* This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting. [00:00:07] FOR EVERYONE THAT'S JOINING IN THE MEETING, WE WILL START MOMENTARILY. THANK YOU. YOU'RE DEAD. OKAY. I THINK WE GOT EVERYONE NOW. EVERYONE'S GONNA BE HERE. FANTASTIC. SO, I'D [CALL TO ORDER] LIKE TO CALL THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION MEETING TO ORDER JUNE 5TH. MADAM CLERK, PLEASE DO A RULE [ ROLL CALL ] ROLL CALL. COMMISSIONER COH. HERE. COMMISSIONER DUNYA. COMMISSIONER MATOYER. COMMISSIONER NOVIN. COMMISSIONER SANDOVAL. HERE. COMMISSIONER SMITH? HERE. COMMISSIONER SUAREZ? HERE. COMMISSIONER THOMAS. HERE. COMMISSIONER WENCH. VICE CHAIR. SHE MOAMA. HERE. CHAIR LARKINS. HERE WE HAVE QUORUM. AND FOR THE RECORD, COMMISSIONER MATOYER AND COMMISSIONER WENCH ARE EXCUSED FROM THE MEETING. THANK YOU. OKAY. SO, UM, THE FIRST ITEM IS, UM, DO YOU MIND SPEAK SAYING THE FIRST ITEM, MADAM CLERK, ITEM [1. 24-53561 Recommendation to approve the minutes for the Economic Development Commission of Wednesday, May 1, 2024.       Suggested Action:  Approve recommendation. ] ONE IS RECOMMENDATION TO APPROVE THE MINUTES FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION OF WEDNESDAY MAY 1ST, 2024. GREAT. MAY I HAVE A MOTION TO HEAR THIS? UH, APPROVE THIS ITEM. WE HAVE A MOTION FROM COMMISSIONER SANDOVAL AND A SECOND FROM CHAIR, OR EXCUSE ME, COMMISSIONER COHEN. OKAY. UM, ANY DISCUSSION REGARDING, UH, THE MINUTES CORRECTIONS OR CHANGES ANY, UH, PUBLIC? YOU HAD ONE, UM, BLAIR COMMENTS? NO COMMENTS. JUST WELCOMING COURTNEY TO THE MEETING. AH, OKAY. OKAY. WE CAN TAKE SOME PUBLIC COMMENTS ON THE, UH, LAST ITEM ON THE AGENDA. ANY PUBLIC COMMENT ARE, IS THERE ANY PUBLIC? SEEING NONE. ALRIGHT, SO WE NEED, UH, A CALL FOR THE VOTE. MY SCREEN'S NOT WORKING. THERE WE GO. COMMISSIONER SMITH, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GIVE A, A VOICE VOTE, I CAN TAKE THAT. DID YOU HIT YOUR YES. THANK YOU. OH YEAH, OF COURSE. AND COMMISSIONER SUAREZ, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GIVE A VOICE VOTE MY FIRST RODEO. THANK YOU, . UM, COMMISSIONER THOMAS, IF YOU REVIEWED YOUR MINUTES IN THE PACKET, THEN YOU CAN VOTE ON THE, THE MINUTES. THANK YOU FOR THE CLARIFICATION. THANK YOU. MOTION CARRIES. ALL RIGHT. NEXT ITEM PLEASE. ITEM [2. 24-53562 Recommendation to receive and file an update on the Economic Development Blueprint and the Grow Long Beach Initiative Study Session held on Wednesday, May 1, 2024.        Suggested Action:  Approve recommendation.  ] TWO IS RECOMMENDATION TO RECEIVE AND FILE AN UPDATE ON THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BLUEPRINT AND THE GROW LONG BEACH INITIATIVE STUDY SESSION HELD ON WEDNESDAY MAY 1ST, 2024. CAN I HAVE A MOTION ON THIS ITEM? IS THERE A THING HERE? I MOTION? SECOND. WE HAVE A MOTION FROM, UH, COMMISSIONER SUAREZ AND A SECOND FROM VICE CHAIR SHIMOYAMA. OKAY. UH, DO WE HAVE A PRESENTATION FROM STAFF? WE DO. VERY GOOD. GOOD AFTERNOON COMMISSIONERS. UH, SO IF YOU MAY RECALL FROM OUR MAY 1ST MEETING LAST MONTH, UH, WE DID AN EXERCISE TO BASICALLY FINISH OFF THE, UM, WORKSHOP THAT HAD STARTED, UH, LAST YEAR, WHICH WAS TO IDENTIFY THE TOP THREE TO FOUR PRI UH, OBJECTIVES OF EACH OF THE FOCUS AREAS TO THE BLUEPRINT. SO, UH, THIS PRESENTATION, WHAT IT WILL DO FOR US TODAY IS BASICALLY JUST, UH, TAKE INTO ACCOUNT ALL THE, UM, THE WORK THAT WAS DONE LAST MAY TO MAKE SURE THAT IT WAS, THAT IT'S CAPTURED CORRECTLY. UM, AND WHAT WILL, WHAT THIS DOES IS IT'LL ESSENTIALLY SYNTHESIZES ALL THE WORK THAT'S BEEN DONE LAST MONTH AND LAST YEAR. UM, AND THEN AS WELL AS ALIGNMENT TO THE BLUE, UH, TO THE, UH, GROW LONG BEACH, UM, THE GROW LONG BEACH INITIATIVE. SO WHAT YOU'LL SEE HERE IS, UH, IF YOU RECALL, SOME OF THE OBJECTIVES WERE ALREADY IDENTIFIED THROUGH THE, THROUGH THE FOCUS, UH, AREAS. AND THEN ANYTHING THAT IS, WAS DETERMINED LAST MAY, UH, LAST MONTH WILL BE IN, UH, BLUE FOR YOU. SO, AND I'LL MAKE SURE I CALL THOSE OUT, UH, AS WE, AS WE GO THROUGH THIS. SO, HERE IT IS, THE BLUEPRINT FOCUS AREA, OBJECTIVES OBJECT. UM, YOU CAN SEE THIS ONE WAS ALREADY DONE, SO NOTHING HAS [00:05:01] CHANGED HERE. UM, FOR, UH, FOCUS, UH, UH, AIR FOCUS ERROR NUMBER TWO. THESE, THIS, UH, FOCUS AREA WAS NOT DONE. SO YOU SEE THE THREE OBJECTIVES IN BLUE. THOSE ARE THE ONES THAT WERE AGREED UPON, UH, DURING THE LAST MEETING. THOSE WERE THE ONES THAT WERE AGREED UPON IN THE LAST MEETING, UH, IN THAT ORDER AS WELL THROUGH THE EXERCISE THAT WAS, UH, DONE THROUGH THE GO THROUGH THE EXCEL FORMS, SORRY, MICROSOFT OFFICE FORM. AND IF THERE'S ANY SURPRISES, THEN LET ME KNOW BECAUSE THAT, YOU KNOW, THAT SHOULDN'T BE ANY SURPRISES. JUST, UH, BASICALLY THIS IS WHAT WE AGREED TO LAST MONTH. SO IT'S ESSENTIALLY A RECAP. FOCUS AREA THREE, NO CHANGE HERE. FOCUS AREA FOUR. THIS ONE, WE DID A WORKSHOP LAST MONTH. THESE ARE YOUR TOP THREE, UM, OBJECTIVES. AND ALSO REDUCING COST OF DEVELOPMENT AND AVERAGE DAYS OF APPROVAL FOR ENTITLEMENT, IMPROVING THE CUSTOMER SERVICE EXPERIENCE AND SATISFACTION FOR FIRMS AND ORGANIZATIONS, DEVELOPING THE PROJECTS IN THE CITY. AND ALSO MAKING SURE THAT STAFF, UH, INCREASES COMMUNICATION BETWEEN, UH, CUSTOMERS THAT IT SERVES. AREA FIVE, THIS WAS, UM, ONE THAT WE DID SPEND SOME TIME ON, AND WE DID HAVE A CHANGE. UH, WE ADDED, UM, IF YOU CAN RECALL, THE GROW LONG BEACH DELIVERABLE NUMBER EIGHT. WE ADDED THAT. WE ASSOCIATED THAT TO PRIORITY FOCUS AREA NUMBER FIVE, UM, PER ONE OF THE COMMISSIONERS, UH, RECOMMENDATIONS. AND THEN WE DID IDENTIFY FOUR AREAS HERE FOR THE QUALITY OF LIFE. NUMBER ONE FOCUSES ON, YOU KNOW, ACKNOWLEDGING OUR CULTURAL, OUR CULTURE, OUR HISTORY AND LIVE EXPERIENCE OF OUR RESIDENTS. UH, NUMBER TWO IS FOCUSED ON THE INCREASE OF WEALTH BUILDING AND EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE SURE THAT OUR RESIDENTS, UH, YOU KNOW, HAVE A, A GROWING AND, AND AND THRIVE HERE IN OUR CITY. OBJECTIVE NUMBER THREE WAS, UH, LEVERAGING TECHNOLOGIES. BASICALLY FOCUSING ON, YOU KNOW, SMART CITIES INITIATIVES AND STRATEGIES. AND THEN OBJECTIVE NUMBER FOUR IS CREATING THE ALIGNMENT WITH PUBLIC SAFETY EFFORTS, UH, SUCH AS THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT AND, UM, THE ADVANCING AND THE ADVANCING PEACE INITIATIVE FOCUS AREA NUMBER SIX, NO CHANGE THERE FROM LAST YEAR, THAT REMAINS THE SAME. ALSO, FOCUS AREA NUMBER SEVEN REMAINS THE SAME. AND THEN THE ONE WE DID SPEND THE MOST TIME ON, IF YOU RECALL, WAS FOCUS AREA NUMBER EIGHT, ALSO, ALONG WITH FOCUS AREA NUMBER FIVE. SO I JUST WANTED TO, TO SPEND, UM, A COUPLE MINUTES ON FOCUS AREA EIGHT, JUST TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ALL ARE ON THE SAME PAGE OF WHAT WE DECIDED ON LAST MONTH. UH, SO THE FIRST ONE ON THAT WAS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF RESIDENTS ACCESSING CHILDCARE, UH, WHILE INCREASING THE NUMBER OF COMPREHENSIVE AND INCLUSIVE CHILDCARE PROVIDERS. SO THAT BASICALLY TAKES, UH, TWO OF THE OBJECTIVES IN FOCUS AREA A AND MERGES THEM. THAT WAS A CONVERSATION THAT WAS HAD LAST MONTH. SO YOU, THAT'S REFLECTED IN OBJECTIVE NUMBER ONE. AND THEN, UH, PRIORITY OBJECTIVE NUMBER TWO. UH, ESSENTIALLY THIS, THE SAME THING, UM, HAPPENED, WHICH IS TO PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF INNOVATIVE HOUSING MODELS, INCLUDING SHELTERS TO MEET THE NEED AND CREATE ACCESS TO AMENITIES REGARDLESS OF INCOME. AND INCREASE THE NUMBER OF WORKERS FROM LOW TO MODERATE INCOME COMMUNITIES SUPPORTED BY INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS IN HOUSING AND RACIAL AND GENDER EQUITY PROGRAMS. SO, UH, THAT WAS ALSO, UH, TWO SIMILAR OBJECTIVES THAT WAS MERGED AND THAT, UM, THE RECOMMENDATION OF IT BEING MERGED BY THE COMMISSION WAS THAT WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT IT TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, UH, BOTH, UM, INNOVATIVE HOUSING MODELS FOR, UH, PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS AS WELL AS TAKING INTO ACCOUNT AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR, UH, FOR THE RESIDENTS IN LONG BEACH. SO THAT'S WHY THAT ONE WAS