Speaker 0: The motion is carried. Nine. Jo.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Let's go and go back up now to 17, because we should probably take these together. They're both related. I think there's maybe just one issue that there's we're clear about each item and why don't we go ahead and do I was going to ask for a short I skepticism to come back to it but I want to just offer a short presentation and 17 so that people get a good grasp of what we're doing here.
Speaker 5: Nick Shultz, our manager of our workforce development, will give a presentation on this item.
Speaker 0: Item 17 is a report from economic development. Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute an agreement with. Oh 17. Yeah.
Speaker 3: 17.
Speaker 0: Adam 17 Report from Economic Development Recommendation to authorize the manager to execute an agreement with Conrad Hilton Foundation to accept grant funding in the amount not to exceed 1.6 billion for the creation of a new Space Beach program.
Speaker 5: I would like to introduce Nick, but I just wanted a clarification that there are two items where the city has received grants from the Hilton Foundation. One is item 23 that you just approved, and this is the second item where the city is receiving grant. And collectively between those two program, it achieves the training for the 300 youths that vice mayor mentioned. Right, Nick?
Speaker 6: Thank you, Linda. Good evening, honorable mayor. Members of the council. The item you have in front of you is an award to the city through Pacific Gateway from the Hilton Foundation, $1.67 million over three years. And it will serve 125 youth. I'm going to delve a little bit into the program aspect for you, but I want to say that this is important on a couple levels. Number one, it elevates all the great work that's been done across the city to scale Space Beach and the growing aerospace defense cluster we have here within the city. It recognizes that there's a significant portion, maybe one in four or one in five youth in the city who fall within the opportunity, youth or disadvantage youth category, as some funding sources use those terms interchangeably. And third, it is the Hilton's foundation first ever investment in the county of Los Angeles. This was an invite to participate, and it came to Long Beach and it came in two tranches. You've already heard about the Health Department and the Office of Youth Opportunity, and we look we look forward to them scaling up in parallel to our effort. So we're particularly proud of those three things with this Space Beach Youth Workforce Program is going to do is really three things. It's going to focus on career exploration for disadvantaged youth, meaning workplace tours, career days and project based mentoring and matching. The second thing it's going to do is actually career preparation. So that project based learning activity will occur with the youth in those manners. It will lead to a showcase, industry centric showcase and a conference where industry leaders will give youth feedback on their specific projects related to their company and mentor. And finally, it all culminate with paid internships in the actual aerospace companies for 125 Opportunity Youth. We've been moving along as this award was in process. Our first planning event is going to occur next week on 427. And I just want to read to you the list of companies who've already committed and will attend with us on the 27th to begin preparation for their mentorship activity. So it's more of 3D ABL Aerospace, the going, the Boeing Company, M4 for Aerospace, Rebel Aerospace, GCU, Space X Rocket Lab, Relativity Space, Otis Aviation Virgin Orbit Spin Launch. And NASA's actually spending sending representatives to participate in our planning day. So we're looking forward to a successful program. We're looking forward to connecting 125 of our opportunity youth to better opportunities, career pathways and meaningful labor market attachment through the partnership with Hilton. And I'm happy to take any questions you might have.
