02232016_16-0180 | Speaker 1: Thank you. Next item, please.
Speaker 0: Report from economic and property development. Recommendation to execute all necessary documents with the California Endowment to accept funds totaling $75,000 to implement the PATH program citywide.
Speaker 1: Councilman Richardson.
Speaker 4: Thanks, Mayor. Let's start with the staff report.
Speaker 6: We have Nick Shultz, who will present this staff report. Good evening. Honorable Mayor and council members will come before you tonight. Promising adults tomorrow's hope or path is a first of its kind diversion program, focusing on young adults aged 16 to 24. Cities large enough to have a high volume of misdemeanor crimes in all cases are handled by relatively few prosecutors. The number of youth with contact with the justice system is problematic as the status exacerbates young people's access to quality employment or distracts them from focus on educational and training pathways or access to other resources. The Long Beach City Prosecutor City Prosecutor's Office is already a leader in developing and implementing diversion programs. Our Regional Workforce Development Board is positioned with industry, employers and well-connected to both community organization and education and training institution with the capacity to serve these youth. This place is the program's leadership team in a new, in a unique position of being able to harness public resources and affect life impacting decisions for youth. And with PATH, we look we look forward to being able to demonstrate results related to program entry and completion for young adults skill games, work readiness, job attainment, retention, wage gain , and reduction in recidivism for path participants, as well as program adoption and replication in other California municipalities. Mayor, Mayor, Councilmembers. I also want to introduce our city prosecutor, Doug Halbert, who's been very, very key in this initiative as well. I just wanted to, on behalf of my department, thank the the mayor and the city council, as well as Pacific Gateway for helping to make this diversion program a reality. I think it was mentioned last time I spoke about this that this is the first workforce development focused court diversion program of which we know of in the United States. So Long Beach is doing something that is creative and innovative and hopefully becomes a pilot project that other communities can look at. But I wanted to thank all the council members, especially Rex Richardson, who has been very focused on helping make this successful. And with that, I thank you for your support.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilwoman Gonzales. Sorry, Captain Richard.
Speaker 4: Thanks, Mr. Mayor. So I want to thank Nick and Doug for their hard work in bringing this forward. It was. It's been about a year when we pitched this. We didn't know how we would pay for it, but we knew this was this that we wanted to figure out how to connect young people to a career or to an educational opportunity to place them on the right track when they make a mistake. And specifically, folks under 24 who we acknowledge in science acknowledges that their brains aren't fully developed. So so a full year has come, come and gone. And we've finally gotten to a place where we've found a financing solution for this. And thank you so much to our city prosecutor, Doug Halbert, for finding the resources. Thank you to Nick Schultz for corralling the write the Right Workforce programs with this. But we noticed that there was a gap in terms of how we divert people in education programs. So today is really about the California Endowment stepping up and helping to fill that gap and providing much needed resources to make sure that this is a comprehensive program that uses both workforce and education as a means for for diversion . So so I wanted to just chime in and thank all the partners we're really proud of of this program and where and how it's come together. And we look forward to doing more great work and innovative work like this in the future.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Councilman Andrew. I'm so sorry. All right. Yeah, I.
Speaker 2: Think that's the second time.
Speaker 1: I have. I've done it to a few of you guys.
Speaker 2: Tonight, so I just. I just really briefly wanted to say thank you for all of your hard work, both Doug and Nick. I know each of you work to the best of your ability to find ways and find opportunities for us, especially when many of us on the council have really advocated for for job growth, and especially with adults that certainly need it the most. And I want to thank Councilman Richardson as well for his leadership on that. So thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Councilman?
Speaker 5: Yes. I also think you might also want to think and you can talk about this, because I'm very happy to see this item, you know, on the agenda. But I really want to thank the California Endowment for their donation to this commit to the commitment to the Long Beach community. You know, the Petrograd will give our youth in the Delta training, you know, experience that they need to succeed. And I would like to request the names of the organizations that are recruiting, as well as how to for people to this program. Because a lot of individuals will be coming through my office wanting to know some of this. So I want to thank you guys very much for bringing this to the diocese. And I thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. And Councilwoman Mango.
Speaker 0: Yes, Nick, you know that I'm constantly impressed by what you're able to do. You squeeze money out of a rock. And I think that that is one of the things that is so impressive about what you've been able to do with workforce development since you've been on board. I'd like to ask that information and documentation on what you're doing and how we can advocate for this at the federal level in our Fed committees in D.C. in April is possible because I think that $75,000 is a a start. But we are really going to need significantly more funding if we're going to take this seriously and take it to the next level where other cities will start modeling after us. So I'd like to see us up the ante and get some more private partnerships involved and how we can make that happen. So I appreciate the head nods over there. I think that we're on the same page that to really do something meaningful, we need to even push harder because this could be game changing for a Long Beach. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Any public comment on this item? Seeing that, please cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute all documents, and any needed subsequent amendments, with The California Endowment, to accept funds totaling $75,000 to implement the Promising Adults, Tomorrow's Hope program that will assist young adults age 16-24 gain employment and educational skills, for a period of one year; and
Increase appropriations in the Community Development Grants Fund (SR 150) in the Economic and Property Development Department (EP) by $75,000. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_02232016_16-0175 | Speaker 1: Next item.
Speaker 0: Report from Health and Human Services recommendation to execute all necessary documents with the State Water Resource Control Board to receive funding in the amount of $100,000 to provide beach water quality monitoring citywide.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Your income.
Speaker 0: I don't know.
