Trade, Travel and Tourism Committee - Aug 20, 2024 02:00 PM

e committee I'm councilwoman Tracy Park chair of the committee Mr clerk would you please call the role thank you um council member Park presid council member moscar here council member Delon council member Delon is currently absent council member price council member price is currently ad abson and council member soda Martinez here um three members and a quorum great thank you Mr clerk so that is going to bring 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 so with that I'm going to call a couple of names you can come and line up here at the podium an new Yen Armando Munoz dwarte Deon Fernando oo o Ooa what name did you you sign up under annin what would you like to be heard on today good afternoon uh item number one all right I am with the Central City Association um we are eager to hear from the CLA and the CAO today um about the report and how and hopeful that there's been positive progress since the last committee meeting um it's worth repeating in our minds that this is a generational project um and a and a critical investment for the economic future of our region the support you here this afternoon and in meetings past um behind the project kind of speak for themselves business labor Civic leaders recognize um the job generation this will create and how it will serve as a catalyst for more continued economic growth thank you to this committee for your vision and continued leadership in helping get this across the finish line Thank you thank you Miss Newan next speaker please come on up hi what name are you signed up under uh good morning uh my name is DTE Deon all right what would you like to be heard on I would like to speak on everything all right go ahead uh start with the number eight uh thank you so much Sergeant DTE for allowing me a chance to speak today number eight is about a cd1 uh business uh Chinatown business improvement district so um every time I see business Improvement it's always reminds me something that I learned from Sergeant DTE so when you when you want to improve the business now if the shop owner if the store owner have always in fear of their store gonna be looted gonna be robbed gonna be you know criminalized they there's no there's no such thing as business Improvement if the Shopper if the tourist uh touring person the the guest traveler are having fear of their safety of going to a store in Chinatown if Sergeant Duarte cannot make sure everyone shop in there it's safe then there's nothing we can talk about we can never improve the business uh improvement district so I want to make sure that when we want to improve the business we improve safety first that's the key number nine uh switch to uh city4 my hero my personal role model Kevin Deon District what unique is about the downtown uh business improvement district what unique about downtown is the people the homeless people are using downtown district as a public toilet it is it is this is not a crime to leave on uh to leave on the street however but when hundreds of people thousands of people just urinate defecate anywhere you want in the downtown business uh District how can you improve the downtown business that's what I want to know so when we are talking about the travel committee touring committee when people com to downtown La all they smell is urine and the feces how can you improve the business in downtown district instead of isolating council member Kevin Delon I wish our council member can work continue collaborate with council member Kevin dlion for our uh general public comment uh go back to the um Public Safety um right now the city of La uh I'm not only talking about a tourist I'm talking about every single homo homoion uh our safety are in jardy so I what I see the hotel whenever a tour a touring group they come here they have to leave in the hotel but if if we see that our hotel uh uh security member cannot make sure the hotel is safe or if we are going to the shopping center the target the Starbucks the you know whatever store Walmart whatever store are continue to have those safety issues that I really wish our council member working collab collaboratively with our Sergeant DTE because if anyone can solve the safety of the city that will be my favorite friend Sergeant DTE all right thank you sir next speaker please what name did you sign up under arando MOS uh I'm I'm here in general comment okay great go ahead all right thank you how's it going everybody arando MOS I've been working at the airport for the past 14 years we've be coming here here for almost over a year trying to get ready to study out I'm a proud member from sciu local usfw I'm also here with my brothers and sisters for unite here um we urge you to not only stand with us but do everything you can to ensure the living wage ordance is pushed forward as soon as possible we've been waiting too damn long um as well as you know tourism is booming Los Angeles at well will keep growing as we prepare to host the global events in 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Olympics unfortunately the people who make tourism possible LA airport workers hter workers we are struggling we do not earn enough to pay rent during an unprecented housing crisis and healthcare costs are sparing faster than HealthCare coverage we can keep up with many of us are struggling to survive in the city's current living wage tourist and workers often face food insecurities and housing Securities we are forced to work two jobs and we should not be struggling a damn city that we run so please do everything you can to get the study out the way thank you all right thank you sir Fernando Ooa I think you're up next and I'm call a few more names you can come get in line Jessica Durham John Coley jovon Houston Laura esal what would you like to be heard on Sir item number one regarding the coun the convention center project all right go ahead thank you council members my name is fernan I'm with smart local 105 sheet metal air Rail and transportation workers uh that's my