Trade, Travel, and Tourism Committee - Apr 27, 2021

c testing one two three four five test test thank you joe i appreciate that okay see john our clerk waiting on i t to give the go and then we'll get started y'all c c c you may begin to council members okay why isn't my microphone working now we can hear you mr clerk okay thank you testing one two three testing we're all set all right loud and clear mr clerk ita we ready to begin okay welcome everyone to the trade travel and tourism committee today is tuesday april 27th i'm joined here by mr john lee i'm council member joe buscaino chair of the t3 committee thank you all for joining us once again mr clerk we'll begin by establishing a quorum with the roll call please yes sir council councilmember buscaino here tell us the member bonner and councilmember lee president two members are present mr chair you have a quorum wonderful thank you so much mr clerk with that uh we'll begin public comment and ask mr john white to read the call-in instructions followed by mr hong of deputy city attorney to read council of committee rules one moment members of the public would like to offer public comment on the items listed on the agenda should call 669-254-5252 and use meeting id number 161 863 2891 and then press pound press pound again when prompted for participant id once admitted into the meeting press star 9 to request to speak also um committee members before we proceed um as an advisement the meeting id number on the pdf published agendas is incorrect the one i just read is correct mr deputy city attorney thank you chairman yes sorry thank you uh to members of the public calling in when it is your turn to speak please state which of the agenda items you would like to speak on and you'll have one minute per item to speak two minutes total for multiple agenda items and one minute for general public comment we will tell you when your time is up when speaking on the agenda items you must be on topic if you're making a general public comment you must address topics in the jurisdiction of this committee our goal is to get through as many speakers as we can and if you're not speaking on topic or if we cannot tell whether you're speaking on an agenda item you will get one brief warming warning from me or the chairman if you do not immediately get clearly on topic or again stray off topic the chairman will cut you off and you will forfeit the rest of your speaking time and we will move on to the next speaker we will take 40 minutes total of public comment and finally for members of the public calling in to speak as soon as you hear someone address you you are live in the committee meeting if you are also listening to the meeting on your computer channel 35 or other device please turn down the volume on those devices immediately because there's a time delay between the live meeting and the broadcast on those devices and it will cause confusion if you continue to listen on your other devices thank you thank you so mr clerk you did mention that there was a technical glitch on today's agenda so with that those who are listening an additional opportunity for public comment will be provided when these items go to council so with that if i can turn to your attention to today's agenda mr lee i'm gonna ask that we continue item number two on the agenda until the next scheduled meeting and approve items three through 15 on consent that would be my recommendation any items on the consent agenda you'd like to hold mr lee looking right now um no i'm good okay with that mr lee thank you i would ask that then we take a roll call on the consent agenda items three through 15. mr chair is there any public comment on items three through fifteen oh yeah this is not our first rodeo i should have known that um let's ask um dennis let's turn to public comment good afternoon mr chair dennis gleason cd 15 staff we have one public commenter uh caller with the phone number ending in 7006 please press star 6 to unmute i'm here okay caller please state your name in the items you'd like to speak on that's right mommy martinez's little son all items general public comment go ahead you have three minutes yes so item number one i'll give it a chance because i was gonna say it but i didn't hear it yet so number two where's my gun sir mr bondin uh is is ill oh you mean he's scared of all the campaign donors he pissed off about the law trying to cancel contracts trying to be fair to workers he yes that that's substantially correct sir okay my brother is a piece of not item two number three the third amendment third amendment's building trips 95 000 for legal services with the city of attorney noah number three we have the greatest city attorney struck that fumble esquire but john lee knows that he's over at the budget meeting right now taking public comment so number four the cao report called the cow moo no one number four number five meyer's name level back sliver snake and wilson five-year contract a million dollars damn john lee a million dollars on number five i thought you were cutting back john lee says no on number five number six another giveaway yay a million three for professional legal services holy i might have to go to law school and stop calling these meetings if i can get paid to do like that for nothing wow they treated me nice before yes on that well we have managed multi-function photocopier print services a number 10 sharp electronics of japan why don't you hire ibm we need the jobs here number 12 demetrio dale pricker and up for 275 000 more stealing thank you caller your time is expired next caller with the private number please press star 6 to unmute go ahead caller please state your name in the items you'd like to speak on uh uh i want to speak on item three autumn time item 12. do i get general public comments sir yes okay uh what order do i have to start saying this stuff then any order i want you can speak on the items and follow with your general public comment you have three minutes and you may begin okay uh regarding um all the items and the act and term of of section 249 of title 18 u.s quote of definition of the fbi i hate criminals they're horrible the things they do to our society all our caller what what items are you speaking on right now yeah you i'm an item about japan number 10 you dick don't interrupt me are you stupid or what criminal stick to the item all this corruption in l.a and

