11-12-1973 - Special 2 Meeting - MinutesMINUTES OF ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL
CITY OF WEST COV.INA, CALIFORNIA
NWI NUBR 12-, 1973.
The adjourned regular meeting of the City Council called to order at
4:05 P.M., in the West Covina Council Chambers by Mayor Jim Lloyd.
The Pledge of Allegiance was given.
ROLL CALL
• Present: Mayor Lloyd; Councilmen: Young, Shearer,
Chappell
Absent: Nichols
Others Present: George Aiassa, City Manager
Lela Preston, City Clerk
H. L. Perry, President,-.W.C. Chamber of
Commerce
George Strachan, Mgr. - " " "
Mike McDonnell, Staff Reporter - S.G.V.D.T.
Ken Larson, Administrative Analyst, Jr.
Harvey Krieger, - Advisory Board Member
Phil Wax - Advisory Board Member
Mayor Lloyd stated the purpose of this
meeting was to have a joint meeting with the Advisory Board of the
West Covina Chamber of Commerce, and for easier communication between
the Council and the members of the Chamber of Commerce the meeting
would bi held upstairs in the City Manager's conference room.
Motion by Councilman Young, seconded by Councilman Shearer and
carried,.to recess the meeting at 4:06 P.M., to the City Manager's
conference room.
JOINT MEETING WITH ADVISORY BOARD
BUSINESS ADVISORY (Joint meeting reconvened at 4:12 P.M.)
BOARD REPORT
Mr. H. L. Perry I am President of the Chamber of
President Commerce and the Chairman of the
W.C. Chamber of Commerce Advisory Board; and I am going to have
Chairman to say I think this is all new to all
Advisory Board Committee of us and we may have to play it by
ear. I think it does state the Advisory
Board, within the ordinance created by
the City Council, that the Executive Committee will act in this
capacity,..also the agreement states we should meet at least once
quarterly and report the activities of the Chamber of.Commerce and..
the progress made in the implementation of the various programs.
Of necessity we apparently have to wear two hats.
There is a report submitted by the Chamber of
Commerce which -I believe all of you have received.a,copy of and it.
does set down in rather complete form the activity report of the
Chamber of Commerce.by division and the accomplishments and' the purpose,','
of accomplishments for the year. We are open for questions, Mr. Mayor..,
Councilman Shearer: Was there any recovery from the circus with
regard to the $500. you committed, or,was.
• that just lost money?.
Mr. Perry: I would have to say that most of this was a
complete loss. Much of this.was the circus
promoter himself suffered some loss and we
did also because of advertising in advance which we were not able to
recover.
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CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 11/12/73
Mr. Wax: I would like to add that it was an excellent
program, unfortunately somebody confiscated
their funds and equipment at an earlier
stage prior to our event and we were concerned that they would not
be able to cover the cost factors on their part of the bargain.
The Chamber spent three days trying to determine and find out if
•there was any guarantee that it would go off the way we planned it
and we couldn't get the pieces together in time for the date we .were
shooting for so rather than losing more money we decided to cut it
off.
Counci4an Shearer: I assume if any advance ticket sales were made
the money was refunded? (Mr. Wax answered
eyes".)
Councilman Young: Mr. Mayor - this is almost an aside - on the
County Fair exhibit - there was some little
flap on the Council owing to the position I
took on that with regard to the exhibits - I was in opposition to
approving things project by project. It is.a lot more fun to sit
back and shoot major cannon balls then sit there with a beebee gun.
In any event during the course of the County Fair my back fence
neighbor told me "what a perfectly horrible exhibit The City of West
Covina had" and I said "don't tell me about it I struck out on
that, write the Chamber of Commerce or somebody..." A few days later
my partner, who is a far more severe critic of me for example than
my wife is, said "I saw the West Covina exhibit at the County Fair
and I thought it was pretty good." I didn't look at it myself but I
thought you would be interested in those two opposite points of
view.
