Recommendation to receive and file a report on the financial assistance accepted by the City of Long Beach, as of June 30, 2020, under Resolution No. RES-20-0049 to respond to the proclaimed emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic; and Increase appropriations in several funds across several departments for various COVID-19-related grant opportunities. (Citywide)
Thank you very much. Now we'll go to item 29. Could you please read the. Report from Financial Management? A recommendation to receive and file a report on the financial assistance accepted by the city as of June 30th, 2020, to respond to the proclaimed emergency due to the COVID 19 pandemic citywide. Yes. Could we have a brief financial footing on this? Yes. John GROSS will get a brief report. Thank you. Good evening. Council the city has been active in getting grants for COVID and has been very aggressive in doing that. As part of that, the City Council authorized the city manager to approve grants without going to city council when necessary. But we had to report back. This is a report of eight grants that were received through June of 2020 that were not directly approved by council when we're here by reporting them to you. They totaled to about $40 million and they're listed in the fiscal impact discussion. In September, we will bring you a new report for any grants received after June 30th. That does not include a lot of other grants that have already gone to council. Big example is the CARES Act, which went to council separately. That concludes my report. Thank you very much. I didn't have any problem coming in this item. Yes, there's public comment on this item. Our first speaker is Jeffrey Roe. Your time starts now. Yeah. Hi, my name is Jeff Brown, and I'm the owner of the Hideaway restaurant Pontiac Cocina and rounding third sports bar in Long Beach. I've been I've been a resident here for. Over 20 years in a business owner for eight and am responsible for 100 over 100 employees here in Long Beach. They are my friends. They are my family and our industry, as you've heard in the news throughout the night, is in trouble as well as everybody else's. So I'm asking that we are hoping to allocate. More. Than a general share to full service restaurant of the CARES Act money based on whatever formula they want to, whether it's sales tax or sales or loss of sales. You know, any any help is greatly appreciated. But we need. We need help. I thank you for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker is John Edmund. Your time starts now. Hi. Ah, well, vice mayor of City Council has stepped outside of large, large purchases like cars. TV's full service restaurants really provided much needed sales tax revenue. And as we know, and I think several council members pointed out in movie theaters, bars and retail are equally sort of being disproportionately impacted versus grocery stores and fast casual restaurants that have drive thrus and so forth. Although drive thru restaurants are probably impacted not to the greatest extent as full service restaurants. So all that we ask is that you allow staff the discretion to, of course, view these funds for small businesses through an equity lens because they think that's, of course, very important, but also allow them to wait it based on a needs assessment of those who are disproportionately impacted by COVID of opening and closing and opening again, and more specifically, create a backstop for those sales tax revenue businesses that are going to be able to assist the city as we grow out of this crisis into fulfillment. I think everybody thinks the first quarter of next year we're looking at a sort of a W recovery and we just got to get these guys and gals through the finish line into the first quarter and everything you can do to greatly appreciate it. Thank you for your time and have a great night. Thank you. Our next speaker is Karen. Go. Starts now. Yeah. Hi, Kiran. No, no, wait. Restaurant at Long Beach Exchange District. I want to take the record that John Keisler stole most of my talking points. I'm 25, is an informed fellow. But, you know, what we're asking for is really for the city to take a look at the COVID funds that have come in, how many are allotted to small businesses, and on the assumption that not all small businesses are struggling the same way. So in this example, it's really about quick service restaurants, fast food restaurants doing pretty decent, but full sit down restaurants really struggling through this pandemic. So if you look at the numbers, you know, most restaurants only make 6% and profitability is on average. That means $0.94 goes back into the economy and every dollar is coming in. So I think from a city perspective, investing in restaurants is a smart thing to do, knowing that the amount of people that we employ and also the sales tax that we generate. Appreciate your time. Thank you very much. Thank you. Our next speaker is Michael Dean. Your time starts now. Michael Dean. Michael Dean, your time starts now. Our next speaker is Mike Merchant's in your time starts now. Good evening, Vice Mayor and city council members. I know we spoke and I am 25. I'm 29. As John GROSS pointed out, is about 40 million from the CARES Act. Funding of that 4.1 million was for small business and the restaurant industry. Specifically, the full service restaurant industry is in that 4.1 million. What I'm asking for you to do is give the discretion to city staff to identify any and all funding that is out there, because that 4.1 million, when you look at what it impacts, was with restaurants, with salons, with retail and all that. There is no way that there's going to be any strong dollar amount coming out of that per grant. So