Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute the First Amendment to Agreement No. 30691 with the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company.  (District 2)
City manager with the recommendation to authorize the execution of an amendment to agreement at the Grand Prix Association. Mr. City Manager, in a quick comment. Yes, we have a quick report by my request. Mayor Foster, members of the City Council decided relates to a contract amendment with. The Grand Prix Association of Long Beach to effect a three year extension through 2018. With two one year extension options. At the discretion of the city and to provide other beneficial provisions in the amendment as detailed in the staff report. Separately, City Council has directed staff to prepare and issue an RFP to the Association and to Formula One to determine the best value for the city for an ongoing annual race event. As a result, staff requests that City Council. Approve the recommended action. At this time, I invite Mr. Jim Micheli and President CEO of the Grand Prix Association of Long Beach, who is here tonight to make a short presentation regarding the results of this year's event. Mr. Mike. Mr. MCKAY. Thank you very much and good evening, Mayor Foster and the City Council. It's our privilege to come before you and talk about not only what transpired the recent Grand Prix, but more importantly, to talk about our mutual efforts going forward. I think it's fair to say that a good summary of what transpired during the weekend is probably captured by the headline that appeared in the newspaper, The Press Telegram, the next day, which was 40 and fabulous. Indeed, we did have a very fabulous event. It was fabulous for the Grand Prix Association, was fabulous for the city. And equally important, it was fabulous for all of the fans who had a chance to come down and and be entertained during the during the race weekend news, our most comprehensive event we've ever had or we had more activities going on, both on track and off track in the city promotions, free events for people to attend than we've ever had in the history of our company in our 40 years. And we were very delighted to be able to provide that kind of entertainment for so many of the people, not only from the city of Long Beach, from surrounding areas. And as a consequence of that way, we achieved a number of things in a rather spectacular fashion. We had more than 180,000 people in attendance. That's a a new high for us over the last ten years. And it really represented an increase of about 10,000 over what we've been experiencing in the past few years that resulted in a economic impact of more than $35 million, all of which was integrated into the economic backbone of the city. Fortunately, the city had occupancy level of about 96% of the first class rooms were filled in the city. And as a result of all of the events and we literally had seven of them here, we're going to have ten and a half hours of first run television that will emanate not only nationally, but in many cases on an international basis. And those showcase all the assets that are so familiar to those who live here in Long Beach but are new to some of the so many of the people that watch all these various telecasts of these various races that we run. We also this year, as we have the last couple of years, conducted free events. There was one in Belmont Shore on the shore. And as usual, we put on Thursday Thunder on pride. And there was a you might have had a chance to go by that that area down. It was really packed. We had over 5000 people free event. Everybody came down, families, kids, everybody to enjoy freestyle, motocross, pitstop, competition, a pageant. Just a great chance for everybody to come down and get a feel and a taste for what the Grand Prix is all about without having to obviously have to pay anything for it. We also continued a program we've had here for the last 15 years, and that is a visit to many of the council districts with our driver and show car and the school visits, primarily to the elementary schools, but also to some of the junior high schools. And over the years, we've really covered almost virtually all of the various institutions in both the lower elementary level, as well as the junior high schools. And we're very delighted to be able to have that opportunity to come into each one of your districts and be a part of that educational program. And during the event itself, we we were very fortunate. We had great weather. It was a very fan friendly kind of an environment. And there were a lot of people that came with their friends and their families to enjoy the environment that we had there. And this year, as in the past, we're very delighted that the Grand Prix Foundation was an integral part of of our activities, was able to disperse over $100,000 to the community, to needy charities, which is, you know, a very important facet of what we do. But I think one of the real main events that is of significance to those of us who are involved in the Grand Prix is to take a look at the cross-section of people who attend this event. I know I saw a number of you walking through the crowd, and when you really look at it, these are the faces of Long Beach. These are the people that we want to come and be a part of the Grand Prix. And they came young, old parents, children came because it was a very friendly environment. They came because they could come and enjoy themselves. And it was a safe. Environment for them to and to incorporate all of their activities. And we're very delighted that because this really is a civic event and we've often identified it as such, it is something that the citizens of Long Beach have every right to be very proud of where they come to the event or not. It's their event and they have ownership in it and it's very important that we retain the ability to attract. And we have done that primarily by keeping our prices very low. Children and under 12 and under get in for free have from the very beginning 40 years ago. And that's an effort for us to foster an alliance with the young set with regard to what the Grand Prix has to offer. And as a consequence of that, we start to see generations repeatedly come back to the event. Now we're practically in the third generation of people who have come over the last 40 years, and it's important for us as the Grand Prix Association because we're part of the fabric of this community. We have our offices up at at Pacific Spring in, and these are on the corner of this district. We work here, we live here. We're part of the other activities that take place around town. And it's important for us that this event be accepted by everybody here in town and that they'd be proud of the city that's capable of hosting this event. And what I'd like to do is take just a moment to show you a real short video that captures a lot of this sentiment that we're talking about. So if we could roll that video, please. 