day-to-day job however I'm here um here speaking and representing the the rest of the LC Building Trades Council which represents 48 local affiliates over 15 2,000 members uh ahead of the report for the convention center project we just want to express our our continued support for the countless jobs that will be created for angelinos uh and the immense economic growth uh that we will see as we prepare for the Olympics um not just uh for just any angelinos here in our city but those who need a second chance and those from under represented groups for example to the Building Trades Council we've ever apprentiship Readiness program that we continue to support for the last few years that we created in 2019 um we've got folks it's about 90% people of color 19% women in the Building Trades which is unheard of national average is about 6.5% um and then now um and we're also just pushing to bring in more B into the trade and so um we just want to create more jobs for those folks uh here in the city of Los Angeles thank you thank you sir next speaker come on up and tell me what name you signed up under Jessica dur all right what would you like to be heard on uh both item one and general public comment okay go ahead than you good afternoon my name is Jessica Durham with Lane I'm our policy director and leading our tourism workers Rising campaign for item one uh we stand in in solidarity and support our partners in the labor in the Building Trades um in support of the expansion of the convention center we need good tourism jobs um and that includes the building of our tourism infrastructure making sure we have pla good wages and working conditions this also includes the workers who keep the convention center running like the concession concession workers and good tourism jobs also includes the workers who greet workers at LAX and take care of workers at hotels across the city um so for my general public comment I'm here today along with the tourism workers who've been coming to every single one of these meetings for I don't know how many months now um the policy to raise the wage for airport and hotel workers it's long overdue uh Council requested a report from the CLA well over a year ago um which again is not even a legal requirement you know it's a pol it's entirely political right so this delay a real cost um you see workers have signs you know a thousand more dollars per month could help me with you know what I could help them with that's not a complicated economic modeling software thing that's basic that's the difference between the current living wage um at airport at at LAX in hotels and $26 which is where it would be based on the original motion by 2024 right so $6 an hour difference 40 hours a week four weeks in a month that comes out to $1,000 and that's not a small amount right it would be lifechanging and life saving for many for over a year workers have been coming to council and this committee sharing their stories of struggling to stay housed and to keep up with the rising cost of healthare so any further delays simply and acceptable we urge you again to PRI prioritize this matter um we call for the immediate release of the CLA report and for this to be agendized at your next meeting on September 3rd so that this can move forward in Council thank you so much thank thank you Mr durum next speaker please what name did you sign up under uh Javon Houston all right what would you like to be heard on a general public comment all right you've got a minute go ahead hi um I'm here once again to urge you to take action now on the policy to update this lion wage policy for airport workers and hotel workers uh this delay has a real cost to workers like myself by losing $1,000 a month is serious to me recently my rent was increased by $150 that cost will help me a lot additional to my son um doing things like Mommy and Son things that would help I'm not able to do that because of my income I have to take time to do side jobs just to pay my bills Tracy I want to ask you a personal question why are you allowing workers in your District to suffer why are you allowing them to lose their houses that's what I I want to know thank you thank you ma'am next speaker what name did you sign up under com okay what would you like to okay thank you go ahead my name is La I've been working at Alx for 22 years us ww and I am a proud member of laww I'm here once again to ur you to take measures about this policy to update this the salary a worth salary for workers of airports and hotels this delay has a real cost for workers like me we are losing right now about $11,000 a month with this quantity I could fix my car that is broken right now it's and it's a really important thing to me because I work at night and I have medical bills to pay and I I'm going from check to check from wage to wage we are calling you to release and publish the the report and we urge you to put this policy in your calendar for next meeting on September 3rd we need a word salary right now we need need award salary and we deserve it as workers and human beings that we are thank you thank you ma'am John Coy I think you're up next I'm gonna call a couple of other names so folks can line up behind you Millie Haron Nigeria Lin Robert noff Sonia Saron Mr Cy what would you like to be hear it on uh thank you councilman for hearing us today uh I'm here on behalf of local a31 trade installers in Southern California uh we're the body that installs the shows coming in and out we have been behind this project since it was Farmers field urging the council today to please continue to consider this measure it is instrumental in the lives of these people who are starting out their careers these apprentices here behind me uh they have children they have dependents uh they earn their their retirement their health care and a living wage out of that Center and uh we have many jobs once this expansion that we can put on careers life careers so thank you for your consideration to thank you sir all right can our next speaker come on up let me know what