MERGED, UM, PER LAST MONTH'S MEETING. AND THEN PRIORITY NUMBER, SORRY, UH, PRIORITY OBJECTIVE NUMBER THREE IS INCREASING THE YEAR OVER YEAR PER CAPITA INCOME IN LONG BEACH BY INCREASING THE NUMBER OF JOBS AND PLACEMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN CITY IDENTIFIED GROWTH SECTORS. SO I KNOW THAT WAS, UH, I BELIEVE THAT, YEAH, THAT BRINGS US UP TO, UH, ALL FOCUS AREAS. UH, YOU KNOW, THAT WAS A GOOD HOUR AND 45 MINUTES WORTH OF WORK LAST MONTH, SO I DO APPRECIATE THAT. AND NOW YOU SEE IT THAT IT'S FULLY, UH, FULLY ORGANIZED AND, AND SET OUT. SO WHAT THAT, UM, I GUESS I'LL, I'LL PAUSE RIGHT HERE, UH, CHAIR IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS OR, OR COMMENTS ON, ON THE OVERVIEW. THANK YOU, JILLIAN. APPRECIATE THAT. GREAT WORK ON COMBINING ALL THAT AND HAVING THAT READY FOR THIS MEETING. I KNOW THAT TAKES A LOT OF, UH, EFFORT AND WE APPRECIATE THE COMMISSIONERS FOR THE WORK YOU DID ON, ON COMBINING THESE, UH, THESE EFFORTS AND, AND MAKING SURE THAT WE DON'T HAVE REPLICATION, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY THAT WE HAVE VERY CLEAR WHAT OUR PRIORITIES ARE. SO, VERY GOOD JOB. THE, UH, NEXT AREA I THINK THAT WE ARE GONNA DISCUSS IS, AS BLAIR AND I WERE BOTH INVOLVED IN THE BLUEPRINT 1.0 MM-HMM. , AND A BIG PART OF ITS [00:10:01] SUCCESS REVOLVED AROUND, UH, COMMISSIONERS BEING CHAMPIONS FOR CERTAIN FOCUS AREAS. MM-HMM. , SORRY. SO I THINK THAT'S, UH, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'D LIKE TO TALK ABOUT TODAY IS, UH, IF ANY COMMISSIONER HAS A SPECIFIC FOCUS AREA OR TWO THAT YOU LIKE TO, UM, BE A CHAMPION OF, AND THIS IS HOW CHAMPIONS WERE USED HISTORICALLY, AND BLAIR, IF YOU HAVE ANY, UH, YOU KNOW, ADDED COMMENTS YOU LIKE, MAKE, FEEL SO FREE, UH, GENERALLY WHAT HAPPENED, A MEMBER OF THE ECONOMIC DEPARTMENT STAFF, UH, WOULD REACH OUT AS THEY'RE DEVELOPING THE WORK PLAN AND ENGAGE A COMMISSIONER CHAMPION TO GET FEEDBACK ON WHAT IDEAS THEY MAY HAVE, UH, OR RESOURCES THAT THEY CAN BRING TO THE TABLE THAT MIGHT ASSIST THE STAFF IN REALLY PUTTING DOWN THE, THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF HOW WE'RE GONNA EXECUTE THIS THING. THE ROLE THE COMMISSIONERS IS NOT TO ACTUALLY CREATE THE WORK PLAN. OUR MISSION IS TO PROVIDE, UH, SORT OF MORE STRATEGIC POLICY SORT OF GUIDANCE, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, BE A RESOURCE FOR THEM, UH, TO BE ABLE TO LEAN ON FOR OUR PO OPINIONS AND POSITIONS. AND AGAIN, ALSO RELATIONSHIPS THAT MAY ASSIST THEM IN NOT HAVING TO REINVENT THE WHEEL. OBVIOUSLY, THERE ARE A LOT OF CITIES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES THAT ARE FACING THE SAME CHALLENGES. WE ARE. UH, MAYBE THEY CAME UP SOLUTIONS THAT WE CAN ALTER OR MODIFY, UH, TO SUIT UNIQUE LONG BEACH'S UNIQUE, UH, DEMOGRAPHICS. UH, ONE IDEA THAT WAS BROUGHT UP WAS THAT WE MAY, UH, WHAT WE DID LAST, UH, THE LAST BLUEPRINT IS WE ACTUALLY HAD SOME OF THE SPEAKERS COME BACK BECAUSE IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE'VE HAD MM-HMM. SPEAKERS THAT ARE EXPERTS IN THESE AREAS, DIFFERENT AREAS. AND I THINK, I THINK WE ALL NEED TO BE REFRESHED. THE ECONOMIC DEPARTMENT DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT CERTAINLY HAS GONE THROUGH A LOT OF CHANGES AS WELL. SO ONE IDEA IS TO GO BACK INTO THE EXPERTS THAT WERE BROUGHT TO THE TABLE AND INVITE THEM TO COME AGAIN AND SPEAK TO THEIR AREA OF EXPERTISE. UH, ALL THOSE, UH, SPEAKERS SHOULD BE IN PAST AGENDA ITEMS, AND I'M SURE WE HAVE THEIR CONTACT INFORMATION. SOME OF THESE SPEAKERS CAME FROM VARIOUS COMMISSIONERS THAT, UH, BROUGHT THESE EXPERTS TO THE TABLE. AND IF YOU HAVE EXPERTS THAT YOU'VE RUN ACROSS THAT ARE EXPERTS IN THESE, UH, SUBJECT AREAS, COMMISSIONERS, THEN UH, IT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL FOR YOU TO IDENTIFY SPEAKERS THAT YOU FEEL WOULD, UH, BE BENEFICIAL TO STAFF TO HEAR FROM. SO, UH, THAT'S SORT OF MY HIGH LEVEL DISCUSSION ON WHAT ONE OF THE OBJECTIVES WE'RE GONNA GET, TRY TO, UH, GET ACCOMPLISHED TODAY. SO WITH THAT, UH, ANY COMMENTS THAT COMMISSIONERS HAVE ON THE PRESENTATION THAT JULIAN GAVE, UM, THUS FAR? I THINK VICE CHAIR COMMENTS. ANY COMMENTS? QUESTION? YES. GREAT. UM, I WANTED TO FIND OUT IN, IN THIS PRESENTATION, SO IF THE PRIORITIZED FOCUS AREAS ARE 2, 4, 5, AND EIGHT, BUT THERE'S SOMETHING FOR SMALL BUSINESS IN NUMBER SEVEN, IS THAT AN AREA THAT WE CAN WORK IN? OR IS THAT NOT GONNA BE THE FOCUS? IS IT ONLY THE FOCUS IN 2, 4, 5, AND EIGHT THE PRIORITIES? UH, WHICH, WHICH FOCUS ARE YOU REFERRING TO? SO TALKING ABOUT PRIORITY? YEAH, THE PRIORITY FOCUS AREAS, WHICH ONE ARE 2, 4, 5, AND EIGHT IS WHAT WE, WHAT WE ALL DESIGNATED, RIGHT? SURE. BUT THERE'S SOMETHING THERE, THERE ISN'T ANYTHING IN SMALL BUSINESS. SO IF SOMETHING IS IN SMALL BUSINESS, BUT IT'S IN THE AREA SEVEN, IS THAT AN AREA WE CAN CHAMPION OR, YES, YOU CAN, YOU CAN. IT IS A BANDWIDTH ISSUE. ALL OF YOU HAVE DECIDE WHAT YOUR, WHAT YOUR BANDWIDTH ISSUE IS. UH, THE LAST TIME WE WENT THROUGH THIS, UH, USUALLY COMMISSIONERS HAD A COUPLE OF S UH, FOCUS AREAS THAT THEY WERE INTERESTED IN. SO RIGHT NOW IT'S JUST A HIGH LEVEL. YOU'RE LOOKING AT THESE, UH, DIFFERENT FOCUS AREAS. YOU CAN SELECT TWO EACH, UH, WE'LL FIND OUT IF THERE'S SOMETHING MISSING, UH, AND THEN KIND OF GO BACK AROUND AND SEE IF WE CAN FIND A CHAMPION FOR THAT. THERE'S A FEW COMMISSIONERS THAT ARE MISSING, AND WHAT THAT MIGHT HAPPEN IS , IF THEY, THEY AREN'T HERE, MAYBE THEY'LL GET VOL TOLD OR TOLD, UH, UH, TO BE A FOCUS. THESE FOCUS AREAS ARE AVAILABLE. SO WE COULD JUST START WITH MAYBE ROB AND, UH, GO, UH, DOWN THE LINE AND SEE WHICH TWO FOCUS AREAS YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN. AND THEN WE'LL JUST GO, GO THAT WAY. GIVE EVERYONE A CHANCE, GIVE EVERYONE A CHANCE TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT ONE MORE TIME. AND IN YOUR, UH, POWERPOINT PACKET PRESENTATION THERE, IF YOU KEEP, IF YOU FLIP FURTHER, THERE'S, UH, BASICALLY JUST, UH, [00:15:01] ALL SUMMARY OF THE FOCUS AREAS AND THEIR MISSION THAT'S STATED ON THERE. IF THAT HELPS YOU TO KIND OF JUST THINK THROUGH 'EM. OH, YES. UH, VICE CHAIR, YOU BROUGHT UP, YOU BROUGHT UP A POINT. WAIT, IT'S, UM, I'M BEING BLOCKED. WE, IT'S A WHOLE THING. . UM, I'LL SPEAK UP CHAIR. UH, VICE CHAIR, YOU BROUGHT UP THE SMALL BUSINESS ISSUE, AND YOU'RE RIGHT. IF YOU GO THROUGH THESE POINTS, IT SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN LEFT OUT, UM, SPECIFICALLY ONLY IN BITS, BUT I MEAN, SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT OR BUSINESS DISTRICTS, WHATNOT. UH, CAN YOU BE MORE SPECIFIC IN YOUR COMMENTS? SURE. SO IN NUMBER SEVEN, SO I WENT THROUGH AND SEARCHED YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT. IN NUMBER SEVEN, WHICH TALKS ABOUT ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIPS. THAT'S WHY I THINK IT INCLUDES ALL OF THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT WORK WITH SMALL BUSINESSES. YEAH. UH, SO MM-HMM. . YEP. YOU KNOW, EVEN THOUGH IT WASN'T ONE OF OUR TOP FOUR PRIORITIES, IT SEEMS LIKE SOMETHING WE COULD ALL WORK ON AS SECONDARY ALSO. BUT THAT'S WHERE I FOUND THE SMALL BUSINESS WAS IN SEVEN. YEAH. THANK YOU. OKAY. AND AS, AND AS YOU KNOW, AS THE COMMISSIONERS KNOW, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE A WHOLE TEAM LIKE THE, THE KER TEAM, THE BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT TEAM, JUST IN, IN OUR, THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BUREAU THAT DOES FOCUS ON SMALL BUSINESS OUTREACH AND CONNECTION TO TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND, AND, UH, CITY RESOURCES. SO, YOU KNOW, UH, WHILE IT MAY NOT HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AS A FOCUS AREA, THAT'S SOMETHING THAT REALLY IS JUST SO REALLY BREAD AND BUTTER TO WHAT WE SHOULD BE DOING THAT IT'S JUST KIND OF AN, YOU KNOW, FOR US AS AN UNDERSTANDING, REALLY. OF COURSE, BLUE POINT ONE 0.0 DID HAVE, UH, THAT WAS A FOCUS AREA FOR BLUE POINT ONE 0.0. AND A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT THE CITY ARE DOING NOW IS A RESULT OF