Speaker 1: Councilman Andrews. Any public comment on the item? Seeing Nazis cast your votes. Well.
Speaker 0: We do have a question.
Speaker 1: Oh, sure, Councilman Price.
Speaker 2: Sure. I just wanted to thank staff for this great effort. You know, our city has done such an amazing job in terms of making sure that we have.
Speaker 0: Hmm.
Speaker 2: Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Since we deal with this issue a lot.
Speaker 2: To make sure that we have that water quality is such an important part of our story here in Long Beach and what we have to be proud of. So I want to thank staff and thank my colleagues in advance for supporting this.
Speaker 1: Vice Mayor, did you have any comments?
Speaker 0: I just had a question. Is this the same monitoring that we had developed and expanded in conjunction with Heal the Bay and their report and all of that?
Speaker 6: Nelson Kerr, our bureau manager from Health Services.
Speaker 4: Yes, honorable mayor, members of the City Council. Yes. This is the same hill. The Bay uses our test results to calculate their grade, so they're using our data.
Speaker 0: I appreciate that. Thank you. And I appreciate the continued work.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Sorry. One more thing. Would this be a good time to report that in 2015 we got a ratings and all of our waterways as opposed to 2008 when we had a bunch of FS.
Speaker 6: This is a great time to report that.
Speaker 2: Was it is it 2008 we had to write these.
Speaker 6: Yes. And dry weather. Yes.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And then 26 vice mayor was saying. So for a long time we had bad grades and we're doing really well.
Speaker 6: This city council has spent millions and worked diligently over the past ten years with its own city council committee to clean the water. The City Council has worked diligently with Heal the Bay so that we have independent third party people that are evaluating our water. Mr. Kerr Behind us, he has health experts that collect samples. They have scientists that test the samples. So these are legit. And again, they're supported by Heal the Bay.
Speaker 2: Mr. Ker, did you want to say anything?
Speaker 4: I concur with what the city manager said.
Speaker 2: You know, we just had an interview regarding Colorado Lagoon and the water quality there. And we were talking about the great.
Speaker 0: Work of the.
Speaker 2: The residents who live in the area and instead of a grassroots effort. So we're going to call it the eel grassroots efforts because the water quality at that body of water is so amazing and a lot of people don't know and they're still not going in. So we're hoping that Mr. West's concept of swim ability really takes flight in 2016.
Speaker 4: So think Colorado Lagoon is our shining star. That used to be a perennial.
Speaker 6: Beach bummer.
Speaker 4: For years and years, and now it is actually our best water quality in the city and has been since the project's been almost completed. Okay.
Speaker 1: Councilman Fischer, you will read the. Yes. Councilman Mungo.
Speaker 0: I just wanted to remind everyone that Councilman Price did such an excellent job reminding us how clean it was by having that water dumped on her head for ALS. And we really appreciate her showing us the cleanliness of the water. And I'd be willing to find another charity to have this same experience again.
Speaker 1: Swimming in it.
Speaker 0: We could do a swim.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Any public comment on this item? Vice Mayor Lowenthal You know.
Speaker 0: Right. So Councilmember Price reminded me I know we take this for granted now because of how far we've come, but at the same time, there are a couple of things that I think we should at least share with the public. And one is something that Councilman Price just mentioned off the mic, which is we will be posting these grades at our beaches. Is that correct, Mr. Kerr? Just say yes. Yes. Okay. And so it's similar to our restaurant grades. Where is it? By flags. Will the grades be posted using a flag? Mr. Modica.
Speaker 6: Yes. We going to post at four beaches where we'll give the grades? Well, actually, I'll be in colors so it'll be safe to swim or rain advisory or don't swim in red. So green, yellow and red. Occasionally we do have a sewer spill or something and we'll have to put that out there. But normally in dry weather, we'll have greens out there. We'll also have the water temperature and we'll also have a QR statement. If you have a smartphone and if you want to get into how the sciences of how we test our water, you can run your smartphone over that and go straight to Mr. Kerr's website and health services to determine all that. And these will be at Mother's Beach, at Colorado Lagoon, at Bay Shore Beach, and also at Kite Beach.
Speaker 0: I appreciate that. I think just separate in and of itself, it's a very significant thing. But when you start looking at what makes the city attractive, whether it's for cycling or for tourism, these are all things that get widely publicized. I've been on the Hill, the bay board for almost ten years now, and it is something that's widely publicized and which we should be proud of. They're proud of where we came from and how far we've come, actually, and it is a big deal. So I'm looking forward to announcing those grades and and that will keep us motivated. There are some things that we cannot control. We just were reminded that we probably have not knock on wood had a spill in quite some time, but there are effluent issues that we aren't able to control, but we are on top of what we can and at least being able to alert our residents and visitors when it's not quite. Safe and pristine. I think it's a good thing. Thank you. Correct.
Speaker 6: We'll be very, very honest about it. And also, we want to shout from the rooftops so much so that we're going to be placing shortly 17 swim ladders at all of our public docks throughout Alameda space to just encourage people to be in the water.
Speaker 1: Thank you. See no other public comment. Please cast your vote.
Speaker 0: Motion carries. | Contract | Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all necessary documents, and any subsequent amendments, between the City of Long Beach and the State Water Resources Control Board, to receive funding in the amount of $100,000 to provide beach water quality monitoring, for the period of July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016. (Citywide) | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_02162016_16-0166 | Speaker 0: Thank you, Steve. That concludes public comment. We're going to go to the regular agenda now. We're going to go ahead and. Give me 1/2, please take up item number 25. Madam Clerk.