name you signed up under please um Nigeria L all right what would you like to be heard on Miss lurkin General all right you've got one minute go ahead my name is njia lens I work at P lag I've been there for two and a half years and I live in the for district I'm a party member of L 11 the reason why I'm here today is to fight for our pay to go up to $25 and $1,000 more the reason I'm here is because right now I'm struggling living paycheck to paycheck my rent went up $200 I have medical bills to pay for my mom and my son and I live payche to paycheck so I'm asking you can you please put this on your ballot for September 3D and take us in consideration because like I said it's hard right now right now for me especially I'm the only one working so I take care with my alien mother and my alien my sick son and I have to pay for the medication out of my pockets so can you please take us ination and put it on B September 3D thank you m Larin can our next speaker step up please hi what name did what name did you sign up under my name is I've been six years working for I am a single mother I have a child that is 11 year old I share the house with another family my payment is $1,000 plus I have two jobs to pay my bills I only take a rest one day a week because I have to work part time cleaning a house every day I have to follow up with my expenses and I manage my bject so that I could complete my payments at the end of the month for me the the law of award salary and the additional $11,000 that money would help me and would alleviate my expenses because I leave day by day with the monthly budget We call we urge you so that the report is published immediately and so that they can work so to increase the salary of the workers tourism workers in your next um um me meeting on September 3rd we need an Olympic salary right now this petition is not only on my behalf for me but for hundreds of workers that are in the same situation thank you thank you ma'am hi good afternoon what would you like to be heard on uh good afternoon Madam chair Park uh Rob Noto Los Angeles County Federation of Labor to speak on items one in general public comment all right you've got two minutes go ahead good after good afternoon members of the committee and thank you for staying here in Los Angeles while several of our other folks are out there in the midwest again Rob notop with the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor where we represent over 800,000 workers union workers across LA County all the union members included in this room who are part of our Federation and we're here to and speak and remind this body about our strong support for the convention center expansion from our from our perspective this is a solution to the jobs crisis that plagues working class angelinos the convention center expansion will result in thousands of good union construction jobs uh that open up career Pathways out of poverty for local residents via skilled and trained Workforce and apprenticeship Readiness programs like you heard about uh the convention center expansion will lead to hundreds of new permanent union jobs for workers at the convention center and additional job placement opportunities at trade shows and conventions and some of the skilled TR uh the job skills within the staging crafts are transferable not just in the convention center but also into Hollywood sets and live entertainment so somebody could the skills that they learn at the convention center could be transferred to a Hollywood set a resident could learn skills there move on to working at a live show at the Greek Theater and on and on so again this is a remedy to the jobs crisis um as for the general public comment um speaking about our jobs crisis uh we also stand the LA fed with the tourism workers uh here today fighting for an Olympic wage that policy has been delayed for far too long and the FED joins uh everybody's call here uh for the clor report to be released immediately and for the it to be agendized at the next uh hearing on September 3rd as a reminder workers are losing out under approximately $250 every week that the Olympic wage is delayed and as we see it wages delayed or wages denied our tourism workers are the faces that greet visitors and tourists when they arrive in Los Angeles they make people feel at home and they ensure that everyone has a pleasant experience when they're here in the City of Angels so again they're also going to be vital to making sure that the LA 28 games surpass what was just done two weeks ago welcome back from Paris by the way uh and so let's keep this moving and remind the world about why we're the City of Angels thank you thank you Mr nof next speaker please come on up Miss Heron Millie Heron going once going twice no Millie Haron all right Sonia siron M siron all right that's everybody on my list is there anybody else who would like to off offer public comments anyone going once one more all right I finally had a take her I know tell me your name and what would you like to be heard on my name isand Pera and I'm here for a general public comment all right you've got a minute go ahead uh I worked at Termino 2 and Tom Bradley for three years uh and I live in district 15 I'm here once again to urge you to take action on the policy to update update our living wge policies for airport and hotel workers the delay has a real cause for workers like me we're now losing out on about $1,000 a month with that amount I could afford food and gas for the whole month without having to ask family or my partner for help we call for the CLA report to be released immediately and we urge you to put this policy on the calendar for the next meeting on September 3rd we need an Olympic wage now thank you well done thank you sir all right anybody else Last Chance going on once going twice all right that concludes public comments thank you all for being here today um colleagues unless there are any objections I would like to move items two through 18 on consent none no objection all right Mr clerk would you please call