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No To A CVB Bailout, Because...
(October 18, 2004) -- LBReport.com urges Long Beach City Councilmembers not to approve a blank check bailout of the No matter how it's camouflaged, we think an offer to extend CVB's contract by seven years amounts to saddling LB taxpayers to a commitment of at least $28 million ($4 million times seven years) with an open door to more.
We consider this a gift of public resources. Under CA law, public bodies are not allowed to make gifts of public money or resources.
To our knowledge, LB taxpayers have no legal obligation to pay CVB's debts. That's why we think City Manager Jerry Miller is trying so hard to portray his request for a $200,000 instant increase in CVB funding as a way to "capitalize on the incredible marketing and promotional success resulting from the Long Beach Aquatic Festival and the other investments in Long Beach, such as the Pike at Rainbow Harbor and Carnival Cruise Lines, that help make this a desirable destination for conventions and tourists."
Oh, c'mon. The City Manager's budget, which he brought to the Council for passage last month, didn't specify any additional $200,000. Mr. Miller candidly admits he doesn't know at the moment from what source he'll take that $200,000.
It's painfully obvious to us that the $200,000 would be a de facto immediate gift to bail out the CVB...and if the Council doesn't say no, that gift could end up costing the City at least $2 million more over ten years ($200,000 times ten) on top of the $28 million gift of seven additional years on the CVB contract.
We fully expect City Auditor Gary Burroughs to serve as a Auditor Burroughs also served as a Now Auditor Burroughs has told LBReport.com and the Press-Telegram that he thinks it's appropriate for the City Council to consider providing assistance to CVB.
Here's the governing board now running LB's CVB:
LONG BEACH AREA CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU
Officers
Chair: Ms. Jane J. Netherton
Vice Chair: Mr. Jerry Slatton
Secretary: Ms. Cheryl Phelps
Chief Financial Officer: Mr. Larry Jackson*
* Nomination notice sent out for new term expiring Sept. 2007
President & CEO: Mr. Stephen Goodling
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Mr. Greg Bombard
Mr. Joachim Ortmayer
Mr. Ken Pilgrim
2003-2004 Regular Board Members
Mr. Terry Antonelli
Ms. Kristy Ardizzone
Mr. Reuben Brasser*
Mr. Sabir Jaffer
Mr. Jim Michaelian*
Mr. John Morris
Mr. Dennis Patel
Mr. Hitu Patel
Mr. Bill Peterson
Mr. Joseph Prevratil
Mr. Ed Proenza*
Mr. Mitchell Rouse*
Mr. Richard Sandoval
Ms. Patricia Schille
Dr. Jerry R. Schubel
Mr. William Simmons
Mr. Doug Smith*
* Nomination notice sent out for new term expiring Sept. 2007
EX-OFFICIO BOARD MEMBERS
Mr. Rich Foster
Mr. David Gordon
Mr. Randy Gordon
Mr. Wayne Griffin
Mr. Kraig Kojian
Mr. Gerald R. "Jerry" Miller
With all due respect, we think LB's convention and visitors promotional entity should do its job by consuming less, not more, in LB public money (in part from more member dues).
Other cities, including L.A., tap a larger percentage of their hotel room taxes to pay for general fund services like police and fire. In contrast, LB City Hall diverts half of our hotel room away from general fund items. Half is now spent on a matrix of other items, composed mainly of the CVB, which already consumes roughly $3.7 million in LB hotel room taxes annually. Our hotel room taxes pay roughly 75% of CVB's yearly operating budget.
The proposed CVB bailout would make it even harder for Councilmembers -- from now until 2014 -- to get a larger, fairer percentage of LB's hotel room tax to fix broken sidewalks, reopen libraries and provide cops.
Meanwhile, CVB has backed policy positions on matters we think should be off limits. Prior CVB management testified in support of City Hall's "Queensway Bay" project when others wisely warned against it. CVB's current Board has sent We don't think it's the interest of the 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th districts to hand over $4 million a year (possibly more) until 2014 to a CVB currently run without serious oversight or control by (among others) representatives of JetBlue Airways, multiple major hotels and LB's taxi franchise.
LB's City Manager is an ex officio non-voting CVB Board member...so what did LB City Hall know about the Aquatics Festival and when did it know it?
On October 7, LBReport.com made Public Records Act (freedom of information) requests for documents that should show this from the offices of the City Manager, City Auditor, Mayor and Councilmembers. We're still waiting. (A response is due today; we predict it will cite a statutory loophole to eat more time.)
Meanwhile, in In our view, this delay shows a polite disrespect for Councilmembers and the public. No respectable legislative body would let others manipulate it into a ten year deal with long term consequences by dumping a "report" on them not released until 24 hours before the vote. That's particularly true when the source of the "report" is a party who's indicated his openness to some type of bailout. We predict the Monday afternoon release of the "report" (even the thin gruel we've come to expect from Burroughs) will produce a story in Tuesday's Press-Telegram that in previous years might have stampeded some Councilmembers into a vote.
We don't think that will work now because too much has changed.
The Council can't even lay the matter over until October 26 (unless it calls a special meeting) because it cancelled its last meeting of every month (motion by Kell) ostensibly to save money. Those were pennies saved compared to long term obligations the Council is being asked to approve now.
In our opinion, the CVB shouldn't be handed an instantaneous six figure reward with guaranteed continuing LB public revenue until 2014. If it can't perform on the money the Council budgeted last month, we think it should seek a businesslike negotiated release from its contract with City Hall so the City Manager can put to competitive public bid a new contract to perform LB's convention and visitor booking and promotion services, explicitly conditioned on consuming less of LB's hotel room tax, operating under Council (not just management) oversight and compliance with the Public Records Act and Brown (open meetings) Act.
We don't favor hanging buisnesspeople out to dry if they've been We think the proper Council motion is to receive and file the Manager and Auditor reports, renew the CVB contract on the amount budgeted in September 04 by the City Council and leave the next step to CVB.
We believe this issue goes to the heart of the way LB City Hall has used public money in the past. We think LB taxpayers want a new way of doing business.
We think the Council's action on this will show which Councilmembers are part of LB's past and which are part of the city's future.
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