Speaker 1: Communication from Councilman Austin. Councilwoman Gonzalez, Vice Mayor Lowenthal and Councilmember Richardson. Recommendation to request the city attorney to prepare an ordinance establishing a temporary transfer transaction and use sales tax for general purposes at the rate of 1% for six years, then declining 2.5% for four years on the sale and or use of all tangible personal property sold at retail in the city to be placed on the ballot at the June seven, 2016, municipal election. The tax will sunset after ten years and request the city attorney to prepare a rainy day fund ballot measure and request the city attorney to prepare an advisory resolution to accompany the transaction and new sales tax. To specify the Council's intention to prioritize infrastructure repairs and restoration of public safety resources.
Speaker 0: Thank you. I'm going to. I'm going to turn this over to the maker of the motion, which is council member Austin. Councilor Austin.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I just want to take this opportunity to just mention as I talk to residents throughout my district and throughout the city, for that matter, the issues that I hear more about most about our fixing our streets, sidewalks and alleys and restoring the cuts that were made to public safety over the past ten years. These these are priorities for our residents. And they are looking to their elected representatives, their city council, to show leadership on this issue. These are the issues that our residents want the city to be tackling tonight. We will take the first step to giving our residents saying what kind of future they want for our city. The city of Long Beach has been fiscally prudent and made significant reductions to stay within budget over the past several years. We've partnered with our employees to save more than $250 million over ten years on pension cost. The city has eliminated more than 700 positions, including 200 police officers and more than 80 firefighters. Further reductions and efficiencies have been implemented throughout the city. But while we have worked to stay within our budget, our infrastructure and public safety resources are falling short of what is needed. We have a $2.8 billion in infrastructure needs over the next ten years, and we're falling further behind each year. Every year we come up short in investing in our infrastructure. The cost to upgrade our streets, sidewalks and alleys only increase. Trends in cities across the state are showing a rise in crime. And in Long Beach, we're not immune to that trend. We need additional police to combat this increase in crime. We also need to restore fire staffing to maintain our 911 paramedic response times and public space safety stations across the city. That's why this proposal is supported by our mayor and two former mayors, Mayor O'Neill and Foster as well. This is a temporary measure that will end in ten years, but will allow us to make key investments in public safety and infrastructure. I personally believe our residents are looking to this council to make bold steps to address these pressing needs and that our residents should be given the opportunity to have a say in the future direction of our city. We have to control our own destiny here. And for that, I would ask for full support of this council, for this motion. Thank you very much.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Austin. Councilmember Richardson.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So I want to I want to first thank Councilman Austin and the rest of the council members for for for bringing this forth to the city council. I want to thank Mayor Garcia and and Mayor Foster and Mayor O'Neal for asking the city council to weigh in on this issue. I've been on the council for just shy of two years, but I worked here prior to that. And I think it's pretty clear folks have seen what we've come through and the decisions that the council has had to make in terms of our budget. And but the fact is, we can't keep up with our failing infrastructure. It's our streets, our sidewalks. They're falling behind. We need to make sure we make these investments. And I think our residents are expecting us to to take on these challenges. We've talked about crime increasing. I'm concerned about what we've what we've seen in terms of the the data and the statistics and to ignore it. It doesn't doesn't it's not a prudent strategy. So we need to make sure we make those investments in our police officers. We've talked about paramedic, the changes in our paramedic staffing and all those different things. And we know that our firefighters are dealing with unprecedented call volumes, that those call volumes are increasing. They're not diminishing. And yet we're dealing with, you know, not enough resources to make sure that we keep our 911 response times low. So so that said, I think this is it's reasonable. I think it's modest. And and I think it's the right thing to do for us to put this forth to the voters. So, again, thank you to the to our council colleagues for for bringing this forward. And thank you to Mayor Garcia for putting together this framework for us to take these additional steps. So I'm going to be voting in support of this tonight.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Mongo.
Speaker 1: Thank you. Many of you know that I'm a no new taxes kind of person. I've had lots of discussions with members of the community today. I believe that even when we have good intentions, good intentions can go bad. In a lot of our discussions this week, I talked with taxpayers and they believe in their right to choose and I want to support that. And I also believe in oversight. And while this council can provide oversight, if taxpayers vote in this increase, it is with them that we also want to give access and oversight. And so I hope that I can be supportive of this motion tonight. So I've come with a friendly amendment that would bring me to be a supportive member. And I think that my community would appreciate that, that if we added some language that said, at the end of the item, there's a end to that sentence, I would add, which would be reviewed by a five member citizen oversight committee in advance of utilization. So that that review would then come back to the council and we would know it before approving the utilization of those funds, but that we would be providing that access to hold us accountable, that we actually do spend the money on the things that we say we're going to spend them on. It's tough when it's a general fund tax increase and the money goes into the general fund and there's no restrictions. This would at least provide the oversight that I think would make taxpayers more comfortable and them to be more supportive of those infrastructure needs. And I also hope that in the long run, to not get us into this position again, that we start treating infrastructure as ongoing costs, streets and sidewalks and building maintenance and any nonprofit board that I sit on. If we know that an air conditioning has ten years of life left in, it cost $20,000. We start putting away $2,000 a year now. So I'm in big support of the 1% rainy day fund. And knowing and understanding, though. 1% might not be what the amortization of those maintenance costs would be. So we need to get there eventually. But this is a good first step.
Speaker 0: And so the friendly amendment is to also include the creation of a citizen's oversight committee. And that would be added to to the measure. And from what I understand, Mr. City Attorney, I'm assuming if that was done, you would come back to the council probably with more information about citizen oversight committees as far as best practices and what's going on right now in the state and locally. Is that correct?
