TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Talyn Mirzakhanian, Acting City Manager
FROM:
George Gabriel, Assistant to the City Manager
Patricia Matson, Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Update on the Revised North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement District Advisory Board Bylaws (Acting City Manager Mirzakhanian).
RECEIVE AND FILE
Body
_________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council receive and file the revised North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement District (North MB BID) Advisory Board bylaws, as approved by their Advisory Board.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
There are no fiscal implications associated with the recommended action.
BACKGROUND:
The North MB BID was formed in 1969 under the State’s Parking and Business Improvement District Act of 1965. At the time, the North MB BID was limited in scope and was mainly responsible for addressing parking acquisition and construction. Because the opportunity for acquiring additional parking in North MB is limited, business district members wanted to use the funds for other types of activities, such as physical improvements, beautification, signage, marketing, and promotion. To accommodate this request, in January 2004, the City Council dissolved the 1969 Business Improvement District and created the current Business Improvement District using the broader 1989 BID Act.
Since 2004, City staff has taken an active role in managing North MB BID activities by: drafting and publishing agendas/minutes, liaising North MB BID activities between City departments, executing agreements on behalf of the North MB BID, and managing expenditures and revenues of the North MB BID. The City’s responsibilities for the North MB BID contrast significantly with those of the City’s other BID, the Downtown Business Improvement District (Downtown BID). The Downtown BID is managed by a non-profit, the Downtown Manhattan Beach Business & Professional Association (DMBBPA). Therefore, the City has not had to take on the same management responsibilities for the Downtown BID as it had for the North MB BID.
Additionally, the DMBBPA’s non-profit status allows the Downtown BID to realize greater efficiencies to expedite decisions, execute contracts and expend funds when necessary. For these reasons, in recent years, the North MB BID has sought to explore how to function in a similar manner as the Downtown BID. As identified in the approved 2024 Activity Plan, the North MB BID has decided to explore the feasibility of becoming a professional non-profit association, like the DMBBPA.
In consideration of moving this effort forward, at the April 2, 2024, meeting, City Council approved a conceptual plan to: 1) transition ongoing management of the North MB BID to a non-profit; and 2) execute a future agreement with a non-profit to provide services to the business improvement district. Additionally, the Council authorized and appropriated $10,000 from the Parking Fund for developing or utilizing an existing non-profit to manage the North MB BID activities and initiatives.
Thereafter, at the July 2, 2024, meeting, City Council adopted Resolution No. 24-0080 approving a pilot agreement with the Chamber of Commerce in the amount of $67,300 for North MB BID management and executive coordination services to shepherd the process of establishing a non-profit corporation.
DISCUSSION:
Recently, the North MB BID solicited the services of an attorney that assists with forming non-profit corporations. In doing so, members of the BID have indicated an interest in serving on the Board of Directors of the non-profit corporation. Given the conflict of interest that would arise with simultaneously serving on the Board of Directors of the newly formed non-profit and the North MB BID Advisory Board, it was determined that membership needs to be distinct and separate. Therefore, board members cannot serve on both entities concurrently.
Historically, the North MB BID has had challenges with soliciting at least seven members to serve on the board. Given the need to ensure that both entities (the non-profit and the North MB BID) have adequate representation of at least three boardmembers on each board, the North MB BID and staff determined that the North MB BID bylaws needed to be revised.
Therefore, staff reviewed the bylaws and presented the following revisions to the document:
• Revised the number of boardmembers from seven to up to five. (Note: In a scenario where four boardmembers run for election, only three will be chosen to ensure Roberts Rules of Order are adhered to).
• Clarified the qualifications necessary to serve on the Advisory Board.
• Revised the election schedule to ensure staff adherence to deadlines.
• Grammar and organizational changes to ensure consistency as needed.
Following discussion, the North MB BID Advisory Board approved the revised bylaws on October 9, 2024, and as required in Article 8 of the bylaws, a copy is being provided to the City Council as part of this report. A “clean” version and tracked changes version is included in the attachments to the report for reference.
CONCLUSION:
Staff recommends that the City Council receive and file the revised North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement District bylaws, as approved by the Advisory Board.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Approved North MB BID Bylaws (Tracked Changes)
2. Approved North MB BID Bylaws (Clean Version)