Mr. Perry: Personally I would have to say the same thing.
I think anything out there, even the one
that won the first prize, you had mixed
emotions when looking at them.depending on who was looking at them.
I would say the Chamber would always be.shooting for something
better each time. We are in an enviable position in that we have a
choice spot in the middle and then again is it so enviable when it
comes to be the worst one in utlizing the full area that is assigned
to you. You get it from all four sides. If you have a nice side one
you can look good from just one side and as you probably noticed those.
that did take first prize have only one exposure.
Councilman Shearer: I observed the exhibit myself and I thought
it was a vast improvement over last year;
now whether it was worth the difference in
cost from that of last year I don't know, but I was very surprised
when I alked around and looked at the others and found we had only
gotten th place. Last year we got 3rd. I don't know who was judging
this year!.
Mr. Strachan: Actually there were five prizes. The one that
got first place shouldn't have in that
category. These were cities of only
50,000 to 75,000 and the first prize went to a City of 125,000. We
called them on it and they said they.were sorry about it, that it was
a mistake they shouldn't have been in there but it was too late to do
anything about it. And another thing, ours wasn't quite finished on
the morning of the judging. There was a considerable amount of
work done on it over the weekend and those that viewed it from the
third day on saw a considerable difference in it than on the day of
the judging. I would say if the judging had been done legitimately
on Friday instead of on Monday we would have done better.,
Mr. Wax: There are two philosophies in this Fair think-
ing. Some Cities start an exhibit and add to
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CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 11/12/73
it each year for four or five years and keep adding dollars to it
until they may have $10,000 or $12,000 in it and they start off
with $2,000 or $3,000. We didn't want to go that.route. If we
were able to got an indication the first year maybe'then we would went
to add to it, but if not we could scrap it and start all over again.
Does the Council think we should be adding to it or scrap it? That is
another proposal that is open to us.
•Council an Young: My response would be to kick it right back
to you. I just refuse to become an expert
on Fair Exhibits and on so many other things
that you do. You have the collective wisdom of the Chamber of
Commerce members, which is so very broadly based and for me to say
you should stick with it or not stick with it, I think would be
improper. You have a budget and if the Chamber says "let's add more
money" or they say "abandon it", well I am not quite ready to sit
here and be critical of any of those positions that you might take.
Mr. Harvey Krieger: Mr. Mayor, I think that is a good point of
depature for this meeting. It has been
commented already that this is the first and
I hope it is the first of mane meetings in
the guise of the Advisory Board and this is an illustration of how
I feel the Advisory Board, as.created by the ordinance, should pro-
perly operate and that is the same as any other Board here in the
City. I believe it is the function and responsibility of the
Advisory Board to come to the Council at one of these meetings and
recommend to the Council as any other Board or Commission of the
City would as to these types of programs andI don't see the County
Fair Exhibit as. being any different. So I am agreeing with your
comment, Councilman,Young, that I believe it is our responsibility
to come to you at the appropriate time and say now last year this is
what was done by the Chamber of Commerce, not wearing our hats as
the Executive Board Committee of the Chamber .of Commerce but as the
Advisory Board of the Council and say as the Advisory Board of the
City Council on these types of projects we do or do not think it
should be perpetuated or should be.changed in certain respects in
particular. And elaborating beyond that the ordinance provides that
the Advisory Board will advise and recommend to the City Council.on
the implementation 'of the ordinance. It has already been done
informally in terms of the budget considerations and figures
submitted to Council.. I know the Chamber and therefore the Advisory
Board is still in the process of evaluating certain of these programs
and projects for the course of this year. I am hopeful that there
will be a substantive rather than a procedural content to these
meetings(in the future where the Advisory Board actually functions
as an Advisory Board looking at these functions and projects that
have been undertaken by the Chamber of Commerce and advise and
recommend to the City Council on their success or failure or
modifications.