Speaker 3: Thank you. And I wanted to hear maybe we should have had that 1/1, but they're both related. I pulled it out of order because they wanted to spend a little bit of time on this, because I just want the council I think staff know this already, but the council to just kind of take in just the massive accomplishment and pride that we should feel in the creation of this space ecosystem that has developed in the city of Long Beach. Obviously a love that we are all all in on Space Beach. It is, you know, before I got on this body and many of us and some of us that have been here a little bit longer, like Councilman Austin and Councilman Ranga, and when when when Virgin Orbit first was coming to Long Beach. And we thought that was an enormous step forward. And it was and, you know, touring with them and seeing all the incredible things that that were that were happening there. And then, of course, to go from create from Virgin orbit, which we already have, of course, of the presence of Boeing here to then grow into into Space X and Rocket Lab and Spin Launch and UBL and all these incredible companies that are now here. We have created the most dense space economy, I believe, on the West Coast. And certainly we are the jobs that are being created, the relationships are being built at Cal State, Long Beach, particularly the engineering department. Have you talked to any faculty member at Cal State, Long Beach? And they will tell you that this is one of the. Best thing that ever happened to the engineering department at the university. And with the connections being made at Long Beach Unified School District and through programs like this one, I think are something that we should be incredibly, incredibly proud of. For those that have not had a chance to tour some of these facilities or to see what's actually happening within our broader can of Space Beach community, I would encourage you to do so. It's phenomenal what is going on. The technology that is being built right here in Long Beach, right adjacent to the Long Beach Airport, is incredible to see. So I'm incredibly proud of the work of staff in getting us here. And I do want to just take a minute to recognize both the economic development team that have worked just incredibly hard to help provide the space for for this ecosystem to prosper. Because what's happening here is not happening anywhere else. Instead of California, like period, it is. It's quite something to see. And so and with that wanted to thank you know, you know, Nick, you and your your whole team and of course on the health department side with the partner in this project. But this ability for us to connect our young people to these companies and to these jobs and just to have that opportunity to to have our own in-house, you know, visionaries, I think is really, really incredible. Let me also just ask and maybe this is more of a formal request to Ms.. Tatum, but I do think it's I think we're probably at the appropriate time where we should probably have a study session or a broader just presentation for the council about Space Beach and just all that is happening on site and around the airport. And because we know there's a lot more interest that's kind of breaking down the door right now as well. And so it'd be really great to have in front of the council to kind of talk about what all that's happening here in our community especially that's it's so unique right now to Long Beach from a California perspective. And I'm for the council. Everywhere I go, everyone knows what's going on here with with, with, with Space Beach. And so it's very it's very exciting. And I'm just very, very grateful to to the work that's gone into this project in particular. So we do have folks that are lined up. Councilman Austin, do you have any additional comments on this?
Speaker 7: Yeah, obviously, I support this item motion to support this. I mean, you said a lot and I certainly agree with the the opportunities that are created with the many companies that are now occupying. What was the former McDonnell Douglas Boeing site? I want to just say that I think Long Beach, obviously, is the place to to embark on a space beach. We have a workforce that is built in here. And, you know, we are we once had 40,000 plus jobs at that site. I never want to forget that. I always want to remind us of that frequently. And so while Space Beach represents a rebound and I think in many respects we're still operating from a jobs deficit, and we shouldn't forget that I was fortunate to be one of those opportunity youth, you know, 30 some years ago, right out of high school, getting a job in an aerospace industry and it gave me a great foundation on life, opened up all kinds of doors for me. I got an opportunity to work for a Fortune 500 company. And so to know that 150 to 300 youth are going to be benefiting from many of the same opportunities that I had as a kid, a young man coming out of high school. I think this is a great, great program and so happy to support it and look forward to the results.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Councilman Allen.
Speaker 2: Yes. Thank you, Mary. This is just a fantastic grant. I'm sure the Hilton Foundation is tuning in and just to see how grateful we all are for this money that's supporting our youth. I'm also just a huge thank you to Pacific Gateway for making the request and securing the funding. The funding. And thank you, Nick. For more details about the program. My goodness. The companies that are coming to your to your planning day. Even NASA's sending representatives. It's just huge. And it's just really exciting for our youth. And it's just a great opportunity to train the youth for jobs of tomorrow and also for these youth to get to live and be able to work in Long Beach and have good paying jobs. I look forward to watching this program take off over the next three years, and I also hope and can't wait until I can share more information about the program with youth and constituents. And who can also apply for that. I also just have to say just a big thank you to our mayor, to all the folks that were involved in creating these ecosystems. It's just an incredible opportunity for our youth and I couldn't be more excited. So thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Vice Mayor Richardson.
