COUNCIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES – June 23, 2022
CALL TO ORDER: The Regular meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m.
ATTENDANCE (September 2021-July 2022):
Committee Member
Present
6/23/2022
All Meetings
Year to Date
Meetings Mandated
By Resolution
Present
Absent
Present
Absent
Council Member Salinas
Π
7 0
7 0
Council Member Wahab
Π
7 0
7 0
Council Member Andrews
Π
7 0
7 0
OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE:
Kelly McAdoo, City Manager; Regina Youngblood, Assistant City Manager; Paul Nguyen, Economic Development Manager; Catherine Ralston, Economic Development Specialist; Suzanne Philis, Senior Secretary; Monique Richardson
PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were none.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MAY 26, 2022
A motion to approve minutes from the May 26, 2022 Regular meeting was made by Council Member Andrews and seconded by Council Member Wahab. The minutes were unanimously approved.
INFORMATIONAL REPORT ON PUBLICLY AVAILABLE ART IN THE CITY OF HAYWARD Assistant City Manager Regina Youngblood gave the presentation.
Council Member Andrews said public art was a passion of hers since she moved to Hayward and she was excited about the discussion. She asked where an arts commission would live within the City organization. Assistant City Manager Youngblood explained that there wasn’t enough staff support capacity to take on another commission and while there had been discussions of which City division would serve as liaison, no formal decision had been made.
Council Member Andrews said she didn’t want to burden development projects with a public art fee but noted a coordinated approach was needed to create public art that was memorable. She asked if a menu of desired artwork could be provided to developers that would make the project more favorable to Council and if Economic Development could work with the Hayward Arts Council or other jurisdictions with an existing art commission or expertise to help make it happen.
Economic Development Manager Nguyen said it was possible that some design guidelines could be developed that included desired public art options and he gave several examples of how guidelines had been created for other projects and programs. In terms of what those guidelines would be, he said he would defer to Planning to comment on guideline development and their staffing capacity to complete such a project. Council Member Andrews asked staff to work with Planning to develop guidelines in terms of placemaking and Hayward Police for hot spot areas and safety issues.
Council Member Andrews asked what districts were identified for gateway markers beside the industrial sector. Manager Nguyen explained that the gateway marker staff report from 2016 had been in response to a request to brand the industrial corridor and recognize the innovation happening there. Staff did not look at commercial corridors like Tennyson or Mission, he said.
Council Member Andrews asked if any coordination had been made with the Downtown Hayward Improvement Association (DHIA), the Latino Business Roundtable, or the Hayward Chamber of Commerce about partnering for public art. Manager Nguyen said to his knowledge there had been no discussion with the Chamber or business roundtables, but noted over the last two years the DHIA had had conversations about ways to enhance the district. He noted it was staff’s intent to invite the DHIA to the CEDC to present upcoming initiatives.
Council Member Andrews asked if local schools had been outreached. She noted there was a lot of interest from Chabot College about public facing art. Manager Nguyen said that was an excellent idea, but staff had not engaged any of the schools, HUSD, Chabot or CSUEB, about public art. He explained that right now, it was outside of the Division’s wheelhouse.
Council Member Andrews said she remembered receiving a survey for an art masterplan and she asked what happened with it. City Manager McAdoo explained that the City had been applying for a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to produce a masterplan, but the City did not receive the grant and the effort ended. Council Member Andrews asked if the survey information could still be useful and was told possibly, if the application could be located.
Council Member Wahab asked if the staff recommendation was for Council to create an Arts Commission. Assistant City Manager Youngblood said that was not the current recommendation. Related to staff capacity, she mentioned that a Management Fellow was starting with the City in August and had already expressed an interest in public art.
Council Member Wahab said she was not a fan of creating another commission and suggested pursuing other avenues first. She said she didn’t want new businesses to pay a fee because art was something that should be lively, free and community-driven. She suggested that, if an arts program was developed, that Library staff should run it with a call for art every one or two years and then chose the top five or 10 art pieces for the next building or business. Council Member Wahab encouraged staff to require a new business or development to allow public art, but not to pay for it.
Council Member Wahab emphasized that she didn’t want to hire more staffing to oversee the program because she wanted to maintain the intent of the artist rather than be programmatic but said Council and members of the community could serve as judges to make the selections.
Council Member Wahab also said she wanted public art to be throughout the City not just downtown and not limited to just businesses but all kinds of development projects including housing. She reiterated that she wanted staff to be creative rather than burden businesses and that the call for art should go through the Library. She asked if staff had any feedback to her comments.
City Manager McAdoo said it was staff’s preference not to have a commission but instead continue the conversation and have the Council explore a more formal public art policy first and build out from there.