the role thank you Madame chair council member Park yes council member moscar yes council member Del yon is absent council member price is absent council member Sodom marz yes yes that is three yeses and these items are approved on consent thank you very much that will take us to item one if you would please read the item thank you item number one is a verbal report from the chief legislative analyst and the city administrative officer relative to the Los Angeles Convention Center modernization and Expansion Project all right well I'm glad to have Matt here with us um is it just you today oh no there's John all kinds of all right entry I love it uh so colleagues when we approved this item in this Committee in June uh I made it crystal clear that if we were going to expand and modernize the convention center we needed to be absolutely certain that we can complete the project in time for the 2028 Olympic Games those are right around the corner and there really can be no room for error so to achieve certainty and ensure the all Hands-On deck approach that is going to be required for this undertaking we ask for these monthly verbal reports from the CAO and the CLA so that we can identify any potential friction points or changes to the budget or project schedules um and most critically if there's any indication that project completion isn't feasible we really shouldn't be spending any money uh moving it forward if we're not going to be able to get it done so uh Matt and John thank you both for being here uh I know you and a number of City departments have been hard at work on this so we're all looking forward to hearing the update okay very good thank you uh Madam chair Matt Zabo CEO here with John Wickham from the CLA uh so for the last month or since this was approved by Council the uh City staff has been fully organized uh to uh move the early works and the initial work for this project forward we've been uh organized in a number of areas we have a internal City Planning Group a signage working group a revenue and finance working group a technical working group uh and then a number of other uh groups where we're coordinating with apcl our partners coordinating meeting a technical requirements meeting uh and then of course we have a decisions committee to make decisions in a in a Nimble way with the CAO CLA and Bureau of engineering the way that um we would look at the work that's happening now uh between now and when we bring the project agreement should we bring the project agreement to the to the council is we have a a stream of work um under the technical category uh we have a revenue and affordability uh category and then a legal and business uh category and all of these streams of work are happening and moving forward at the same time so on the technical front um we on the schedule um our partners at apcl maintain that the project uh can be completed on schedule they've provided an updated schedule uh Bureau of engineering is currently reviewing that schedule uh additional key issues that uh we're working on uh is the entire scope of the technical requirements uh identifying a risk register uh for the ultimate uh agreement and activating a permitting review group uh some of the items uh that are are front and center are the uh issues all issues around the closure of Pico uh and the uh issues around uh Gil Lindsey Plaza the design of Gil Lindsey Plaza and how that moves forward and the design of the signage uh on the uh revenue and affordability front uh we're working to build a new financial model um updated with the information specific to this project so again since we're not doing the public private partnership um and we're not uh doing the traditional delivery me uh method we're uh updating our financial model um on the signage uh front uh which is critical to the affordability of of this project we're updating our Revenue projections and uh we're working with apcl on who will be responsible for the purchase and the installation of the signage uh and then on the parking and events Revenue we're working to update these projections and we'll have those uh for the committee uh in a future report um on the legal and business front uh as you know you as you authorized um there will be two uh agreements the early Works agreement uh and that should be signed shortly we're working out the final issues on that uh currently we expect that to be uh ready to be signed very shortly and then the overall uh project agreement uh so we have uh retained outside Council um we have uh we are working and engag with apcl on initial uh drafts of the project agreement and um and again as it relates to the project agreement you know that is the area where uh we will have uh and the council will need to make its best subjective uh judgment and decision uh on whether the project agreement the ultimate project agreement is sufficient there are three main areas uh or occurrences that uh could prevent this project from moving forward um you have the construction timeline um Can the work be completed on time that is a that will ultimately be a yes or no determination either can or it can't the second um uh area is financial feasibility or in infeasibility can the project be done on budget uh on one side and on the other side can the city realize the necessary Revenue to support the cost um these are largely yes or no questions of course as we're working through for example on the signage front um decisions on how that is structured lead will lead directly to that yes or no uh answer as to whether we can afford the project uh it will be highly dependent on whether we are able to secure the revenue uh needed to cover the costs of our debt service and then lastly the project agreement um we will need a project agreement that sufficiently protects the city um and a project agreement that incentivizes ontime performance so we need an agreement that ties compensation to an ons schedule uh performance at the agreed upon scope and we would need an agreement with an appropriate allocation of risk uh and what I