30 miles from Hollywood, California, is coming to Long Beach to leave their. On open wheel racing. I love the sound of the cars. I love that we all get together as a family. It's the perfect event for kids. You mean great people. You see celebrities, they call it the Monaco of North America. And you can see why it is absolutely stunning. I think it's the best investigation. We look forward to it all year long. It's just one of the best. Weekends of the year. Long Beach. I've only missed one year. I wouldn't be any other place. For 40 years, the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend has rolled into town. Bringing thousands of visitors and race fans to the most successful street race in the United States. It is the largest event every year in Long Beach. And more than that, it's a three day event. It's not just an auto race. It's concerts and strip cars, trucks. It's kind of a slice of California. There's something for everybody here. With more than 180,000 visitors attending this year's race, the economic impact is calculated to be more than $35 million, with local businesses being the big winners. The economic impact from the Grand Prix last all year and the customers that are here always come back and bring more and more business. It was Long Beach and what it has to offer. We look forward to Grand Prix weekend. What our busiest, ever busiest weeks of the year. We love the energy, the different events. And then Friday, Saturday, Sunday is terrific for us. We love the event. It does amazing amount of business for us. It's a lovely tradition. All the restaurants are filled out. There's all kinds of things being sold here. There's all kinds of employment generated for it. So it's good for. Everybody, while some spectators come for the races, some for the music, entertainment and special events. Some are just coming to see the city at its best. We bring in over 60 clients and their guests every year so they can see what we do as a city, how we work as a city, and the energy of our city . And after every Grand Prix, we always have several conventions at that point. I've been coming for 20 years now. So he's carrying. On the tradition. The song says. In the Moscow world. It's renowned for the Toyota robbery of Long Beach. In addition to all this local activity, the race generates more than 10 hours of world wide television coverage, bringing attention that goes way beyond motor racing fans. The exposure that is generated is just absolutely fantastic. It has all the elements of. Store. It's basically a way. Southern California party leaders. How we feel for the city of outreach. Plus, the fans that turn out every year. The Grand Prix gives us a huge international presence. It's great to have this in your backyard. I'm sure it adds tremendously to the tax base and it's just such goodwill. Toyota, who's been a key sponsor of the race since its inception in 1975, was joined by another giant, Neil Wiseman, who are now the title sponsor of the Verizon IndyCar Series. This new sponsorship will allow the race to develop even more. Additional interactive events in the coming years. Verizon 16th Company in the Fortune 500 list. Horizon Wireless 400 million customers who came up with a strategy which was to, frankly, drop the National Hockey League and to focus their sponsorships on the National Football League and on IndyCar racing . The Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach has come a long way in 40 years. But this is just the beginning. As new sponsors, new race fans, new technology and new opportunities will propel this three day Long Beach celebration forward. For years to come. Michael. Oh. Oh. Hopefully that gives you the feel that. That so many people had a chance to experience during their their visit to the Grand Prix. And, quite frankly, the the beautiful backdrop and the scenic views that you saw in the video there is what was conveyed to so many other people who didn't get a chance to come but realize how dynamic this city is and how much growth has been been involved over the last years and continues as as the event in the city begin to begin to continue on their path. Very important for us is the fact that we have a tremendous amount of momentum coming out of this event. And as a result of that, and with the three year extension that we're talking about, it's going to forward us the opportunity to do a number of very significant things over the next few months and years, I think, which will have a major impact on this event. First of all, it gives us the opportunity to renew a number of those major sponsorships that you saw displayed up there with with companies like Toyota and Takata and Firestone and and others who have played a significant role in our past. And I think I had the opportunity to to get to all of you letters from Toyota and from Takata expressing their interest in terms of having long term agreements signed with with the Grand Prix, big companies signed long term deals after they've explored opportunities. And for them, that's the kind of investment they want to make. And it's really a part of their their whole operating procedures. It also allows us to enter into long term agreements with the sanctioning bodies who bring the events. And we're constantly looking at ways in which we can improve the menu that we have, the type of events we bring. But in order to do that, you have to get on their calendar, on their schedule a number of years in advance, and this affords us the opportunity to do that. We also it's very important that we reserve the dates with all of the various facilities we have in town, mainly the convention center and the hotels. And being able to stipulate what those dates are out into