Loading...
8/12/2003 - City Council Minutes - CC Minutes Reg Meeting APPROVED BY THE DIRECTORS ON AUGUST 26, 2003 ORANGE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY ORANGE, CALIFORNIA MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING August 12,2003 The Orange Redevelopment Agency of the City of Orange, California convened on July 22,2003 at 4:30 p.m. in a Regular Meeting in the Council Chambers, 300 E. Chapman Avenue, Orange, California. 4:30 P.M. SESSION 1. ROLLCALL PRESENT - Ambriz, Alvarez, Murphy, Coontz, Cavecche ABSENT - None 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS - None 3. CONSENT CALENDAR 3.1 Declaration of the Clerk of the Orange Redevelopment Agency, Cassandra J. Cathcart, declaring posting of Orange Redevelopment Agency Agenda of a regular meeting of August 12, 2003 at Orange Civic Center, City Clerk's Office, north facing kiosk, Main Library at 101 N. Center Street, Police facility at 1107 North Batavia, Shaffer Park, and available on the City's Website www.cityoforange.org; all of said locations being in the City of Orange and freely accessible to members of the public at least 72 hours before commencement of said regular meeting. ACTION: Accepted Declaration of Agency Posting and authorized its retention as a public record in the Office of the City Clerk. 3.2 Request Agency confirmation of warrant registers dated July 17, 22, 24, 31, 2003. ACTION: Approved. 3.3 Request approval of Redevelopment Agency Minutes, Regular Meeting, July 22, 2003. ACTION: Approved. Note: Director Cavecche abstained on this item. . MOTION SECOND AYES - Alvarez - Ambriz - Ambriz, Alvarez, Murphy, Coontz, Cavecche Director Cavecche abstained on Item 3.3. All other items on the Consent Calendar were approved as recommended. END OF CONSENT CALENDAR PAGEl ORANGE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MINUTES August 12, 2003 4. REPORTS FROM DIRECTORS - None 5. REPORTS FROM BOARDS, COMMITTEES, AND COMMISSIONS - None 6. REPORTS FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR - None 7. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS 7.1 Report by Linda Boone, Economic Development Director on the Agreement between the Orange Redevelopment Agency and the Orange Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Bureau -continued from Julv 8, 2003. (RA2100.0 AGR-3300.0) SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Agreement, the Orange Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Bureau will provide business services and tourism related services for Orange businesses, visitors and tourism industry organizations. Linda Boone, Economic Development Director, provided a report on the proposed Agreement with the Orange Chamber of Commerce. Staff met with the Chamber to relook at the contract in light of the comments made at the July 8th Council meeting. The scope of work has gone through many changes, and the Chamber has cut 10% of the cost of the contract in the spirit of the cuts the City departments have had to make. She reviewed some of the cuts that were made and the differences in the revised Scope of Work. She also pointed out the Chamber has always been accessible and easy to communicate with. Barbara deBoom, Executive Director, Orange Chamber of Commerce, reviewed the general activities of the Chamber of Commerce, noting the Orange Chamber has received a 4-star rating from the U. S. Chamber of Commerce. She reported the Chamber has cut from the budget an Old Towne visitor annex, as the existing stores are willing to carry brochures and information for the Chamber. Distribution of the Orange Business News has also been cut from the City contract. She has also met with the publisher of the Orange Pages and has a tentative agreement to include 2500 Orange Pages into the certified racks as part of the proposed contract. These racks are located at John Wayne Airport and the California Welcome Center. Councilmember Alvarez asked about the Chamber's outreach program; how the City can expand services to the hotels and maximize what the hotels are doing; asked about the City's membership in the Orange County Tourism Council; and asked how big tourism is in Orange. Ms. DeBoom explained the Chamber put an ad in Better Homes & Gardens magazine and received 1400 responses from that ad. Relocation packets are sent out to people wanting to move to Orange and visitor packets are sent to groups coming to Orange for conferences and activities. She also reported the Chamber is hoping to meet with local hotels to help promote all hotels in Orange together, without using City funds. The Chamber pays $1500 year dues with the Orange County Tourism Council, which is a collaborative of all visitor bureaus and major attractions within the County; and tourism seems to be one of the biggest growth engines in the City. PAGE 2 T ORANGE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MINUTES August 12,2003 7. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS (Continued) The following people spoke in support of the Chamber of Commerce and Visitor's Bureau: · Mark Feary, 211 Via Calderon, Yorba Linda, Executive Director Tourism Council · Eric Inglett, 168 N. Goldenspur, Orange, past Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce read a letter from Christine Carpenter from The Mills Corporation 1 The Block. · Mike Escobedo, 134 S. Glassell encouraged City's financial participation for Orange Pages Directory and Plaza Review newspaper. · Don Saltikov, 9375 Via Balboa Cir, Buena Park, member of the Chamber, read into record a letter from Lisa Ackerman - Downtown merchant, in support of the Chamber and tourism · Tom Grochow, 163 N. Pine St., Chamber member, read into the record a letter from Karie Najemnik, Mall of Orange Manager, dated August 12,2003. · Cleo Olson, 1910 W. Palmyra, Sales Manager for the Doubletree Hotel- read letters into the record from Robert Hartman, State Bowling Association and Nancy Yaki, Grandmothers Convention Committee · Mike Bennett read an e-mail from Sue Jackson of Country Roads Antique · Eric Swenson, 175 N. Cambridge, Chamber member · Gary Mead, PI's Abby, 202 S. Orange St. and John Charles, Media Manager for Crystal Cathedral . Shirley McNiel, 304 N. Pine . Dan Jensen, 178 S. Glassell Council Ouestions TAPE 2070 Mayor pro tern Cavecche asked what the Chamber is doing to reach tourists who are staying in the Anaheim resort area; asked for clarification on the costs for the certified racks; and asked for more information on the California Welcome Center at Main Place. Ms. DeBoom reported there is a two minute video on Orange which is shown on closed cable in certain Anaheim hotels and at the Convention Center. There are brochures placed at the Anaheim Bureau at the Convention Center and the Anaheim Visitors Center where the trolley stops. She explained the costs for the certified racks is just for the use of the racks; and with regard to the Welcome Center at Main Place, approximately 70,000 people go through there each year. Councilmember Ambriz stated he was recently at an Anaheim Hotel and did not see any Orange brochures there and there were also outdated brochures at the Visitors Bureau in Santa Ana. He also asked why the Chamber is paying for advertising for The Block and the Mall of Orange, as there are other businesses in Orange besides those two retail centers. Ms. deBoom reported there is not money in the budget to place brochures in racks County wide, and she will also check on the brochure at the Visitors Bureau in Santa Ana. She eXplained the contract promotes the entire City of Orange, which includes major shopping centers such as The Block and Mall of Orange. PAGE 3 ORANGE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MINUTES August 12,2003 7. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS (Continued) Councilmember Ambriz noted the City has made a conscious decision to eliminate advertising in the Orange Progress; and asked about the advertising on the City street map. Ms. Boone explained the City has told the Chamber, in the contract, to help everybody in the City, not just Chamber members, and did not want a contract just to promote Old Towne, but wanted a contract to promote visitors to all retail centers in the City. She agreed the City needs to clarify a policy for advertising. Ms. deBoom explained there are 50,000 street maps printed every three years and entitles the City, who pays $3500, for additional maps for visitors to City Hall, along with a listing in the map of City events. Councilmember Ambriz asked if any City time was spent on producing the City street map; and how much profit there is on the maps. Ms. deBoom stated City time was spent on the map, and it is noted in the map. The City helped with the layout and the Chamber upgraded it; and the City receives an upgraded and colored map by the Chamber's designer for City use. The net on the map $10,337. Councilmember Ambriz asked about the City website and when it will be updated. Mr. John Sibley, Assistant City Manager, stated it is expected the new website should be up to date by the end of the year. Councilmember Ambriz asked how much money is spent on Police services at The Block. Mr. Sibley stated there are 5 to 7 Police staff at The Block throughout the weekends, and the cost figure is closer to $900,000 than $100,000. Councilmember Ambriz asked how much the Mall of Orange and The Block spend on advertising; and he would like to be able to save money on this aspect. He noted there has also been discussions on how much the City gives to the Chamber in total, as the City also pays membership dues for the Chamber's Chairman's Circle, which is an additional $11,500; plus $2500 for the State of the City event. He asked what other expenses the City incurs with the Chamber on a yearly basis. Mr. Sibley stated this year the proposed expenses are $86,500, which includes the Chairman's Circle membership dues. Last year, the total Chamber expenses, including the contract and the State of the City address was $93,000; and this all Redevelopment funds and not General Funds. Councilmember Ambriz noted the Chamber is a non profit organization and there are 319 non profit organizations in the City. While the Chamber is assisting other non profits in the City PAGE 4 ORANGE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MINUTES August 12, 2003 7. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS (Continued) through a website calendar and a voice mail system, which is a great service, he was concerned about duplication of efforts. He also noted other cities who do not give money to their Chambers. Councilmember Coontz stated she had asked at the last Council meeting for a list of all expenditures to the Chamber, noting Barbara deBoom has done a great job since becoming Executive Director and engendered a lot of activities that were not there before. This has been an education, and a surprise, because apparently these monies were included in the budget this year. The City has been cutting budgets, including very valuable services to the community, such as Code Enforcement, which is important because it has a lot to do with what the City looks like. When people come to the City, even temporarily, they see what the City looks like, and there needs to be a better job in this area. She stated there is a budget for the Chamber with issues that she had never heard of before, and it is being revealed. She was shocked to find out there are four golfers that the City pays for under a membership with the Chamber, but she has not heard about it in the past. Just over the past week, the Council has received more information and just the day before she was able to see what else the City pays for. At the same time, there are Police and Fire personnel, and other City staff members, who give their time to Chamber programs that are charged for, and that is time that is well paid for by the City. She is trying to figure out exactly where the money goes, because the Council is responsible for the budget; and it is disturbing to find out, after the fact because there were no line items, that there are things in the budget she did not know about. She did not want to vote on this because the questions she had asked were not immediately answered. Apparently, there was a lack of understanding. She is not against tourism, as many people have done great jobs, but the Council has a responsibility to the community of Orange and needs to know exactly how money is spent. She did not want to vote on this, because the Council needs to know what the programs are that they promote and pay money for. TAPE 2875 Councilmember Alvarez pointed out the City does not supply a service that is charged to the citizens, it is done by businesses. Whether it's Police at The Block or anything else the City is providing, it is services that businesses are working hard to provide a tax for that the City is collecting; and it is a challenge to do that. In order for the City to be more successful, the City needs to be promoted, and whether it's The Block or Mall of Orange, it's a plus for the City because it means more income for the City to provide services such as parks, streets and safety personnel. The business community is very important; and that is what the Chamber is doing. This contract really needs to be implemented by the business community. They're the ones who understand the challenges of trying to get sales tax dollars. It needs to be run by the very people who are running businesses every day. The City collects a Transient Occupancy Tax, which is a tourism tax; and the City is not spending it on the very people who are putting it there. Some of that money should go back to the hotels and promoting Orange, and that's not being done. The City needs to reach out to bring tourist dollars here, but the City needs to realize there are thousands of tourists just across the City border and the City needs to do something about it. It makes good business sense because everyone benefits; and if the City wants more advertising, it needs to be paid for; because successful businesses help pay for city services. PAGE 5 ORANGE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MINUTES August 12,2003 7. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS (Continued) TAPE 3040 Mayor Murphy stated his observations have not changed. There has been more information provided which substantiates his comments from the last discussion, which is that business drives the economic engines for the City of Orange, and it is something that the City has some ability to have some affect over. In these times, when so many other taxes come and go or are withheld, it would be shortsighted not to invest in the business community; and with the amount of money the City has to invest in the tourism side, it is his belief that the best way to invest that money is with the Chamber and encourage the Chamber to continue to pursue those avenues that are best to do that outreach. He appreciated the 10% cut in the contract; and looks to the Chamber on how best to do the outreach and move forward. He spoke highly of the maps and papers put out by Mike Escobido and encouraged more of that as well as coordinated efforts to work on everyone's behalf. Given the amount of money to invest, this proposal is the right one to support. If there are questions about expenses outside this particular budget, the City staff can talk about how best to either deploy or re-deploy those expenses. Councilmember Ambriz asked about the visitor's bureau not being open on weekends. Ms. deBoom stated the visitors bureau usually has about 2 to 3 calls on Monday mornings that have come in over the weekends so there doesn't seem to be a demand for services on the weekends; and the Old Towne merchants are willing to carry the brochures. TAPE 3190 Mayor pro tern Cavecche agreed there needs to be a distinction between tourism and general chamber expenses and a need to revisit that issue. However, this is a tourism contract and sales tax is the largest section of the revenue budget and that sales tax needs to continue. It is the lifeblood of the City's budget. She agreed the relationship between government and businesses is a balancing act; but the City would be negligent if it didn't try to reach out and boost the number of visitors to the City of Orange. This is not something that should be put on City staff and the Chamber is the organization that should do this. She was pleased with the proposed cuts to the contract, such as a visitors bureau annex and not paying to send the Orange Business News to businesses, as that is a business aspect of the Chamber and not promoting tourism. She still has questions about the California Welcome Center and paying for racks; and would like to see brochures or copies of the Plaza Review in hotel rooms in Anaheim and in the Doubletree Hotel. The City of Orange needs to do everything it can to bring sales tax revenue into the City; and perhaps there can be some tweaking of the budget throughout the year. She asked the Visitors and Tourism Board of the Chamber to determine whether racks and displays at the California Welcome Center is giving the City a return on its money, or if that money should be spent on something else. She supports this contract with the stipulation that the Chamber monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of some of these dollars and perhaps adjust it half way through the year. Councilmember Coontz stated she will be abstaining on this, not because she's not in favor of what the Chamber does, but she had asked for some specifics because the Council does have that responsibility. When it comes to next year's budget, things need to be looked at differently, and some of the line items that have been overlooked need to be provided so there are no surprises of PAGE 6 ORANGE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY MINUTES August 12,2003 7. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS (Continued) what the budget contains. She thinks there may need to be some people added to the Tourism Committee. She has done her own survey about people going to hotels and traveling and what they say is they like to see what is available in the community in the room, because they never look at the racks. She wished this could have been handled differently and hopefully next year, when the Council gets into some of these subjects of how money is spent in the community, there will be a better understanding and they won't have to go through this again. MOTION -Alvarez SECOND - Cavecche AYES - Alvarez, Murphy, Cavecche NOES - Ambriz ABSTAINED - Coontz ACTION: Approved an Agreement by and between the Orange Redevelopment Agency and the Orange Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Bureau in an amount not to exceed $67,500 for the Fiscal Year 2003-04. 8. LEGAL AFFAIRS - None 9. RECESS TO CLOSED SESSION Note: The Agency did not recess. a. To consider and take possible action upon such other matters as are orally announced by the General Counsel, Executive Director of the Board of Directors prior to such recess unless the motion to recess indicates any of the matters will not be considered in Closed Session. 10. ADJOURNMENT MOTION - Alvarez SECOND - Ambriz AYES - Ambriz, Alvarez, Murphy, Coontz, Cavecche The Redevelopment Agency adjourned at 6:23 p.m. ~JMA~~<~Af CASSANDRA J. l\THCART, CLERK OF THE REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY t--rN M A. MURPHY, CH REDEVELOPMENT AG AN OF THE Y PAGE 7