Pursuant to Section 54956.8 of the California Government Code regarding a conference with the City's real property negotiator:

1. Property: 1126 Queen's Highway, commonly known as the Queen Mary, Long Beach, CA 90802

City's Negotiator: Thomas B. Modica, Acting City Manager

Negotiating Parties: Urban Commons Queensway, LLC

Under Negotiation: Lease Amendment Terms

The agenda item comes just over two weeks after city management sent LB's Mayor and City Councilmembers a Nov. 4 memo indicating that lessee Urban Commons had responded on Oct. 22 to the City's request for plans to address chronic vessel maintenance and repair issues and provide certain financial documents. City management's memo attached a document -- Attachment B -- signed by Urban Commons Queensway LLC's Taylor Woods which indicated that the estimated cost of certain needed repairs is approximately $5M to $7M. In that document, Mr. Woods stated that "Urban Commons remains dedicated to its partnership with the City of Long Beach and to the long term preservation, maintenance and development of the historic ship on behalf of the residents of and visitors to the city" while recognizing "that historic preservation will be costly and that it will require certain creative partnerships to develop the funding to make needed repairs."

City management's memo to the Mayor/Council left unlear exactly what, if any, "creative partnerships to develop the funding" to make the needed repairs city management were discussing.

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CA Gov't Code section 54956.8 provides in pertinent part:

Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a legislative body of a local agency may hold a closed session with its negotiator prior to the purchase, sale, exchange, or lease of real property by or for the local agency to grant authority to its negotiator regarding the price and terms of payment for the purchase, sale, exchange, or lease...

...For purposes of this section, "lease" includes renewal or renegotiation of a lease...

As a news outlet that prioritizes openness and transparency, LBREPORT.com reads the Brown Act's text above narrowly. LBREPORT.com believes that although it allows discussion of the lease price and terms, it doesn't allow the Mayor/Council to discuss outside of public view broader Queen Mary and/or lessee-related issues that may go beyond the lease price and terms.]

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It's not immediately clear if Councilwoman Jeannine Pearce -- whose 2nd Council district is home to the Queen Mary and its adjacent developable land -- will be able to take part in the closed session discussion of the lease amendments. On September 6, the LB City Attorney's office informed the Mayor/Council that "Councilmember Pearce may have to recuse herself from voting on or seeking to influence voting on any City Council items affecting Urban Commons Queensway or the operations of the Queen Mary" as a result of not timely reporting receipt of certain sums from two cannabis firms in which an Urban Commons official had a business interest.

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