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OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER January 30, 2015 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council AT FROM: Alan Tandy, City Manager /al Subject: General Information Notable Items As we know, the drop in oil prices is being felt here in Kern County, big time. The County expects to lose $61 million in property tax revenue, prompting the Board of Supervisors to declare a fiscal emergency this week. Layoffs have already begun to occur, which will affect the local economy. History teaches us that prices will rise again, however, and we only hope that it happens soon. As previously reported, the Thomas Roads Improvement Program will host a community meeting for the 24th Street Improvement Project on February 4, 2015, from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., at the Rabobank Convention Center. This meeting will be held in an open house format, and the public is encouraged to attend at any time during the three-hour period and provide input. Exhibits will be set up in the Convention Center Lobby that will illustrate streetscape concepts, and options for hardscape and plant materials that are appropriate to the region’s climate and neighborhood character. City and Caltrans staff will be available to answer questions. Roland Genick, chief architect for Parsons Transportation Group, will provide a presentation in the Convention Center’s Potato Room at 5:00 p.m. that will focus on initial design concepts. The presentation will be repeated at 6:00 p.m. Free parking will be available in the lot south of (behind) the Convention Center. Bulletins Councilmember Weir hosted a community meeting this past week. He was joined by several City Department Heads and other staff who provided the approximately 70 in attendance with an update on transportation improvements and development activity taking place in Ward 3. The meeting also included a presentation and discussion regarding future amenities to be included in the phase 2 development of the Mesa Marin Sports Complex. Feedback from those in attendance indicated there was a strong preference for a recirculating spray park and additional shade structures. General Information Page 2 January 30, 2015 We are pleased to announce that Chris Huot and Steve Teglia have been promoted to the position of Assistant City Manager. They have been performing at that level for a long time, and are, therefore, very qualified and deserving. Congratulations to both! Please take the time to read the attached article in the latest edition of California Meeting + Events, which is a publication for meeting and event professionals. The focus is on Bakersfield, and the successful and effective promotion of the City’s assets by the outstanding team in the Convention and Visitors Bureau. We salute their exemplary efforts! Five National Hockey League teams announced this week that they will form a Western Division of the American Hockey League, which is at the AAA level, just below the NHL. The Edmonton Oilers are one of them, and Bakersfield will have their AAA players. For the last 20 years, Bakersfield has had professional hockey at the AA level, where we have watched our very best players move up in the American League, which has a higher level of play with greater skill and speed. More importantly, there will be regular player movement between Bakersfield and Edmonton, Ontario and the LA Kings, San Diego, and the Anaheim Ducks, etc., so the players you see here may well be on television playing in the NHL a week later. When Edmonton bought the Condors, the new lease gave them the right to play here with either an ECHL or American league team, so no lease adjustment is necessary. The American League has more players and coaches, so we are working with Edmonton in partnership to provide the needed space in the locker room area beneath the Arena seating. This is big news and a strong positive for Bakersfield sports and for Rabobank Arena. A press release is attached. TRIP News The demolition work for the Hosking Avenue Bridge over State Route 99 went exceptionally well Tuesday night, and the west half of the bridge was removed. On Wednesday night, the east half of the bridge was demolished, followed by the remaining columns and abutments on Thursday night. See the attached photos. At Councilmember Parlier’s request, a projected timeline for TRIP projects, both under construction and those in the works, is attached. General Information Page 3 January 30, 2015 Misc. Council Referrals Attached is a response to the following Council referrals: • Councilmember Maxwell o TRIP Reports o Medical Rates o Overpass on Oak Street, at Truxtun Avenue o Potential Lane Modifications on Coffee Road • Councilmember Rivera o Couplet Area Landscaping • Vice Mayor Hanson o Bridle Creek Area Issues Reports For your reference, the following reports are attached: Streets Division work schedule