The report attached to the Chairman's
letter is a report from the Chamber of Commerce to the City. It is
not a report from the Advisory Board to the City Council but we
thought at this juncture inasmuch as there has not been a formal
report from the Chamber to the City that it would be an appropriate
time to have a formalized report from the Chamber of the City as an
attachment to the cover letter from the Chairman of the Advisory
• Board and I think it is the responsibility and purpose of this
Advisory Board to take a look at those Chamber reports as
submitted in the future and comment as well, not merely submit it.
Mayor Lloyd: I would concur. I think we are in the
process of establishing the relationship
of this Board to the Council. I know we
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CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 11/12/73
have been under some consideration and even criticism for quote
"spending all this money", but very much like the man with the
new horse running in the race, before I get too critical about
the price I think we should wait for a few races to be won or lost,
and then make a determination as to whether the purchase of the
horse was a good one or not. And with that analogy I think we
ought to give the Advisory Board its opportunity to perform
with those implements available to it to get the job done.
.Certainly a judgment based on whether or not we got the first
prize at the County Fair is a shaky method of determining whether
the overalll program is effective. And number one, I am not really
sure I concur with the decision of the great judges as to what shall
or shall not be the first place or last place. What I would really
like to see is how many people walked by, took a look and saw that
West Covina was represented and that what they had was good or.bad,
and did it do one other things - which was attract attention to the
City of West Covina, such that maybe somebody.would be favorably
impressed to move here with a business or be involved actively in
some way. That is the kind of performance we are looking for, not
a blue ribbon one.. Therefore, I would concur with the remarks of
Mr. Krieger.
Councilman Young: I think we should certainly have a perspective
on what we are discussing. I don't think the
County Fair Exhibit per se is worth the
amount of time we spend discussing it since we are talking about
a $2600. project out of a $751000 upwards budget. I would view this
aspect of the discussion as purely illustrative, it is a simple
example. If it was viewed as anything but illustrative it would be
Parkinson's Lawto the ultimate extreme - here we are on a $75,000
budget and we zero in on $2600. I don't think any of us really.
intends that.
I am interested in the overall concept of
retail trade promotion and I know we all are, particularly with this
method f financing the Chamber has a greater responsibility than it
has ever had before in the area of overall retail trade promotion
and this responsibility is owed to every segment of the business
community, and certainly of the retail business community in every
geographical location of the City.
I have managed not to be as prepared as I
would like to be tonight, I just sew the material now, which is my
fault and no one else's, but do we have programs either underway or
under consideration that are going to have some meaning for our
businesses in the.Galaxie area and the Woodside Village area, and
north of the freeway, and along Azusa, and along Glendora avenues - =
do we have things in the mill as a result of this program that
have meaning to all of these segments of business within our
community? That would be my question.,
Mr. Perry:. I would have to say that if we relate then
on those areas - well we don't have programs
for all specific areas. The overall program
I would say - yes. We are talking about sales promotion which would
cover the whole city, but the one area not covering probably as well
as some of the others, is the Fiesta Days. This is underway presently
and is just one of several. I would say we are all aware and watching
very diligently the expenditure of this money to see if it is being
• well spent. I am sure each of the members of the. Council are also
looking at it in the same way, so when we set down a program of work ...
and the fact is we have only been really from July 1 on this, so we..
are only three or four months into the program and we feel by the
time we finish our contractural year we will have good programs
underway for all and some completed.
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CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
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11/12/73
Councilman Young: I think if a program of the kind of scope I
refer to and that you are pointing toward
can h@ d@v@lop@d in a matte of a y@ar'a
tile, 1 would canaid@r that a miracl@ if you could hav@ a functioning
organization that would satisfy evary PartiCUlar n@ed that we Wbuld
wart satisfied from this program. -You don't do something like that.
over night. If in a matter of two or three years we see positive
•results, if that result for example if a motel or a convention center
or whatever, some successful enterprise say in the Galaxie area,
which is of course now right across the street from the City of
Industry and that big shopping center, then the intent of this
legislation is being carried out. I just say that to assure you that
I wouldn't be looking for an overnight result on something like this.
