AGENDA REPORT
Meeting Date: July 1, 2025
Item Number:
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Chad Lynn, Deputy Director of Special Projects – Public Safety Subject: APROVAL OF A FISCAL YEAR 2025-2026 PURCHASE ORDER IN AN AMOUNT NOT-TO-EXCEED $497,969 TO J. BEN BOURGEOIS
PRODUCTIONS, INC. FOR RODEO DRIVE HOLIDAY DÉCOR
MATERIALS AND SERVICES
Attachments: 1. City Council Study Session Report from July 1, 2025 (without attachments)
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the purchase order in an amount not-to-exceed $497,969 to J. Ben Bourgeois Productions, Inc. for holiday décor and lighting materials and services.
INTRODUCTION
This purchase order will provide for the materials and services related to the Rodeo Drive Holiday Décor program.
DISCUSSION
J. Ben Bourgeois Productions, Inc. (JBB) has been the selected vendor for Rodeo Drive Holiday Décor and Rodeo Drive Holiday Lighting celebrations since 2019. The City of Beverly Hills has an existing contract with JBB for event management services.
The City Council reviewed the Rodeo Drive Holiday Décor program and Liaison recommendations at the July 1, 2025 Study Session (Staff Report Attached)
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding for the Rodeo Drive Holiday décor, as well as the Rodeo Drive Holiday Lighting Celebration, comes from TOT. The City has maintained a policy of funding its tourism and marketing programs from a specific allocation of the TOT. The City collects a total of fourteen percent TOT based on gross room sales from the City’s hotels. One-seventh of D-12
Meeting Date: July 1, 2025
the total TOT revenue has been the basis of calculating the funding for the Tourism and Marketing budget in Beverly Hills for approximately 27 years.
The 2025 Rodeo Drive Holiday Decor and Rodeo Drive Holiday Lighting Celebration are funded by the Tourism and Marketing budget (00101311) with Transit Occupancy Tax (TOT) funds. Funding is available to cover the decor funding request by the RDC of $497,969. The FY 25/26 budget includes contingency funding for other Tourism & Marketing events and programs (including Holiday Lighting Celebration and Rodeo Drive Holiday Décor for Holidays 2025) in the amount of $1,171,120.
Using the current TOT budget estimate of $46,364,000 for FY 25/26, the one-seventh available funding would be approximately $6,623,429. In FY 25/26 this includes Councilapproved, recommended and to-be-determined funding for:
Description of Program to be Funded from
Tourism & Marketing Budget (TOT)
Prior Budget
Allocation FY
24/25
Potential Budget
Allocation FY
25/26
Intellectual Property Legal Services $100,000 $100,000
Conference & Visitors Bureau
Requested funding for FY 25/26
Work Plan
$4,987,891 $4,668,581
Rodeo Drive Committee
Requested funding for FY 25/26 Work
Plan
$197,998 $184,998
Portion of the Beverly Hills Chamber of
Commerce Work Plan
Requested funding for FY 25/26, including
additional funding
$173,245 $153,730
Landscape Funding for Rodeo Drive
Estimate as actual may vary
$30,000 $30,000
Concours D'Elegance in 2026
Estimate based on prior year $300,000 $315,000
Contingency Funding for other Tourism &
Marketing Events (including the Holiday
Lighting Celebration and Rodeo Drive Holiday
Décor for Holidays 2025)
$1,525,151 $1,171,120
Total $7,314,285 $6,623,429
Approval of the holiday décor in the amount of $497,969 will leave $673,151 of the existing $1,171,120 for remaining contingency funding, including funding for the 2025 holiday programing.