for the week of February 2nd; and Letter from Bright House regarding possible programming changes. Event Notifications Event Calendar for Rabobank Arena Theater and Convention Center AT:CH:cb:al cc: Department Heads Roberta Gafford, City Clerk TO GO THE CORE OF CALIFORNIA HIPSTER HOTELS Creative caterers think Central Valley o ers 4 Check out 3 new outside the box lunch planner-friendly destinations LA properties WINTER 2015 Carefully Crafted The craft cocktail movement brings new spirits to events CAMEWI15_C1.indd 1 1/20/2015 1:13:12 PM DESTINATION CENTRAL VALLEY Bakersfield: Music, Oil and a Whole Lot More BY JANET FULLWOOD Most convention groups come and go with little notice from local residents. Not so for the National Street Rod Association, which roars into Bakersfield each April, attracting some 10–13,000 spectators. “You put 1,900 to 2,000 colorful modified cars of all types running all over town for three or four days, and, well, it’s pretty neat,” says Mike Chrispyn, special events director for the association. While Bakersfield by nature is a car-crazy town, Chrispyn credits the Bakersfield Convention & Visitors Bureau as instrumental to the event’s success. “We’ve been in Bakersfield since 1987, and from my point of view, the CVB couldn’t be better to work with,” he says. “They even host a barbecue for our members.” California’s ninth-largest city (population 364,000) has a lot going for it beyond its gung-ho car culture and ongoing oil boom that has transformed the landscape. Matthew Billingsley, sales manager for the CVB, cites two factors among the city’s strongest draws for the group market: location and great value. “We’re within a four-hour drive of 90 percent of the state’s population,” he says, “and our room rates average 40 to 50 percent less than the state average.” Those assets help make Bakersfield a major player in the SMERF (social, military, educational, religious, fraternal) and sports markets. Groups attracted to Bakersfield run the gamut from pro rodeo and youth sports leagues to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Sweet Adelines, an association of a capella enthusiasts whose 1,000 or so attendees fill the town with barbershop harmony during their annual gathering in April. Speaking of music, Bakersfield is home to the Bakersfield Sound, a sub-genre of country music popularized by legends including Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and, more recently, Dwight Yoakam. Buck Owens’ Crystal Palace, a combination concert hall, museum, restaurant, nightclub and gift store, is a popular venue for off- site gatherings. Another is the elegantly restored 1,500-seat Fox Theater, an acoustically acclaimed historic gem that serves as the city’s performing arts hub. Other cultural institutions available for gatherings include the Bakersfield Museum of Art, which offers indoor banquet facilities as well as outdoor space in its shady sculpture garden, and the Kern County Museum, which can accommodate groups from 50 to 5,000 on its 16- acre campus. For large meetings and conventions, Bakersfield’s Rabobank Arena, Theater and Convention Center offers more than 70,000 square feet of meeting and event space, including a 29,500-square-foot exhibition hall and 13 breakout rooms. The theater is a 3,000- seat venue, while the arena seats 10,000. The venues are connected via indoor walkway to the Bakersfield Marriott, which offers 9,126 square feet of additional event space, including a ballroom that can accommodate 900 guests. Besides the convention center, the city’s largest full-service hotel with meeting space is the 262-room Doubletree by Hilton Bakersfield, featuring a 12,000-square-foot ballroom and a dozen breakout venues. A bit farther out is the 200-room Four Points by Sheraton, with 6,800 square feet of banquet and function space. When it comes to off-site dining, Billingsley says that many planners opt to introduce their attendees to Basque cuisine, which is served family-style at classic venues such as Wool Growers and the Noriega Hotel. “One of Bakersfield’s claims to fame is that we have more Basque restaurants than any other city in the country,” he says. CAM+E WINTER 2015 - Contact - Ryan Holt - email Director, Media Relations & Broadcasting January 29, 2015 Kevin Bartl - email For Immediate Release Vice President, Communications Bakersfield to move to the American Hockey League Formation of the Pacific Division for 2015-16 announced San Jose, Calif. - The Edmonton Oilers joined American Hockey League (AHL) President David Andrews and four other NHL teams to announce the AHL Board of Governors has formally approved the steps necessary to create a Pacific Division within the AHL beginning with the 2015- 16 season. The Board has approved the following: The Anaheim Ducks will purchase the Norfolk Admirals AHL franchise and will relocate it from Norfolk, Va., to San Diego, Calif.

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