Mayor Beverly O'Neill
Mayor O'Neill: ...I've never seen so many sign offs, negotiations, committee meetings, public scrutiny, economic and theater and financing setbacks and the delays that came from legal setbacks. So this has gone on for a long time, but it's behind us! Isn't that exciting? [applause] And we can now look forward to developing the largest waterfront complex in southern California. It's really a defining moment for the city of Long Beach, because this is the final piece of the puzzle that was initiated ten years ago...And I can remember when I was first Mayor in 1994, [now retired City Manager] Jim Hankla and I would look out the window and say, see that parking lot out there? That's the most desirable piece of property in southern California. And it's going to have something on it that's going to make us all proud.
And finally, after I'll say 12 years of active planning, and probably 15-20 years of bringing things together, because people would say, why do we need all these hotels on Ocean Blvd.? Well, that's because the Convention Center wasn't finished. Now we need more hotels. So it takes a lot of time to put all this together. So no other community in southern California can offer the combination of venues that will be located here. And once the Pike at Rainbow Harbor is completed, Carnival Cruises will be here attracting thousands of people to the city. People will have an opportunity to visit this Pike, the Queen Mary, the Aquarium of the Pacific and many of our outstanding restaurants that we have right around here.
And we shouldn't forget the number of new residents that are coming. As you're standing here and you look up and see the Camden Project, the "Park at Harbour View,"...and look at the number of people that's going to add to the downtown area. They're going to be able to walk to the downtown, walk to the Pike, and all of the things that are going to be available.
So in addition to the sales tax, and the lease revenue that the city will be realizing, one of the major features of this is it's going to create hundreds of jobs...
So with the new developments going on from the downtown, and CityPlace under construction, that also is a DDR project, our community is going under a massive revitalization that will change our landscape really forever.
Long Beach will never be the city it was twenty years ago. But cities should not stand still. If they stand still, they fall behind and Long Beach is moving ahead like no other community in California."
City Manager Henry Taboada
City Manager Henry Taboada: Well good morning. Do you believe it? [shouts, yeah]. What a glorious day it is...
My task this morning is to thank all of the folks who have had so much to do with this project, and to share with you my joy, and my gratitude, for all that has happened and for all that is about to happen.
First to the Mayor. I couldn't thank the Mayor enough. She was there from the beginning and she has persevered along with staff, at every turn of this project, and has been steadfast in her support, and has never wavered...
I want to thank the City Council, both past and present...but this Council at every turn took courageous steps...and held firm in their belief that this was the right project.
You know, we kid attorneys a lot. We give them a lot grief, and they give us some back. But I tell you, this project wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for our City Attorney [Bob Shannon] and his team, Heather Mahood (both photo, left), Jim McCabe and the rest of the City Attorney team who also stuck with us through thick and thin, and thank you Bob for all of that support. [applause]
Now people think that the financial aspect of this just comes together somehow magically behind the scenes and the construction is really all there is to it. But before there is a project there has to be financing, and I want to give my special thanks to a good colleague and friend of mine...Bob Torrez and his finance team...[applause]
Now City Managers, as Jim Hankla will tell you, are only as good the people they work for and with, and I work for and with a great management team consisting of all of my senior management staff...and all of my department heads who've persevered through this, and former staff like Bob Paternoster who along with [QW Bay project advisory committee member] Phil Infelise was instrumental in bringing this project to where it is today...
What can I say about DDR? Rod Chisessi. What a bulldog...There have been times when I wondered what this guy was made of. But he's held on, he's done his job, and...[this project]...is going to be profitable for DDR and for the city of Long Beach. Eric Mallory...Someone who had a vision about this project and...gave us courage to keep going with this project.
