PURPOSE:

The purpose of this agenda item is for the City Council to appoint members to the Magnolia Park Community Advisory Committee (CAC) from the qualified applicants.

BACKGROUND:

As part of the City�s efforts to improve the Magnolia Park area, the City initiated the formation of the CAC on June 29, 1993. Presently the CAC is comprised of twelve members, and is scheduled to meet the third Thursday of every month.   The Committee was originally created to provide merchant and residential representation on a strategy to revitalize the Magnolia Park business area, and to develop a neighborhood protection plan for the surrounding residential area.  The Committee was active and successful in completing projects such as the master plan for the Magnolia Park area, and the Magnolia Park Streetscape Project.

In October of 1998, staff recommended a reconstitution of the Magnolia Park Community Advisory Committee (CAC).  The recommendation was three-fold and asked that a new mission statement for the CAC be adopted (focusing on the shifting emphasis to commercial projects in the area), that the CAC be represented by seven (7) merchants and five (5) residents. The City Council adopted the recommendations, but changed the representation to (6) merchants and (6) residents.

In September 23, 2003 staff sought City Council direction to fill two existing vacancies on the CAC and to address the issue of inactive members. In the past two years when a quorum was not established, the number of members attending was six, which would have allowed for a quorum to convene, if the Committee had only 11 members. Staff recommended that the City Council consider reducing the Committee to eleven positions with six merchants and five residents, thereby reducing the number needed to have a quorum to six. Since the predominant issues that the CAC has dealt with in the past have had to do with businesses along Magnolia Boulevard (such as promotions and retail vacancies) staff recommended six merchants on the Committee.

The Council directed staff to seek recommitment from current members and advertise for new applications. Based on the amount of qualified applicants, the Council indicated it would decide upon the size of the CAC, when the applications are received.

ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION:

The deadline for submitting applications was November 14, 2003, 5:00 pm to the City Clerk�s office. Staff received 20 applications, and has reviewed them to make sure they meet the minimum requirements which are to be a resident or a merchant within the Magnolia Park Neighborhood. The various applications are attached and collectively marked as Exhibit A.

As part of the City�s efforts to revitalize the Magnolia Park area, the CAC offers a voice to residents and merchants to help ensure vitality among the merchants, while remaining sensitive to quality-of-life issues for the residential community. Once selected, staff will promptly schedule a meeting to brief the appointees on the various existing and proposed activities for the area including: marketing and promotions; the expansion of angle parking; the reuse of the old Thrifty building; and the shared use of the Burbank Community Church Parking lot.

Staff has listed the applicants below by category of merchant or resident.

(As an informational item, the following applicants are both merchants and residents in the Magnolia Park Area: Jay Adams; Yasmine Wolf; Ingrid Kriegler; Laurie Vanatta;  and Heidi Staedler).

RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that the City Council appoint new members to the CAC.

EXHIBITS:

A         Board Applications

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