Speaker 4: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So that was the that was the presentation we were looking for earlier. Good job. Good job, Nick. So a few things. So, one, I think it's incredible that these things are happening with with Space Beach and the new life of aerospace. But the story that I think we really need to highlight is the fact that all these things are happening at once. The Office of Youth Development is finally standing. It's our first year after the city council funded it. Last year it's standing. There's grant funding connecting all the strategies that came from My Brother's Keeper to the Youth Strategic Plan that highlights the focus on disconnected youth that we started talking about years ago, that if youth are connected to a pathway to a job or education or training, then they're less likely to be connected to the criminal justice system or to be a victim of violent crime. And so by targeting the opportunities that we have with Space Beach to Opportunity youth, that's a way that we make sure that our entire city is organized in a way that youth have world class opportunities. And so and frankly, it needs to happen. You know, I love hearing when Councilman Alston talks about his opportunities. My mom had the same opportunity. She worked on an assembly line at General Motors when she had a GED. Today, you can't do that. You can't graduate high school and go get a job right out the gate. You need to require some connection, some training, some development. And the fact that we are organizing at this at this early stage in space speech to have that direct alignment to our youth and our workforce agency and our health department, I think it's smart. And so I look forward to much more. You know, I look forward to like following this program at the Ron Arias Center, and it's going to work with youth across the whole city. But the fact that it's even anchored the Office of Youth Development in the community right next to Jordan High School says a lot that these kids can get direct access to world class jobs. Right. Coming out of Jordan High and every other high school, for that matter. So thank you so much. I think this is this is probably the coolest thing on the agenda. On the agenda. Thank you.
Speaker 3: Thank you. In the house.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Mayor. Nick, thank you for that great, great presentation. I'm so excited for the out of this world experience that space speech is going to bring to our youth. I think it's so amazing. I love this item and that it highlights the unique opportunity that will be provided to our youth with exposure to emerging technologies, as well as equip them with a path to earning family sustaining jobs, which is the most important thing. Like like both make place mayor and councilwoman council member Austin alluded to this is truly an opportunity like no other. And it makes me so proud to know that it is Long Beach Focus and that we have it here in Long Beach. Again, I will say it, youth empowerment, I believe, is really the key driver for a stronger local economy. So I'm really excited about this. I think that it's going to be amazing. I'm looking forward to seeing the outcomes of this program. I'm I can't wait to see the 150 students that will our young youth that will be able to take advantage of the program. I cannot wait to see them at the other side of the program after they've gone through the program. It's going to be amazing. So thank you to everyone who brought it forward and a huge thank you to the Hilton Foundation for funding such an important program here in Long Beach.
Speaker 3: Councilman. Sorry.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Mayor. Just don't want to be repetitive and just, you know, thank my colleagues for their great comments. But I do want to add to that I hope will take into serious consideration doing outreach to young women of color. As somebody who thought about entering the science world, it wasn't a friendly environment that made me want to even go into that career. So I'm hoping that, well, this will help increase the equity level of gender in the science and aerospace field. And, you know, love to see our young women demonstrating their not only passion but skill in this field, and that we create an environment that contributes to equity in that respect to. And so I look forward to seeing who these young people are in the program and how are you going to set this motto up for the nation. So thank you so much. And thanks to the Economic Development Department for this hard work.
Speaker 3: Thank you. Public comment.
Speaker 5: If there are any members of the public that would like to speak on item 17 in person, please line up at the podium in the zoom. Please use the raise hand feature or dial star nine now.
Speaker 6: Mr. Mayor. I know space is your moniker, so don't take my decision towards the item as a personal affront to you. That said, you know, I'm I'm glad we're over the Hilton Hotel boycott. You know, obviously, we're taking this money because I'm just so confused. For one, I'm so confused. Long Beach State has failed the at eat opportunity youth of the city. Proportionately speaking, Long Beach State does not and the lobby's promise does not serve as opportunity youth in this city at all. You can look at the numbers there showed. They'll show you themselves. And when I look at Mr. C's statements, mark markup on even the page referencing Space Beach, it does even say opportunity UV on the page it says engineering, the engineering program students. So as we know, that's mostly foreign exchange students in that opportunity, youth that are being serviced by the program. So I'm just confused by how we're going to like semantically, you know, play three card monte about who actually is the services that doesn't service opportunity youth in the city of Long Beach with respect to what they say they're servicing opportunity youth like in my in my neighborhood. 90813 where one in three are living in abject poverty, aren't being serviced by these kinds of programs. So I don't appreciate Pacific Gateway and whatever endowment relationship they have with Long Beach State trying to weasel their way into, you know, using language, to my knowledge, when I look up the call to Mr. Biden, when I look up opportunity youth, the definition of it's a 16 to 24 who are not in school. So how can an engineering program student qualify for for qualifying for this when they're in school? Mr. AUSTIN So eloquently put it, we're at a deficit this space beach entities that come in here and gentrify our communities and our neighborhoods when they bring high earning engineers and professionals to come in and filter into our neighborhoods where they're okay, we're paying 30 $500 or more in rent and the rest of us are not. That's not what we want coming into the city. We want locals getting jobs. These these type of antics don't do that at all. They don't service locals. My great grandfather came out of World War Two working on the line. My grandfather worked on the line. 18 people in my family worked on the line at McDonnell Douglas. These aren't the type of communities that are being serviced by these types of programs. So you have to forgive me, Mr. Mayor, council for, you know, engaging with this like this is not service an opportunity. I don't have no problem. I'm not you know, I love my environmentalist friend. I'm not a contrarian. You know, I don't have no problem. But when I see certain terms being used, I'm like, that's not servicing the community that you say it's servicing. And I have enough will. I'm mindful enough to know what language means. So please think of the use of the locals. Thank you.
