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POLITICALWIRE – LONG BEACH MAYORAL RACE February 18-March 3, 2014
Long Beach Business Journal 17
Question: Several years ago, the city’s Economic Development Bureau was eliminated. Should the Bureau be reestablished? If so, why and under what format? If not, please explain why. DAMON DUNN
C
reating jobs and building longterm economic growth in Long Beach is such an important goal that it needs to be the responsibility of the Mayor to advance it. As mayor, I will become the city’s number one champion for job growth – dedicating staff to economic development, meeting with employers, advancing reforms, and calling on city departments to make creating jobs easier in Long Beach. By vesting this responsibility in the mayor’s office, voters will know who to hold responsible for success or failure. In my private career, I worked with cities to create jobs and grow revenue – property tax, sales tax and business tax revenue. We can do some amazing things in Long Beach if we think creatively, act decisively and prioritize job creation. Leadership must start at the top to break down institutional barriers that stop the city’s management from being entrepreneurial. The fact is, we have departments and agencies that work with businesses every day. We have our enterprise funds which give our community unique competitive advantages that when broadly promoted, become phenomenal engines of job growth. We have underutilized properties and assets throughout the City that if properly marketed and developed, can generate the needed jobs to benefit all our neighborhoods. The City agencies need to recognize that they are the Long Beach economic development agency. How they deal with businesses, how efficiently and costeffectively they provide their services determines how businesses large and small view our community as a place to invest and a safe and welcoming place to grow jobs. How the enterprise funds operate determines whether we are gaining the greatest economic boost possible from these assets. And the Mayor’s Office needs to be the point where this economic development perspective is maintained and applied. In previous editions, I’ve written how I believe a Mayor needs to be a catalyst. In this case, that catalyst role needs to function as the point that brings together the resources and advantages Long Beach has to offer with the employers who can grow the jobs we need. ■
ROBERT GARCIA
R
estoring t h e Economic Development Department will be one of my top priorities as Mayor. In 2012, I successfully led efforts to hire an Economic Development Officer to begin rebuilding the department. The new department head should report to the city manager and maintain strong relationships with the business community, port officials, and members of the community. The New Economic Development Bureau should focus on key sectors including trade and transportation, technology, green development, healthcare, aerospace, and the creative economy. As our national economy rebounds, it is essential our port remain the competitive global force it is today. We must remain aggressive to recruit new port partners and attract the best companies. We need to grow in new markets beyond China and begin to make a serious effort in South America. If we get serious about expanding our import portfolio, we could see incredible results. Long Beach can become the Silicon Valley of the South with the right leadership and an aggressive approach to business recruitment. We have a Downtown by the water, transit into downtown Los Angeles, and great schools and weather. We need a strong plan to recruit high tech companies and venture capital. We must also lead Long Beach into a new Blue & Green Economy, focused on green development, sustainable buildings, solar projects, and opportunities along the coast for aquatic recreation and tourism. New developments should be green and community-oriented. We need to encourage green tech zones and support efforts on expanding solar initiatives. We also have incredible opportunities to grow and foster the creative economy. We need to encourage more jobs in the arts, design, and entertainment. If Long Beach is going to continue to thrive and grow, new economic activity, including the development of real estate, is essential. To support this critical part of our economic health, we must speed and streamline the development process. While progress has been made, we have much more work to do to make this process more business friendly. I am looking forward to our new Economic Development Department leading the way and bringing business to Long Beach. ■
BONNIE LOWENTHAL
A
bsolutely. L o n g Beach is ideally located to serve as a regional hub and innovator in economic development. It’s time to make the most of our assets and bring businesses and good jobs back to Long Beach and keep them here. Reestablishing the Economic Development Bureau (EDB) is a good way to start. The focus of the EDB must be retention. We cannot grow if we are losing our current businesses. The bureau, which should consist of at least three individuals, has to first assess our current business climate to understand those industries at risk, where we can grow, and where we are thriving. If we want to see sustainable growth in our local economy, we have to be proactive. With a robust EDB, we can reestablish a Red Team for Long Beach, similar to our Red Team for the C-17, to aggressively pursue industries. We can liaison with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation. We can work with the state to