And I'd be remiss if I didn't give special thanks to just a small group of people. First of all, Dean Oliver here...On a piece of a napkin, basically, after a lunch we went out here and we designed the parking structure that's going to be the mainstay of this project and who taught me a lot and kept me focused on this project...[credits others not mentioned here]
Let me close by saying to that portly gentleman at 6th and Pine [Press-Telegram location, apparent reference to veteran columnist Tom Hennessy, currently losing weight] who reported as recently as two weeks ago that this project didn't pass the smell test. [light laughter] Get over it, Tom. It's time to smell the roses. [laughter] Thank you... [applause]
...Vice Mayor Dan Baker's office told us he was unable to attend due to medical attention needed following a recent traffic accident. Former 6th district Councilwoman and Vice Mayor Doris Topsy-Elvord was also in the crowd, as well as retired LB City Manager James C. Hankla and current Assistant City Manager Jerry Miller...
Randy Gordon from the LB Area Chamber of Commerce is interviewed by City Hall's Channel 21.
(May 22, 2002) -- Like a tale of two cities, it was either the best of times or the worst of times.
Outside City Hall, accompanied by sorrowful bagpipes, grassroots LB activists...gathered for what was termed a "heartbreaking" ceremony, alternately mourning and ridiculing officialdom's support for the Pike at Rainbow Harbor project. (Last week, city officials joined developer DDR for a ceremony marking the imminent start of construction).
Meanwhile, inside City Hall, fax machines sent press releases cheering word that Gov. Gray Davis had signed a final document effectively ratifying the State Lands Commission "land swap" last fall. (The "land swap" removed state tidelands designation from certain commercial footprints in the project area in exchange for the state receiving land from the City of LB along the L.A. river that will now carry tidelands designation.)
Downstairs in the Council Chamber, Mayor Beverly O'Neill (who had been momentarily absent from the chair) returned to explain the reason for her temporary disappearance:
"I just received a call from the Governor's office, and the Governor's office has informed us that the Governor signed the bill that came from the State Lands [Commission]...this is the final step in the development of Queensway Bay and the process...And so that just happened this afternoon and I just got a telephone call, so I wanted to let you know where I was."
The Mayor's news was met by eerie silence. Many in the audience had come for an agenda item concerning alley and infrastructure repairs...and some believe City personnel and resources were previously shifted away from neighborhood tasks to handle aspects of QW Bay project.
As the saying goes, where one stands often depends on where one sits.
Two weeks ago (in a ruling posted verbatim on LBReport.com), a Sacramento Superior Court judge upheld the legality of actions by the State Lands Commission and City of LB actions in connection with the "land swap."
The Governor's approval was expected, although some activists hoped he might not ratify the land swap. However, the Governor put his signature on the process as City Hall had hoped.
Activists have now shifted their focus to State Lands Commissioner Kathleen Connell, urging her to hold a hearing in LB on the project.
Meanwhile, media outlets were sent a City Hall press release quoting Mayor O'Neill as follows:
"This is a momentous occasion. It will be a pleasure to watch the Pike at Rainbow Harbor unfold during the development stage. I anticipate seeing both residents and visitors enjoying the Pike at Rainbow Harbor when it opens in 2003. Carnival Cruises, which will be taking its place next to the Queen Mary shortly, the Queen Mary, the Aquarium of the Pacific, Shoreline Village, the Long Beach Convention Center, Pine Ave. and CityPlace -- all will be connected by the Pike at Rainbow Harbor. No other community in Southern California can offer the combination of venues that will be located on our waterfront once the Pike is complete."
City Manager Henry Taboada was quoted as saying:
"Mayor Beverly O'Neill and members of the City Council are to be praised for their continued support of the Pike at Rainbow Harbor. Now that all of the approvals are in place, the City will proceed immediately to a close-of-escrow on the ground lease that will allow DDR to begin construction of the long-awaited 370,000 square foot development. Today is a truly significant day for Long Beach."
Outside City Hall, opinions were 180 degrees reversed:
Diana Mann
...This is a very, very, very sad moment...Governor Davis has signed the [document approving the land swap that facilitates] the Queensway Bay project. So here we are. Are we going to fight? Are we going to go away? Are we going to shrink back?