I'm asking for you to work with John Keiser. And his team was terrific, by the way, to see what kind of grants or loans to me coming up with to help out these full service industries who need the funding right now. They can't wait for a second or third round. They need it right now. Thank you very much. Thank you. Mike Newfield, your time starts now. Thank you. Good evening, Vice Mayor and council members, this is Mike Neufeld. I own the Gaslamp Restaurant over in the third district. And so many of my colleagues tonight have already spoken and spoken well to all the issues that face us, as well as a number of the council members. I can't emphasize enough just a little bit of color here. The fact that we really have have endured massive losses going into our six months of doing so here into the month of August. And the vast majority of us are individual owners of full service restaurants here and really key to any kind of economic transition or recovery that that the council members and John Koestler speak of and speak to in terms of the goals of the city. And number one in that we think is jobs. Our ability to stay in business really lends itself to keeping thousands of employees employed in the city of Long Beach. It's as simple as that. And we're running out of gas. We're running out of money, and we're holding on and fighting the good fight. We need whatever support for the city that the city can give us and echo my colleagues and my fellow restaurant owners and our request to really look at those funds, dig deep and get creative and really look at our industry as one that contributes greatly to the city of Long Beach. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Rod Frontenac. Your time starts now. Hello, Vice Mayor Council and city staff Rod Tarantino, resident homeowner in the third district, also managing member and operator of three restaurants here in Long Beach that employs over 150 people that are spread all across all nine districts of the city of Long Beach. And I'm just I spoke earlier a little bit about item number 25, but this somewhat relates item 29 here. As far as the grants, you know, I believe that the grants, as it relates to our industry is all in an effort to allow these businesses us to stay in business and be of service to the community, pay our sales tax, payroll tax, keep people employed and keep the sense of community going throughout this entire city. I think most people know we do play a vital part, not only in the sense of community throughout the city, but more importantly, we really do have an impact on the our guests and our employees and the city financially . Once again, a major contributor with sales tax revenue that funds police, fire and a lot of important services that the city needs through this tough time. So I appreciate your efforts and looking into this. Thank you. Thank you. Our last speaker is Dave Shukla. Your time starts now. Hello. Um, so I just want to be really clear that, uh, we should be supporting our, our local business and our local restaurants. You know, the issues and these and disproportionate impact are serious or real. They unexpected. As many other speakers have previously just noted, um, a lot of dynamics couldn't have been planned for. And these are, you know, the philosophy that's important. And I would hope that if we're going to be investing in restaurant that these investment be in local businesses of buy for from Long Beach resident and not chain stores or drive thru. Um no you know it's just like I hope it's just my thoughts on item 28. I'm not trying to firm up any particular or or quite the contrary. I, I appreciated everything that was said about each other and appreciate everything that's been said about the restaurant. And I want to insist. From the city council that when the issue of black owned businesses or black workers ended in areas where it's clearly need, it comes up that we have the same kind of support. John Coates were you have a smile, sir, that could turn the devil himself. I am very jealous. Thank you. And that concludes public comment for this item. Thank you. We have to continue to ask you that council on yours and Councilman Richardson. Uh, thanks. I'll try to be brief. I just want to say that I. I definitely recognize the struggles that, you know, our businesses of all sizes have and support the idea, obviously, of staff working to identify as many grants as possible. Also recognizing that it's businesses are very small businesses to some of these restaurants that might have more than 100 employees that really power our economy. It's not these big corporations. And so making sure that the smallest businesses supported it, particularly because they might have been left out from dollars previously, but also that we're working alongside these businesses to identify new funds. And I know that the owner of Plant spoke, and I know there are some areas, not particularly in my district, but that other space could be used for other events like drive ins and things like that. And so I would also hope that staff is working with them to make sure that we're being creative, to help them stay open in a safe manner. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much, Councilor. Thanks, Vice Mayor. I just a couple of things. So thanks to staff and everyone, the job is to bring in additional resources. I know that this item looks like it's the complete picture, but it's not the complete and total picture. I know that there are additional loans and additional funding that comes in that may have different parameters and allows us to be so. I know the CARES Act funding is on and on and I understand the argument that one of the speakers made about how there's so much demand it may not make an impact. So I want to just ask a question of Mr. Keisler. Are there. With respect to the issue raised about restaurant, is there potentially a loan fund or something available that could structure larger amounts but perhaps as loans and we can shop in the way that we did emergency relief loans in that or perhaps it could either not be collect, not be collected, or have very reduced or relaxed collection standards or or even forgivable the ability to be forgiven at that point. So is there is there some long bond or some solutions on, you know, on hand that you could maybe think about or speak to, rather? Councilmember Yeah, absolutely. So the city council actually has taken some really creative action on restructuring our what we call revolving loan funds. We received a grant from the Economic Development Administration, the federal government, to establish a revolving loan fund. And we actually will be able to receive those funds of about $2.4 million, which we'll be able to loan under very favorable terms. And those loans can range from about $10,000. And we've done loans as high as $95,000, and they are loans. But because the interest rate is is is prime, it's very affordable. We can stretch those out over seven years and we can delay the repayment until 2021 to get through this rough patch. So, yes, we are we are now working on a what we call an equitable administration plan for that loan fund. We're going to be bringing that back to council in September. And our goal is to provide larger amounts. While these grant programs may be very small for these larger businesses that employ many people but need to get through three or four months until Q1 of 2021, we would like to sit down with every one of these businesses and build a loan that works for them and that ultimately will help them survive until they're able to reopen fully and start generating revenue. One last piece on that. We can stretch out those repayments, make them smaller, so that they can afford to begin the repayment at a later time. So thanks for that question. And yes, we are working on something for the council in September that. That it, Councilman Richardson? That's nice, man. Thank you so much, Councilwoman Amanda. Thank you, Vice Mayor. Well, I appreciate loans. I think that one of the things that's really key to some of the speakers said tonight is the restaurants. Two or three decades ago, we're operating on double digit margins and now restaurants are operating on single digit margins and employing large numbers of people. So I definitely hear the point that if the amount given is insignificant, the business could still not make it. And so I want those amounts to be significant. I know there were some numbers I was going over with the city manager's office earlier today, whether it's 400 restaurant licenses and then how that divides out. But I'd like to see a program where we're making significant investments in multiple businesses, because on a on a 4 to 6% margin, the ability to repay a lot of these debts is going to be insurmountable. And then we will lose hundreds of jobs. And if we want to talk about equity for a lot of the people in different industries are disproportionately from certain ethnic groups. And so I think that the restaurant industry and that needs to be looked at as well, specifically because we will lose jobs in a certain category. So if 50 to 85% of our restaurants fold, while those that remain standing may have additional customer base and they they still might not have the capacity. Outdoor seating is great now, but come winter it will not be as viable. And furthermore, to make up those kind of numbers is just difficult. So I really want us to focus and I know that on the CARES Act funding, well, $4 million was allocated to this fund and we did add a clause at the end, or at least I made a recommendation and I believe it was accepted to state that if any of the funds are underperforming, that we have applications at the ready to take on and absorb some of those funds because they are use it or lose it. And I just want to advocate again that this fund specifically is a priority, that while the amount of money available initially recommended by staff was $4 million for PPE, as we've seen, some of these businesses are not reopening. And so PPE is not the thing that has the need. We really need to focus on large amounts of funding that help these businesses get over the gap and are able to really look to the future with promise to be able to continue to employ our Long Beach residents. And if there is a way to prioritize those that have larger quantities of rehire, especially be hires that are Long Beach residents, I think that that's something that's that's pretty powerful. So thank you very much to everyone who spoke today. Thank you to the city staff who continue to work on this important project. I've been thinking of the Economic Development Office who is answering so many questions and pulling numbers from an Albany antiquated system. I know we're all looking forward to the new system that the city's implementing and to have gone through a crisis. Running numbers out of the old system. I really just thank you all for your patience and persistence and making sure that we have the information that we need as councilmembers to make good policy. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Mundo. Councilwoman Pryce. Q Mr. Vice Mayor, I think one of the most important things and council member just pointed out is that a lot of our businesses are really not in a position to take on additional loans, even at low interest rates. They already had small business loans before COVID, and now they're going to have to take on yet another loan, which isn't that either or. This is really an unprecedented situation. And just figure out and I know our economic development worked hard on this, but any and all grant opportunities that are available for businesses. And while I would love to be able to give significant money to certain businesses, the reality is that we just don't have enough money to be able to do that and yet be able to help small business owners. Or in the city of one of the business owners in my district, Belmont Shore shared that a $2,000 grant from the city would allow her, like a person, one of her appointees, bring them back for anywhere between 120 to 150 hours. And the rate of pay that that it would be getting that would give that person additional 100, 2050 hours of work that they might not otherwise have. A business owner doesn't have that much. So while some of these amounts significant for some businesses, small amounts could be significant for businesses that are literally holding on to their little cash, hoping that they'll be allowed to reopen so that they can make it without grants and loans. So I don't know if that's going to happen. I don't know when a lot of these business sectors are going to open. But I can tell you that a lot of these businesses are operating with maybe 10,000, $15,000 cash on hand, waiting for the business to open back up so that they can start working revenue to be able to start paying the bills. So $2,000, though, that seems significant for something still a long way for them. So I'm all in favor of our economic development, having discretion and giving priorities about where that money best goes. But I think the solution that we need in order to take care of everyone is somewhere close to $20 million for really take care of our business. We don't have that. So we need to be creative. I do have a question for Mr. Keisler, and that is, are the applications for this grant available yet for businesses? Council member. So we actually are finalizing the the application portal, which will be an online application. We will that that's just in the next few days. And in August, we're hoping to get that application portal up and going for for everyone as well as, as I was sharing with the council member earlier and be able to brief your office as well as provide you with not only the process but the criteria and the marketing and promotion plan. So yes, it's just a matter of days. We'll be meeting with your offices and providing you with the information about how to roll this out and advertise the opportunity. And then are we going to have one of the requirements or the criteria going to be some documentation of free COVID post-COVID revenues so that the city can assess the loss of determining what grant amounts would be appropriate for a particular business? Yeah, that's correct. So as part of the grant businesses, the application itself being an online form is is fairly simple and easy to use, but they do have the option of uploading documents. And so unfortunately as part of this grant, we do have some federal grant reporting requirements as well. And we will be asking for some some tax records that will help us to to assess what those revenues were and that they were impacted. Remember, this Cares Act money was for COVID impacted businesses. And so we have to be able to prove that. Okay. I appreciate that. I think that's very helpful to me and I look forward to the process. And I really, absolutely believe staff should have discretion to figure out how to make that $4.1 million go to the most effective place. So thank you very much. I have no further questions. Thank you, Congressman Price. Do we have anyone else? Oh, I see. Councilwoman Mango. Thank you. I had referenced the numbers that economic development has been able to provide, but I didn't actually say what they were. And I think that they're something for us to keep in mind. If you take all food and drinking facilities in the city of Long Beach, you're talking about nearly 22,000 jobs. And 1.7 billion in annual sales. And I know that for every $100 the city of Long Beach only gets $2 of the $10 that's generated in taxes. But it's still economically that 1.7 billion when restaurants are operating at 4 to 6%. You're really talking about. One point something billion of economic money being put into the hands of individuals who. If not for this income, could not pay their rent. If not for this income, they cannot put food on the table. If not for this income, they could not so many other things that are important to them in their family. So I just I think that scope is really important here. And 22,000 jobs is is critical in saying that. So thank you both, Mayor. I've been trying to keep it under 5 minutes and recue, and I hope that that worked out. But I think it's a great place to end the discussion because our unemployment rate is high. But if you were to even say that half of the jobs in this area have not come back yet, many of them are at zero catering and others are making an impact in restaurants could really jumpstart the economy. Thank you. Thank you. Arts unions in the US. Council. Thank you, Vice Mayor. I just wanted to agree with all of my colleagues on how important this is moving forward. Our businesses are really, really hurting right now. So I am fully in support of this item. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Guzman's desk prices include comfortable weeknights price. Price and Mrs. Mango second. District one. I. District two. I. District three. I. District four. I. District five. I. District six. II. District seven. I. District eight. I. District nine. I feel the motion carries. Thank you very much. Now we're going to move to item. Could you please read the item?