The study session was held in North Long Beach at the Houghton Park community building. It began shortly after 4:00 p.m. and ran to roughly 5:50 p.m. LBREPORT.com provided the only LIVE video coverage (as the City didn't stream LIVE video of the meeting from the remote site.)

Broadcast live streaming video on Ustream

Senior city staff (Dir of Economic and Property Dev'ment Mike Conway and Financial Mgm't Dir. John Gross) delivered a Power Point presentation [update] which wzs not available to the public in advance and wasn't available online as of dawn Nov. 12 the day after. The City has since put it on its website at this link..

City staff's presentation ran a little less than 50 minutes. Mr. Conway's presentation said the proposed "P3" transaction shifts risk away from the City compared to a conventional city-built project. Mr. Gross acknowledged some financial risks remain and additional costs may arise; he itemized the potential risks and additional costs but said they appear to be manageable.

Councilmembers asked questions for roughly 30 minutes. Among the Council questions: would the new Civic Center include child care facilities (yes), would a new proposed hotel on site be union staffed (yes) and would maintenance employees by privatized out of work (maintenace would be the responsibility of a private firm.) Councilwoman Price inquired about retrofitting City Hall but didn't challenge city management's asserted retrofit cost [which city management estimates but has never put out to bid or opened to RFP proposals to establish costs.]

Public testimony (roughly 25 minutes) included several speakers representing various building/trade unions who urged approval of the transaction saying it would provide them with construction jobs to build the new facilities.

Preservationist Nancy Latimer testified that the City had been provided with a retrofit proposal for City Hall [whose seismic issues were the reason cited for pursuing an entire Civic Center rebuild] but said the retrofit proposal doesn't appear to have progressed; no Council member followed up on this.

Retired Councilwoman Rae Gabelich raised financial issues, posed questions, received no immediate staff response.

Dave Denevan urged relocating the former Lincoln Park Civil War canon to the new Civic Center.

The Council heard no organized financial testimony contesting city management's financial figures.

A representative of the Downtown Residential Council urged Councilmembers [paraphrase] not to dwell on cost numbers but to "think big" in considering what could be provided.

No Councilmember asked about city management's estimated timeline [already behind schedule] which indicates a new City Hall won't be ready for occupancy for several more years [although the current City Hall's seismic issues were the publicly offered rationale for pursuing a new Civic Center.]

Since Mayor Garcia took office in mid-July, the Council has held three "study sessions" on the proposed Civic Center project...in which city staff made lengthy presentations and public testimony was limited to three minutes per speaker. The first Garcia-administration study session (Sept. 2014) re-capped matters that had been previously presented (no new information). The second study session allowed the dueling developer/operators to display proposed designs and elements (although as Mayor Garcia repeatedly acknowledged, the Council isn't deciding designs but on whether to choose a preferred developer/operator team and proceed.) Two "open houses" were also held (basically meet-and-greet opportunities with the developer/operators and o serious financial discussion.)

The Nov. 11 study session in North Long Beach is to date the only time decision-making Councilmembers heard financial details of the proposed transaction.and the Council's major information source was city staff supportive of the transaction. There was no organized presentation challenging or rebutting city management's contentions [with public input limited to three minutes per speaker.].

Under the proposed P3 transaction, a Council-chosen private developer/operator would finance/build/operate/maintain for its profit a new Civic Center in exchange for annual City payments for the next 40 years. City management contends the annual city payments don't exceed current City costs plus an annual CPI escalator. [In multiple op-eds on LBREPORT.com, Terry Jensen has challenged city management's figures and provided alternative financial options for a new Civic Center.]

Under city management's P3 proposal, the Council-chosen private developer/operator would also receive the land under the former LB courthouse for private development. In a previous meeting, city staff acknowledged that it is letting the competing developer/operators value the property as they wish and to date the city hasn't had the courthouse property independently appraised.

There are no further public meetings scheduled between now and a decisional Council vote on whether to proceed with the transaction. Mayor Garcia ended the roughly 110 minute study session by indicating that "in the very near future" after discussions with staff "over the next couple of weeks," Councilmembers could take a decisional vote to choose a developer/operator team (which would authorize management to enter into an Exclusive Negotiating Agreement binding contract to be negotiated with that team.)

If the Council votes to enter into a long-term P3 Civic Center transaction, future public input and Council actions will be limited mainly to discussing matters such as the new developments design plans, configuration and the like, but not its underlying financial terms for taxpayers.