(Jan. 6, 2015) -- A Fiscal Impact Report, prepared by city staff after then-Vice Mayor / Mayoral candidate Robert Garcia proposed creating an advisory "Innovation & Technology Commission," put its annual taxpayer cost at between $142,000 to $221,000...but that figure never reached the full City Council.

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In Nov. 2013, city staff provided a written Fiscal Impact Report memo to the Council's Economic Development and Finance. explaining its six figure annual taxpayer cost. However the Council Committee (chair Neal with Austin and Lowenthal) didn't meet on the matter until April 1, 2014. At that time, the Committee (with Lowenthal absent) saw the written Fiscal Impact report, heard city staff's presentation and voted 2-0 (Lowenthal absent) not to refer the proposed Innovation and Technology Commission back to the Council for action, approving a motion to "receive and file" it.

After taking office as Mayor mid-July 2014, Garcia effectively circumvented the Committee action, including $100,000 for what he called "start up cost" for the Commission (an entity the Council hadn't yet voted to create) within his proposed FY15 budget. In his July 2014 budget message, Mayor Garcia told the Council and the public that [Garcia budget message text] "to provide support for this Commission I recommend using $100,000 of funds already available in the technology services general fund"...and didn't mention city staff's Fiscal Impact Report cost figure of $142,000-$221,000 annually.

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The Council's Budget Oversight Committee (newly constituted by Mayor Garcia): Lowenthal, Mungo, O'Donnell) recommended that the Council approve Garcia's proposed FY15 budget (which included the $100,000 indicated as "start up costs" for advisory Commission, plus some changes on other items.) On September 2, 2014, the full Council voted to enact the Garcia proposed budget (with changes on other items) 8-0 (O'Donnell [now Assemblyman] absent from Council Chamber but entered shortly after the vote.) Final budget adoption followed on Sept. 9.

The City Attorney's office then prepared ordinance text, consistent with the Council's September voted budget action, to legally create the advisory "Innovation and Technology Commission." When the item reached the Council on Oct. 7, 2014, Garcia noted that the Council had already budgeted the Commission's start up cost and urged its enactment.

After discussion of other issues, Councilman Austin (the sole former member of the Economic Development Committee that received the Fiscal Impact Report) brought up the cost issue. Councilman Austin noted that staff had said in writing that the taxpayer cost would be between $142,000-$221,000 each year but that the Council (as part of Mayor Garcia's budget recommendations) had only budgeted $100,000 for start up costs. "Where are we going to make up the difference?" Austin asked.

City Manager Pat West replied that when Mayor Garcia proposed including the new Commission in his FY15 budget, "we produced a budget of $100,000 that we felt we could manage this Commission on a pilot program for the first year and then sustain it for the next fiscal year."

In November 14, 2014, city management sent the Mayor and City Council a memo summarizing changes made to the FY15 budget by the Council's Sept. 15 voted budget actions. It includes the following text:

The Technology Services Department is renamed to the Technology and Innovation Department and $100,000 in non-recurring funds available in the General Services Fund is used to fund the start-up costs for and to staff a new Technology and Innovation Commission. There will be structural costs for this in FY 16.

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Later today (Jan. 6, 2015), the Council will be asked to approve seven Mayor-chosen members of the newly created advisory Commission, effectively triggering the start of spending $100,000 a year for the advisory body. Under the terms of the ordinance text approved by the Council in October, two of the advisory body's seven members need not live in the City of Long Beach, whose taxpayers will pay the six figure cost of the Commission's operation and potentially its recommendations.

The text above has been corrected (Jan. 7) to to indicate that it was the Council's Budget Oversight Committee, not its Economic Development and Finance Committee, that recommended approval of Mayor Garcia's FY15 budget with the inclusion of $100,000 for the Innovation and Technology Commission.