THE THINGS THAT WERE PART OF THAT, THAT PART OF THE BLUEPRINT. SO, UM, IF I'M UNDERSTANDING THIS CORRECTLY, TO YOUR POINT, UM, VICE CHAIR SMALL BUSINESSES WOULD BE UNDER THE FOCUS AREA, ONE, WHICH IS RELATED TO GROW LONG BEACH, DELIVERABLE NUMBER THREE. UM, THAT'S HOW I'M UNDER AND UNDERSTANDING AND READING THIS. AND SO SOMEONE WHO CHAMPIONS SMALL BUSINESSES, FOR EXAMPLE, WOULD GO TO FOCUS AREA ONE. AND THEN IN REGARDS TO YOUR QUESTION CHAIR, I, I WOULD LIKE TO CONTINUE TO CHAMPION THE PREVIOUS FOCUS AREA THAT I, UM, WORKED ON, WHICH IS NUMBER FIVE, QUALITY OF LIFE. YOU COULD HELP DOC, YOU COULD HELP US DOCUMENT THE COMMISS. YEAH, I'LL TAKE NOTE. GREAT. OKAY. SO DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER FOCUS AREA YOU'D LIKE? NOT AT THIS TIME. OKAY. ROB? I WOULD LIKE SEVEN AND EIGHT. BLAIR. UH, I'M LOOKING AT, UM, SEVEN FOR SURE. ONE AND, UM, FOUR. SO ONE, FOUR AND SEVEN WOULD BE IDEAL, BUT TO VIVIAN'S POINT, UM, LIKE FOCUS ON 4.2, AGAIN, THAT'S ABOUT, UM, SPEEDING THINGS UP IN THE PROCESS. UH, SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT WOULD BE 7.1. ARE WE ABLE TO FOCUS ON THESE SPECIFIC SUBPARTS? YES. BUT, UH, LET'S FOCUS ON THE PRIMARY FOCUS AREA AND THEN OKAY. ONCE YOU'RE IN THAT, THAT THOSE OTHER AREAS WILL BE DRILLED DOWN INTO WHEN THE STAFF HAS, UH, THEIR COMMUNICATION WITH YOU. SO, UH, ONE IN, ONE IN SEVEN, I SUPPOSE I WOULD, UM, OKAY. ONE IN SEVEN. OKAY. JOHN? UH, NUMBER FOUR. AND I MIGHT ADD THAT TO BLAIR'S COMMENT. AND OBJECTIVE NUMBER TWO, UNDER AREA FOUR, IF SOME OF THESE OBJECTIVES AREN'T MET, YOU WON'T HAVE SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE THEY'RE IMPEDED, THEY'RE PERCEIVED IMPEDIMENTS. MM-HMM. , THEY'VE BEEN WORKED ON IT IN DEVELOPMENT SERVICES AND THERE'S STILL WORK, MORE WORK TO BE DONE, BUT, UM, SO I, I WOULD DO NUMBER ONE AS WELL. OKAY. BUT MY PRIORITY TO SERVE WOULD BE A NUMBER FOUR. OKAY. ONE IN FOUR? YES, SIR. MM-HMM, . OKAY. YEAH, GO AHEAD. OKAY. SO MY PRIORITY WOULD BE EIGHT. UH, ONE, LIKE TO CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON THE DAYCARE, THE DAYCARE AREA. AND THEN THE OTHER ONE WAS SEVEN. THE ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIPS. I REALLY WANNA DO ONE ALSO, BUT CAN ONLY DO TWO , SO, SO EIGHT AND SEVEN, AND BE SUPPORTIVE IN SMALL BUSINESS. THE OTHER THING I DO THINK WE WANNA ELEVATE ON SMALL BUSINESSES IS WE DID TALK QUITE A BIT ABOUT FINDING WAYS TO BE ABLE TO NOT ONLY ATTRACT BUSINESSES, RETAIN BUSINESSES HERE, BUT LOOKING AT WAYS TO GIVE BUSINESS SMALL BUSINESSES INCENTIVES. AND THAT, YOU KNOW, I, IT'S PROBABLY BURIED IN HERE SOMEWHERE IN ONE OF THESE FOCUS AREAS. UM, SO, UH, THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT CAME OUT OF THE FINANCE COMMITTEE FROM THE CITY COUNCIL ALSO, WAS WHAT INCENTIVES COULD WE HAVE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES SIMILAR TO INCENTIVES [00:20:01] THAT THE VISITORS AND CONVENTION BUREAU BRINGS OUT OR OTHER CITIES, UH, PROVIDE FOR BUSINESSES. OKAY. I'LL TAKE, UM, PARTY NUMBER TWO AND NUMBER THREE. UM, YEAH, I WILL CHAMPION PRIORITY FOCUS AREA NUMBER SEVEN. AND, UM, I'M GONNA LOOK OVER THESE SLIDES ONE MORE TIME, BUT I FEEL LIKE I HAVE A LOT. THERE'S ALIGNMENT WITH, UH, ONE AND THREE, BUT I WILL CIRCLE BACK AND LET YOU KNOW IF I CHOOSE ANOTHER ONE. OKAY. GREAT. DOES ZOE HAVE YOURS ALREADY? UH, YES. I CAN ADD NUMBER SEVEN. OKAY. UM, I COULD CHAMPION ONE AND THREE AS WELL AS SUPPORT ON SEVEN. SEEMS LIKE SEVEN'S A TEAM, TEAM, FULL TEAM PROVIDING SUPPORT BASED UPON THE CHOICES THAT THE COMMISSIONERS HAVE MADE ALREADY. WHAT FOCUS AREA IS LACKING, UH, A CHAMPION? YEAH. SO THE ONE THAT DID NOT RECEIVE ANY CHAMPIONS IS FOCUS AREA NUMBER SIX, EQUITY AND ECONOMIC INCLUSION. UH, AND THAT'S THE ONLY ONE THAT DOES, I DON'T HAVE ANY NAMES FOR. AND THEN I OWN, I HAVE ONE COMMISSIONER, UH, COMMISSIONER SUAREZ FOR FOCUS AREA NUMBER FIVE, QUALITY OF LIFE. AND THEN WE HAVE, UH, A LOT OF INTEREST FOCUS AREA SEVEN, UH, AND ONE. OKAY. SO WHICH FOCUS AREA HAS THE MOST COMMISSIONERS TIED TO IT? WE, UH, FOCUS AREA NUMBER SEVEN. I HAVE COMMISSIONERS, SMITH, COHEN, SUAREZ, SHIMOYAMA, AND I CAN SWITCH TO SIX. OKAY. GREAT. OKAY. ANY OTHER CHANGES COMMISSIONERS WOULD LIKE TO MAKE? NO. ALRIGHT. SO, UH, THE COMMISSIONERS THAT ARE NOT HERE, WE'RE GONNA FOCUS THEIR FOCUS AREAS ON THE ONES THAT DON'T HAVE AS MANY PEOPLE ASSOCIATED WITH THEM. UH, HOW MANY WERE ON SUBJECT AREA? FIVE FOCUS, AREA FIVE, FOCUS AREA FIVE. WE HAVE, UH, ONE COMMISSIONER, COMMISSIONER SUAREZ, SUAREZ. OKAY. AND FOCUS AREA SIX HAS ALSO ONE. NOW, IDEALLY AT SOME POINT WE'D LIKE, UH, YOU KNOW, THEM TO HAVE LIKE TWO COMMISSIONERS TO FALL BACK ON IF POSSIBLE. SO WE MAY HAVE TO TAKE ANOTHER VISIT, BUT RIGHT NOW LET'S GO WITH WHAT WE HAVE. YES. UH, YEAH, I THINK IN OUR DISCUSSIONS ON THIS 2.0, WE ALSO AGREED, OR WE DISCUSSED THE FACT THAT BECAUSE THE CITY HAS DEPARTMENTS OR BUREAUS THAT WORK ON SOME OF THESE, UM, THAT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO WORK ON THAT. SO IT'S NOT NECESSARILY THE COMMISSION TO SOLELY FOCUS IT, BUT, UH, BUT IT WILL BE, SOME OF THESE ISSUES WILL BE ADDRESSED ONGOING BY CITY DEPARTMENTS. THAT IS CERTAINLY TRUE. UH, WHAT THE, THE CHALLENGE FOR THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION, UH, FOR THE STAFF AT LEAST, IS GONNA BE MAKING SURE THESE DOTTED LINES OCCUR WITH THESE OTHER DEPARTMENTS. BECAUSE OUR BLUEPRINT IS CITYWIDE, ALMOST EVERYTHING TECHNICALLY CAN BE DEFINED AS AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ISSUE. UH, HOWEVER, THERE ARE ORGANIZATIONS NOW AND DEPARTMENTS THAT WEREN'T IN EXISTENCE JUST A FEW YEARS AGO THAT ARE AROUND NOW. UH, THAT I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT TO DESIGN A WAY FOR THOSE DOTTED LINE COMMUNICATIONS TO HAPPEN. NOW, WHETHER IT INCLUDES, UH, THE COMMISSIONERS FROM, OR HAVING COMMISSIONERS FROM OTHER COMMISSIONS THAT ARE THERE FOR, IS THERE EQUITY AND INCLUSION, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, COME TO OUR COMMISSION MEETINGS AND MAY WE ATTEND THEIRS ON OCCASION, OR PERHAPS WE HAVE A JOINT SESSION IN SOME WAY OR SOME OTHER WAY THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE THESE, UH, THESE CONNECTIONS OCCUR. YES. DO YOU, IF YOU RECALL GOING AROUND THAT, UH, TO THAT POINT ON THE FIRST, UH, THE 1.0, WE DID HAVE A JOINT MEETING WITH THE PLANNING COMMISSION. WE DID, YEAH. AND, UH, TWO, I THINK AT LEAST. YEAH. I THINK, AND THEN TO MY PREVIOUS POINT, UH, AREA SIX, THERE IS AN OFFICE OF EQUITY. IS THAT CORRECT? THAT'S CORRECT. YEAH. SO I'M SURE SOME OF THESE THIS WILL BE FOCUSED ON, ON A DAILY. THAT'S CORRECT. OKAY. AND I THINK IT'S GOOD JUST FOR THE COMMISSIONERS, UH, RECOGNIZING STAFF AS WELL, IS THAT, UH, IF YOU LOOK AT BLUE POINT ONE 0.0, HOW MANY THINGS CAME OUT OF IT AND THE WORK PLAN THAT WAS DESIGNED FROM THAT EFFORT. SO I EXPECT THAT THE THINGS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE THINKING ABOUT IN TERMS OF EXECUTION, WE REALLY DON'T KNOW HOW, UH, IT'S ULTIMATELY GONNA MANIFEST ITSELF. SO THAT'LL BE DISCUSSIONS THAT YOU CAN BRING TO COMMISSIONERS FOR IDEAS, OR THE MAYOR AND HIS STAFF MAY HAVE SOME IDEAS TOO, BECAUSE YOU REMEMBER EQUITY AND INCLUSION WAS NOT A DEPARTMENT. UH, IT IS NOW. UH, SO GOOD POINT. [00:25:01] I WOULD LIKE TO ADD, UH, THAT I AM INTERESTED IN, IN CHAMPIONING, UH, PRIORITY FOCUS AREA, THREE ENGINES OF GROWTH. OKAY. ANY OTHER COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS? OKAY, GREAT. AND LET'S LOOK AT THE, UM, SINCE WE'RE STILL ON THIS PARTICULAR TOPIC, LET'S HAVE A CHECK, A TIME CHECK RIGHT NOW. 3 32. I WANNA MAKE SURE WE DO HAVE ONE OTHER COMMISSIONER FOR A QUORUM. I BELIEVE SO. WE SHOULD BE GOOD. OKAY. SO I LOOK AT YOUR CURRENT EFFORTS, JULIAN, YOU SEE HERE, UH, ALLOWING COMMISSIONS ON FOCUS AREAS. WE KIND OF COVERED THAT ISSUE. ECONOMIC LOAN STAFF TO ALIGN DEPARTMENTAL ACTIVITIES, PROGRAMS, ET CETERA, TO THE BLUEPRINT, FOCUS AREAS, TRACK PROGRESS TO INCREASE ACCOUNTABILITY. SO THAT'S OBVIOUSLY AN ONGOING, UH, PROJECT. SO I SEE A ANTICIPATED COMPLETION. IS