Speaker 0: Next speaker.
Speaker 6: They should quit their district. Hello again, Nick Schultz. Good to see you. Before I get into this whole good cop bad cop routine, I'd just like to ask you. Per million dollars of capital investment, what are the actual job creation? Career pathways, 20 years, 30 year pension track, career pathway, jobs being created by these funds. Do you know, Nick? It's the kind of thing I'd like to be able to geek out with with Uber. All right. I'm not a contrarian tonight, but I do care very much about the limited window. We have to insure the future survivability of our species and habitability on this planet. And quite frankly, Robert Garcia, for all of your efforts towards making sure that everyone you speak to about free speech, news about space speech, how many ventilators have these companies in that city boundaries of Long Beach actually created? How many ventilators? We stand here today, two years, not even two years after the Long Beach economic recovery team, was it? And a couple of other choice outfits in town made a couple of recommendations about how to proceed for the good of business. Right for the good of business. We didn't need to. Follow obvious, easy to absorb, you know, public health protocols. We just needed to keep business moving. Uh. Uh, true story. I had a pack of Cigarets stolen last week, and it was either the carpenters or the police. I'm not sure which, but the Carpenters were here to talk about wage theft, something I've done some research about in the industry, something that's happened and is expanded as we've been in such a rush to service the interests of certain industries and firms in this town. But more to the point, I mean, for all these these folks that you're attracting. What happens if we have an earthquake big enough that it actually affects things above Spring Street? But Willow Street. I mean, I know it's firmer ground, but I mean, what happens all these people that you're telling, you know, it's a great investment. Get come, come, get all these, you know, luxury condos that we just built while we, you know, pissed away our own population. Um, what are they going to do? I mean, these are small, you know, small money donors, right? I mean, what are you going to do? What are they going to do when they realize they kind of, you know, sold a lemon? Got six weeks to figure that out. I mean, you know, they can return. They can ask for the money back, right? I mean, if you know, as I said, some of you are better investments than others. You're saying, you know, five years from today, ten years from today, I mean, who's going to be a good investment?
Speaker 0: You know, your time is up.
Speaker 6: Should I should I look up?
Speaker 0: Thank you.
Speaker 5: That concludes public comment.
Speaker 3: Thank you. And then we're going to go and take a roll call vote before we do that. I do want to ask Ms.. T.A., I think let's definitely do that. The study session to the council. I think it's a great opportunity to continue to discuss all the all the great things going on with with with the space meets, and then also be able to answer some of the questions the Council has. And and particularly on this issue, which is really important for for the community. So thank you. Go ahead and do a real cover, please.
Speaker 0: It took one district to.
Speaker 2: Write.
Speaker 0: This actually.
Speaker 2: I.
Speaker 0: District for my district five. District five.
Speaker 2: I.
Speaker 0: District six, District seven.
Speaker 6: I.
Speaker 0: District eight. District nine.
Speaker 6: I.
Speaker 0: The motion is carried. Nine zero.
Speaker 3: Thank you. 24.
Speaker 2: I Mr. York.
Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement, and any necessary documents, subcontracts or subsequent amendments, including amendments to the grant term or award amount, with the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation to accept and expend grant funding in an amount up to $1,670,000 for the creation of a new Space Beach program, a skills training program to enroll opportunity youth in aerospace careers, for a three-year period beginning May 1, 2022.  (Citywide)