By Grace Leung, Newport Beach City Manager
The next City Council meeting is Tuesday, June 11. Items of interest are highlighted below. The entire agenda and reports can be viewed here: https://newportbeachca.gov/Home/Components/Calendar/Event/73671/72.
The regular meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Agenda items include:
- A $218,000 contract with Dudek, Inc. for consulting services related to the Corona del Mar commercial corridor study. The contract would support the City’s efforts to enhance the walkability and vibrancy of CdM’s commercial corridor. The study would include opportunities to improve current land uses, streetscape amenities, transportation features within the corridor, and include community outreach to inform recommendations.
- Virtual use-of-force training system purchase. The virtual system from Ti Training would provide Newport Beach police officers with realistic scenario-based training in de-escalation, crisis intervention and use of force. The $181,000 system would be purchased with asset forfeiture funds.
- Community programs and special events grants recommendations. The Council will consider awarding $55,811 in community programs grants, $45,000 in community and charitable events grants, and $255,000 in signature special events grants. Each year the City awards grants to local organizations that serve or provide programming
- for Newport Beach residents and for Newport Beach-based events.
- Adoption of the Fiscal Year 2024-24 City budget. The $494.8 million budget includes $440.5 million in operational spending and $54.3 million to fund capital improvement projects. The annual budget serves as the foundation for financial planning and control and allows the City Council to prioritize expenditures in alignment with community values. The proposed budget includes a stable local revenue base with an estimated 4% growth in property taxes, healthy reserves, and continuation of an aggressive payment plan to service pension debt liability.
City Council Meeting Information
The Newport Beach City Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays of most months (the exceptions are August and December). Typically, there is a Study Session that starts at 4 p.m. Study sessions are times for the Council to take a deeper look at a specific issue, or hear a presentation, that might eventually lead to a specific and more formal action. A closed session often follows the Study Session. Closed sessions are typically to address legal, personnel, and other matters where additional confidentiality is important.
The Regular (evening) Session typically starts at 6 p.m., and often has a specific listing of different items ready for formal votes. Items on the “Consent Calendar” are heard all at once, unless a Council member has removed (aka “pulled”) an item from the Consent Calendar for specific discussion and separate vote. If an item on the agenda is recommended to be “continued,” it means that the item won’t be heard nor voted on that evening, but will be pushed forward to another noticed meeting.
Public Comment is welcomed at both the Study Session and the Regular Session. The public can comment on any item on the agenda. If you want to comment on a Consent Calendar item that was not pulled from the Consent Calendar by a Council Member, you will want to do so at the time listed on the agenda – right before the Council votes on the entire Consent Calendar (it’s Roman Numeral XIII on the posted agenda). If an item is pulled, the Mayor will offer that members of the public can comment as that specific item is heard separately.
Additionally, there is a specific section of Public Comment for items not on the agenda, but on a subject of some relationship to the city government. If you cannot attend a meeting and/or want to communicate with the City Council directly, this e-mail gets to all of them: citycouncil@newportbeachca.gov. The City Manager also gets a copy of the email, because in almost all cases it’s something that the City Manager follows-up on.
The Council meets in the Council Chambers at 100 Civic Center Drive, off of Avocado between San Miguel and East Coast Highway. There is plenty of parking in the parking structure. You are always welcome to attend in person, but you can also watch on TV, Spectrum channel 30 and Cox channel 852 or stream it on your computer.