THAT GONNA BE THE, UH, PROJECT PLAN COMPLETION OR MORE OF A, HOW DO YOU ENVISION THAT, THAT MEETING THAT OCCUR? SO FOR, FOR, UH, FOR AUGUST, 2024, UH, YOU, I FEEL PRETTY CONFIDENT SAYING THAT WE CAN BRING BACK, YOU KNOW, VERY GOOD COMPREHENSIVE, UH, JUST LIST OF ACTIVITIES, PROJECTS, INITIATIVES THAT THE DEPARTMENT IS DOING AND HAVING THEM ALIGNED TO THE FOCUS AREAS. UM, THAT WAY WE CAN START TO SEE, YOU KNOW, AT LEAST ON THE DEPARTMENT, YOU KNOW, ON OUR, OUR DEPARTMENT, UH, WHAT'S GOING ON AND, AND WHERE THINGS ARE FALLING INTO PLACE. AND THEN AT THE SAME TIME, START TO WORK ON THOSE DOTTED LINES THAT YOU KIND OF REFERRED TO AS, UM, YOU KNOW, I THINK ARGO WILL BE ESSENTIALLY TO DEFINE, YOU KNOW, UH, IDENTIFYING LIAISONS, REACHING OUT TO THE DEPARTMENTS AND SPECIFIC OFFICES AND BE LIKE, HEY, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING TO KEEP TRACK ON THE FOCUS AREAS OF THE BLUE OF THE BLUEPRINT. UM, IS THERE A STAFF THAT WE CAN, YOU KNOW, COUNT ON AND LEAN ON TO PROVIDE ACTIVITIES THAT ARE GOING ON THAT FEED INTO THE FOCUS AREA OF THE BLUE FOCUS AREAS OF THE BLUEPRINT, UM, AS WELL, UM, WE'LL BE WORKING ON FOR THESE, THOSE THREE AND FOUR. OKAY. THE, THE OTHER ITEM IS WHAT KIND OF, UH, PRESENTERS CAN WE HAVE COME TO THE COMMISSION THAT COULD GIVE MORE IN DEPTH KNOWLEDGE ABOUT SOME OF THE FOCUS AREAS WE HAVE, UH, HOW OTHER CITIES MAY HAVE APPROACHED THE SAME CHALLENGES, AND THEN HAVE THE COMMISSIONERS OR RECOMMEND SPEAKERS THAT, UH, WE MIGHT PRESENT. OKAY. SO, UH, WHAT WE MIGHT DO THEN, COMMISSIONERS, IF YOU, ON YOUR, YES, I'M SORRY. I MIGHT ADD, ALSO ADD TO INVITE KEY STAFF MEMBERS OR DIRECTORS TO UPDATE US ON THESE DIFFERENT AREAS AS THEY INTERACT. FOR INSTANCE, ASSISTANCE, UH, DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, CHRISTOPHER KONZ, BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN DOING SOME AUTOMATION AND UPDATING IN TERMS OF PERMIT PROCESSING AND, UM, INITIAL, UH, PROJECT INTERVIEWS AND THOSE KINDS OF THINGS FACILITATE DEVELOPMENT AND QUESTIONS ABOUT PLANNING AND ZONING AND ENTITLEMENT. SO IT'D BE NICE TO START WITH, I THINK STAFF WHERE IT'S APPROPRIATE. THEN BUILD ON THEIR FUTURE OBJECTIVES AND THEN ALSO KEY FOLKS THAT WE CAN PULL IN FROM THE COMMUNITY. GREAT. GREAT POINT. AND I THINK, JULIAN, YOU'RE ALREADY, I'M SURE YOU'RE ALREADY THINKING ABOUT THAT THE DOTTED LINES IS PROJECT IS GONNA INVOLVE A LOT OF THAT. UH, AND, AND WE DID THE SAME THING WITH, UH, BLUEPRINT, UH, 1.0. THERE'S A LOT LESS STAFF THAN THERE ARE NOW, AND IT WAS, IT WAS VERY GOOD TO HEAR FOR HOW THE OTHER DEPARTMENTS ARE ALIGNING WITH WHAT OUR OBJECTIVES ARE, BUT CERTAINLY UNDERSTANDING WHAT THEIRS ARE, UH, BECAUSE I DON'T KNOW IF THAT ALIGNMENT HAS ACTUALLY BEEN DONE OR NOT. THAT'D BE INTERESTING TO SEE. UH, YEAH, WE'RE HAPPY, UM, THEIR OBJECTIVES WITH WHAT WE HAVE ON OURS. ABSOLUTELY. WHEN THERE'S AN INTEREST, UH, YOU KNOW, FROM THE COMMISSION ON, ON HEARING FROM A SPECIFIC, YOU KNOW, DEPARTMENT OR, UM, FOCUS AREA, THEN WE CAN, UH, STAFF CAN REACH OUT TO THOSE APPROPRIATE DEPARTMENTS TO, TO SCHEDULE A PRESENTATION. AND THEN WE CAN TALK ABOUT WHAT EXACTLY WE'RE LOOKING, YOU KNOW, KIND OF UPDATE WE'RE LOOKING TO GET OR INFORMATION SO THEY CAN, IT CAN, UH, INFORM THE, THE BLUEPRINT AND THEN THE WORK OF THE COMMISSION AS WELL. MAY, MAY I MAKE INITIAL RECOMMENDATIONS JUST FOR YOUR THOUGHTS. UH, AND FOR, UM, ITEM FOUR, IT WOULD BE TO ASK A DIRECTOR CHRISTOPHER KONZ TO, UM, UPDATE US ON THE PROCESS, UH, ENTITLEMENT PROCESS, INCLUDING PERMITS, UH, INSPECTIONS AND, UM, ZONING EVALUATIONS. THE SECOND WOULD BE, UM, BUSINESS LICENSING, BOTH ACCESSING BUSINESS LICENSING AND, AND WHAT THOSE LICENSING PROCEEDS GO TOWARD. AND HOW ARE THOSE LICENSE FEES, UH, ASSESSED, ESPECIALLY BASED ON LOCAL [00:30:01] COMMUNITIES. THANK YOU. SO WITH RESPECT TO, UH, WHAT AN IDEA FOR THE COMMISSIONERS, FOR EXAMPLE, THERE ARE, WE HOPEFULLY AFTER THIS MEETING, WE'LL KNOW WHO'S ON OUR TEAMS, SO TO SPEAK. UH, WHAT WE MIGHT DO IS, AS LONG AS YOU'RE NOT ESTABLISHING A QUORUM , YOU KNOW, UH, NO MORE THAN FOUR COMMISSIONERS TALKING AT THE SAME TIME TO EACH OTHER, UH, YOU CAN, UH, AT LEAST HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT WHAT SPEAKERS YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE EITHER REAPPEAR BEFORE THE COMMISSION, 'CAUSE IT'S BEEN QUITE A LENGTH OF TIME, OR ANY STAFF OR OTHER INDIVIDUALS THAT YOU MIGHT FIND THAT MIGHT BE RECOMMENDED TO, UH, SPEAK BEFORE THE COMMISSION. AND THEN JULIAN, WE'LL HAVE TO WORK OUT A SCHEDULE ON, UH, WHAT THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE. YES. ARE WE SUBMITTING THOSE SUGGESTIONS TO YOU? OR TO, UH, SUBMIT THEM TO STAFF. OKAY. THAT'LL KEEP ME FROM MESSING UP THE, UH, THE QUORUM . ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS? OKAY. I THINK WE ACTUALLY MADE PRETTY GOOD PROGRESS. MM-HMM. , WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO CONCLUDE THIS MEETING EARLIER THAN WE EXPECTED. OKAY. NUMBER FOUR, YOU'RE ALREADY WORKING ON, UH, WHICH IS IDENTIFY LEAD DEPARTMENTS, EXTERNAL PARTNERS, ET CETERA, ET CETERA. SO ALL THAT SORT OF BLENDS INTO THIS, UH, WORK PLAN THAT, UH, YOUR DEPARTMENT'S GONNA HAVE TO, UH, COME UP WITH. AND AGAIN, IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, YOU KNOW WHO THE COMMISSIONERS ARE RIGHT NOW, UH, THEY CAN ASSIST YOU IN FINDING ADDITIONAL EXPERTS IF NECESSARY. BUT A GOOD SOURCE WOULD BE GOING BACK TO THE SPEAKERS THAT HAVE COME BEFORE. UH, YOU ALL CAME ON BOARD THE, BEFORE THE, THE BLUEPRINT WAS APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL THERE. WE HAD SOME REALLY GOOD SPEAKERS BACK THEN AS WELL. IF THERE'S NO MORE COMMENTS, UH, ON ITEM NUMBER TWO, WHICH IS, UH, ANY COMMENT, BO YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS? NO COMMENTS FROM EACH CHAIR? I THINK YOU GUYS ARE HAVING A REALLY GREAT CONVERSATION. OKAY. I'M PRIORITIZATION. ALRIGHT. SO WITH THAT, UM, WE DID A PRESENTATION. NO MORE QUESTIONS. THERE'S NO PUBLIC COMMENT. I'M ASSUMING SEEING NONE. OKAY. AND THEN, UH, I THINK WE JUST HAVE TO CALL FOR THE VOTE. COMMISSIONER COHEN. COMMISSIONER NOVIN? YES. THANK YOU. I HAVE A YES FROM COMM COMMISSIONER COHEN. AND COMMISSIONER NOVIN. MOTION CARRIES. OKAY, GREAT. OKAY. UH, MADAM CLERK, COULD YOU GO THROUGH [3. 24-53563 Recommendation to receive and file a presentation on the West Long Beach Business Development Asset Study.       Suggested Action:  Approve recommendation. ] ITEM NUMBER THREE? ITEM THREE IS RECOMMENDATION TO RECEIVE AND FILE A PRESENTATION ON THE WEST LONG BEACH BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ASSET STUDY. OKAY. DO YOU HAVE A PRESENTATION? WE DO CHAIR. OKAY. VERY GOOD. GREAT. BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD, WE MAY I HAVE A SECOND. WE HAVE A MOTION FROM THANK YOU, COMMISSIONER SANDOVAL AND A SECOND NOW FROM COMMISSIONER NOVIN. THANK YOU. ALL RIGHT, THANK YOU. UH, SO I'M GONNA PASS OVER TO ADAM LIPSKY, WHO, UH, I HAVE, AND OUR DEPARTMENT HAS HAD THE PLEASURE OF WORKING WITH FOR QUITE SOME TIME SINCE LATE LAST YEAR. UH, HE APPROACHED US, UH, BEING INTERESTED IN, IN DOING ESSENTIALLY AN ASSET STUDY OF, UH, WEST LONG BEACH. UH, YOU KNOW, SO I WON'T GET TOO MUCH INTO IT BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HE'S BEEN DOING FOR THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS. UH, BUT I DO WANNA SAY THAT IT HAS BEEN A TRUE PLEASURE AND, AND VERY INSIGHTFUL EXPERIENCE WORKING WITH ADAM. AND ALTHOUGH HE WENT TO UCLA, I CAN WORK WITH THAT. THEY PRODUCE QUALITY WORK TOO. , I THINK THE, BUT NO, WITH THAT BEING SAID, HE'S BEEN GREAT TO WORK WITH. AND, UH, YOU KNOW, I'VE HAD THE, THE, THE, THE TIME TO LOOK INTO HIS REPORT AND, UM, I ATTEMPTED TO SEND IT OVER, BUT IT WAS, UH, TOO, TOO BIG. SO I, I'M GONNA MAKE SURE THAT WE, WE GET IT OVER TO THE COMMISSION AND, AND IN THE PUBLIC. UM, THE FALSE WAS JUST A LITTLE TOO LARGE. UH, BUT WITH THAT BEING SAID, I'LL PASS IT OVER TO, TO ADAM SO HE CAN, YOU KNOW, GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF HIS REPORT AND HIS FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF, UM, HIS, UM, ASSET STUDY IN WEST LONG BEACH. HI EVERYONE. UM, THANKS SO MUCH FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY AND THANKS FOR THE INTRODUCTION. JULIAN. UH, MY NAME IS ADAM LIPSEY AND I'M A MASTER OF URBAN PLANNING STUDENT [00:35:01] AT UCLA AND ALSO A FELLOW WITH, UH, THE GROW AMERICA ORGANIZATION. UH, FOR THE PAST NINE MONTHS, I'VE HAD THE PLEASURE AND THIS OPPORTUNITY TO, UH, DO THIS ASSET STUDY, AND I REALLY HOPE THAT IT CAN, YOU KNOW, FOLD INTO EXISTING WORK AND, UM, SHARE SOME INSIGHT. SO, UH, JUST AS A BRIEF OVERVIEW, I'LL INTRODUCE JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT WHAT THIS, WHAT THE PROJECT IS, UH, THE GOAL OF THE PROJECT METHODOLOGY, HOW I DID IT, AND JUST SOME OF THE KEY FINDINGS THAT I'LL PULL OUT FOR YOU TODAY. SO THE CLIENT CAPSTONE PROJECT. UM, SO WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY AS LUSKIN STUDENTS TO HAVE, UH, A REAL, UH, APPLIED PLANNING RESEARCH PROJECT. UH, IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO FIND A CLIENT AND WORK ON, UH, A QUESTION OR, OR A CASE THAT, UH, THAT'S PRESSING TO THE CLIENT. AND, UH, I HAD THIS OPPORTUNITY THROUGH GROW AMERICA, ACTUALLY. AND, UM, IT'S BEEN GREAT SO FAR. UH, AND IT, IT WAS, UM, IT, YOU KNOW, UH, VERY, UH, A VERY GREAT EXPERIENCE DOING THE KIND OF WORK THAT I WANT TO DO, UH, EVENTUALLY IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONSULTING. SO, UH, WITH THAT, WITH THAT BEING SAID, UH, THE GOAL OF THE PROJECT, SO, UH, THE GOAL IS TO SUPPORT THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT LAYER OF THE WEST SIDE PROMISE BY IDENTIFYING NEIGHBORHOOD ASSETS THAT THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT, UH, CAN LEVERAGE TO DRIVE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, UH, OF, OF THE WEST SIDE. AND I WENT ABOUT THIS PROJECT, UH, FIRST JUST, UH, DOING A LITTLE BIT MORE ANALYSIS ON, UH, THE TALE OF TWO CITIES THEORY. SO THIS IS, UH, A PHRASE THAT I'VE HEARD COME UP A BUNCH. UH, IN TERMS OF, UH, COMPARING THE WEST, UH, THE WEST SIDE TO THE BROADER CITY OF LONG BEACH, THAT'S A TALE OF TWO CITIES. THERE ARE A LOT OF DISCREPANCIES, AND I LOOKED FURTHER INTO THIS AND, UH, THAT KIND OF LIKE SET THE STAGE FOR, UH, FOR THE REPORT AND WHY THIS WAS NECESSARY. UH, THE SECOND STEP WAS TO UNDERSTAND THE TEAM GOALS, UH, THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TEAM GOALS AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TEAM GOALS. UH, AND THEN JUST BROADLY, WHAT HELPS THEM ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS. SO, YOU KNOW, THIS ASSET STUDY COULDN'T BE DONE WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THE GOALS. ASSETS NEED TO BE DEFINED BY CONTEXTUALIZING THEM WITH THE, WITH THE BROADER TEAM'S GOALS. SO THAT WAS THE SECOND STEP. UH, AND THE THIRD STEP WAS TO DO THE RESEARCH TO ACTUALLY IDENTIFY THESE ASSETS, UH, SPECIFIC THINGS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, UM, THROUGH, YOU KNOW, A BUNCH OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF ANALYSIS. UH, AND THE FOURTH STEP WAS RECOMMENDING SOME STRATEGIES THAT THE TEAMS CAN USE, UH, TO MAXIMIZE THESE ASSETS. AND THIS IS JUST GETTING A LITTLE BIT MORE INTO THE, THE STRUCTURE OF THE ANALYSIS. AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF, UH, PACIFIC WORKFORCE GATEWAYS. UH, ONE OF THEIR GOALS FACILITATING THE PLACEMENT TRAINING AND HIRING OF RESIDENTS, UH, IN THEIR KEY SECTORS. AND I DETERMINED THROUGH THESE INTERVIEWS, UH, WHAT ACTUALLY BROADLY HELPS THEM DO THAT. AND, UH, YOU CAN SEE THE DIFFERENT EXAMPLES HERE, COMMUNITY ASSET CLASS ONE IS, YOU KNOW, PARTNER BUSINESSES THAT THEY NEED TO, UH, TO ENROLL IN THEIR PROGRAMS. AND, UH, AND A COUPLE OF THE SPECIFIC ASSETS. AND THEN, UM, YOU KNOW, YOU CAN SEE THE, UH, THE ORANGE BOX DOWN BELOW A COUPLE OF THE, UH, KEY RECOMMENDATIONS THAT, THAT CAME OUTTA THAT ANALYSIS. SO THAT'S JUST AN EXAMPLE OF, OF HOW THE REPORT WAS STRUCTURED. TRANSIT FOR PARTNERSHIP, THIS IS A KEY FINDING. UH, THERE ARE THREE KEY FINDINGS. SO, UH, TRANSIT FOR PARTNERSHIPS, THE GOAL, THIS IS ONE OF THE PACIFIC GATEWAY'S GOALS. UM, AND THIS IS PRETTY MUCH JUST PULLING OUT COMMUNITY ASSET CLASS ONE FROM THE PREVIOUS SLIDE. SO, UM, THE GOAL IS TO FACILITATE PLACEMENT TRAINING, HIRING COMMUNITY ASSET CLASS TO HELP THEM DO THAT IS SYSTEMS OR SERVICES THAT HELP PEOPLE GET AROUND THE CITY. UH, ACCESSIBILITY IS A BIG OBSTACLE THAT THE TEAM IDENTIFIED TO THAT GOAL. SO THEN SPECIFIC ASSETS ARE, UM, BUS LINES THAT I FOUND THAT CONNECT WEST LONG BEACH RESIDENTS TO, UM, KEY SECTOR BUSINESSES ACROSS THE CITY. AND THE BLUE BUFFER ZONE, YOU CAN SEE ON THE MAP IS A 10 MINUTE WALK. SO, UM, WHAT THIS MAP IS ESSENTIALLY SAYING IS THAT RESIDENTS CAN TAKE THESE BUS LINES, UH, AND THEN PLUS A 10 MINUTE WALK TO REACH KEY SECTOR BUSINESSES AND WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT CAN THEN PARTNER WITH THESE KEY SECTOR BUSINESSES, UM, AND, AND REALLY HELP THEM ACCOMPLISH THAT GOAL OF IMPROVING ACCESSIBILITY. SO THIS IS KIND OF HELPING THE TEAM, UM, ESSENTIALLY BE MORE TACTICAL IN DETERMINING PARTNERSHIPS, [00:40:03] UH, CANNABIS SITES. SO ANOTHER ONE OF THE TEAM'S GOAL, UH, THE CANNABIS EQUITY TEAM'S GOALS IS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF EQUITY OWNED CANNABIS BUSINESSES. UH, AND TO DO THAT, THEY'RE REALLY FOCUSING ON MANUFACTURING. SO, UH, I IDENTIFIED USING COSTAR, SOME OF THE AVAILABLE MANUFACTURING SITES, UH, IN THE GREEN ZONE IN WEST LONG BEACH. THE THIRD IS, UH, THE BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT TEAM. THEY'RE, UM, ONE OF THEIR GOALS IS ENABLING BIDS TO WORK. SO, UM, ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE GOING, UH, PRIORITIES IS THE SOUTH SANTA FE, UH, IS THE SANTA FE CORRIDOR. AND, UM, THIS ANALYSIS DETERMINED THAT THERE MAY BE MORE TACTICAL AREAS, UH, TO TARGET. SO YOU CAN SEE THESE ARE, UH, SOUTH SANTA FE, SOUTH SANTA FE, A SANTA FE, AND WEST WILLOW AND WEST WILLOW. THESE ARE JUST SEGMENTS OF THE COMMERCIAL ZONED AREAS ON THE WEST SIDE. AND THIS DIDN'T COPY OVER CORRECTLY, BUT THE RECOMMENDATION IS TO, UM, TARGET INSTEAD OF THE ENTIRE SANTA FE CORRIDOR FOR THE BID, THESE SPECIFIC MORE DENSE, UH, AREAS, UM, THEY'RE MORE TACTICAL. SO IN ALL, UH, THERE ARE ABOUT 57 COMMUNITY ASSETS, AND EACH OF THOSE COULD HAVE SEVERAL WITHIN THEM. UM, AND THESE ARE SPREAD ACROSS THESE FOUR TEAMS. THE BUSINESS LOAN TEAM, UH, THE BID TEAM, UH, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AND CANNABIS EQUITY TEAM. AND THOSE 57 ASSETS ARE WITHIN, UH, 17 COMMUNITY ASSET CLASSES THAT I IDENTIFIED. AND, UH, THE REPORT, AS JULIAN SAID, GOES INTO FURTHER DETAIL ABOUT THESE. AND, UM, YEAH, I, UH, I HOPE THAT WAS HELPFUL AND, UM, YEAH, THANKS SO MUCH AGAIN. OKAY. ANY QUESTIONS FROM ANY COMMISSIONERS? YES, ADAM, THANKS FOR THE REPORT. UM, I'M A USD GUY AS WELL, SO I'LL COMPLIMENTING OUR GENUINE, UH, WHEN, WHEN THEY COME FROM US. BUT, UM, NOT SO MUCH ABOUT THE REPORT ITSELF, BUT, UM, JUST THE PROCESS OF GETTING CONNECTED WITH THE CITY WOULD BE INTERESTING. AND WHEN WE TALKED ABOUT OUR PRIORITIES LAST MONTH, AND BUILDING A SMART CITY STRATEGY, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I ALMOST IMAGINE, THE MORE DATA AND OTHER THINGS THE CITY CAN OPEN UP TO PEOPLE LIKE YOU MIGHT LEAD TO MORE PROJECTS LIKE THIS. SO IT'D BE GREAT TO CODIFY HOW YOU CHOSE LONG BEACH, YOUR EXPERIENCE IN THE PROCESS, HOW IT WOULD'VE BEEN BETTER FOR YOU IF YOU COULD GO, YOU KNOW, RECREATE WHAT YOU DID AND HOW WE CAN MAYBE MARKET THIS TO MORE PEOPLE IN YOUR POSITION IN THE FUTURE. SURE. UM, SO I'VE BEEN A FELLOW WITH THE GROW AMERICA ORGANIZATION FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS. AND, UM, I RAN IT BY THE TEAM THAT I WAS LOOKING FOR, UH, A CLIENT DOING, DOING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT WORK FOR THIS CAPSTONE PROJECT. AND THEY SAID THAT THE CITY OF LONG BEACH IS ONE OF THEIR CLIENTS AND THAT I SHOULD CONNECT WITH, UM, UH, WITH THE TEAM TO, UH, TO SEE IF