mean by appropriate is that the risk needs to be allocated in a manner that maintains the project schedule the project scope uh and the budget uh and with that we'll open it for questions on any of those items if you'd like to go into detail uh CLA can go as far into detail as you'd like John anything you want to add um first off I would like to say uh express our gratitude to all of the Departments the apcl team the J PW JV and populous The Architects everybody has marshaled all of the resources that are absolutely necessary to get this massive project moving and this really is a massive under undertaking that everybody's involved with um so and and I also want to express my gratitude for their patience because there are lots of opportunities to step on people's toes and step on people's feet everybody has been extremely patient they've um been moving the resources in place to do this work um to meet the instructions the council and the mayor have given us to do this to get it done in time for the Olympics so at this point I will I will I just want to make it clear that everybody's doing absolutely everything possible to provide the resources in answer the questions and do the work necessary to get it done so it's it's been um very positive work effort on everybody's part we've developed a project management scheme that is actually very productive and I think can be used in a number of other things that the city does in the future I think we really are learning a lot of things that are very helpful on this um so with that said um I can provide additional detail on any of these um areas that you might have um some additional questions about all right well thank you for that and Mr Ram I just want to Echo your sentiment of gratitude about the city departments I know that every time we give an instruction or ask for assistance and support to get something done we are taking people off of other work and other things that need to be done and I understand understand the finite resources to go around I know that there are many many people that have come together to help us achieve this Herculean task that is not going to be easy so thank you for the update um I'll kick us up kick us off with a few questions um I seem to recall that the term sheet listed the early Works agreement as having a completion date of July 26 2024 uh we are past that at this point so does that in any way impact or delay uh the project schedule no it doesn't uh the work is is um still continuing and um and again we're doing uh all of the the work that needs to be done in this phase uh it's been uh it's being done on Parallel tracks we're not waiting for one thing to be done for the other thing to start so um short answer is no um and as I said in the in the opening we do expect that to be uh fully executed uh within a very short period of time okay what does a very short period of time mean a couple of weeks a couple weeks couple weeks at the at the outset yeah yeah we're at the very last couple of issues okay great um so H H have there been any changes uh to the total not to exceed budget amount of 1.4 billion or additional value engineering we have we dived into the substance on that yet on the on the price no because we're still working on developing that model uh the CEO has a work stream that's working on that in detail and we had yet another meeting on that today um and we're working on the revenues as well as the cost side of it part of the cost um exercise that will'll be going forward is uh the developer going out to the market and pricing the sub trades and that work actually happens in November so that's when we're going going to get a much finer detail on the cost component of it but we are not seeing and we're not um suggesting or indicating that there's going to be anything more than 1.4 billion available

to you once we have all of that data down at the end of the day if it gets to a question of um what that 1.4 million means with regard to delivering the project we will definitely bring that forward to you so there there is one uh one area uh that is currently under discussion that could have the effect of increasing the scope slightly and that is uh the uh purchase and installation of the signage and whether we fold that into the deal if we did fold that into the agreement then you would see uh a slightly higher overall cost but that would be due to the um to the adding of that scope that work has to happen either the city needs to to to uh to do it itself uh and uh procure the signage and install the signage uh it may be beneficial to the project that it be done uh under the same umbrella okay um so what kind of actions or tools or strategies do we have in the toolkit to expedite delivery well what go ahead go ahead so the one comment that we received from the PW JV is that we don't have a completion problem we have a start problem they're confident that if we get to the start deadline that is in the schedule they can finish it now we know that there are risks that happen during construction weather risks earthquakes other sorts of risks that we can work to identify but they they have told us that that their biggest concern in the schedule is the ability to get through this initial early Works process so you know they built you know they built the Staple Center in 18 months and so they they said they they point to that and say look this is what we're capable of doing we feel that we can produce and deliver in the same time frame so that's the work that we're trying to do is manage the risk in this period that we're in now with the early works as well as identify ways that we can manage risk under the project agreement standpoint right so as Matt mentioned one of the exercises we're doing now we're very focused on is the risk registry and we're identifying all of the risks and where they fall what is the degree of risk is it a cost risk is it a schedule risk who's going to bear that risk how does that work into the into the agreements that we're working on and one of the things that we are now