japan why can't we hire our own people to do the work instead of subcontracting to those on this is and giving them all the work all the jobs all the stolen money kicking jackass yeah what a real you are i want to grab my general public comment now go ahead color thank you in regards to um god hates his fangs um mr mr attorney this morning said god hates her eggs and fakes for demons they're not blessed they're cursed that's why the book of romans chapter 1 26 and 27 talks about makers and purchasing ticket in the ass like lead mr attorney [Applause] he's not speaking on any items so thank you thank you color your time has expired mr chair that are that's all the public commenters that are on the line for the regular meeting thank you so much now let's move on the the council apparently the um the committee's consent agenda yes sir the recommendation is to approve items three through fifteen mr bruce gallino aye mr lee aye mr bond those items are approved by votes of 2-0 okay on today's regular scheduled meeting listen out move to item number one before doing so did you want to open this special meeting agenda and approve that item yes we can do that said through okay we we are past 345. okay let's now recess our regular scheduled agenda uh meeting rather and go to our special uh roll call please mr bruce yes president mr bonnet mr lee two members are present for the an aquarium is available for the special meeting okay so um let's take item number one on the special agenda or public comment on the special meeting uh mr chair we have two callers um first caller phone number ending and seven zero zero six please press star six to unmute go ahead caller you have one minute all items the general public comment please no there is no general public comment just item one one minute may begin okay i'll have to trust you my phone went down for the fourth amendment of the world airport please with mercury air cargo let's see here it looks innocent oh this isn't my phone an item you said you'd continue it because mike bond is sick i hope he doesn't have aids speak to the item last warning i just hope he doesn't have aids i hope he's doing okay so he's not speaking to the uh special item one so let's forfeit his time next caller please next caller with the uh private number please press star 6 to unmute am i on kill boot arnold no no general public comment i said special item god hates liars okay let me start um thank god for troops that are not because are dominating the item after one warning shut the up i got the floor you forfeit his time he's not speaking on the item thank you okay um that's all the the public comment thank you let's now take item one on the special um mr lee any questions comments i'll move to approve item one on the special agenda very good the recommendation is to approve special item one mr bruce guyana aye mr lee aye matter is approved by a vote of 2-0 thank you let's now adjourn the special and bring us back to the regular scheduled agenda let's see here let's tie take on item number one item one los angeles city tourism department and the chief legislative analyst to present verbal reports relative to the expansion of the los angeles convention center okay thank you mr clerk with that we two weeks ago mr lee the la city tourism department formerly the department of convention and tourism development released the city's first ever tourism master plan uh the plan consists and contains 22 recommendations in eight categories destination stewardship destination development destination programming the visitor accommodations visitor mobility visitor information and communications and destination management so excited and fired up over the work that's been done by the department on the implementation of these recommendations before us and at our next meeting we'll have a presentation on the full plan but my understanding from the department is that of the 22 recommendations the top priority right now is expansion of the convention center so i want to get a verbal update from both the department and cla on the status we have discussed this in committee as well um as the economic development committee as well la frequently misses out on major conventions and trade shows for two major reasons one the size of the conventional center and two the lack of hotel rooms in close proximity so with that i want to turn it over to mr doan liu the gm of the tourism department to give us a quick recap and overall the of the expansion plan and other major uh outlines of the deal and then after mr liu is done don't i'll turn over to john wickham who's with us today from the cla's office who will be leading the negotiations with aeg as directed by the council so um dome the floor is yours thank you councilman i appreciate this opportunity we uh do meet frequently with the economic development committee as you all know but it's a great opportunity to come to your committee as well i'll be very very brief but before i start i wanted to let you know that on the phone or on the on the call with us today i've got our new assistant general manager tina oh who has started a few months ago but is taking over both agm positions diana meingiolu went to the office of finance and tom fields retired just a couple of weeks ago so uh happy to have tina on board and also on the call i see oh kim