Mr. Krieger: Mr. Mayor, may .I elaborate? And this is
strictly in the capacity of the Advisory
Board. I.think there is an immediate benefit
which one can realize beyond specific projects, and that is the
fact the Chamber of Commerce is in a new role as far as the entire
community is concerned. Historically, and I.don't think this is
unique to West Covina , there were certain establishment::.areas.*.Within
the Chamber of Commerce, and I know for a fact the attitude existed
although I don't think it was that prevalent, but the attitude
existed for example in Woodside Village, or Valley'Boulevard, or some
of the smaller commercial centers on North Azusa or Orange, that
oh the Chamber of Commerce is a Plaza undertaking. If they were
really unknowledgeable they said it was an Eastland undertaking
and between the Eastland and the Plaza it was a Plaza undertaking
even though there was an Eastland Businessmen's Association and
a Plaza Businessmen's Association and then something called the
Chamber of Commerce, but depending upon where you were located in
the community it was somebody else's undertaking. Well every
licensee in the City, wherever located now know their monies are
being used by the Chamber of Commerce in this program .for the
promotion of the retail trade activities and therefore they have a
vested interest in the program and I think they have manifested
that. Before they felt they were on the outside looking in and
didn't want to come in anyway because their attitude was.such that
if they did they would have little fact or effect. On the other.
hand it has caused the Chamber of Commerce to look on the outside
for members and to look to these other areas and we do have a:
responsibility for Woodside, we do have a responsibility for .Valley,
Orange, Merced - and the entire community. I think there is a
tangible and immediate benefit from the.program-.in that respect alone.
Councilman Chappell: One thing we have noticed, and I think I
say this because I was on the Chamber and
on the Board of Directors and active in
those areas, and it.seemed that these people were all sitting on
the same committees and now you are up to 174 participants, so that
can't help but have some good effect. If these meetings are
productive these people will come back and you will continue to
grow. That is what I am going to be.looking at from where I sit is the interest these various Committees have for the business
people. If you start with 16 and they end up with 4 or 6 men, then
you can be sure there is nothing of interest in that Committee for
them. So I think that is where the Council can look to see how
these Committees continue to act and react. I think you started out
when I was on the Committees with a few and now you got large
numbers on the Committees in comparison to what you used to have
sitting on Committees and to me that is important because you are.
involving these other areas. You have to be or you.wouldn't be
getting.`that many people working.
Today, I am very pleased with what is going
on. From time to time I do talk to the various committee members and
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CITY COUNCIL JOINT MEETING Page Six
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 11/12/73
p
the Chairmen of these Committees and I am impressed with their goals
and how they are going about accomplishing them.
Mr. Perry: I would like to make an observation following
up Councilmen Chappell's remarks. With
regard to the number of people participating
and naturally we would like to have more, but also when we talk about
these other areas we would like to have more people from the Galaxie
Area,the North Azusa area, etc.,. and sometimes we find volunteers
there and that is how we accomplish things through volunteers. We
find i4 we have a concentration of volunteers.from any given area
that it will appear that we are concentrating our efforts in that
4rea because that is where the volunteers come from, so we would
like very much and hope to expand our participation by members from
the Galaxie Areal and we do, have some members from there that are
active but we would, like more because the more we get the more
activity we will have in those areas and this is what we are shooting
for. At times it might appear that we are concentrating on a
particular area but it is because. the volunteers are coming from
that .area at that time.
Mr. Wax: I would like to add to what Mr. Perry is
saying. The further you go to the outskirts
the more Poppa and Momma type stores you
find and as much as they would like to participate they can't leave
their stores to participate because they don't have enough employees
to do so. We do have people -asked to sit on the Board of Directors
and we try and cover all these areas to make sure each area has
representation on the Board and hopefully.that.they get involved in
the committee work.
