Trade, Travel, and Tourism Committee - 1/28/25

Trade, Travel, and Tourism Committee - 1/28/25

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e e e e e e e e e e e um before we move to public comment I just wanted to express my gratitude to lawa and the port of LA for all of the help resp responding to last month's devastating fires in the Pacific Palisades and elsewhere in our city from sending the airport and Port Police to help secure our neighborhoods to lending us K Rail and other materials that we needed to help with the wet weather mitigation efforts this past weekend your port and Airport employees have been incredible ambassadors for our entire city and their public service is welcomed acknowledged and appreciated so on behalf of my constituents in cd1 I wanted to express our gratitude for your help that brings us to public comment members of the public wishing to give public comment can sign up at the kiosk in the back you will be given one minute for general public comment and up to two minutes for multiple items all right I am going to call a couple of names Odilia oh maybe typo a Del come on up what would you like to be heard on today ma'am um I want a little bit of everything and public comment please I'm glad we have you know my favorite Mr mosar is my favorite I'm sorry to all the rest come on Sorry Miss pork all right all right I appreciate you know appreciate you right now but um but he's my fa okay but I'm here to talk about because we're talking about transportation and I just want to you know I know you all get sick and tired of what I'm here for but I'm here on because I chose to be an advocate for the survivors of Scientology who really had their voices haven't really been heard yes they could maybe talk about it on YouTube but the government has not heard them at all and so I'm always here just as my own because I'm going to keep talking for them until they're heard and with all these plain things I just want to remind you that a lot of people have been trafficked here I have a you know people that I know personally who have been trafficked here by Scientology they do it legally um you can be trafficked legally believe it or not and then they um and that's with them building new things and then um you can you know and then they hold their records and they hold their documents so they can't just leave and that's a problem when you're coming with you know bringing people in from other countries and they can't just leave and they don't know what to do here so I'm going to constantly bring that to your attention is that my public comment time or is that it must seem like an agenda item okay okay no well that was an agenda item now on okay um I didn't speak I didn't know how it works so I didn't give my so that was your general en public comment because Scientology and uh trafficking on the agenda you weren't yeah because building yes because of building airplanes and Building Things terminals let's move to the agenda items all right great I'll let you win this time so all right here we go on the agenda items okay well with number one I am asking when they build this terminal that you make sure that human trafficking legal even legal immigration but trafficking by organizations is not happening because I'm asking you to make sure that that does not happen here okay um because nobody should be trafficked even if they think that's what they want to do down the road they you know kids can't consent okay so kids get dragged into this um number three I kind of think that we should sell LAX I mean I know that's probably not a popular opinion with you guys but we need money we're so in such a huge deficit and what's going on now is just beyond belief that that instead of putting all this money towards all these projects why not just sell it and you know fund our fire department fund the water fund everything the rebuild everything that's just my opinion on that um you know like we are in a huge budget crisis and that might help alleviate that maybe even public works I don't know or I mean not not Public Works um DWP or whatever it is and um okay no the parking five-year parking agreement um you guys have a hard time sometimes keeping track of parking because like I I don't know if you realize this but uh elron hubard way is a fake Red Zone and you guys don't even know about it but you're enforcing parking there and people getting tickets so just be please be very careful with how you guys maintain and keep track of like so it's like it's a fiveyear parking thing and year six if there's no agreement like don't be still you know like giving tickets if they're you know if it's like a red zone or something if that makes sense because that's what's happening they had like a a red zone for like I don't know 10 20 years ago but it lapsed and it they keep you know going as if it's a red zone and the city's enforcing it so that's not cool but thank you all right thank you ma'am have a great rest of your day what would you like to be heard on today sir good morning uh first of all uh my full name is zenu ot8 but you did not read my full name second of all I would like to speak on probably number six number seven General everything um start with number six is about uh professional Support Services fiveyear contract um that's uh that's the part that I don't really understand you have the city have a Workforce of I think it's 60,000 city workers and then you are telling me that nobody can do the job you have to have a third- party Professional Services independent third party contract then I just I just I'm just confused that you have 60,000 workers under your disposal second of all is