Speaker 4: That is that is correct.
Speaker 8: As I understand the motion, it would be a community advisory committee, and I'm not sure that there is any distinction in what you just said, Mayor, but that's what I think.
Speaker 0: We're talking about the same thing. Yes. Okay. Mr. Usted.
Speaker 4: I. I will accept that unfriendly amendment. I think it is. It is a smart approach. We should have some civilian oversight. I was I've always been a big fan of that. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Speaker 8: Council members. If we could just get a little clarification on what the advisory commission would be or committee would be. It appeared to us in the conversation that they would direct the staff on.
Speaker 0: How to spend funds. So I think now, I mean, they legally wouldn't be able to direct.
Speaker 1: So I guess I would think that every year when we get towards budget season, all the departments bring forward how they plan to spend their budget. And I would guess that any moneys associated that come in through this $0.01 would be monitored and allocated on an annual basis, even if we pulled in, let's say. A certain amount of money, we might be able to spend that money in that year because you can only repair so many streets at a time. So I think department heads bring that forward and they review it.
Speaker 8: And so the council would approve a budget and the oversight committee would guarantee that the funds are being spent specifically for those projects that the council approved for.
Speaker 0: And let me actually make also I know what comes with my money's going. Let me let me let me make to make a recommendation here. I think there is actually there are best practices for citizens oversight committees out there. There's actually state regulation that actually approves how some of these work. And so what I think I think the idea what Councilman Longo wants to do is absolutely correct. I support it 100%. What I like to see if the city attorney can come back and then bring in front in front of the council what our best practice citizens advisory committees do. I know that Long Beach Unified has one. Long Beach City College has one. It's pretty boilerplate. They're great committees are great oversight methods. And I don't know if Councilman Mongeau agrees with that.
Speaker 1: Absolutely. I'd prefer to use best practice than recreate the will.
Speaker 4: Okay. We can we can certainly do that.
Speaker 0: Okay, Mr. Austin.
Speaker 4: And I'm fine with that. I like the idea of looking at best practices and having something come back and looking at and debating at the fine points of that. Then great.
Speaker 0: And I and I want to thank Councilman Mongo for, for bringing this forward. I know you've been an advocate on that on that issue. I think I've heard that a lot in the community. And so I appreciate that. I also just want to add and then I'm going to go to Councilmember Super and here is, I think this measure and I think it's important to have a citizen's oversight component and committee made up of citizens is great but just also want to add that we will also as part of this and as of any measure that would come before us, the city auditor will also, as part of this measure, will also be conducting regular and routine annual looks and audits of what is happening with the funds. And so it's we have that that audit piece will always be part of this. It's appropriate, but so will this additional layer, which is the Citizens Oversight Committee. So I'm very supportive of both. And thank you, Councilman Mongo and Councilmember Austin for our for doing that. Next is Councilmember Super now.
Speaker 10: Thank you, Mayor.
Speaker 3: And thank you, Councilmember Mongo for bringing.
Speaker 10: This item forward, this friendly amendment. This is a condition that that would be a contingency that I would have to have in place to support this. I'd just like to ask the city attorney to weigh in on what the procedure is. I know we have to turn this around quickly, but this is just a first step. And if if Mr. Barkan can elaborate on what he brings back next week and and how we get a second vote on this.
Speaker 8: Mr. Mayor and members of the city council, if directed this evening, it would be our intention to have something back on the agenda for you next week for first reading. Tonight's motion takes a majority of the council five votes. But in order to put this item on the ballot, you would need six votes from the city council next week for first reading and then the following week all ordinances.
Speaker 4: For the ballot under the.
Speaker 8: Election code or urgency ordinances. So we would have a first reading next week and then we always do the city does.
Speaker 4: A second reading on March 1st.
Speaker 8: So there will be two more opportunities for the Council to.
Speaker 4: Look at this item. But it's our.
Speaker 8: Intention to bring it all back to you next Tuesday.
Speaker 10: Okay. Thank you. That's that's a perfect explanation. Also, before we get into the weeds on the formation of the committee, I think that general purpose is that and what my constituents have told me, they want the money to be spent on infrastructure and public safety. And that's the whole job of the oversight committee to to look after that. That's it. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Councilwoman Price.
Speaker 5: Thank you. So I just had a couple clarifying questions just regarding. The the accounting and how it is that we track the money. So perhaps staff could assist me with with these questions. How does the the money from the sales tax increase get tracked in regards to our general fund? I know it gets put back into the general fund, but we're going to continue to be a city and do all the things that we do as a city, purchase new vehicles, go through labor contracts, do all the things that we would normally do with the budget that we have. So how do we get to a place where the money that is coming in from a proposed increase is tracked separately to make sure that it's not spent on things such as raises, you know, new fleet vehicles, equipment, etc..
Speaker 4: Our finance.
Speaker 8: Director and deputy director John GROSS and Lynn Erickson.