Councilman Young: A further comment, and one that I am
somewhat reluctant to make because I don't
want to be in the position of being on that
Committee but I would think some consideration might be given if not
already done so, to some Chamber of Commerce enactment of a
Recruitment Role in the areas that don't show a lot of participation.
I know that Mr. Wax had a committee going, maybe it is still going,...
one on Land Use, I believe seven areas in the City were delineated
as priority type areas for land use purposes, largely commercial,
and the same groups of subcommittees might arise out of Area IV for.
example, which is probably Galaxie. A Subcommittee that could meet
right there. It is just a thought, it may not be a worthy thought,
but I just throw it out.
Mayor Lloyd: Yes, I think they are seeking involvement at
every level.It is a difficult thing to get
people to participate, particularly in the
Mom and POp operations. You know you reach a saturation point. It
is not like the Gas Company or other large businesses, they.have
availability of resources, which is just not available to a little
person. I note that there are several of us around this table who
happen to be Mom and Pop type operators, so apparently there is
possibilities for these people to participate and have quite a
meaningful involvement. So strangely as it may seem those involved
in the little operations seem to be as greatly involved if not more
so than those who come from the bigger businesses. Harvey has been
the Mayor and now he is back again giving his time, energy and
effort to the Chamber, and it is true through his efforts that this
very economic method of financing came to pass. So it shows you that
the "little people" are really the ones that get things done. .
I think the opportunity is there and we have
to communicate this to our community. I think this is exactly what
Bob is trying to say, he wants those who would participate to have
an opportunity to participate and I know that you do this. The Chamber
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CITY COUNCIL JOINT MEETING.
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
Page Seven
11/12/73
of Commerce and you aa'tho Executive Board, know this because 1 havo
heard you all say it = - it is always the same guy that does it and
that is true. If you want something done go to someone that has done
it already and you get it done. Those of us on the Council have had
some bitter lessons when we tried to have people work who have not
been involved in the community and the job was horrendous on the part
of the -people involved, they did a fair job but it would have been
better if we had people who had been involved in that arena before.
If I may summarize a bit, I think what we are
talking about is we do want everybody in West Covina involved in the.
Chamber of Commerce, and they can be involved. Particularly those
that are paying their entrance fees, they have to understand that in
paying their entrance fees the only thing it allows them to do is come
inside the main tent and get a broom and shovel and go to work. But
for them to have paid and be excluded - and I know this isn't happening but I think we have to make that kind of an effort to let them know,
even if it is with letters saying you know you are helping to pay for
this Chamber so why don't you become a member? I realize also playing
that way in the past was not possible when we had to have specialized
people that did nothing but membership, but we are relieved of that at
this point, so I think there is a requirement to encourage people to
participate. TPke Valley Boulevard, if those merchants down there had
a West Covina Day or something like that, maybe.the Chamber could be
of assistance to them.to help them help themselves. It isn't very
meaningful if you have to gather up the old timers right out.of the
Plaza area and say okay we are going to do something for you people,
down in the Galaxie Tract, and then run these people down to .that
area in which they really aren't involved in the first place..So it is
kind of a give and take situation and I honestly don't know in my role
here on the Council how to make that thing happen. I am at present
doing my level best to get the youth of the. City involved and don't
know that I am doing such a great job on that.
Councilman Young: Mr. Mayor, do you want a motion to receive
the report of the Chamber of Commerce to the
Advisory Committee? (Answered: Yes)
So moved by Councilman Young, seconded by
Councilman Chappell and carried.
ADJOURNMENT Motion by Councilman Young, seconded by
Councilman Chappell and carried; to adjourn
at 4:55 P.M., to 7:30 P.M. in the Council a
Chambers.
APPROVED:
MAYOR
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK