Recommendation to refer to Hearing Officer the special event application denial appeal by Ross Wallach (applicant) of the Southern California Speedboat Club for the 2022 Long Beach Sprint Nationals event requested to be held at Marine Stadium, 5255 Paoli Way, Long Beach, CA 90803.  (District 3)
Thank you. That concludes public comment. So we have a pretty lengthy agenda tonight. I've been asked to move up a couple of items. And so I'm going to ask two hear item number, new business number 38. To start. Adam 38 is report from City Manager. Recommendation to refer to hearing officer the special event Application Denial Appeal by Roz Walley of the Southern California Speedboat Club for the 2022 Long Beach Sprint Nationals event District three. Okay, thank you, Councilmember Price of Motion. I have made the motion and I know staff is here. I know there's also a speaker at the podium. So before we go to the speaker, I just wanted to just ask staff very briefly. It's staff's recommendation that this matter go before a hearing officer so that there can be testimony which which is anticipated to last several hours, possibly multiple days, to talk about some of the safety concerns as a result of prior years in this particular incident. So I just wanted to make sure that that was correct and maybe have staff give us a brief reason why they're making this recommendation tonight. Thank you. Councilwoman, I'd like to introduce our city attorney, Art Sanchez, as well as our our fire department staff here to address this matter. Good Morning America Council. I'm Robbie Griego, Deputy Fire Marshal, Mesquite Fire Marshal, Deputy Fire Chief. The City Manager Department determined it was appropriate as well as required for our duty given by the Columbia's Municipal Code 5.60 to deny a special event permit for the 2022 Appleton beachfront Nationals. An investigation team comprised of staff from multiple city and Long Beach city departments, including the Fire Department, Police Departments, Marine Safety, Risk Management, City Safety Office and Special Events was assembled to review the findings of the Spirit Nationals boat racing event during the 2018 and 2021 event. Similar accidents occurred both resulting in driver fatalities for the 2021 fatality. Video and other evidence from the investigation provided confirmation that the speed of the vessels and the size of the venue contributed to the cause of the accident. The racing vessels involved in the fatal accident were traveling at over a hundred miles per hour. The report also states that the combination of speed, proximity of the vessels and unstable water environment and limited steering ability made the accident difficult to avoid in that particular moment in time. Video footage shows the wake created by the vessels hitting against the rocks and being pushed back into the vessel's path of travel. The wakes in the high rate of speed caused one of the boat races to lose control of the vessel, which collided with another boat and overturned. The driver of the overturned vessel was ejected and died from his injuries. Based on the firsthand public safety personnel accounts and the video, the unattended vessel continued at a high rate of speed, only overturning after it hit awake had the vessel not overturn. It may have continued forward toward the spectator public with inadequate physical barriers preventing impact. The applicant did follow the process afforded within the limits vessel code to appeal. The action for you is for the City Council to either refer the case to the hearing officer or hear the entire case at a later date. Also allowed within the limits of this code is the staff's recommendation to refer the item to the hearing officer selected by the city clerk's office. That concludes my port myself. Deputy Attorney Art Sanchez. Police Commander Ryan LeBaron, a manager of special events and Feel Me Talk today, are available for questions. I do have a question for the city attorney. The hearing officer's selection process, I understand it's by the city clerk, but I'm assuming this hearing is akin to like an arbitration type hearing. Is there any process whereby both parties get to weigh in on who the hearing officer might be and what are the qualifications of the hearing officer? So, Councilwoman Price, to answer your question, the the hearing is selected randomly by the court clerk pursuant to the city's internal process. There is a list of hearing officers that is compiled. I believe that the and the qualifications are there to be an attorney for five years and have a background in, I think, litigation experience. And those candidates are placed on the list by the city clerk's office, and they are chosen randomly to hear or serve as a hearing officer for administrative hearings that are referred to them by the various departments of the city. But that that process is determined and managed by the clerk's office, not the city attorney's office. Okay. I understand, but I just wanted some clarification on who the hearing officer is and what their qualifications are. So thank you for that. And then I just I mean, I think. You know, I've had an opportunity to meet with the appellants. Of course, we haven't had any substantive conversations, but ensuring them and promising and committing to them that they would have a fair process and expectations of them would be made clear through this process. And I'm hoping that that remains the case. But I do just want, for clarification purposes for anyone that is watching this meeting, writing about this meeting. I do want to just clarify. From staff prior to staff's recommendation, was any input sought from any council person or any recommendations made that formed the basis of staff's recommendation? No. So staff's recommendations based on your own independent analysis and experience with prior incidents of safety concerns? That's correct. Thank you. I appreciate that. Thank you. Any other comment behind the wheel? If not, we'll go to public comment. Thank you. Please introduce yourself. I'm Ernie Algore. I am here as an attorney on behalf of the Southern California Speedboat Club. Just preliminarily, I'd like to thank the members of the council for hearing us tonight and also Councilmember Price and also members of staff for hearing us last week. That was very kind of you to afford us an opportunity. I'm coming to you not only as the attorney for the Southern California Speedboat Club, but I've also been a practicing attorney for 35 years where I specialize in the defense of various sanctioning bodies, including the Southern California Speedboat Club. I am counsel for Irwindale Speedway. I also maintain a practice in Pasadena with a with about ten lawyers. And I want to just reaffirm that we are here to welcome the opportunity for the hearing. We think that's an appropriate venue, and it's certainly a good use of resources in order to iron out the questions and issues that have arisen, especially given the historical, cultural and economic significance to the community. This annual regatta has sought here at the outset to thank you and welcome this referral to a hearing officer. We also come to you knowing that this event brings thousands of spectators into your fine city. It draws racers and a crowd from across the United States. We like to think that we're a contributing constructor, member of your community that brings a good light and a good reputation and a good venue for an appropriate sport that's been part of this community for 76 years. And so we are here to let you know that we are we have open mind, open eyes and open ears. We welcome suggestions. We welcome the input of staff. We continue to do that. We look upon you as a partner to this process by no means an adversary. Because, again, our point here is family entertainment that has existed for a long time in this community. Now I know now is not the time to litigate the applicability of or I should say, the appeal ability of our of our of our appeal of overturning the denial of the permit. I'll save that for a later date, but I just want to let it be known that we are here with open, open eyes and open mind. I was brought into this case to make sure that there was protocols and procedures in place. And Mr. Ross Wallach, who is the person in charge of the CSC, reached out to me and I looked at their safety protocol. I looked at their safety committee. I met with the board of directors. I looked at their rulebook, looked at all their procedures. We have a good faith basis to go for this appeal. I wish to thank you. Thank you. Okay. It's been awesome. Just one more thing. I just wanted to highlight for our staff. I understand that the hearing is going to afford all sides to present evidence and be heard. My hope through the process is that whatever expectations the city has in terms of safety concerns or remedial actions to address the safety concerns are made clear to the appellants so that they can have the opportunity to meet the expectations to the extent that that's possible. So I just want to what I have promised them is that there will be a process where they'll have some reasonable expectations of what can be done in terms of remedial measures. And so that's my only request as we move through this, is that obviously that the hearing be fair and afford everyone the opportunity to meet the MITA recommendations of the hearing officer. That's a fair request. Thank you. Okay with that? We have public comments. Members, please cast your votes. The motion is carried. All right. So we're going out of order here again. We're going to take item number 22 next.