Speaker 4: Will handle those questions. Thank you. I'll try to answer that. The you're correct. The money will likely come in to the general fund. We will identify it as separately, so we will be able to know to the penny how much money has come in tracking for infrastructure? We should be able to easily track that money. We always track all infrastructure projects. To give you an example of where it becomes a little more problematic, but I don't think it's going to be a serious problem, is let's say that we use the money and council approves money to hire more police officers, for example, which ten police officers? Let's say it's ten police officers. You could pick any number you want. Those police officers, maybe they go on vacation. Maybe there's someone who eventually leaves and we replace that person in time. That becomes a tracking issue. I've done that issue before. We've had where I came from previously. We had a ballot question that did a similar thing and we used various methods to track it that met audit requirements. And that's what we would do in this case. And I think the direction from council is to report that to the citizens group and we we would it's not going to be an exact accounting methodology because it's technically impossible to do that. But there are other methods that will track that we will use probably. h.R. Our data depends on what what council wants that money used for, but it certainly is a solvable problem and we will solve it and it will be reviewed by the citizens committee as well as our auditors.
Speaker 5: Because, you know, I'm thinking down the road here and, you know, we're going to continue to do things that we do as a city. And what I don't want is the appearance that any sort of new tax revenue is being used to augment the functions of the city that weren't behind the intent of the the that the sales tax measure. So, for example, I don't want residents to say, oh, you know, police department has, you know, this well, that's probably a bad example because that's public safety. Let's say, you know, Parks and Rec has a new vehicle that they're using that's really fancy and top notch. And we didn't really need that. They probably used our tax dollars to purchase that. Or, you know, this this new labor contract was approved there, probably used our tax dollars to do that. So I want to make sure that there is a mechanism in place to be able to assure the residents that that's not what happened, that that that the business of being a city is going to continue regardless of any sort of measure. And we'll be able to do that. Yes. Okay. And then the other question I had is, have we given any thought to what the plan will be in ten years in regards to any structural obligations that we've taken on in regards to public safety funding, let's say?
Speaker 4: In. I think what you're referring to is we're talking about a temporary tax that will sunset in ten years and automatically go away. And I think the key issue in looking at that is that this city has always had a structural budget that makes it a a point to for council to but but has to balance the budget every year and structurally balance it every year. I think we would continue to do that and council would continue to do that as we get towards if we're spent all the money, for example, if it's spent on infrastructure, it's not a not an issue. If it's spent on other things that is ongoing, then I would expect that council, as it always does, will be looking at the budget situation as we get towards that. See, have revenues gone up enough to cover that it will be a year by year basis that council will have to look at as we have done in the past.
Speaker 5: And of course, as we get close to that, that end of that ten year period, 2 to 3 years out, we could start really looking at the budget and determining whether or not, for example. Seats that employment positions that are maybe going to be open as a result of retirements maybe don't get filled or things of that nature in order to make sure that we're not in a position at the end of the ten year mark where we're we're faced with a problem budgetary gap in regards to having to cover positions that we have filled.
Speaker 4: That is correct. And it could be that revenues will go up. It could be revenues will go down. We just don't know. But, yes, just looking at it, as you've described, for whatever solutions there are available will be what we will have to do.
Speaker 5: Even if it means possibly having to go down a number of public safety officers in terms of not filling positions in order to make sure we're not overbudget.
Speaker 4: I'm it's whatever council will decide to do with the budget.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next up is Councilmember Ranga.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mayor. Excuse me. I am really pleased that we included incorporated in there a oversight committee. When I was a trustee at City College, we had a similar bond measure go to before before the public, and it was overwhelmingly accepted. And I think one of the one of the the benefits of that was that it had an oversight component to it, where citizens could look at the projects and either recommend pursuing that project, continuing it, or looking at it another way. I really do believe that we need that kind of participation from our community in terms of looking at that. I also very pleased at the fact that there's going to be a sunset on this. But the challenge with the sunset will be those that are somewhat referred to by a councilmember price is that if we start incorporating or using some of these towards salaries or towards building positions, that we might put ourselves in a in a hold sort of speak in respect to now that we have these additional employees, who what are we going to do with them when the tax goes away? So it's going to take a lot of close monitoring. Obviously, we're going to have to really be prudent in how we expand those funds. It would be also it would behoove the council to look at the progress we are making with with these monies in regards to making a significant impact on our infrastructure and making an impact on re constructing or reinstituting some of our police and fire services back into back into service. It would be my expectation that after six years it goes to it goes down by a point, half a percentage point by. And that would also give us the additional four years of being able to plan ahead. Now being able to look at where we're at and then being able to adapt once we reach that that point in time when we have to solely, you know, cut that cut that out in terms of depending on it as a budget resource. So I like the red like the plan, I like the the component, the oversight and the fact that it does have a sunset. And I will be supporting this on this recommendation. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Thanks, Lowenthal.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just wanted to communicate my support for this item and thank Council member Austin for bringing it forward. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Council member Andrews.
Speaker 9: Yes, I would like to close sentence for my vice mayor because I think this is a great solution to get our additional police officers and, you know, off the streets and more fire response like a fireman and emergency services. Well, and you know, and especially dealing with the infrastructure, because a lot of the individuals that live in our district think that infrastructure comes once every five years. But I think with the with the tax increase of this type will help us all know that we can get these things done before that cycle comes around. So I think Council Austin and the mayor bringing this up and I totally would support it. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Councilwoman Gonzalez.
