Good morning and welcome to Monday Morning Coffee! Grab your cup and let’s get to your weekly briefing of what’s on the agenda for local government and business leaders. Get this in your inbox every Monday by signing up at lbpost.com/newsletters.

City meetings

Should cannabis be sold and smoked at music festivals and other events? The Long Beach City Council thinks so. 

Council members on Tuesday will hear a first reading of a new ordinance to allow the sale and use of cannabis at special events like festivals and fairs. Confidence in the ordinance rides on regional — and local — support for the measure and the tax revenue it could bring to city coffers. 

The city’s proposal would allow 12 special events per business or organizer per year. Qualified applicants would be determined by the city’s Office of Cannabis Oversight and Special Events & Filming.   

Cities like San Francisco, Oakland and Sacramento have similar permit processes in place.

That’s not the only item of consequence up for debate Tuesday. The City Council is expected to recommend changes to the city’s airport noise ordinance, hear a first reading for the ordinance establishing a pilot program to have electric scooters on the beach bike path and update land-use regulations for the Alamitos Bay Marina. 

The city is also expected to recommend nearly doubling the contract for storm drain and beachfront clean-up with Ocean Blue Environmental due to “extreme weather conditions” in 2023 and 2024. 

On Monday, the city’s policy subcommittee for the Long Beach Homeless Services Advisory Committee will discuss the details of its draft policy recommendations for tackling homelessness citywide with new goals and milestones. 

The draft awaits the final numbers from the 2025 Point-in-Time homeless count, which are typically published by May. 

At the regional level, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will convene Tuesday to discuss several items, including increased civil penalties for those involved in “street takeovers,” forming an urgent response to sea lions stranded by domoic acid poisoning and a status report on the county probation department.

Business events and information

  • A request from us: The Long Beach Business Journal wants to know what you think of our coverage. If you are a business owner or stakeholder in the business community, a subscriber or simply interested in improving news coverage in general, please fill out this short survey, and tell us what you think. We plan to follow up with respondents interested in further discussion around topics such as what we cover and what kinds of advertising products would be useful to the business community. Thank you so much for your time and readership!
  • For those left wondering how tariffs will affect their business, you’re not alone. The Downtown Long Beach Alliance wants to hear from small business owners and entrepreneurs on their experience so far as well as concerns going forward. For those interested in submitting, visit here. “Please take just a few minutes to share your experience,” said DTLB Alliance President Austin Metoyer. “Your feedback will help us shape a clear, collective message that we can take to the Governor and our federal representatives to ensure Downtown Long Beach’s small businesses are seen and heard.”
  • The city of Long Beach wants to know: What does a “universal” playground look like? City officials are asking the community to share their thoughts as they plan the city’s first-ever universal playground, designed to include all children across the disability spectrum, at El Dorado Park West. An in-person workshop will be held on April 24 starting at 5 p.m. in the Bridge Room at the Dr. Thomas J. Clark Community Center (2800 N. Studebaker Rd.). Attendees will hear a presentation before being given the chance to ask questions and leave comments. Residents can also share their thoughts by completing an online survey by Monday, June 30. For more information, click here.

ICYMI — California and national news

  • Job seekers turn to AI tools to gain a competitive edge. It can also backfire (LA Times)
  • Could utility gear set your neighborhood on fire? California risk maps are 8 years old (CalMatters)
  • State accuses food bank of decade-long scheme to enrich board members, ex-CEO(Long Beach Post)