Keith Sterling
Deputy City Manager
Approved By
Attachment 1
STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date: July 1, 2025
To: Honorable Mayor & City Council
From: Chad Lynn, Deputy Director of Special Project, Public Safety Subject: Recommendation of the Beverly Hills City Council Liaison Rodeo Drive / Special Events / Holiday Program Committee Regarding the Citywide Holiday Décor for Winter 2025
Attachments: 1. Proposal from Rodeo Drive Committee for Rodeo Drive Holiday Décor 2025
2. City Council Liaison/Rodeo Drive /Special Events /Holiday Program Committee Report from June 13, 2025 (without
attachments)
INTRODUCTION
A recommendation of the Beverly Hills City Council Rodeo Drive / Special Events / Holiday Program Committee, Mayor Nazarian and Councilmember Friedman, regarding the Rodeo Drive Committee’s proposed holiday décor and budget approval in an estimated amount of $497,969 for holiday décor on Rodeo Drive. With approval of the overall theme and design of the décor, the holiday lighting celebration kickoff event and banner design will return at a later date.
DISCUSSION
Each year the City sponsors a signature holiday program designed to celebrate the season and attract visitors from around the region to shop, dine and stay in Beverly Hills.
On May 12, 2025 and June 13, 2025, the Beverly Hills City Council Liaison Rodeo Drive / Special Events / Holiday Program Committee (Liaisons), Mayor Nazarian and Councilmember Friedman reviewed the proposals from the Rodeo Drive Committee (RDC) for the 2025 Holiday Décor elements.
The Rodeo Drive Holiday Lighting kickoff celebration, tentatively set for Thursday, November 13, 2025, with the holiday program continuing through January 4, 2026, will return in a following meeting, as the décor elements require a longer lead time for custom manufacturing and procurement. Should Council approve of the theme and elements of the décor, the banner design along with the Holiday Lighting kickoff event proposal will be brought back to Council at a later date.
Each year, the RDC curates unique décor for Rodeo Drive, this year proposed to be displayed and lit from November 13, 2025 through January 4, 2026. The RDC proposed Meeting Date: July 1, 2025
three theme names for the holiday décor, and the Liaisons agreed with the RDC to recommend “Enchanted Holiday Dreams on Rodeo Drive.”
Based on feedback from the May 12, 2025 Liaison meeting, the RDC withdrew their proposal for “Rodeo Drive … Home for the Holidays” and provided a redesigned and preferred option inspired by The Nutcracker Ballet.
This theme is based on a beloved and enduring cultural symbol of the Holiday season and is meant to evoke thematic concepts, enchanted dreams and holiday fantasies. The proposal (Attachment 1) includes five conceptual platform concepts, which will be expanded upon for a unique design on each of the nine platforms on the Rodeo Drive median.
Variations on the theme for these vignettes include different elements inspired by the Nutcracker, unique 3D elements, elements of Hanukkah, unique gifts and ornaments, themed colors and styles, and which may incorporate both the City Shield and Rodeo Drive branding. The items will have customized elements, will be made from durable material suitable for outdoors, include a scale that reaches 12 feet above the platform (about 16 feet about the street/median,) and is proposed to maintain an elevated look during daylight and evening/nighttime hours.
In addition to the custom décor proposal, the median décor is proposed to be complemented by warm white palm tree lighting around the trunks and “dripping” lights in the tree canopies in two colors of warm white to create a ‘shimmer’ and sparkling cascade of lights throughout the rosebushes. At the request of the Liaisons, the ‘dripping’ lights may also vary in size to create great depth and visibility.
The Rodeo Drive Committee as well as the Beverly Hills Conference and Visitors Bureau, the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Beverly Hills, will be planning and executing a coordinated marketing plan that includes social, digital, and print media for the entire holiday season of décor and special programing. More details on the promotion and noticing of the Holiday Lighting Celebration will be available when the full Holiday Lighting Celebration event is brought back for full approval. A banner design will likewise be brought once the theme is approved.