Speaker 5: Yes. I want to thank Councilman Austin for bringing this forward as well. I didn't have too many questions, just more comments. And, you know, I know it's been decades since we've conducted a ballot initiative such as this. And I know that with the growing need for infrastructure, all of us have received plenty of calls on alley repairs and in streets and sidewalks. And we do need more police officers and paramedic units out there. And so I think this is just one small part in which each of us can play to be able to contribute to the greater benefit for for our city. I think we certainly deserve it. I know this is a little bit scary for some people, but I think that this is something that the you know, we're looking at and and taking, you know, a very cautious approach. And I believe the first I was kind of taken aback by the Citizen Advisory Committee, not really understanding exactly what it would do. But I am looking forward to hearing more from our city attorney next week and all that will entail. And also, I definitely know our city auditor will be very involved in the process and I certainly respect her expertize. So I look forward to more information. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Before we turn over to any public comment, I'm just going to make a few comments on on the on this item as well. I want to just start off by thanking Councilmember Austin and the others who have signed on to support this. This is a very big step. It's an important step to give voters the choice. And this is really about voter choice and giving them the opportunity to invest in their future and in their city. I especially want to thank Mayor Bob Baxter and Mayor Beverly O'Neill for joining me in supporting and proposing this measure for a citywide vote and conversation. I think that if you think about the two decades of leadership that both Mayor Foster and Mayor O'Neill have witnessed and led, I think you see a time in our in our history where there was always a need. I think they both recognized that the need existed when they were here, and they recognize that the need still exists today. They also understand, like I do, that every single day that we don't invest in our infrastructure. It gets more expensive the following day. And the more that we continue to put aside the important investments that we need to make in our public safety officials, firefighters and police officers, the more dangerous our community could become. And so I really appreciate and I want to thank this council for taking this issue to the voters. I also want to note that I think it's very important to reinforce I'll say it today, I said it in the past and will continue to say it. The intention of this measure and this measure is to fund two key areas. One is to make a historic investment in our city's aging infrastructure. And two is to ensure that we maintain and support our police officers and our firefighters that are out there every single day in very tight budget situations. And there's no question that we need to support those two organizations. I've also publicly said that I believe our top two. Initial restorations need to be. The engine in Belmont Shore and the restoration of South Division for a police department. And as we know, this isn't a geography issue. It's an issue when we handle both those. The entire city system on both the fire side and the police side become stronger and become safer for all of our all of our residents. There are no question that there are other restorations that are important. There are no question that there are other needs in those. But those are my two initial top priorities as presented to to the Council. I will also just note that this is going to really transform our city when it comes when it comes to construction and rebuilding our streets, sidewalks, alleys across the city. And it's going to be a very exciting time for the city if voters decide to support this. And really what is what will end up being to voters the cost on a on a monthly basis, the cost of a Starbucks coffee? That will be the cost of this of this increase. And so I want to I want to thank you for bringing this for bringing this forward. I think it's a great investment in in the city. And as a reminder, as mayor, I know it's also my responsibility to present the budget to the council. It's a it's then the council's responsibility to adopt it. And you can take it to the bank that I as this budget will be presented if this measure passes with a focus on those two items, infrastructure and public safety. So thank you. And with that, any public comment, please come forward.
Speaker 10: Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor and City Councilor Gary Shelton, 240 Chestnut Avenue. I'm here sort of speaking on behalf of folks like myself who can't afford a Starbucks coffee. One thing that I can say that I haven't heard this evening is any clue as to the amount that this one penny is going to amount to over a year's time, let's say. I don't know and my friends don't know. Are we talking about $38,000 or are we talking about $38 million? Somewhere in between, somewhere above or less? I want to also say that you're missing politically a tremendous opportunity here to avoid sending this out to the public with a yes or no up or down vote . There are other ways and yet friendly amendment tonight to the writers of this to bring it back to you. You know, they're going to have to have this ready by Friday to get it out to us next week. So they might as well do a little bit more work between now and Friday. You have another way to go. What we're dealing with here is the folks who can't afford that Starbucks coffee have somewhere around 600 to 1200 dollars, maybe a month, in expendable funds left over after they pay their needed payments, rent, so forth. Every single dollar of that is taxed in sales tax. We spend all our money on sales tax. That's what's called a regressive tax. That's exactly what sales taxes are. We have nothing left over that is not taxed at that 10%, which is what you want to have on on on our tax roll. So what that means is that you're trying to balance the gap in this budget, not to say that you don't need the public safety funding and the street repair funding, but you're trying to balance the need for that on the backs of the folks who can't afford to pay it. That's what I'm trying to get to you. So what do you do? You ask a city attorney to come up with some second alternative that is not a regressive tax. I don't know what it would be. I don't know what it would really be a humanistic increase in the uut that would still let folks like me, senior citizens, get some of that money back. I don't know if it might be a luxury tax on perfumes and yachts that are sold here in Long Beach. I don't know what it would be. It's not my job to know what it would be. It's my job to stand here and tell you that a regressive tax can be voted down as soon as the people understand that the poor folks are the ones that are going to be paying it. Again. We don't even know how much tax it is. I can't go out and get a Starbucks coffee unless somebody gives me a gift card. So to say that that's all it's going to cost me, it goes right over my head. I'm sorry, but come up with an alternative way and they got the wise nurse there to do it so that it's not simply an up or down vote, but you'll still get somehow the money you need to close that gap. Thank you very much.
Speaker 0: Next me, Will.
Speaker 4: Yes.
Speaker 10: Joe Sopel You have a name on file, Mr. Mayor.
Speaker 4: City Council Member Staff You as a council are going to want to sell this. The Republic of course you want. You want it to pass. A lot of things that were said here tonight were very good. I would like to.
Speaker 8: Add on this.
Speaker 4: Price to your friendly amendment. Not exactly sure how to say this, but in ten years you're not going to be here in ten years. I will. And this temporary tax will still be here. Besides watching how this money is spent, we also have to watch how to replace it. Because in what, six years it's going to drop down to a half a percent. Well, you have to get some kind of mechanism going to replace whatever amount this 1% of the tax will be. And then the next four years, if we're going is going to have a sunset clause, we have to replace that half a percent . So sitting up here, being public.