about Oracle Enterprise software licensing again I believe I already know that City of La has a dedicated it Department uh Tech te technology department technology Services General services and again you are telling me nobody can do the do the job you have to you need hire a different firm to do the job well you already have your own employee weird number seven is about uh passenger lounge space um I'm here uh I like this uh I like this we need definitely need more passenger launch uh we don't have enough uh especially passenger lunch allows passengers you know a place to take a nap some sof some snacks some food especially people like me I never uh I I never can I can never afford a direct flight whenever I go I always you know uh do uh get the cheapest uh transfer transfer transfer flight so I numerous times in LAX there's a shortage of launch I have nowhere to go I can only sit on the ground with feces and urin that's definitely not a pleasant uh experience however our council member seems like totally okay just ignore the issues nothing wrong with that um about the general uh since this is a trade uh committee I want to talk about the trade tra trade uh specifically about the drug trade I here I think one thing is uh I agree with Spindler is that spinler said you guys should be uh in charge of the city but you are not who is in charge of the city MS13 they are they are in charge of all the drug trade drug trafficking why you are not doing it because you know MS13 controls the whole city nobody can touch them that's the reason why in City of La people die on the street fenal overdose hyoin overdose or whatever drug you name it people dying every day you continue to tell tell us we going to invest we going to enforce we're going to regulate but at the same time MS13 is getting bigger and bigger gang bangers gangs you know robbery is getting more and more and then I don't really understand if you are continue to fund the illegal drug trade or you are trying to regulate the drug trade trade right thank you sir Osa C org Osa C org going once going twice all right deep come on up if you signed up using the word deep in your name come on up go on once going twice if you signed up using the word goat in your name now is your chance great what would you like to be heard on Mr Spindler the public uh yeah do you want to be heard on well all the goddamn items and general comment great have at it holy you don't think she's having that PMS thing well maybe so we get to number one here so godamn that Magic Johnson's involved in everything look at this Hudson Magic Johnson Enterprise he goes from dribbling a basketball the running baseball teams and basketball teams now selling overpriced condiments what a bastard he turned out to be and that son of his too then we get to let's see here number two and squa that's coming from Donald Trump number three squa again then we get to number four another squl exemption squel again again I thought Donald Trump suspended sea then we get to the dirty vanise airport yeah and of course Pat Timothy mccosar involved with subleasing for what parking spaces charging $ 3040 a day to park in a ghetto surrounded by forest fires vanise cd6 and the world airport sell it sell it to the Chinese then we have number six deoe Consulting well that's an accounting firm what are you doing here let's see a five-year contract ah for support of services for software from Oracle Tracy Park should be getting some good cash in her campaign for that one and then we have of course the Korean Airlines executive session and my question is are they going to offer dog meat products because they love and it's great they literally have hot dogs made of dogs and they're absolutely delicious and then we have the general comment we're coming up with a Tracy Park song in honor of the fires Tracy Parks a no good C A she didn't fill the reservoir e iio and the FBI here and the FBI there FBI FBI everywhere where the was the water pressure where did it go that's right everybody so she just sits here while those Embers keep burning up all of her cd1 and then you got moscar playing with his telephone playing Tetris on his phone setting that new record look at these worthless piles of you got the one there with a mask for no reason just look at all this stuff and yet 11 months went by without the godamn water for the fire it got past all your noses you guys all need to resign and go become Walmart greeters where you belong all right I don't see anyone else on our sign up list is there anyone else present who would like to give public comments if not I'm GNA close it going once going twice you're welcome to if you would like but all right okay thanks everyone we are closing public comment uh with unless there is any objection from my colleagues I would like to move items two through seven on consent Madam clerk if you would please then call call the RO council member Park yes council member mcoser yes council member Rodriguez absent two eyes these items are approved all right that brings us to item number one Madam clerk if you would please read the item item number one is a board of airport Commissioners report relative to board resolution number 28084 authorizing amendments to interal concession agreements with areas USA LAX LLC Cruise Hospitality LLC DN Dakota jme first class Vending Inc host International Inc urw airports LLC Hudson Magic Johnson Enterprises Concourse Ventures LLC and LAX retail magic at Los Angeles International Airport and adopting The Lax van eyes concession standard operating procedures and categorical exemption from California Environmental Quality act pursuant to Article 2 Section 2f and