Good morning and welcome to Monday Morning Coffee — your weekly roundup of upcoming city meetings and business news. It’s time to find out what this week will bring. Grab your coffee and let’s get to it.

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City meetings

Nearly a dozen meetings are scheduled this week, starting Tuesday with the city’s Housing and Public Health Committee at 3 p.m. inside the Civic Chambers. 

Commissioners will receive several staff reports including proposed policy expansions of the city’s inclusionary housing and just cause for evictions. Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County will also present updates on affordable housing programs. 

At 5 p.m. Tuesday, the Long Beach City Council, following a closed session thirty minutes prior, will discuss a $2.4 million reconstruction project at the airport, award a $1 million project to upgrade the pool at Martin Luther King Jr. Park and consider whether to adopt a memorandum to change the pay scales of some non-sworn employees. Several department leaders will also brief the council on the latest updates on Long Beach’s Sidewalk Vending Ordinance, which began enforcement on July 22. (We recently did our own deep dive on the topic. Read it here.)

At its 5:30 p.m. meeting on Wednesday, the Veterans Affairs Commission will convene at 2525 Grand Ave. to discuss the condition of veterans’ gravesites at city-owned cemeteries as well as their upcoming Veterans Day Celebration. And the Planning Commission will gather Thursday at 5 p.m. to review a site plan for a proposed seven-story, 96-unit apartment complex at 421 East Fourth Street. 

Elsewhere in Long Beach, the Harbor Commission on Monday afternoon will consider establishing a ‘sister port’ relationship with the Port of Shanghai and approve $39.8 million to spend on construction of the Pier B Rail Yard Locomotive Facility Project. 

The Long Beach Community Investment Company will not meet Wednesday, and the Los Angeles County Board Supervisors’ meeting on Tuesday morning is canceled. Supervisors will convene next on October 22, at their usual 9 a.m. session. 

Business events and information

  • Long Beach City College received the 2024 Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award from Insight Into Diversity magazine, the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education. “It’s a tremendous honor for LBCC to be the only community college in Southern California and one of just two in the entire state, to receive the 2024 HEED Award from Insight Into Diversity,” said Mike Muñoz, LBCC Superintendent-President.
  • Local businesses interested in competing for city contracts should know the city recently implemented its Local Preference Program, which adds an additional 5 to 10 percentage points in the city’s 100-point rating system for proposals if they are a local vendor or nonprofit. Home-based businesses will receive an additional 5 points, while retail or commercial businesses receive 10 points. Local bidders will enjoy a 10% preference in the Invitation to Bid processes, with potential discounts of up to $50,000. “By prioritizing local spending in our procurement process, we are able to invest more of the City’s resources back into our community,” Long Beach Mayor Rex Richarson said in a statement. To qualify, vendors must be licensed and have a physical presence in Long Beach. The city also raised its threshold for small-dollar purchases from $25,000 to $40,000, allowing vendors to engage more efficiently through a streamlined quoting process. 
  • At the 27th annual Scan Broadband Star Awards last month, the city’s local program, Long Beach Television, finished with six honors, including three first-place awards. Among the winning programs were the channel’s video segments on the Long Beach Airport, pet safety (starring Charlie the Pug) and the Grand Prix. “I am incredibly proud of our talented team for their dedication and creativity in bringing Long Beach’s rich history, events and services to life for our residents and viewers,” said Lea Eriksen, director of technology and innovation. 
  • More than 300 civic and business leaders will convene later this month for the annual Economic Forum: Growing Long Beach Impact on the World 2024. Held from 8 a.m. to noon on Oct. 24, the summit will showcase presentations on how the city can best prepare ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics, with speeches planned by Mayor Rex Richardson and LaTanya Sheffield, a former U.S. Olympian and coach at the 2024 games in Paris. “This year Long Beach has seen an increase in its global brand visibility as the city prepares to host several Olympic Games in 2028,” notes Long Beach Economic Partnership President and CEO Leah Goold-Haws. To purchase a ticket, visit this link. For more information, click here. 

ICYMI — California and national news

  • Boeing will lay off a tenth of its workforce amid a strike that has derailed production (NPR)
  • Introducing the Cyber Cab, Tesla’s new electric, driverless taxi (LA Times)
  • California’s 2023 math and reading scores have been released. The result: a meager rebound from the pandemic, though much work lies ahead.  (CalMatters)