the future affords them the opportunity then to schedule other events into other time frames rather than having to hold out and see what event dates will be applicable to the Grand Prix into the future and from a company standpoint affords us the opportunity to make capital investments because now we're talking about a longer period of time. So when it comes to looking at whether it makes some sense for us to improve temporary facilities or do some things with our safety system, we have the luxury of looking out at a payback period that'll be four years in advance, which gives us some flexibility with regard to our investment decisions. And I think it's not it's not insignificant that, you know, that that kind of a time frame also gives our fans a chance to really invest their time and their capital and their interest in terms of this event and to feel like they are welcome to come down for a continuum of time in order to participate in the in the Grand Prix as it goes forward. I think it's very important that we take a look and see where we are with regard to this event and how it has the potential for growing. Because we really if you've read some of the reviews that have been from the from some of the journalistic efforts that have taken place around this event, it isn't called the number one street race in America for nothing. And we're very delighted that we can share that particular posture with our host city, the city of Long Beach, because it has meant a lot to us in terms of this partnership going forward. And we couldn't have done this and we couldn't have been nearly as successful as we have been without the assistance of a lot of people over these last 40 years. And I'd like to take just a moment, if I could, to recognize those who have really contributed to the success of the events. First of all, our staff, the Grand Prix Association, Long Beach, we have a tremendous group of people. Many of them have been there for many, many years and have contributed to our success committee 300, the Grand Prix Foundation, and most of all, a whole group of volunteers who come every year to 3000 of them and contribute their time and effort to make the success of this event a success. And I like to take this moment, acknowledge all of them. If you would stand up, please. And. Thank you very much for all you've done over all of these years. And we look forward to the opportunity continuing in the into the future. Thank you very much for your support. 40 years, 40 years have gone by that we've been doing this event and we look forward to doing the future into the future, creating an even better event for all of you and for all of us and for all of the citizens of the city of Long Beach. Thank you very much. Thank you, Jim. We have a motion and a second. Any any questions from council members? Mr.. DILLON Thank you. Yes. And I was pleased to to second the motion with a public comment coming from I did public comment first. Because of desire. Members of the public, please come forward. Identify yourself. You have 3 minutes. The oh, wait means you have 30 seconds left. Hi, my name is Michelle Dennis and Memories fan and I'm very excited tonight to tell you about my experience at the Long Beach Grand Prix. I will never forget the first time that I was attended the Long Beach Grand Prix. I only lived in Southern California for a couple of years and my boyfriend actually sailed over and we landed right in this big racing world. It was the biggest thing I'd ever seen. So Long Beach had been transformed and amidst that excitement, we actually got engaged that weekend. So my story of Long Beach is also the story of my family. We have attended the race so many different ways. We've sailed over, we've camped there, we've stayed in hotels. We always stay out three days because we don't want to miss a thing. Our daughter was only seven months old for her first race and it was drizzling that year. So we bundled her up and headed up into Grandstand six and the cameraman caught sight of her and put her up on the big screen and the announcer jokingly called her The Lone Race Baby because she was the only one that had braved the elements. So I asked that lone race baby this morning why she liked the Grand Prix so much all these years. And she said many things. But the one thing that I had to totally agree with is it's a giant block party by the beach and I couldn't agree more. And there 14 years of marriage, I have been there with multi-generational friends and family. I have been there pregnant twice and for the past ten years as a mother with now two children, we have always had a great time and there's definitely always something for everyone. And I have been very thankful for the Family Friends Zone, where you can still watch the race inside. And I've also been very happy for the assortment of vendors at the Lifestyle Expo. But most of all, I love seeing my ecstatic children look forward to meeting and getting high fives from the drivers each year. The IndyCar drivers are phenomenal and my children love them, so my family's Grand Prix story is unique, but it's definitely not alone. Over the years, we have met many other race families with stories like ours. Where it has stuck out to me most is that year after year we've gotten to know them and they've become our race family as well. We love hearing about how long they've been there and the traditions they've had. So my wish is that it becomes a lasting tradition for me and my children that they will always be able to return to that place where our family's story has begun, that it would be affordable to them, that it would be accessible, and that would be fun for their children. And I wish we can continue coming to that magical place that only really exists three days out of the year in that perfect partnership between the Grand Prix IndyCar and the city of Long Beach. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. City Council members. My name is Kirsty Silvester. I'm here to represent Long Beach Transit. Most likely, you probably don't think of busses when you think of Grand Prix and a car race. But it is a partnership that we have appreciated over the years. As you probably know, Long Beach Transit runs a number of extra busses during the weekend and we have estimated that we provided rides for over 11,000 customers on our bus and aqua bus service during this year's Grand Prix. So we're pretty proud of that. This partnership has helped us move not only residents and visitors, but also the many workers who come and volunteers who support the Grand Prix effort. We have helped alleviate the traffic and parking congestion that can be experienced in the downtown area. And by doing this all with fuel efficient vehicles, we've helped to improve air quality standards in downtown Long Beach during the event. It's a partnership that we see is beneficial for the city of Long Beach, Long Beach Transit and the greater Long Beach area. So we look forward to it continuing into the future and just want to express our appreciation tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Carolyn Bell and I'm the executive director of the Short Stop Juvenile Crime Diversion Program. I'm also a native of Long Beach, California. I have a huge family that's been in the city of Long Beach for a long time. And I'm very proud to talk about the Grand Prix as I talk about the city of Long Beach. But I'm also here tonight to talk or to represent one of the foundations that received support from the Grand Prix Foundation. We run the Short Stop Juvenile Crime Diversion Program, and we serve as last year, well over 700 families, which means we require the first time youth offender in their family to attend our program at the Long Beach courthouse, which I'm supposed to be there shortly. We have attorneys that volunteer their time to teach first time juvenile offenders law related education, hoping to keep them on the right side of the law and giving them a second chance to make amends for their mistakes and to steer them in the right path to going to college and to becoming contributing members of society. So we do a big work in the city of Long Beach and teaching young people how to stay on the right side of the law. And I'm here in support of the Long Beach Bar, the Long Beach Grand Prix Association, and its foundation, because for over seven years or more, they have donated funds to our foundation. And as a nonprofit organization in the city of Long Beach, you must know that we struggle each year to raise funds to support our program, and the Grand Prix has given us funds for over seven years and a victory. The President personally has delivered checks to our raffles and recently presented a check at our recognition reception. So just wanted to represent one of the grateful foundations that actually received funding from the Grand Prix. And we do a great work in the city of Long Beach as well. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. City Council. I'm Phil Tango and the president elect of the committee of 300 Redcoats, which is in the audience right here. And we are just as old as the races we were founded. We are. I've been a member for the. Last 39 years, and our main goal was to support the Grand Prix, promote the Grand Prix. We do that through promotions and all the auto shows around the area. Co-investment, sure. And we support the Grand Prix by providing ushers for the grandstands that are in race weekend as well as information booths from our own Paddock Club. But more importantly, what we do is we reach out into the community. We are currently a community service organization and we partake in all the community events. We help with the marathon tree planting speech cleanup and also with the Substance Abuse Foundation. We also help with the feeding the homeless on Thanksgiving as well as on Labor Day and partake with all their activities as well. Also, I don't think it's well known, but each year we adopt a charity in Long Beach. This year it's a Long Beach Police Foundation. We were able to raise over $5,000 to give as a foundation. So even though we are a race committee and we help to raise, we're taking the cue from Grand Prix Association in Long Beach. We've also now reached out in the community and we're going to do community work and support the Grand Prix as also support the communities. We urge you to vote yes on this item and keep the Grand Prix here in Long Beach. Thank you very. Much. Thank you. He said. Thank thank you all. Appreciate all those comments, Mr. Dillon. Thank you. And congratulations to Jim and your team for a job very well done. Another great race here, here in the city of Long Beach. And Councilmember O'Donnell, I know that I seconded your motion, but I'd like to suggest a friendly amendment, which I think would be helpful to kind of quantify the success of this race, is perhaps ask the city auditor to look over the last couple of years and kind of verify some of the visitors ship. How many people come to the race, how many pay, how many you know, how many are complimentary? And just kind of take a look at that. All the wonderful things it brings to our city, if you're amenable to that. Yes, I'm amenable. Provided she agrees that she can conduct such a great. So the question is, DeLong, that that is there's not an audit. Exactly. No, no, I do not think. It's not surprising a lot of it. All right. Okay. Any other public comments seen? None. Mr. Conway, I just want to know, is there in the amendment, in the documents, is there still a a foster commitment of lap in the future? I'll take that as a no. Only if you wear roller skates. I'm grandfathered. Thank you. I'm going to keep you to that. Thank you. All right. And, Mr. Mayor, since it is a request to stay, order, you know, this usually do it, but. And those are some suggestions. And if you might want to I don't know if you look at room nights or any of those things, but whatever she can to justify or not justify, I'm just going to explain the benefits of this to the city of Long Beach. Well, I'll tell you, I was here this year and I could see the benefits. Even though it's anecdotal, it's great efforts firsthand, I understand, about trying to get to the more professional basis. But I have to say this races was the best I've been to. And you can tell people were having fun all three days. It was it was a great. Now, all of you make that possible. I don't give him much credit, all of you. So I want to thank you for that. All right. With that, we have a motion in the second members. Cast your votes on extending the contract. Motion carries eight votes. Thank you all. Great job. I was going to bring up McCain's driving record.