nakashima our director of policy and research and we also have uh torrey weigle victoria weigel is our project manager uh and she's our director of facilities at the a team we got the a team here you've got half of the department here literally we are an eight member department just to let you know that the progress with the convention center obviously was halted due to the pandemic we have gratefully been working with the cla and cao on progressing design through the schematic design plus phase which is about 35 of the working drawing for 30 of the design let's say and we're hopeful that negotiations can start soon just wanted to assure that the committee that the expansion of the convention center is still needed i i challenge anyone to tell me that they've had a a great zoom convention in the alternative uh to our face-to-face meetings that we once had so i think if if nothing else it's uh it's the pen-up demand and the need for these associations and conventions to get back uh into in-person events uh that is we're seeing even more uh demand as you well know the convention center is booked nearly every day for the next five plus years and so we have we have no uh no doubt that uh we're able to flip the switch on once we're allowed to have meetings again but again thank you for this opportunity i'm going to pass the baton to john wickham who can update you on the status of the negotiations with aeg rp3 partner there we go good afternoon council members john wickham with the office of the chief legislative analyst um we we spent quite a lot of time with our development partner aeg plenary who created a partnership called that we that goes by apcla um to advance negotiations we spent quite a lot of time with them with city staff and our consultants to advance the project on february 26 2020 the cla had prepared and sent forward a report to council to seek direction on some key issues regarding the negotiations and then of course just a couple weeks later we had the um stay-at-home order and everything kind of ground to a halt as a result of covet up to that point we as i said we had selected a developer aeg plenary apcla we have an architect who advanced the designs as doane had mentioned and we had selected a contractor who had begun doing the preliminary cost estimates and evaluations of the design that had been prepared so that we could understand the cost of the project and identify the sources of revenues and and in in that process know what kinds of payments would be required to actually move the project forward and so we had spent quite a lot of time we found at that point that the we had identified new revenue sources to help pay for the project because we did not want to hit the general fund we did not want to bring any additional costs onto the general fund at the end of the analysis it was determined that there would be a small general fund impact and so we had needed to come forward to council to get some instruction on how to deal with that the city and apcla had identified a cost-saving measure called an early works agreement which would have allowed the architect to continue work during the time when we were doing the final cost estimates and the final negotiations for the deal there were some cost risks involved with that and that was another reason that we had wanted to come back to council because we needed council's um review of that to make sure that the risk was something that we needed that was appropriate the great thing about it was it really did bring down the cost of the project by do continuing design work while we were doing negotiations um and then because if we had if we had not if we don't do an early works agreement then the architecture team would stop until negotiations were done and then there would be startup costs to get them going again that would be um extensive so anyway we had come forward with our report back in february went into lockdown convention center shut down hotels shut down everything shut down and the um and the city budget in particular um had a lot of significant issues that were that were encountered as a result of loss revenue so really was not a time to discuss the additional costs that were necessary to move the project forward so as i noted there were some of the issues the council will need to consider are the additional general fund contribution that would be needed to pay for the project there are additional funds needed to cover the cost for legal fiscal and engineering consultants to bring the project negotiations to conclusion we there's the early works agreement to keep the project moving forward and to save costs and then there was a reduction in the scope of the expansion that had been identified as a cost-saving measure and we wanted to make sure that the council understood that that was part of the program so anyway at this point we are evaluating the process for starting up the project and starting up the negotiations again because we are in a different fiscal situation we do need to revisit the financial model for the project we have our consultants ready to do that work when the time is appropriate to move forward we believe that might be appropriate to start again in the next month or two and there will be just a review of the revenues anticipated for the project a review of the costs cost estimates and then we need to revisit the early works agreement to see how that would be structured because clearly the architect had stopped work as a result of covid and we need to get back into gear and we need to understand how all of these pieces are going to fit together again so our hope is that we can start again the next couple of months and at that i will stop for any questions you might have thanks john appreciate that i know you mentioned there's you foresee some additional costs um that you just mentioned so how does that have a what