talking about doing is how do we add that risk conversation during this early works period into each of the meetings that we have on a weekly and daily basis so that we're constantly checking against that to to address it and move it forward we don't let those risks sit until it's too late okay thank you um Mr rham so I also wanted to just mention and thank City tourism for uploading their report about resources they thought they might need uh to implement the early Works agreement and luckily they didn't require any but as you have been engaging with our city departments are you getting requests for extr capacity or staff or resources to help drive this not at this time and I do I do want to um recognize Bureau of engineering that has really uh stepped up and marshal the resources they need they're absolutely critical to really all of the decisions that are being made right now um but but I I feel good about uh our capacity to to do the work that City needs to do on our our side um a a big a critical component to the schedule uh is the permitting issues and so we're working very hard and uh building a safety is heavily involved on making all the determinations we need to make on the front end so that there are no surprises uh as we get further down the road as to additional components that may be required uh due to the nature of the project it's a great idea keep them close and in the loop as things move forward and get a lot of that work front loaded so that we don't have issues similar to what we saw at the airport yeah Boe is Awesome by the way thank you guys for being here he really really impressed me every time thank you and and we have we have structured it to be very careful that we don't because we have everything we've been talking about is our proprietary responsibilities and rights with the city building and safety has regulatory responsibilities and so they have an entirely separate team that's focused on the regulatory components and they have obligations under the law in that and so we're making sure there's communication between those paths but we don't want to cross-contaminate or put anybody at risk as a result of those Communications so we're being very careful and of that good well I know that we are putting a lot of Demands on you and as we prep for the Olympics certainly in 20128 but the world cup and a whole bunch of other big things that are coming to La I know that we are putting a lot of Demands on you and other stuff as well so I um let's keep an eye on that yes uh because we all need to be rowing in the same direction and delivering on the same Suite of projects um over the next few years so I don't have any other questions right now thank you both really appreciate the appreciate the update uh colleagues all right council member mccosar the floor is yours thanks so much those are great questions so the I really appreciate your comment that we don't have a problem with the the sort of the duration it's a starttime problem and the start time is not just processing permits it's really doing all that risk analysis and and making sure that you have a sort of a critical path make sure we collectively have a critical path uh invariably though we are going to hit challenges is there is there a you know knowing that things will happen that are unforeseen is there a way to create an expedited resolution process because the greatest challenge that public and private developers have of any project is just the stop time when something bad happens yes how do we work through those issues without encumbering ourselves with our own you know due process procedural stuff that's important but we need to make sure that we don't put ourselves in a position where we're sitting around for 30 days because somebody correctly at fire said you know move the sprinkler from here to there right all right so I'll I'll take that I mean that's that's the um that is the critical nature of developing the risk register yeah what what we will be doing is going through every possible uh risk whether it's a delay in in procurement or something else uh and we'll be assigning not just who would be responsible for mitigating uh that occurrence but the plan the mitigation plan um as I said as we're as we're developing this agreement our definition of sufficiently protecting the city is protecting the schedule and protecting the budget so much of the work that's happening right now and will happen over the next month or two is identifying all those risks assigning those risks to either the city or the contractor and then identifying exactly what the mitigation would be uh and then on the front end being able to determine whether that is um an acceptable risk to the city if it would add a little bit more money would it still uh would it still work within the overall project budget should that occurrence take place so that is that is the work that is going to inform the project agreement that's the work that has to happen to determine whether we can do this on time yeah because when problems happen I mean Staples did Go in fast went in really really fast and it was that was a great experience um but when problems happen there's two ways to solve them to either have some resolution process that is not doesn't require extraordinary expense or just throw a ton of money at it yeah you know which we're not going to have that option we have it has to be the former I mean I think about um Disney Hall Disney Hall has absolutely no right angles and I remember that the day to day um onsite sort of decisions that folks were making literally in the field making decisions that were not some not driven by building code you remember that one right I'm looking at that so we we really have to have sort of some sort of a a safe effective you know lawful but quick resolution process in the field otherwise we're going to blow our time or we're going to blow our money yeah so in this early workspace um I can I'm one of the least important people on this project I have eight standing meetings on my calendar either