Article 2 Section 2N of the Los Angeles City squa guidelines thank thank you madam clerk U Miss sample thank you so much for being here today um and I really just wanted to express my gratitude to the entire team at lawa um and to John for the care and thought that has gone into the effort to try to make our concessionary concessionaires at the airport Hall um I know we have already spoken at Great length about the challenges that are concessionaires are facing uh low passenger traffic gross sales and revenues that remain below prepandemic levels and at the same time their operating costs have increased more than 80% since those original agreements were put in place uh those jobs and businesses represent Pathways into middle class careers for workers and entrepreneurs who invest their time and energy in standing up those businesses and that is especially true for our airport concessions disadvantaged business Enterprise program uh something that we're all really proud of and the work that we've done it's also why I feel like we have a special responsibility to them and given the new wage rates that will be in effect shortly for our concessionaires I hope that today's action is going to be a first step towards providing the relief and managing these costs as we try to get them on firmer footing I recognize this is just one step and we certainly look ahead uh further economic challenge es certainly we're already seeing a decline in tourism and hotel bookings and other things because of the Palisades fire um so we know we have a long road ahead but I am looking forward to hearing your report today on the work that you've been doing thanks for being here thanks for having me Denise sample Los Angeles World airports um I want to thank you as a Palisades resident almost my entire life for everything that you've done having nothing to do with this um so we uh as you said are trying to help the concessioners especially the acdbe in a time when our traffic is still down and our revenue is still significantly impacted this was our first step uh we met with them the acdb specifically a number of times to discuss things that we could do within the confines of their contracts that would help them uh and this is what we all agreed would help so what this does is it allows us to most importantly relieve them of the 18% above street price cap that we have had which was set back in 2012 and um allows them to set prices at any cost that they would like except for water baby products feminine products and over-the-counter medicines those will remain at 18% above street because we know that those are things that everybody needs and we don't want people to be priced out we are a little concerned but we've been working very closely with the concessioners to make sure that despite the living wage that's coming and all the other impacts that they will still have things as reasonably priced as they can to survive the economics the other important thing in here is um the distressed concessioners program and what that allows us to do is if we have concessioners that have a significant struggle they will be required to present to us their case and on a case-by casee basis we will uh look at how to help them further meet their you know release their distressed concessioner status um that could be anything from you know setting their mag at a different rate or giving them a payment plan Etc the other thing that this does is it takes a lot of the standard City Provisions out of the agreement plus the pricing policy so that when we want to make changes we don't have to go through the board and the city council process every time we can do it at CEO Authority except in the cases where it has a significant change to their contract when then of course we would come down and see you guys well thank you for that um I hate that we're even having to have the discussion about raising the cap um I'm really glad to see that there is an exemption for some of those essential items um you know I think people everywhere are feeling the pinch already of inflation and the cost of everything that's often felt compounded inside the airport environment already on a good day and I know this is a preventative measure to help some of these businesses get through but at what price point are there just no more customers them we and we have that concern as well as do they I mean they don't want to price themselves out to where everybody's bringing a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and not buying anything um but they have to be able to make ends meat which at this point they're not so we are in continuous discussions with them on that I think also you know they don't want concessioner a to charge $40 for a hamburger and a concessioner b to charge $30 for hamburger so they're working together as well so that at least their prices will be consistent across the board it is expensive to buy food at the airport it's not just our airport it's every airport but unfortunately our is a little higher than most but we are very cognizant of that and we are working very closely with them on it the fact that $40 hamburger rolls off the tongue so casually already is indicative of sort of the level of trouble I think we're already in um I I I are we gonna have some type of controls or oversight in place so that we can check back with you to see how this is going and can you keep us apprised of whether this intervention is enough and if you get folks that are following falling into further distress what efforts we're going to try to take there yeah definitely I mean we are doing audits on them on a regular basis if you want reports back on that on