what are the potential general fund impacts on these additional funds that are needed yeah there there are costs in two ways one is during the negotiations uh we estimate we need about 10 million dollars to cover the consulting costs and that's with the legal negotiations the engineering work and the financial analysis and we have typically used our um our our our bond you know like mikla funding in order to cover those costs and so we would what we do want to engage the cio in looking at that and using that finance resource again but the other big question is the cost of the construction and how we pay for that over time since this is a public-private partnership of p3 there will be an availability payment and we're gauging we've identified the you know we've got current bonds that are in place now those will be paid off so we would continue that payment into the future and then we've identified substantial new revenues that would be able to offset any additional costs those new revenues are in particular from a really incredible signage program that's proposed for the convention center that will really bring the entire district alive and so the um and so but once we put all of those together compared to the actual cost for the project we still were short about five million dollars a year in the availability payment and that would be a new draw on the general fund the general fund is the last remaining source for those costs and so we are we so again we need to revisit all of this because the you know everything is a little different we need to revisit the signage plan and the revenues anticipated from signage and all of the other revenue streams and i'm afraid that that we need to actually revisit the construction costs because there have been reports of a lot of materials delays i just heard there's a national pvc shortage currently and so all of these kinds of material shortages and impacts will affect the cost of the project so we are going to have to look into that as for the negotiations with aeg um what's the current status of those negotiations there any sticking points we need to be aware of not at this point we did continue some negotiations during um the stay-at-home order so that we could at least advance some issues that were um that didn't rely on the the final outcome so there has been uh some work done on the key issues i don't believe there are any sticking points or any problems we just need we actually just need to do the work to be able to sit down and write the documents and um okay so you have been meeting uh periodically even during the the pandemic um for me it's it's getting a deal and getting a deal in place sooner rather than later uh do you when do you anticipate that happening and getting a deal before uh approval before council when i when i'm just saying i just like i'd like to see dates you know trying to get everybody at the table to get this thing done so when when what are your thoughts john uh well two things in the report that we had sent forward last year we anticipated that it we would be able to complete all of the negotiations and all the additional work by the end of 2020 so that was about 10 months so we anticipate that you know we'll start from the assumption of 10 months once we get going on negotiations come back to council for those final actions but what i what i want to highlight is that this is this is the first or one of the first p3 projects the city has ever done and so we are being very careful in our documentation of the deal to make sure that we get it right you know in a p3 and you i'll be talking about this in a different context later on a different in different committee but in a p3 you need to absolutely make sure that your contracts explain all of the responsibilities and all of the obligations identifies key performance indicators and identifies consequences for failing to perform right because we're paying the developer to deliver a massive project and to do it well and to do it under certain circumstances so we need to document that so that we can you know when we're making a payment we're paying for what we paid for right and so the documentation in these initial contracts are extremely important so that once we get into the once we get into the construction and the operations there are no questions about who's responsible for what and so um there's it takes a little bit more time but it's worth it on the back end i just um let's just get it done i i i so pre covered you anticipated this deal to get done by end of 2020. i still haven't heard a date are we looking at q4 of this year q1 of 22 if if we are if we are able to get council direction on starting up again in june then we would be looking at probably april may of 22. why do you need council direction

let's just give you direction now in this committee we need well we need to confirm the amount of money for the project we need to confirm the amount of the general fund approved approved approved go get it done you heard him john let's go okay um i think mr i think some of the other members would have something to say on that i understand listen um okay appreciate that um let's let's um okay and i know we're now um diving into the budget process and i assuming john you're going to go to a budget finance to seek these additional costs that you mentioned earlier yeah yeah our report is still pending in the economic development committee and so we will work with them on scheduling that and revising that as we need and have we turned to lawa who what we see before us is a an incredible p3 project they know clearly how to get it done have we sought their their guidance yes their documents the consultants the legal team that we have um actually had worked on alawa p3 projects before so our legal team is is among the best and they are familiar with lawa and what happened there and other