on a weekly or bi-weekly or monthly basis yeah you know so there is no lack of opportunity for people to communicate in a meeting when something comes up as as an issue or a problem there are meetings kept their minutes kept on the meeting so we were keeping track of action items and who's responsible for following up on those things so there should not be any excuse or reason that a key issue is not brought forward identified and addressed um on this early WIS period now in terms of the actual construction period there's probably work that we need to do with building and safety to identify exactly the kind of decision- making processes in place in the field in the field decisions somebody with authority and that's one of the challenges always in the middle of the order in our organization is who has authority to do what and and folks have to be empowered in the field to be able to make those decisions really just my last thing and I don't know if it's a question or an observation but I mean the the critical paths are time we have we have to fit within it time we have to fit within dollars and we have to have a we have to fit the plan to make sure it's feasible to construct I mean those are all the walls of a of this box we have some control over all of them by as in this phase where we're looking at exactly what we're going to build I mean is there a moment at which we do um sort of value engineering and make make changes to make sure that we can fit within budget we can fit within time we can fit within feasibility are there changes to the program itself to the construction program itself that you'd be considering down this path before you say yes or no so that that that hasn't uh ultimately we may get there and we'll have to make a decision but the the three needles that we have to thread as I said is uh the the timeline the budget and the scope because if you know you could eat you can meet the budget if you if you are not meeting the scope and that's not what we're looking for we're not looking for a diminished project at the same price just to meet the timeline so those are the judgments that the council will have to make and the recommendations that we'll make once this initial phase uh is complete or nearly complete right and I don't want to go on that that path too early but I and I only speak for myself I would be one that would say if if the scope is this if the scope is unchangeable and that takes us off path takes us off budget I mean I I would want the ability and I might I'm not speaking for the council want the ability to say okay well this modification of scope is worth it to hit budget or to hit we're already identifying opportunities for that and when we have greater detail in specificity we can certainly provide that for here I'm not asking to do it I'm just suggesting we're it's absolutely on our mind all right thank you thank you madam chair all right council member soda Martinez yes thank you so muchad Madam chair um can we I want to sort of dig in a little bit on the financial feasibility and sort of R I think I didn't quite catch all the re the revenue stuff you were talking about but can you go a little bit into the financial feasibility like what exactly are you are you looking for here what are you going to analyze so there's there's the two two components one is um Can this project be done at scope um at the cost that has been uh suggested and that is the $ 1.4 billion construction cost I'll put the aster on that um for the signage if we move the signage to the project that would be a an increase in the scope and so there would be an increase in costs but that's a cost the city will have to bear regardless um and then we need to look at the revenue side and there are three main sources of revenue that will help the city and will be essential for the city to be able to afford the the sizable Debt Service um for a $ 1.4 billion project and that is that is the signage the digital signage uh that is the parking and that is the events Revenue uh the parking and the events Revenue are going to be uh relatively static we're updating our our assumptions um and our projections on that um and as I said at a future meeting we'll be able to to share some of that to to give this body uh indication whether whether they're hitting their targets whether the updated projections hit their targets uh I think the biggest variable in in the revenue picture is signage and signage size signage placement all of that um directly impacts the revenue uh and so that is a more complicated um process and we are in the middle of working that out right now um our position has been um and will necessarily be that we need to maximize the revenue associated with signage and so that means that that's going to that may cause some decisions in other areas you're going to need bigger signs you're going to need more signs in order to meet the revenue targets and so that may mean that you're not going to have room to do other things that you might like to do um but if we're going to do this um we need to maximize the revenue that we can bring in and so um you know th that will certainly be the recommendations from this office sure yeah and appreciate you saying that so digital signage parking events Revenue are you where do Toc additional possible Toc Revenue f u the hotel tax yeah the hotel rooms so that is um that that is on the general fund side so this um those three areas are the direct um Revenue that the project itself would generate and then there are the other categories of Revenue that are you know um that are that are projections that we have done that our our consultant has done on the overall economic impact and how that will uh increase the general fund Revenue that will ALS that will further uh that will further help um uh the city cover these costs um we would look at um you know we're going to also need to to update those numbers as well and we will bring uh we'll bring those projections to you at a at a future grobal report so so it sounds like you're really looking at