leverage incentives through GO-BIZ, including new tools that go beyond the old restrictions of enterprise zones. We now have sales tax exemptions for manufacturing and biotechnology equipment and hiring credits for middle class jobs, as well as some promising proposals on the horizon to expand the use of infrastructure financing districts which would give Long Beach the tools to finance projects for affordable housing, transit, and other projects. We can build the EDB as a hub to assist with business loans, create and maintain existing business improvement districts, and help new businesses establish in our city. Of course, economic development and community development go hand-in-hand. With a strong business community our ability to provide better neighborhood services grows. We can’t forget the role that our community plays in luring and retaining businesses. It’s not just the economic incentives, it’s our quality of life and it’s uniquely Long Beach. Our arts and culture, neighborhoods, schools, and parks can be magnets for businesses looking to build a future in our city. We need to brand Long Beach as a destination for innovation, the arts, and world-class industries. ■
DOUG OTTO
T
o be a successful city, Long Beach must be a prosperous city, and that means making business and job growth our top priority. In these difficult economic times, it was an enormous mistake to eliminate the Economic Development Bureau. We are the only major city in America without an EDB. The reasons the bureau should be reestablished include the following: a) We have fewer jobs in Long Beach than in 2000. b) Our December 2013 unemployment rate was 9.7% – which is 16.9% greater than California’s, and a whopping 44.8% greater than the nation’s. c) Our poverty rate is 19.9% greater than that of L.A. County, and almost 33% of our children are living below the poverty line. This has a corrosive effect that we must correct by focusing on job and business growth. Goal 5 of my Jobs Plan (found at: www.dougottoforlongbeach.com/j obs_plan) calls for restructuring the City’s economic development efforts in two primary ways. If elected Mayor, I will quickly request the City Council and City Manager to do the following: 1) Create an Economic Development Bureau with core functions currently dispersed throughout city departments which will also unify and coordinate economic development efforts – from Workforce Development to Business Improvement Districts. 2) Create a city-sponsored, nonprofit entity with private sector drive and ideas, coupled with public sector responsibilities that can take the lead to promote economic prosperity. While some current city functions could be transferred to this new entity, accountability should remain at the public level. The functions transferred to this new entity would include Business Improvement Districts, Filming and Special Events (the income from which could pay for the entity), Business Loan Programs, Marketing, Economic Data and Economic Impact Analysis, Property Disposition, Cultural Affairs and Special Projects designed to further make our city prosperous. I am the only candidate with a detailed action plan for jobs and business creation. To me, that’s revealing. It’s my priority and should be the priority of the City. City Hall should invest in what matters to Long Beach residents – jobs and business creation, not ribbon-cutting monuments to elected officials. ■
GERRIE SCHIPSKE
W
e need a C i t y Manager who is a warrior for bringing economic development and a Mayor and City Council that will support the efforts with appropriate budgeting. I am the only member of the City Council that sits on the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation’s L.A. Jobs Defense Council which is working on a series of initiatives to bring and keep good paying jobs in our area. I am stunned by the lack of participation by any other representative or staff from the City of Long Beach. LAEDC offers a variety of resources to assist in economic development and it is unbelievable that Long Beach does not fully participate. A year ago, I proposed that the City of Long Beach contract with the LB Chamber of Commerce to assist on economic development. However, the item was withdrawn because the Chamber felt that the animosity between the Chamber and the current Mayor would make such a partnership difficult. In looking forward, we might take our cue as to what a City can do about economic development by looking at the City of San Jose which takes a five pronged approach of coordinating: an Office of Cultural Affairs to promote the arts; Assistance to Business which provides services and information for small businesses and entrepreneurial growth; a Real Estate and Asset Management office that manages the acquisition and valuation of City owned property; and Workforce Development to provide workforce development services to businesses and job seekers. Additionally, we need to establish a citizen/expert advisory committee to the Mayor on economic development. This should be comprised of local business leaders, investors, and entrepreneurs who can help guide the City in doing what is necessary to spur economic development. Finally, the City pays into the California Public Employees Retirement System (CALPERS) $94 million each year and has $3.1 billion in assets in CALPERS, which invests these assets throughout the US and globally but not in Long Beach. The City of Long Beach needs to encourage economic investment back into our City and work with local businesses to apply to become the recipient of CALPERS investments. ■