THIS WAS FEASIBLE. SO, UH, THAT'S HOW I ORIGINALLY GOT CONNECTED. AND OVERALL, THE, THE PROCESS WAS, WAS PRETTY SEAMLESS. UM, JULIAN AND COURTNEY WERE, YOU KNOW, REALLY, REALLY GREAT IN GETTING ME, UH, TUNED INTO DIFFERENT STAKEHOLDERS ACROSS THE CITY AND ACROSS THE TEAMS. AND, UM, THE DATA WAS, WAS VERY ACCESSIBLE. THERE WAS ONE REQUEST THAT I NEEDED TO MAKE, UH, I THINK IT WAS TO THE, UH, LONG BEACH TRANSIT AGENCY. UH, AND IT, IT WAS, IT WAS VERY ACCESSIBLE. I, I DIDN'T RUN INTO ANY ISSUES. SO, UH, I WOULD, I WOULD DEFINITELY RECOMMEND THIS TO ANY OTHER STUDENT OR ANY OTHER PERSON, UH, THAT'S LOOKING TO DO A PROJECT LIKE THIS. AWESOME. THANK YOU, VIVIAN. UM, SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS REPORT. I, UM, I HAVE A COUPLE OF QUESTIONS. IT'S FOR UNDERSTANDING THE DATA YEAH. IS ON, ON THE ONE THAT YOU TALKED ABOUT WITH THE ANALYSIS STRUCTURE AND IT, IT HAS THE ASSETS WHERE YOU'VE LISTED THE BUSINESSES. ARE WE SAYING THAT THESE ARE THE KEY BUSINESSES THAT CREATE THE JOBS? SO THESE, UH, IN THIS CASE ARE BUSINESSES THAT HAVE PRIOR, UM, A PRIOR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WORKFORCE, UH, WITH THE WORKFORCE AGENCY, BUT THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN INTERRUPTED WITH, UH, COVID PANDEMIC OR, OR WHATNOT. SO, UH, THESE ARE BUSINESSES THAT I WOULD RECOMMEND, UH, THE WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY TARGET TO PRETTY MUCH REOPEN THOSE CONNECTIONS BECAUSE THEY'RE PREVIOUSLY RECEPTIVE, UH, TO TRAINING OR, OR DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS IN THE PAST. SO THESE ARE, THESE ARE JUST, UM, FOUR BUSINESSES THAT HAD PREVIOUS, UH, RELATIONSHIPS, [00:45:01] UH, TO PACIFIC GATEWAY THAT MAY NOT ANYMORE BECAUSE OF COVID. SO DID YOU IDENTIFY OTHER COMPANIES, MID-SIZE COMPANIES, LARGE COMPANIES THAT HAVE YES. THAT ARE EMPLOYERS? AND IS THAT IN THIS REPORT THAT ARE, SO THIS, THIS, UH, THIS MAP RIGHT HERE SHOWS IT'S OVER A HUNDRED BUSINESSES THAT ARE WITHIN KEY SECTORS OF HEALTHCARE, ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND LOGISTICS THAT I, THAT I RECOMMEND PACIFIC GATEWAY TO TARGET FOR FUTURE PARTNERSHIPS, UH, AND THAT ARE MOST ACCESSIBLE, UH, ACCESSIBLE TO PEOPLE FROM, UH, FROM THE WEST SIDE. OH. SO THOSE, THOSE BUSINESSES ARE ALL INDEXED, THEY'RE ALL PART OF THE APPENDIX IN THE REPORT AND DIVIDE IT UP BASED ON THE BUS LINE THAT WOULD CONNECT THEM TO THOSE, TO THE BUSINESS. OH, OKAY. IS THAT, DOES THAT CLEAR IT UP? YEAH, THAT DOES CLEAR IT UP. AND ACTUALLY, THAT'S A REALLY GOOD POINT THAT YOU MADE, BECAUSE OTHERWISE THIS LOOKS LIKE, UM, THE, WE'VE NOT INCLUDED THE MID-SIZE BUSINESSES, LARGE CORPORATIONS OR THE JOB WHERE THE JOBS ARE. YEAH. SO THAT INCLUDES, IT INCLUDES BUSINESSES, FALL SIZES, WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE FULL REPORT. AND THEN THE OTHER PART IS, IS THE CANNABIS SITES THE SAME THING, IS AS, ARE YOU, DID YOU IDENTIFY THIS BECAUSE THEY ARE JOB CREATORS? UM, THESE ARE, THESE ARE SITES THAT I WOULD RE SO SINCE MANUFACTURING, UH, IS ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE KEY GOALS OF THE CANNABIS EQUITY PROGRAM, UH, THEY NEED MANUFACTURING SITES THAT ARE CONDUCIVE TO, UH, TO CANNABIS PRODUCTION, UH, SPECIFICALLY WITHIN THE GREEN ZONE ON THE WEST SIDE. SO THESE SITES ARE, ARE WHAT'S CURRENTLY AVAILABLE. AND I HAVE, AGAIN, I HAVE THEM INDEXED AND LISTED BY, UM, THEIR PRICE PER SQUARE FOOT, FOR EXAMPLE. SO IT HELPS THE TEAM GET A SENSE OF, YOU KNOW, THE PRICING, WHAT, WHAT A COMPANY COULD EXPECT TO PAY. I KNOW THAT SPEAKING WITH A TEAM, THAT WAS ONE OF THE, UM, AREAS OF CONCERN WAS, UH, UNDERSTANDING THE PRICE POINTS FOR SOME OF THE RELEVANT, UH, UH, PROPERTIES TO, UH, TO TARGET. SO, UH, YEAH, THAT'S, AND THOSE ARE ALL INDEXED. YEAH. SO, UM, VERY INTERESTED IN SEEING THE FULL REPORT AND ALSO MORE REPRESENTATION WHEN THIS WAS PRESENTED OF MID-SIZE LARGE CORPORATIONS, WHERE THE JOBS ARE. UM, AND, AND THE, THE PART THAT STANDS OUT HERE IS, IS THAT, YOU KNOW, IT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS A SELECT NUMBER OF SMALL BUSINESSES, AND I'M NOT SURE WHY THE CANNABIS WAS IDENTIFIED IN HERE OTHER THAN EQUITY OWNED. RIGHT. SO MAYBE YOU CAN EXPLAIN THAT A LITTLE BIT MORE SO WE UNDERSTAND THE FOCUS OF THIS REPORT. UM, CAN YOU, CAN YOU REPHRASE, UH, THE LAST PART OF YOUR QUESTION? YEAH. UM, THE REPORT SEEMS TO FOCUS ON A FEW SMALLER BUSINESSES THAT PACIFIC GATEWAY WORKED WITH, AS WELL AS, UM, THE LOCATION POINTS OF VARIOUS CANNABIS BUSINESSES. YEAH. BUT THE GAP FOR THE DATA WAS, YOU KNOW, WHERE ARE OUR OTHER JOBS WHERE PEOPLE NEED TO GET TRANSPORTATION TO? SO I THOUGHT THIS WAS AN ASSET MAP. SO THE GAP FOR THIS PARTICULAR PRESENTATION, MAYBE IT'S IN THE REPORT, WAS MID-SIZE CORPORATIONS, AS WELL AS, UM, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE JOB OPPORTUNITIES? AND FOR, FOR RIGHT NOW, WHAT I'M SEEING HERE IS, IS THAT IT WAS VERY FOCUSED ON FIVE BUSINESSES AND, AND CANNABIS INDUSTRY. YEAH. RIGHT. SO, I, SORRY, IF I WASN'T CLEAR ABOUT, UM, WHAT THIS SLIDE WAS, THIS WAS JUST, UM, THIS WAS JUST AN EXAMPLE OF, UH, SPECIFIC BUSINESSES THAT HAVE HAD RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE TEAM IN THE PAST. UH, THERE IS OF COURSE, A HOST OF, OF OTHER BUSINESSES THAT EXIST OUT THERE IN KEY SECTORS, UH, THAT ARE NOT LISTED SPECIFICALLY ON THIS SLIDE, BUT ARE AGAIN, PART OF THE APPENDIX OF THE REPORT. UH, AND IT SAYS, FOR EXAMPLE, LIKE BUS EIGHT CAN TAKE YOU TO ALL OF THESE, ALL OF THESE BUSINESSES, NO MATTER WHAT SIZE, WHAT IN, UH, WHAT INDUSTRY WITHIN THE KEY SECTORS, WHETHER HEALTHCARE, ADVANCED MANUFACTURING, LOGISTICS, UH, A BUS CAN TAKE YOU THERE, UH, WITH, AT, AT MOST A 10 MINUTE WALK. SO THAT LIST CAN HELP THE AGENCY BETTER TARGET, UM, BUSINESSES TO PARTNER WITH IN THE FUTURE. I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE MISSING, UH, IS TO GET THE, UH, 75 PAGE REPORT THAT YOU PREPARED AND THAT WE TRY TO GET IT, BUT THE OFFICE'S FILE'S TOO BIG. SO I THINK CREATING A LINK AND THEN SENDING A LINK TO THE COMMISSIONERS, OBVIOUSLY THIS REPORT DOES FALL INTO, UH, A NUMBER OF FOCUS AREAS THAT WE'RE INTERESTED IN LOOKING AT. SO, UM, APPRECIATE ALL THE HARD WORK. UH, WHAT MIGHT BE HELPFUL, I THINK, FOR THE COMMISSIONERS IS YOU, YOUR FIRST SLIDE, JUST YOU ROLL TO YOUR FIRST SLIDE, UM, ONE UP WHERE YOU TALK ABOUT THE TALE OF TWO CITIES. MM-HMM. . THERE IT IS RIGHT THERE. OKAY. SO I THINK IN THE BEGINNING OF THIS, UH, IF YOU COULD DO A SUMMARY OF WHAT YOUR FINDINGS ARE GENERALLY WITH RESPECT TO THE TAIL OF TWO CITIES, THE MAJOR STATISTICAL ASPECTS [00:50:01] LIKE COMPARING ONE ZIP CODE TO THE, TO THE FOUR OR FIVE ZIP CODES THAT REPRESENT THAT PART OF LONG BEACH COMPARED TO OTHER ZIP CODES ON THOSE DIFFERENT AREAS. YEAH. SO WE CAN UNDERSTAND THE TAIL A LITTLE BIT BETTER. YEAH. SO, UM, ON THE FRONT END, SO I THINK THE KEY FINDINGS WERE, UH, THAT IT WAS THE MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME, AND THE AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD INCOMES ARE LOWER ON THE WEST SIDE, AND THERE'S A LOT LESS, UH, VARIABILITY BETWEEN THOSE INCOMES. SO IN THE REST OF THE CITY, IT'S, IT'S EITHER A LOT POORER OR A LOT RICHER THAN THE HOUSEHOLDS ON THE WEST SIDE. UM, LABOR FORCE PARTICIPANT PARTICIPATION RATE AND ON, AND UNEMPLOYMENT, UH, THE PARTICIPATION RATE IS LOWER ON THE WEST SIDE, UNEMPLOYMENT IS HIGHER. UM, THE BUSINESS DENSITY IS SLIGHTLY LOWER ON THE WEST SIDE, WHICH WAS A LITTLE BIT UNEXPECTED TO ME GOING INTO THIS REPORT. UM, BUT IT WAS, IT WAS MAYBE ABOUT 7%, UH, FEWER BUSINESSES PER SQUARE MILE ON THE WEST SIDE THAN THE REST OF THE CITY AS A WHOLE. UH, THOSE ARE, THOSE ARE KIND OF KEY THINGS THAT STAND OUT. THERE ARE A FEW OTHERS THAT I TALK ABOUT IN THE REPORT, BUT, UM, OVERALL I THINK, UH, THE TALE OF TWO CITIES PHRASE DOES RING TRUE. UM, AND, AND, YEAH, I, I MAKE MORE OF THAT ARGUMENT IN, IN THAT SECTION OF THE REPORT. AND, UH, WITH RESPECT TO THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES OF GREAT, WE HAVE A, THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYERS IS ABOUT THE SAME. WHAT ABOUT THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES, UH, BETWEEN THOSE TWO, UH, AREAS? THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES? UH, I DON'T HAVE THE NUMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT I'M, I'M PRETTY SURE THAT THE, UM, THE, THE, THE DENSITY OF, OR THE, THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES PER BUSINESS ON THE WEST SIDE, UM, IS, IS ALSO LOWER, UH, COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE CITY. BUT I WOULD HAVE TO GO BACK INTO THE REPORT OR THE DATA THAT I WAS LOOKING AT, UH, TO, TO VERIFY THAT. BUT THAT'S, THAT'S WHAT I REMEMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD. OKAY. ONE OF THE CHALLENGES DURING EARLY REPORTS WAS THAT ONLY 25% OF THE PEOPLE WHO, UH, ONLY 25% OF THE PEOPLE ACTUALLY WORK IN LONG BEACH OF THE POPULATION THAT WE HAVE HERE, WHICH IS OBVIOUSLY A PROBLEM. UH, THAT MEANS EVERYONE ELSE IS COMMUTING OUT OF LONG BEACH TO FIND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES. SO, UH, SOMEHOW WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO STRATEGICALLY ADDRESS THAT, THAT ISSUE. HOW CAN WE CREATE MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR PEOPLE THAT ARE ACTUALLY, UH, LIVING IN LONG BEACH TO WORK IN LONG BEACH? AND, UH, I THINK THAT'LL DEAL SOME WITH SOME OF THE ECONOMIC CHALLENGES. YOU'RE, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS? YES, JOHN, I APPRECIATE YOUR, YOUR DEDICATION TO THIS PROJECT. IT'S GREAT. DO YOU KNOW ABOUT HOW MANY HOURS YOU SPENT WORKING ON THE PROJECT? UH, OFFHAND, NOT OFFHAND, BUT TOO MANY TO COUNT . IT WAS, UM, HE'S LIKE THE EXPERT NOW. YEAH. IT WAS, UM, IT WAS A NINE MONTH STUDY, AND I LOOKED AT THIS AS KIND OF A PART-TIME JOB IN ADDITION TO SCHOOL. SO, UH, I PUT, I PUT HEART AND SOUL INTO IT AND, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I, I HOPE THAT CAME THROUGH IN THE PRESENTATION. AND, UH, AND I HOPE THAT IT DOES, LIKE I SAID, FOLD INTO THE EXISTING EFFORTS ON THE WEST SIDE PROMISE. AND I, I THINK THERE ARE SOME REALLY GOOD INSIGHTS THAT, UH, IF YOU READ THE EX EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, FOR EXAMPLE, UH, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU CAN, YOU CAN SEE THAT, UM, YEAH. UH, THERE ARE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS. WE, I, I JUST HAD A COUPLE OF FOLLOW UPS. ONE, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME IN NINE MONTHS. IT'S, IT, THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR THE CITY AND KEY STAFF TO UNDERSTAND THESE RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE, OUR, OUR PARTNERS IN THE EDUCATION COMMUNITY TO LEVERAGE RESOURCES AND NEEDS FOR STUDIES, UM, TO BE UNDERTOOK. UH, NOT ONLY DOES THE STUDENT POPULATION BENEFIT FROM OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW IN A REAL SETTING AS A STUDENT, BUT THE CITY GETS IN NET BENEFIT AS WELL WITH SOMETHING LIKE THIS. SO I THINK THIS IS A GREAT MODEL FOR FUTURE ENDEAVORS AS THE CITY, UH, STRUGGLES TO GROW ITS OWN EMPLOYEE POPULATION. UM, JUST FOR THE SAKE OF CONVERSATION THOUGH, AN ITEM NUMBER ONE, UNDER DELIVERABLES, A SINGLE PAGE HANDOUT THAT CAME THE PACKAGE, THE MAYOR'S KEY OBJECTIVE AND GROWTH IN LONG BEACH. I THINK ANYTIME WE DO A STUDY LIKE THIS, WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT THESE KEY BUSINESS FUNCTIONS AS WELL. 'CAUSE IF WE JUST TOLD US A, A GOOD STORY, AND I LOOK FORWARD TO READING THE WHOLE DOCUMENT AND THE SUMMARY, BUT ANYTIME WE'RE DOING FURTHER STUDIES, IT'D BE NICE TO KNOW HOW THESE FACTOR, HOW THESE AREAS AND ELEMENTS OF, OF, UH, GROWTH IN BUSINESSES CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO THOSE STUDIES AS WELL. WHERE, WHERE ARE THE DEFICITS? WHERE ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES [00:55:01] TO GROW? ARE THEY ALREADY THERE? AND IF THEY ARE, COULD THEY BE CONSIDERED? FOR EXAMPLE, MANY YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS CHAIRING THE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY, WE HAD A PAC PROJECT AREA COMMITTEE ON THE EAST SIDE, WEST SIDE, EXCUSE ME. AND, UM, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT BUSINESSES WITHIN, CONTAINED ON THE WEST SIDE FOR SOME REASON. UH, THEY WERE CONGREGATED THERE. MM-HMM. , UM, ESPECIALLY NORTH OF WILLOW. MM-HMM. AS I RECALL. THAT'S RIGHT. AND, UM, SORRY, THIS IS 20 YEARS AGO OR SO. BUT, UM, THOSE ARE OBVIOUSLY OPPORTUNITY FOR GROWTH IN BUSINESS TOO. THEY HAVE DIFFERENT GOVERNMENT LEVEL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES TO HIRE LOCAL, UH, PART-TIME AS HELP BALANCE, UH, WORKING PARENTS AND THOSE KINDS OF THINGS. SO JUST IN THE FUTURE AS WE LOOK AT THE KEY BUSINESS SECTORS, WE SHOULD BE LOOKING AT, UH, STATE, FEDERAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS AS WELL, SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION OFFICES, YOU KNOW, EMPLOYMENT TAX FOLKS, THOSE KINDS OF THINGS. BUT THANK YOU AGAIN FOR YOUR, FOR YOUR TIME AND EFFORT ON THE PROJECT. APPRECIATE IT. ANY OTHER COMMISSIONERS? RIZZA. OKAY. WHERE, UM, JUST A QUICK COMMENT. I I, I'LL BE INTERESTED IN READING IT. I, I'D LIKE TO READ THE WHOLE REPORT, UM, AND DIVE DOWN DEEPER. JUST HAVING DONE SOME WORK ON THE WEST SIDE, I'D BE INTERESTED TO HEAR WHAT YOU FOUND COMPARED TO WHAT WE FOUND WITH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. AND, AND THEN REALLY IT'S WHAT'S THE, WHAT'S NEXT AND WHAT'S THE END GAME FOR THIS? AND, UH, SO APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS AND ALSO, UH, BIG FIGHT ON YOU. SO SAY, SAY IT AGAIN. YEAH. FIGHT ON, FIGHT ON. OH, FIGHT ON C. IS THAT, THAT'S A-U-C-L-A THING. YEAH, IT'S, THAT'S A US THING C THING. LET'S JUST, IT'S A U US C THING. YEAH. YES. LET'S CLARIFY. I'M UCLA. ALL RIGHT. SO SORRY, GRISELDA, BUT THAT'S, WE HAVE TO CLARIFY FOR THE RECORD. IT'S ALL RIGHT. STILL LIKE YOU THOUGH. I HAVE ONE MORE COMMENT. UH, THANK YOU ADAM, FOR THIS, UH, PRESENTATION. AND, UM, AS COMMISSIONER THOMAS SAID, YOU KNOW, IT, IT HAS REALLY BROUGHT TO ME A VISUAL FOR OUR COMMISSIONERS HERE AND ON THE TRANSIT FOR PARTNERSHIPS, UH, SLIDE, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD IN LOOKING AT THE GROW LONG BEACH DELIVERABLE, NUMBER ONE AND THE PRIMARY FOCUS NUMBER THREE, UM, AS, AS YOU HAVE MAPPED OUT, THERE IS NO HEALTHCARE ACCESS ON THE WEST SIDE, AND THAT IS A LARGE POTENTIAL FOR AN ENGINE OF GROWTH, UM, INVESTMENT THERE. UM, NOT ONLY FOR JOBS, BUT FOR QUALITY OF LIFE. SO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BRINGING THAT MAP TO US. NO PROBLEM. UM, I JUST TO, CAN I RESPOND? UM, THERE'S, UH, ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE ASSETS THAT IS INCLUDED IN THE STUDY IS, UH, UH, MENTAL HEALTH CARE ASSETS. SO THERE'S A LIST OF, UH, AGAIN, I DON'T HAVE THE NUMBER OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD, BUT I WOULD SAY ABOUT, UH, EIGHT TO 10 RESOURCES THAT I IDENTIFIED, BECAUSE ONE OF THE OBSTACLES OF PACIFIC GATEWAY IS, UM, UH, PEOPLE THAT ARE NOT, UM, ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THEIR PARTNERSHIP PROGRAMS, UH, BECAUSE OF EITHER MENTAL HEALTH STRUGGLES OR, UH, CHILDCARE ACCESS. I REMEMBER SOMEBODY MENTIONED CHILDCARE EARLIER. SO, UH, THOSE COUNT AS ASSETS IN THIS STUDY TOO, BECAUSE THEY'RE, UH, THE LACK OF ACCESS TO THOSE POSE AS AN OBSTACLE TO FULLY REALIZING, UH, THE BENEFITS OF THESE AGENCIES AND WHAT THEY OFFER RESIDENTS. SO THERE'S A LIST OF, UH, MENTAL, MENTAL HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS AND RESOURCES AS WELL AS, UH, SEVERAL DOZEN LICENSED CHILDCARE FACILITIES ON THE WEST SIDE. UH, I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S SEVERAL DOZEN OR, UM, OR MAYBE LIKE IN THE TWENTIES OR, OR THIRTIES, BUT, UH, THERE, THERE ARE A BUNCH. AND THAT WAS ANOTHER UNEXPECTED FINDING IN THE REPORT. SO, UH, I, I GOT THAT DATA FROM I THINK THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES TOO. THAT'S GREAT. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? YEAH, THANK YOU FOR THE REPORT. UH, I'M CURIOUS, AND IT MIGHT BE IN YOUR, IN THE, THE MORE LARGER PIECE OF THE REPORT, UH, BUT YOUR DATA SOURCES, IS IT ALL PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATA? IS IT INFORMATION THAT YOU, UM, HAD TO GET PERMISSION FROM? I BELIEVE YOU SAID TRANSPORTATION. I'M JUST CURIOUS ABOUT WHERE THAT INFORMATION CAME FROM. SO THERE WAS A MIX OF DATA SOURCES THAT I USED. UH, MOST OF THEM ARE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE. ONE OF THE BIGGEST ONES WAS THE BUSINESS LICENSE DATA SET THAT'S REFRESHED, I BELIEVE, NIGHTLY. UM, THAT WAS A HUGE SORT THAT CONTRIBUTED BOTH TO THIS, UH, GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS AS WELL AS, UH, THIS ONE. AND, UM, I, I THINK THE OTHER DATA SETS THAT I USED, UH, FROM LONG BEACH, UH, LONG BEACH TRANSIT, UH, COSTAR, UM, CENSUS, [01:00:01] ALL OF THESE WERE, MOST OF THESE WERE PUBLIC PUBLICLY AVAILABLE, AND I DIDN'T NEED TO PUT IN LIKE A, A REQUEST FOR THE, AN OFFICIAL DATA REQUEST. SO ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM COMMISSIONERS? OKAY. VERY GOOD. FANTASTIC, FANTASTIC PRESENTATION REALLY WAS I LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING THE, UH, FULL, UH, SCALE OF YOUR, YOUR EFFORTS AND ESPECIALLY YOUR EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. I THINK, UH, COMING OUT OF THAT, UH, REPORT, YOU'RE PROBABLY THE MOST EXPERT PERSON IN THIS ROOM ON HOW POTENTIALLY BEST TO, UH, ADDRESS SOME OF THE CHALLENGES AND THE REASON SOME OF THESE CHALLENGES ACTUALLY EXIST. SO LOOKING FORWARD TO, UH, TO SEEING YOUR OTHER INTERESTS AND WHO KNOWS, I'M SURE JILLIAN WILL BE PICKING YOUR BRAIN, YOU KNOW, AS WELL. . YES, FOR SURE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME. APPRECIATE YOU'RE WELCOME. OKAY. IS THAT, UH, ANY COMMENTS? ? SEEING NONE. OKAY. SO WITH CALL FOR THE VOTE , COMMISSIONER SANDOVAL, IF YOU WANNA GIVE A VOICE VOTE, I CAN TAKE THAT. UH, YES. THANK YOU. MINE SPINNING TOO. THERE IT GOES. OKAY. MOTION CARRIES. ALRIGHT, VERY GOOD. OKAY, MADAM CLERK, UH, THE LAST, [4. 24-53564 Recommendation to receive and file Executive Director’s Report.        Suggested Action:  Approve recommendation. ] UH, ITEM ON OUR AGENDA THIS EVENING. ITEM NUMBER FOUR IS RECOMMENDATION TO RECEIVE AND FILE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT. OKAY. DO I HAVE A MOTION ON THIS ITEM AND A SECOND? OKAY, PERFECT. ALRIGHT, BO, ARE YOU, UH, DOING THAT ONE? ARE YOU DELEGATING ? YOU, YOU GUYS COVERED A LOT OF, UH, GREAT INFORMATION. DAVE, FROM THE BLUEPRINT 2.0 GROW LONG BEACH, UM, AS WELL AS LOOKING AT HOW WE FUTURE, UH, PRIORITIZE ALL, ALL THE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES THAT WE'RE WORKING ON. SO I WOULD RATHER NOT GIVE IT AN EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT, BUT JUST CONTINUE TO WORK ON ALL THE THINGS THAT, UH, THAT WILL MOVE, UH, LONG BEACH INTO THE FUTURE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. OKAY. NO PUBLIC COMMENT. ANY COMMENTS ON THE COMMISSIONERS? SEEING NO PUBLIC COMMENT, WE CAN GO AHEAD AND CALL THE VOTE IF WE DON'T HAVE ANY COMMENTS FROM THE COMMISSIONERS. NOPE, NO COMMENT. I HAD A COMMENT. I GIVE A COMMENT. YEAH. OKAY. GO AHEAD. UH, I DON'T KNOW IF THIS SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO BO OR, UM, THE STAFF OR THE CHAIR OF THE COMMISSION, BUT I KNOW, UM, THERE'S BEEN IN THE NEWS THE CITY'S BEEN DOING SOME POLLING AROUND SOME NEW TAXES, MAYBE PO POSSIBLY FOR THE NOVEMBER BALLOT. AND ONE FOCUSES AROUND REAL ESTATE SALES AND ONE'S AROUND A UTILITY TAX. AND WITH THIS COMMISSION AND THE BLUEPRINTS WORK AROUND MAKING THE CITY MORE BUSINESS FRIENDLY AND FOCUSING ON QUALITY OF LIFE AND AFFORDABILITY. I WAS CURIOUS IF OUR COMMISSION WOULD HAVE A CHANCE TO GET A PRESENTATION ON THOSE ITEMS FROM CITY STAFF, UM, OR TO WEIGH IN ON THE RESULTS OR, YOU KNOW, THE POSSIBILITY OF HAVING IT ADDED TO THE BALLOT AS WE GO THROUGH THIS ACTIVITY AS WELL. I KNOW IT'S IN THE EARLY STAGES, BUT IT'S WANTED TO GET THAT ON THE RADAR FOR THE COMMISSION. YEAH. ALEX, LET'S JUST MAKE A COMMENT AND MAYBE BILL YOU CAN COMMENT AS WELL. UH, IN GENERAL, UH, WHEN IT COMES DOWN TO MEASURES RE REVOLVING AROUND TAXES, THE MAYOR WILL DESIGNATE IF THE COMMISSION IS GOING TO TAKE UP, TAKE THAT ISSUE AS A SUBJECT AREA. SO THE, I'M SURE THE COMMIT, THE, THE CITY COUNCIL HAS THEIR OWN PROCESS TO DEAL WITH THIS UH, CHALLENGE. AND, UH, I THINK, UH, IN THE PAST, AND I ASSUME MOVING FORWARD, WE'LL TAKE GUIDANCE FROM THE MAYOR AND THE CITY COUNCIL IF THEY WANT US TO WEIGH IN ON THAT, UH, ON THAT SUBJECT. AND RIGHT NOW, THIS, THE CITY IS EXPLORING, UH, MANY DIFFERENT AVENUES AS WE LOOK TO DIVERSIFY ECONOMY AND CITY REVENUE STREAMS. AND THAT INCLUDES LOOKING AT POTENTIAL BALLOT MEASURES IN THE FUTURE. AND THAT'S SOMETHING THAT CITY COUNCIL WILL BE BRINGING FORWARD ON JUNE 18TH AND MORE TO COME FOLLOWING THAT, THAT MEETING. RIGHT? AS AN EXAMPLE, HOW THAT SITUATION MAY HAPPEN IS THAT, UH, WHEN THE COMMISSION WAS FIRST SET SET UP, WE HAD TO DEAL WITH THE MINIMUM WAGE ISSUE. AND THE CITY COUNCIL DIRECTED THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION TO TAKE PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE MINIMUM WAGE. AND YOU REMEMBER THAT. AND SO, UH, WE HAD A LOT OF DISCUSSION. WE HAD PEOPLE COMING FROM THE COMMUNITY, FROM THE BUSINESS COMMUNITY, OTHER EXPERTS MAKE PRESENTATIONS TO THE COMMISSION. AND WE HAD TO MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO THE CITY COUNCIL AND SORT OF GET OURSELVES ON THE SAME PAGE ON WHAT WE WERE GONNA PRESENT. [01:05:01] AND WE WERE ABLE TO DO THAT. AND THEN CITY COUNCIL APPROVED OUR RECOMMENDATION AND THE STATE CAME UP WITH THEIR OWN, UH, GUIDANCE. AND THE CITY OF LONG BEACH HAD THEIR OWN GUIDANCE AS WELL. SO IT ENDED UP NOT GOING TO A BALLOT MEASURE AT THAT TIME. SO WE HAVE TO KIND OF TAKE A WAIT AND SEE ON WHAT HAPPENS, UH, WITH THIS PARTICULAR ISSUE. ANY OTHER QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS FROM COMMISSIONERS? CALL FOR THE VOTE. THIS. CALL FOR THE VOTE. I'LL SAY YES. MINE'S. THANK YOU. CHAIR LARKINS. A COMMENT. MOTION CARRIES. YES. THE LAST COMMENT? YEAH. OKAY. UH, I'LL [ANNOUNCEMENTS] MAKE, UM, ONE COMMENT. UH, THE JULY MEETING IS GOING TO BE CANCELED. THE CITY COUNCIL'S NOT MEETING IN JULY EITHER. UH, WE'LL BE CONTINUING OUR NEXT MEETING IN AUGUST. UH, DURING THAT MEETING, UH, THE COMMISSIONERS ENSURE WE WOULD LIKE TO EXPECT TO SEE WHAT PROGRESS THAT YOUR DEPARTMENT HAS MADE ON THESE VARIOUS ISSUES. AND, UH, IN THE MEANTIME, THERE'S NOTHING TO STOP COMMISSIONERS WHO ARE CHAMPIONS FROM REACHING OUT TO STAFF, UH, ABOUT YOUR FOCUS AREA, TO TALK ABOUT SPEAKERS AND OTHER THINGS THAT YOU'D LIKE TO BRING FORWARD TO FUTURE MEETINGS. CHAIR? YES. ON THE SIDE. HI. HI. SORRY, . I KNOW YOU HAD RICH AND NOW YOU HAVE ME. WE'RE A REVOLVING DOOR. I JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT. I DO THINK THE COUNCIL IS STILL FINALIZING THEIR SCHEDULE FOR JULY SO THAT NO ONE RELIES THERE. THERE MAY BE A COUNCIL MEETING THAT'S SCHEDULED FOR JULY. OH, THERE MAY BE. OKAY. SO JUST FOLKS, MAKE SURE YOU'RE CHECKING. SURE. I DON'T, I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO RELY ON THAT. UM, AND THEN I, I DO NOTE BEFORE WE GET TO ANNOUNCEMENTS, WE JUST NEED TO OFFER THAT, OFFER THE OPPORTUNITY FOR, FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON AGENDIZED ITEMS. OKAY, PERFECT. THANK YOU. SO, UH, IF THERE'S NO MORE COMMENTS BY COMMISSIONERS, UH, IS THERE ANY PUBLIC COMMENT? [PUBLIC COMMENT Opportunity to address the Economic Development Commission on non-agenda items. Each speaker is limited to three minutes to make their comments unless extended by the Chair.] SEEING NONE. OKAY, PERFECT. UM, WITH THAT, UH, I GUESS WE CAN ADJOURN OUR, [ADJOURNMENT] OUR MEETING. THAT'S IT. THAT'S IT, . ALRIGHT. THANK YOU. THAT'S IT. THAT'S PRETTY. * This transcript was created by voice-to-text technology. The transcript has not been edited for errors or omissions, it is for reference only and is not the official minutes of the meeting.