The proposal from the RDC also includes a request for the City to waive or absorb the required permits for installation, as well as the necessary staff time to review and approve the installation and electrical uses. All installations and lighting testing will take place overnight, to mitigate impacts to the Rodeo Driver merchants.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding for the Rodeo Drive Holiday décor, as well as the Rodeo Drive Holiday Lighting Celebration, comes from TOT. The City has maintained a policy of funding its tourism and marketing programs from a specific allocation of the TOT. The City collects a total of fourteen percent TOT based on gross room sales from the City’s hotels. One-seventh of the total TOT revenue has been the basis of calculating the funding for the Tourism and Marketing budget in Beverly Hills for approximately 27 years.
Due to uncertainty related to the production and shipping of the design elements, the budget includes an allowance for 30% tariff costs. If tariffs are lower at the time order, the City will realize a cost savings. However, if tariffs increase, the City will incur the incremental difference in the tariff allowance and the actual tariff costs. Even with the anticipated tariff allowance of 30%, the funding for the Rodeo Drive holiday decor in the requested amount of $497,969 is five percent less than the prior year budget of Meeting Date: July 1, 2025
$524,502. The total Rodeo Drive holiday budget, which will include the celebration event, will be brought back at a later time.
The 2025 Rodeo Drive Holiday Decor and Rodeo Drive Holiday Lighting Celebration are funded by the Tourism and Marketing budget (00101311) with Transit Occupancy Tax (TOT) funds. Funding is available to cover the decor funding request by the RDC of $497,969. The FY 25/26 budget includes contingency funding for other Tourism & Marketing events and programs (including Holiday Lighting Celebration and Rodeo Drive Holiday Décor for Holidays 2025) in the amount of $1,171,120.
Using the current TOT budget estimate of $46,364,000 for FY 25/26, the one-seventh available funding would be approximately $6,623,429. In FY 25/26 this includes Council-approved, recommended and to-be-determined funding for:
Description of Program to be Funded from
Tourism & Marketing Budget (TOT)
Prior Budget
Allocation FY
24/25
Potential Budget
Allocation FY
25/26
Intellectual Property Legal Services $100,000 $100,000
Conference & Visitors Bureau
Requested funding for FY 25/26
Work Plan
$4,987,891 $4,668,581
Rodeo Drive Committee
Requested funding for FY 25/26 Work
Plan
$197,998 $184,998
Portion of the Beverly Hills Chamber of
Commerce Work Plan
Requested funding for FY 25/26, including
additional funding
$173,245 $153,730
Landscape Funding for Rodeo Drive
Estimate as actual may vary
$30,000 $30,000
Concours D'Elegance in 2026
Estimate based on prior year $300,000 $315,000
Contingency Funding for other Tourism &
Marketing Events (including the Holiday
Lighting Celebration and Rodeo Drive Holiday
Décor for Holidays 2025)
$1,525,151 $1,171,120
Total $7,314,285 $6,623,429
Approval of the holiday décor in the amount of $497,969 will leave $673,151 of the existing $1,171,120 for remaining contingency funding, including funding for the 2025 holiday programing.
JBB has been the selected vendor for Rodeo Drive Holiday Décor and Rodeo Drive Holiday Lighting celebrations since 2019. For reference, the last page of Attachment 1 shows a cost comparison to previous Rodeo Drive Holiday Décor budgets from 2019 to current, and the kickoff event and programming comparison will be brought back to Council at a later date. The City of Beverly Hills has an existing contract with J. Ben Bourgeois Productions, Inc. (JBB) for event management services; however, approval of a purchase order in an amount not-to-exceed $497,969 will be on the consent calendar of the Formal City Council Meeting of July 1, 2025.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council provide feedback regarding the 2025 Rodeo Drive Décor theme and designs for the recommended theme “Enchanted Holiday Meeting Date: July 1, 2025
Dreams on Rodeo Drive” and approve the requested Purchase Order in a Not-to-Exceed Amount of $497,969 to J. Ben Bourgeois Productions, Inc. for the Rodeo Drive Holiday Décor on Rodeo Drive at the July 1, 2025 Formal City Council Meeting. The Holiday Lighting Celebration and banner designs will be brought back to Liaisons, then Council, for separate review and approval.
Keith Sterling,
Deputy City Manager
Approved By