a regular basis we're happy to do that or we can you know put it in memo form however that works work with Mark on that um but yes we will definitely keep you apprised and if we get to a point that we are getting such significant complaints or seeing such a significant drop off we'll have to reconsider this okay and and I think just sort of tracking sort of the economic trends of where we are and how we're recovering and responding to some of these um ongoing and now added on top of challenges for these folks it would be really helpful um one of the things that I think was mentioned was um hours of operation requirements can you talk to me a little bit about what this change is sure so right now they are required to be open an hour before each flight and an hour after the last flight departs in some of our terminals right now for example terminal one the Southwest Traffic is down still about 70% so the hours that they have significant number of passengers in the terminal has decreased so what we've talked about is allowing the concessioners as long as we have at least one food and beverage One retail so there's something for people to be able to eat and drink and get you know their Necessities at a time when maybe there's only one or two flights we would allow ow them to do that on an interim basis until the flight's picked back up that makes sense and I mean after the Last Passenger gets on the last flight why do they have to hang around for an hour get them off the clock and let them go home right I mean part of our problem is under their cbas they are required to have eight hour shifts um they have I think it's 20 to 30% of their employees that are allowed to be part-time it's pretty small number when you think of how many standing around with Noom standing around so we have to work around that um but but we are looking at that and working with the Airlines and working with the concessioners to figure out what how we can help and what that looks like so we've talked about informally some one-on-one interventions you may be willing to consider are there any other major policy reforms or other things that we're looking at to get this particular group stabilized right now this is the best we could come up with I mean we're happy to have other recommendations but in theise of what we're really allowed to do Under the contract as we move forward with new contracts we are looking at different structures of rent and minimum annual guarantees to help alleviate going forward with the new living wage so we are looking at that but these current contracts it's a little hard to looked at capping the rent raises or anything for them because those are fixed costs that we do have some influence and they proposed on so it makes it a little hard yeah well we really appreciate the time and the care I know that we as a city have invested a lot of time and work to get these businesses qualified to vend and now to see what we've done to make it a challenge for them is is frustrating um but I'm really glad to have your help with it council member mccosar you have any questions just I just want to be clear thank you very much those are excellent questions and and um and you distill the challenge very well uh so it looks like the the recommendation will be that in fact these concessions or these U allowances will be built into the standard operating procedures or and and those are procedures that the exe executive director today or by action of the board will be able to make unilaterally so by you approving this today it puts the first step of us having the standard operating procedure approved by both the board and the city council going forward changes to them can be made by CEO Authority so the so there's the standard agreement and instead of modifying each agreement one by one by one they incorporate by reference the standard operating procedures and the Sops then have all of the issues you've just described and really good a really good set of policies on reviewing the pricing and being able to analyze it on it now it's an annual basis but you could the based on the chair's Direction you could consider doing that on a more consistent basis yeah and we are actually allowing them to change prices as needed going forward except on those things that are 18% so yes that's significant so the only things that aren't in the standard operating procedures that would require board and city council are things that affect the term their their minimum annual guarantee so things that are um part of their contract that are Revenue related or term related it sounds like on the pricing reporting which is subd at page six that the annual reporting is a good good idea it might be a great idea as on a on a longer term go forward but maybe in the shorter term a more frequent review not to make it difficult but just to see whether or not this is being effective and then the I see the Market Basket is the the list that that um will be price controlled if you will I I do want to commend the just procedurally the structure of what you're recommending and the fact that it's coming from discussions with your concessionaires is also so wise so thank you very much for this thank you all right um thank you for those questions council member um I would move that we approve item one Madam clerk if you would please call the role council member Park yes council member mosar yes council member Rodriguez absent two eyes this item is approved all right Madam clerk is there anything else pending before this committee the desk is clear excellent this meeting is adjourned minutes

2025-01-31 21:29

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