p3 projects so we actually have an excellent legal team advising us and as for do you aside from counsel do you need anything else um to assist getting this deal across the finish line sooner rather than later no not at this point and if we do run into any obstacles we absolutely would bring those forward immediately okay mr lee questions for mr liu or mr wickham uh only more just curious stone like i know that there's always the questions about lack of hotel space and why we don't get more premier conventions so is it really truly just the you know configurant of our of our uh convention center and size that you think is is holding us back it's two things it's the the amount of contiguous space at the convention center that prevents us from getting the largest conventions but even if we are to get them today we do need more hotel rooms so that's always a concern um you should be proud to know that this we've doubled the number of hotel rooms within walking distance since 2013 from 2500 to over 5000 we still need to get to 8 000 hotel rooms within walking distance that was our goal i think we can get there in a couple of years there's enough projects that are in the pipeline and have their entitlements in place that we can get to 8 000 rooms keep in mind that san francisco has over 20 thousand rooms within walking distance of their convention center in and san diego are 13 and 15 000 hotel rooms within there within walking distance of their convention center so eight is a a reachable goal and we should we should do more if we can councilman the convention center expansion project also includes a companion expansion of the jw marriott with 300 rooms um as doan noted the goal has been up to you know a minimum of 8 000 rooms within walking distance of the convention center we are currently preparing a report um as requested by council to evaluate that objective see how close we are and whether that remains in place so we hope to have that report in in late may or june for consideration um the other things related to the convention center that really will put it over the top are as doan said making contiguous space so the west hall on the south hall would be connected and that's part of what this expansion project is um having a unique gathering space so that small groups you know because we're in a different world with you know social media etc the way people meet is different and so the design creates new and different spaces for people to gather and meet and and enjoy their their time together another key feature is actually having the the green line connect from lax all the way to downtown l.a so you could get on a train at lax and arrive in downtown los angeles so it's it's all of these and then actually previously we had already addressed some of the operations issues by having um the the agreement with aeg to operate the convention center so we've been slowly knocking down all of the major um improvements that will actually make the los angeles convention center one of the premier destinations in the united states and in the world people want to come to los angeles we need to give him a reason to come to los angeles thanks sean and doane congratulations on your smart choice of agms thank you councilman appreciate it john to your point of people wanting you to come to los angeles especially your tourism that equates to one of nine jobs my concern continues to be uh the demise of our quality of life on our streets and and what our tourists are seeing in in different parts of the city i'm hoping that we advance some efforts to have some rules and codes of conduct on our streets so that when our tourists come to los angeles they go back to their original point of of origin and speak highly of our city um it just baffled when i visit downtown chicago how beautiful and and spotless and just in pristine um this downtown downtown um chicago is today compared to our downtown we got a lot of work to do um and um the other thing i'm concerned maybe don't um as it relates to hotel rooms on this topic as you know cities being bold as we should be on addressing the homelessness crisis by looking at all solutions and putting forth purchasing hotels with project homekey how is that going to have an impact on our room count when we welcome the world in 2028 or even before that world cup uh in the next few years or so that's a good question um i don't know that we've done a lot of analysis on um on the impact on room availability uh obviously well actually our our economists are are predicting at least four years um i shouldn't say four years 2024 or 2025 before we get to pre-pandemic levels of visitation so we could we could absorb a little bit of decrease in room availability um but like i said before i think there's enough uh projects in the pipeline that if they are uh if they are approved and financed and built then i think we should have plenty of accommodations to welcome our visitors get those shelves in the ground um the assistant gm miss o would you like to contribute miss nakashima miss wiggle on the call here on the zoom um anything comments questions i second mr lee's uh agm appointment team tina it's great to see you so happy for you great to be back at the city and looking forward to working with all of you awesome we knew you'd be back miss nakashima squiggle anything any like to contribute good okay all right so on on this item that thank you mr doan lou uh mr john wick i'm appreciate you and your presentation um john this is a discussion item uh no actions needed mr clerk correct that's correct sir fantastic so with that that concludes today's t3 meeting thank you all for joining us in the words of tom labonz go forth and love and serve the city of los angeles thank you so much thanks for joining us we're adjourned c c c you

2021-05-05 17:27

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