Speaker 8: When when politicians talk about a tax that has since a sunset clause in it.
Speaker 4: That's hard to believe. But I believe you. But we have to find some way to replace it, not just say, Oh, it's going to be gone. Public safety is going to cost less money. Officers are going to be there's going to has to be more officers. In ten years, won't crime increase? I hope not. But it will. So putting a sunset clause on this. Maybe we should start telling the truth.
Speaker 8: Truth?
Speaker 4: Either there's no sunset clause on it and let this tax live or die with the truth. Or create something that's going to replace this percent. You know, we as a real estate agent, we're always marketing ourselves. We want you to call us. So we have to.
Speaker 8: Talk about how great we are, what we do different, or.
Speaker 4: Why call us. The City Council needs to start telling the citizens of Long Beach shop this shop. Long Beach shop, Long Beach shop Long Beach. I don't hear that. And it's not going to.
Speaker 8: Take a big budget to do that because.
Speaker 4: You reach out.
Speaker 8: You get a bill in the mail.
Speaker 4: There's a lot of ways you reach us. You got to keep saying that. It's to our benefit to shop Long Beach. But I don't hear it. Thank you very much.
Speaker 0: Thank you, Mr. Sopo. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 10: John Deeds again. Don't know who the famous man was, but somebody said the pathway to hell is lined with good intentions. And that's all your measure has, is intentions. No guarantees whatsoever. The only guarantee is that of a tax increase should this pass. Secondly. Business friendly, which you'd want us to leave. You are begins with being consumer friendly. This is not consumer friendly. This makes Long Beach businesses and it puts them at a disadvantage. I can easily see that people will take their money and spend it outside of Long Beach. They'll go to Signal Hill to go to Lakewood. Lago to Cerritos. Just to say 1%. Or after you get 2% out of shape with Orange County, they'll go to SEAL Beach, Los Al Garden Grove, Westminster can very easily. Rule of unintended consequences. This thing might actually wind up costing you money. I can count well past five. I know you're going to be unanimous in putting this on the ballot, but above and beyond that, and someone along the lines of what Gary Shelton was talking about, I see this as nothing less than an open declaration of war on senior citizens and retirees. You may think that the Great Recession is over. It's not for us. The only person behind that real that has any age on me is Dee. You've got one year on me. And I can tell you from my perspective. People are trying to live on fixed incomes and retirement. The purchasing power of our dollars is declining at right about 10% a year. And we have no hope of any significant increases whatsoever. I'll share something personal. I'm very heavily invested in California municipal bonds. I used to have a bunch of bonds, real fat coupon rates, some as high as six and a half, 7%. All those bonds have been called. I have to struggle to get two and a half percent on tax free bonds now. Where is the money supposed to come from for senior citizens to pay for this? I would anticipate that every senior citizen with a car and half a brain will take their money outside of Long Beach and spend it where their body will go it. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Next speaker, please.
Speaker 10: Yes. Larry Bolen, another senior citizen, back again. Folks, any of us who have ever taken a class in economics knows that this is a regressive tax. And I and I cannot believe the number of you who I know care about poor people, about the seniors, would actually, rather than look within the city for cost savings, go outside and make a regressive tax on the very people you're trying to protect. I just told you about my $17,000 a year tax because of my and my insurance. We have the food, the minimum wage we're having. This is a regressive tax. Look, folks, we pay as a city $18 million a year more to predominantly fire and police for a overtime. System that does not meet federal standards. You know about that, right? That consultant said there's 18 million. Why don't we take that 18 million at four or five years, five or 6% a year, and reduce our firefighters and police back to what other firefighters and police make instead of having overtime start, then minute the seconds that they go over there shift. 18 million a year. How about looking at the ambulance service, going to private ambulance service revenue after the service handles 3 million people in the county of L.A. and you look at all the the taxes both fixed and and non fixed for the ambulances. Do you know that we have 23 fire stations, non-medical fire calls for about 8500. Last statistics I saw. Divide 8500 by 365. You know what you get 23. That means our fire stations right now going to fires have one call per station per a 24 hour period. For non-medical calls. Why don't we just have the county take care of it? We're out of the fire business, folks. We can save four or $5 million there and reinvest that money in new paramedic vans. More paramedics take the paramedics that are on those fire engines. You get them off the fire engines into a paramedic under the health department. However, have the medical people run the paramedics. But what, you never brought up any cost savings from here? And I know we have council members who have said that you will not be in favor of cost savings if it means you lose jobs. Well, we're not a full employment society. The Soviet Union was there, gone. Former Union of Soviet socialist republics had full employment. We don't use the last time I looked. We didn't. Thank you very much. Thank you. Bad idea.
Speaker 0: Next speaker, please. This are your last speaker. Looks like Mr.. Good to you.
Speaker 6: Very good. You, Kirk, as he addressed a number of items. First of all, I think to demonstrate good faith, what you should do with them pledge for the rest of your term. That you will spend no dollars whatsoever traveling. Period. You will Skype. That's it. Number two, work in conjunction with the city auditor and go back to all of the properties that you gave away willy nilly. Through redevelopment. Look at it and then go back intact. I would call it an ops tax. Folks, we made a mistake. We gave it to you a little too low. So here's what you really owe us and collect that way. See what happens there. The second thing to consider is reducing the size of the council. Cut it down and eliminate a full time mayor. If we're in that dire situation, and I really believe we are. And we've been I've been coming to these meetings since off and on since 1977. And we always have these problems. Period. So somebody has got to step up to the plate. And I would suggest, again, you go to the city auditor. Let her take a look at the list that you handed out. And I even, quite frankly, go back to those two pieces of property that Bob Foster gave away, the one awesome piece of property that nobody , nobody wanted. And before the ink was dried, Tom Dean made a million bucks on it. And then two months later, they discovered it had a sibling. Must have been but ugly because it only one for $0.08 an acre. And you sold the American Hotel. For $1. $1. I'll always remember that because that was at the same time that. The Secret Service. Trying to chip away at the ladies of Cartagena. And they were hadn't such enough businesspeople to hold out for their price yet. Long Beach did $1 for a piece of property that's a 42nd Walkman. First plate for an. Ocean Boulevard. So again, the most strict the most stringent recommendation would be go back with the city auditor, review all of those. Properties. See what can be done about going back and doing a mea culpa. We made a mistake. Go forward. Thank you. The last the last thing would be. Don't have a tax. Rather have it a voluntary tax. People want to pay when they go up. See what happens. You never know.
Speaker 0: Thank you. That concludes public comment. We're going to go to a vote. Just one clarifying question, Mister City Attorney. I know that I think there's a question was brought up, but the actual item today clarifies that this is a six year, 1%, four year half, and then it's over. And the council cannot extend that. The only group that could ever extend anything beyond a sunset would be the voters themselves. So it's a ten year temporary period.
Speaker 8: That's my understanding. Absolutely. Would be will require a vote of the people to do anything after the ten year period.
Speaker 0: Okay. Thank you. Members, please go ahead and cast your vote.
Speaker 1: I smell a long bow. Yes. Motion carries.
Speaker 0: Thank you. Madam Kirk. Next item, please.
Speaker 1: Item number one, the hearing. This hearing requires an oath. A report from financial management. Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record. Conclude the hearing and grant an entertainment permit with conditions on the application of APA Long Beach to 93 Days Avenue for entertainment with dancing operating as a Hall Rental District two. | Agenda Item | Recommendation to request City Attorney to prepare an ordinance establishing a temporary Transactions and Use (Sales) Tax for general purposes at the rate of 1% for six years then declining to .5% for four years on the sale and/or use of all tangible personal property sold at retail in the City, to be placed on the ballot at the June 7, 2016 municipal election, and any and all documents related thereto. The tax will sunset after 10 years;
Request City Attorney to prepare a "rainy day" fund ballot measure so that the first 1% of any new revenue source created is placed into a special fund to be used to offset the impact of future recessions; and
Request City Attorney to prepare an advisory resolution to accompany the Transactions and Use (Sales) Tax to specify the council's intention to prioritize infrastructure repairs and restoration of public safety resources when allocating those funds. | LongBeachCC |
LongBeachCC_02162016_16-0132 | Speaker 1: Item number one, the hearing. This hearing requires an oath. A report from financial management. Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record. Conclude the hearing and grant an entertainment permit with conditions on the application of APA Long Beach to 93 Days Avenue for entertainment with dancing operating as a Hall Rental District two. Please raise your hand. You and each of you do solemnly state that the testimony you may give in the cause now and pending before this body shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God.
Speaker 7: Thank you. And the items in District two would either one of the makers mind if I actually made the motion? Oh, I'm sorry. What I. I'm looking at a delayed. Okay. While we're waiting, is there a staff report?
Speaker 8: Yes, Madam Vice Mayor, members of the council. This item will be. The staff report will be given by Jason MacDonald, our purchasing and business services manager.
Speaker 7: Okay. Thank you.
Speaker 4: Mayor. Council Members. Jason MacDonald, Purchasing Business.
Speaker 10: Services Manager for the Financial Management Department. Tonight you have in front of you the application for entertainment with Dancing for Ebell, Long Beach Limited Liability.
Speaker 4: Corporation to 19 Cerritos Avenue in District two for entertainment with dancing operating as a hall rental. All of the necessary departments have reviewed the application.
Speaker 6: The application and proposed.
Speaker 4: Conditions are contained in the packet that was provided. We are prepared to address any questions.
Speaker 10: Or concerns along with the police department regarding the application or conditions. That concludes our.
Speaker 4: Report. Our office has received.
Speaker 6: One communication via.
Speaker 4: Email opposing the applicant.
Speaker 7: Thank you. I'm wondering if there's any public comment on this item. Hearing item one. Okay. Seeing that, I just wanted to welcome Alan Dunn and the E Bell to the community and thank him for investing in our city. I don't know if. If the gentleman's here today. There you are. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. I think we all know that The Bell is a very historic feature and fixture actually in the Almeida's speech neighborhood. And I'm very glad to see it continue to operate as a venue for those very, very special life occasions that are celebrated there. Thank you for being a good partner to the community, and I know you'll continue to work to hear the community with regards to what concerns they might have. Parking's always an issue which you'll hear about, and I think you're aware of that, and you will help mitigate that to the extent possible. With that councilmembers, I'd like to make the motion to approve. Would the conditions. And then there's been a second members. Cast your vote.
Speaker 1: Motion carries.
Speaker 7: Thank you, Madam Clerk. Are we on consent?
Speaker 1: No, we are. We actually voted on consent earlier. Okay, now we're on to the regular agenda. | Public Hearing | Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the hearing and grant an Entertainment Permit with conditions on the application of Ebell Long Beach, LLC, 290 Cerritos Avenue, for Entertainment With Dancing, operating as a Hall Rental. (District 2) | LongBeachCC |