Members of the public listen as Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia announces the new members of several commissions during the Aug. 20 city council meeting.

During its Aug. 20 meeting, the Long Beach City Council approved charter and non-charter commission appointments, discussed an app that could provide updated information on homeless services in the city, approved a study of automation at the Port of Long Beach and agreed to the purchase of Sunnyside Cemetery.

Non-charter commissions

The council approved several appointments to non-charter commissions, such as the board for the Health and Human Services Commission, the Economic Development Commission, the Human Relations Commission, the Citizens’ Advisory Commission on Disabilities and the Cultural Heritage Commission.

Ethics Commission

The council also approved four appointments to the new Ethics Commission. Per Measure CCC, which voters approved by 60% last year, Mayor Robert Garcia chose two appointees and City Auditor Laura Doud selected two as well. Those four will then choose another three to join them on the commission. Ethics Commissioners will serve a four-year term, and members may not serve more than two consecutive terms.

“I want to thank these four commissioners,” Garcia said. “I think they have [an] enormous job ahead of them, the biggest of which is actually being the founding members of a commission that is going to grow and develop their leadership and diverse experience.”

After the council unanimously approved the four Ethics Commission appointments, Doud also spoke about the new commissioners’ responsibilities.

“This is a significant commission that will help identify areas for improvement in our city,” Doud said, “and, as a city auditor, I look forward to working with them in promoting ethical behavior for our city and to prevent [and] detect fraud behavior as well, so that we’re operating with the highest level of standards here in Long Beach.”

Homelessness app

The council also voted to request that the city manager evaluate the feasibility of working with Get Help, a California public-benefit corporation, or a similar service, to develop Long Beach-specific mobile and web-based applications for city staff and Long Beach residents who work with or interact with those experiencing homelessness and/or addiction or other mental-health issues and report back within 60 days.

The tool would provide updated real-time data on bed availability for shelters, rehab, detox, medical detox and other types of public, private and nonprofit beds, according to the memo on the item. The mobile and web-based apps would provide additional information to city employees and residents about services such as food pantries, showers or locations to get ID vouchers.

Agreement amendment

In an 8-0 vote, the council authorized the city manager, or designee, to execute documents necessary for a seventh amendment to a management agreement with SMG, a Pennsylvania joint venture, for a one-year extension expressly conditioned on an SMG subsidiary, SMG Food & Beverage, LLC, entering into a labor peace agreement with Unite Here Local 11 for operations at the Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center.

Deputy City Manager Tom Modica explained the agreement to the council members.

“What this agreement is in front of you,” Modica told the council, “is essentially a one-year contract extension, and, in exchange, there will be a hardship agreement that would be executed, and that would be executed prior to November 2019.”

Automation study

The council voted to request that the city manager work with the Harbor Department to conduct a study of automation at the Port of Long Beach and report back within 120 days. The item directed that the study focus on the economic impact of automation, as it relates to the local community in terms of job loss and local businesses.

“The Port of Long Beach is our regional economic driver,” said 9th District Councilmember Rex Richardson. “It’s an anchor to our city. It’s one of our most important economic engines, and it’s the second-busiest seaport in the United States. And there’s a transition happening around the country that has a lot of people on edge with respect to the conversation on automation. So, I think this concern is certainly warranted as we sort of see reports and see what happened in other industries and how some communities were hard hit [by automation].”

During public comment, several speakers expressed their concerns about the possibility of the port becoming more automated, including, primarily, the loss of jobs. One speaker called for “an independent, academic-based study […] contracted by the port to avoid any political influences.”

Cemetery acquisition

In an effort to save Sunnyside Cemetery from closing, the council voted to: accept the transfer of real property at 1095 E. Willow St., where the cemetery is located; accept the transfer of unrestricted funds associated with the property– estimated at $540,000; and authorize the city manager, or designee, to execute documents necessary to effectuate the transfer, including the assumption of all contracts related to plots and burials.

In June, the cemetery’s board had notified city officials that limited space and declining revenue threatened the continued operation of the property. The board then requested that the city take ownership of the property, change its status from private to public or municipal, and take over its endowment fund.

“This truly is a very, very exciting opportunity for us to expand our municipal cemetery, and we’re looking forward to this [transaction],” City Manager Patrick West told the council before it voted.

Budget hearing

The council also continued its hearing on the Fiscal Year 2020 city budget. The focus of Tuesday’s portion of the hearing was on the Public Works Department– including the Capital Improvement Program– the Development Services Department, and the Health and Human Services Department.

Tax extension

The council also adopted a resolution expressing the intent to prioritize spending of transactions-and-use-tax revenue for specific purposes relating to a March 3, 2020 ballot measure that will ask voters to approve or reject a permanent extension of the Measure A sales tax.

Measure A, a 2016 Long Beach ballot initiative that voters approved, allowed for a 10-year, 1% sales-tax increase to fund public infrastructure and public-safety services.

The Long Beach City Council meets at 5pm on Tuesdays, with the exception of the last Tuesday of the month, in council chambers in the civic center plaza, 411 W. Ocean Blvd.