it in I don't know it's four bucket well two buckets direct source revenue and then indirect Source correct so those need to be both of those need to be updated okay um regard regarding the financial feasibility and this something I talked about last time right it's like we won't according to the report we won't make a first payment on the debt obligations until I think 2028 um but if we look towards that picture we know that our city contracts will be expiring and renegotiated again I think all of them I think at that point will be renegotiated right right in the summer of 2028 uh if we look at today's uh school year we I mean I'm saying we're already over our liability payments we're going to have to move some money around and you know it's like this year does not look good either and so one of the things that I've been I've been pressing on is in this in this budget year we had to make decisions about Staffing but we were looking a few years ahead right and that's we were all briefed on this we're like sort of the two little lines were're sort of meeting and we're going to reach parody and then all of a sudden 2028 there's a potential of now having I think it was around $80 million to the general fund in this finan and and considering that I I would still like to see where we gonna get that money from because what I what I what I what I personally my personal approach is when I make a decision I need that decision needs to be transparent to the public even if we are looking you know four years in advance right and and that's every every council member I think should make that decision we're going to do this this is where we think we're gonna have to find the money from it's not exact because obviously we still have a lot of discretion over the budgetary process the mayor has her presentation of the budget but there has to be some sort of transparency to the public of where we're gonna find that money because and then and I and I'll be very transparent about my concern I don't want to be in budget year 20 if I'm still here right in 28 29 where we have to make Productions to our family Source centers or our senior meals or say to the public well now the sidewalks you know get repaired every 10 years and 12 years now your tree trimming is going to go from you know a you know fiveyear cycle whatever it is to the eight-year cycle because those are yeah 17e cycle I thought it was less than that so those decisions have to be transparent to the public and so in the financial feasibility are you is how much detail can we go into that when you present to this body we will go so number one um I I couldn't agree with you more the CEO's office couldn't agree with you more when we're uh obligating the city to long-term um obl costs long-term expenses um we we have to identify the revenue in order in order to cover those costs the part of the determination of um Financial feasibility is is you know when we when we studied this project um over the last several months the question is um will this yield a greater benefit to the city um broadly than than U than not doing the project and um it evidence suggests that it will be a significant um increase in a significant economic engine um not just for downtown Los Angeles but but Citywide um but that's where when when we are digging down into these Revenue uh the revenue generation of the project itself that's going to that will determine my office's recommendation as much as anything So currently on our on our schedule in the documents that we provided you in Prior meetings our debt service schedule yes it would be our debt service would begin in 2028 out of the general fund um there would be a smaller first uh a smaller initial payment and then after that for the next 29 years would be about $97 million a year for for Debt Service that's our estimate we're still doing um significant work on on on what it would actually look like but that that is our estimate um the revenue projections um on the additional on the signage Revenue the additional events revenue and the additional parking revenue is about $96 million a year so what we would look to uh ensure is that the additional Revenue that is coming from the expansion um would be as close as possible to our annual Debt Service as we can get so that we can then um realize the benefits of the expanded project as it relates to the business tax the sales tax the tot and all of that um if it falls short of that then we would need to make uh a decision and that may affect our our recommendation as to whether we move forward yeah okay no thank you for saying that um I mean that's that's that's sort of my my bigger point and look and I we have our labor Partners here you know nobody's more prun than I am but the decision that we make in the city has to be transparent right great creating great jobs I'm all for it but we have to have transparency and if we make that decision then we need to know where what's going to be affected right and I think that's just that's the most important thing to me so uh look forward to next month these report thank you very good very wise and insightful comments and remarks I think we all need to have our Eyes Wide Open about what the financial obligations are going to be and we all realize that we have a finite po of resources and a whole lot of Demands on our city budget and so that is something that we will keep a very Hawk Eye on as you continue to bring these reports forward I don't have um any other questions at this point so Matt um and John thank you as always for being here and taking the time and answering our questions um I am encouraged that there seems seems to be a collective sense of urgency about doing this doing this right um and getting it done so I will look forward to seeing you uh at our next meeting and since this was a discussion item there is no action for us to take Mr clerk is there anything else before the committee no Madam chair the desk is clear all right this meeting is

2024-08-23 17:10

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