And I don't know about you guys, but I'm not going away...
...There's a very famous speech that Winston Churchill made, and his speech was, "Never, never, never give up."
...Bry Myown
Last summer, the City of LB...[approved the land swap] deal secretly, and when we caught them with their pants down, they found at the last minute that they had to do things openly in the aftermath of Sept. 11. And I think all of you know that this was a very painful time for us. And under extraordinary circumstances, a handful of us drove to Sacramento.
We saw this land swap approved, but the one saving hope was that the State Lands Commission unanimously placed several conditions on the project.
They said they could not phase it. The construction is now being phased and the RDA documents acknowledge that it is being built in phases. They said that nothing could change from the conceptual plans and the tenancies that were in place. We learned last week that all of this had changed. They also said that the local agreements and the leasing must be in place by May 31...
And they gave us their assurances that if any of these conditions were violated, they would extinguish the land swap and they would bring everything back for a new hearing before the State Lands Commission...
[The City Manager is] doing whatever he wants to. He's doing it with the blessing of the City Council. He's doing it with the blessing of Governor Gray Davis. And they're doing this because...they have no respect for the California coastline and they have no respect for the people of California.
What's most significant to me about this is that in order to approve the land transfer, the State Lands Commission had to make a finding that the land in question was no longer suitable for the purposes that the State Lands Commission controls. In other words, the coastline is held in sovereign trust so that people can use the beach and so it's available for commerce, navigation and fisheries.
And once they [the City] paved it over, which they charged you $30 million to do, and failed to build the park that they promised, guess what: it became useless for the purpose of coastline and that's why it's now being turned into [this] development.
The City of Long Beach keeps demonstrating that if you blight something badly enough, it's profitable to rebuild for whatever your developer friends want to do. And I don't want to let them do that to our coast. This is not over.
Ann Cantrell
...We still have one more chance. Even though the Governor has signed this, the State Lands Commission are the ones that are in charge of the tidelands trust. And last September, several of us went to Sacramento and heard Kathleen Connell, who is one of the State Lands Commissioners, she is also the [state] Controller, but she told the city and told DDR that if they were allowed to go ahead with this Queensway Bay project, there could be no changes. Everything had to be the way it was in September.
We have not seen the site plans, or we don't even know who the lessees are who DDR has supposedly obtained for this project, but at the groundbreaking last week, they said there is no longer a bookstore, there is no longer a day spa, there is now going to be 16 or more restaurants and there's going to be a game arcade. This is definitely a change in the condition.
Also the size has been changed. There's supposed to be 70,000 sq. feet less than there was last September. They've even changed the name. It's no longer the Queensway Bay project, it is the Pike at Rainbow Harbor.
For all these reasons, we are asking Kathleen Connell to have another hearing here in Long Beach on this project...We've got to let the Governor, the State Lands Commission, everybody know there's lots of people in Long Beach that are opposed to this...We aren't giving up yet.
(May 14, 2002) -- Confetti flew, the Mayor [Beverly O'Neill] beamed and the City Manager and developer DDR's officials were all smiles at a gala 
"Like the Pike of old, the Pike at Rainbow Harbor will feature many cafes and public gathering places and become a vital element in the 
"The cinema will include 
"DDR has signed agreements with California Pizza Kitchen, Harry's Bar, National Sports Grill, Carnival Club, Mai Tai, Guaymas, Killer Shrimp, Prego, Gladstone's, Great Steak & Potato, Subway, Coldstone Creamery, Daphne's Greek Cafe, Islands Burgers and Quizno's."
In its written release, DDR indicated that opening is expected in 2003, and DDR's Rod Chisessi indicated from the podium that a 15 month construction period could put the opening in roughly September, 2003.
The event, which took place inside a tent on the NW corner of Pine Ave. and Shoreline Drive, included a ceremonial 