Council Member Wahab said she really wanted to draw a line between mom & pop businesses and large retailers if a percentage fee was placed on businesses. She also expressed a desire for different kinds of art, not just paintings.
Council Member Salinas asked if public art was currently handled through Development Services and was told the City’s Mural Arts Program was housed in the City Manager’s Office. Council Member Salinas commented that per the discussion, public art seemed like an economic issue and applications should be received and reviewed by the CEDC so staff could analyze what would be aesthetically pleasing and attract the most people to a particular area. He pointed out that if downtown Hayward had a giant statue like the one by the San Leandro BART station, people would might eat at nearby restaurants when they came to see it.
Assistant City Manager Youngblood agreed that public art was housed with economic development at other cities, but staff did not want to burden the Economic Development Division with the task while they were so short staffed.
When new developments came to the CEDC for a concept review, Council Member Salinas said staff could take the opportunity to ask developers to include public art, not necessarily as a condition of approval but articulated as desirable.
Council Member Andrews asked if tourism groups were spearheaded by other cities or their Chamber of Commerce. Economic Development Manager Nguyen said tourism groups were usually separate from city government and were often funded by self-assessed fees by hotels.
Council Member Andrews understood the staffing issues related to the Economic Development Division but said she would prefer if public art came to the CEDC. She asked staff to look at how other cities without a commission were handling public art.
Council Member Salinas asked if Hayward could designate the Sun Gallery as the City’s adjunct advisory board but then wondered if the Gallery’s esthetic would be the same as the City’s.
Council Member Salinas said he hoped that the one thing to come out of the discussion was that Economic Development staff tell new businesses and developments that public art was highly desired.
UPDATE ON COVID-19 ECONOMIC RECOVERY RESTAURANT RELAUNCH AND RESTORE AND REOPEN GRANT PROGRAMS This agenda item was discussed at the May 26, 2022 Regular CEDC meeting. Please see minutes from the discussion here:
HYPERLINK "https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5701040&GUID=EFCC19B9-DDC0-4210-BC78-322D63F68893&Options=&Search=" https://hayward.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=5701040&GUID=EFCC19B9-DDC0-4210-BC78-322D63F68893&Options=&Search= FUTURE MEETING TOPICS AS OF JUNE 23, 2022
Council Member Andrews asked that security be added to the list of initiatives to be discussed by the DHIA and if they were partnering with Hayward Police and when they would start. She said she would also like to hear from Southland Mall representatives about increased security measures being put in place after a recent incident. She said a written update from the Mall would suffice.
Council Member Andrews asked if there was an update regarding the municipal parking lot between A and B Streets and the impact of construction equipment was having on the number of available parking stalls. She said she’d had two businesses reach out to her. City Manager McAdoo said with Buffalo Bill’s closed, there should be plenty of parking.
Economic Development Manager Nguyen said that staff was working with Development Services who issued an encroachment permit for construction at 1025 A Street. He noted that the development of a food hall was a significant project and that there was ample parking at other locations around downtown including the Cinema Place parking structure right across B Street. He noted that there were lots of different reasons why people weren’t coming to downtown and not being able to park right in front of a business was going to be a common occurrence as the City grew.
Council Member Andrews asked staff to provide some coaching to the businesses on where they instructed patrons to park. Manager Nguyen said he would ask staff to send them a map of municipal parking lots.
COMMITTEE MEMBER/STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REFERRALS
Economic Development Manager Nguyen said Specialist Ralston would be presenting an update on the latest Development Pipeline brochure and newly-established website but first noted that the brochure was probably Economic Development’s single most important marketing collateral and it was produced through the efforts of several departments.
Specialist Ralston gave a short presentation and noted the new Development Pipeline brochure was hot off the presses just that morning and copies would be distributed.
Council Member Andrews asked if any business names were being released for Lincoln Landing. Manager Nguyen said no, staff let the developer take the lead on announcing tenants, but noted City Sport and Chipolte had already been made public.
Council Member Salinas asked if City Sport was taking one of the front pads. Manager Nguyen told him no, the gym would be in the back along with mainline retailers. Council Member Salinas asked if staff knew who was going in front and was told no.
Economic Development Manager Nguyen then noted that the Hayward had four finalists for a 2022 East Bay Economic Development Alliance Innovation Award. He listed: DuPont EKC for Advanced Manufacturing; Eikon Therapeutics for Life Sciences; Applied Silver under Technology; and CSU East Bay Green Biome Institute for Education. He also noted that CSUEB was going to receive a legacy award for their contribution to education and innovation in the region. A press release was pending, he said and winners would be announced in August.
Council Member Salinas commented that the Development Pipeline kept getting bigger and better and he thanked staff for their efforts.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 5:49 p.m.
Hayward Council Economic Development Committee
Regular Meeting Minutes
June 23, 2022
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