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Home My WebLink About12 - Newport Beach & Company's/Visit Newport Beach Fiscal Year 2018-2019 - CorrespondenceAirFair Supportei City of Costa Mesa City of Irvine City of Newport Beach City of Santa Ana City of Villa Park M om r]Pair Received After Agenda Printed July 24, 2018 Item No. 12 Balboa Coves Balboa Island Balboa Peninsula Point Bayside Village Big Canyon Costa Mesa Residents Chapter Dover Shores Eastbluff Homeowners Foothill Communities GSMOL Lido Isle Little Balboa North Bayview Bluffs Santa Ana. Heights Santa Lucia HOA SPON The Bluffs Tustin Preservation Conservancy West Newport Beach Westcliff Villas Individuals: Hon. Marian Bergeson Hon, Eric Bever Hon. Marilyn Brewer Hon. John Campbell Hon. Christopher Cox Hon. Keith Curry Hon. Leslie Daigle Hon. Chuck DeVore Hon. Katrina Foley Han. Deborah Gaveilo Hon, Rush Hill Hon. Tom Harman Hon, Barbara Kogerman Hon. Beth Krom Hon. Wendy Leece Hon. Allan Mansoor Hon. Curt Pringle Hon. Dana Rohrabacher Hon. Loretta Sanchez Hon. Jose Solorio Hon. Van Tran 10.8 Let's loca k the gate at John Wayne Airport! Advisors: Jack Keating, Newport Say Naturalists & Friends Lt. Col, Bill Kogerman, Commissioner State Parks & Rec. Commission Robert McGowan. Capt., UAL (ret.) Dr. Jack & Nancy Skinner Environmentalists P.O. Box 16304 Irvilne, CA 92623-6304 (71.4)989-2323 www.jv.,airhdr.com July 21, 2018 Newport Beach City Council Honorable Mayor Duffield and Members of the City Council cc City Manager Dave Kiff City Clerk Leilani Brown Deputy City Manager Tara Finnigan SUBJECT: Budgets for VNB Dear Mayor Duffield and Members of the City Council: AirFair has worked for the past 15 years to advocate for "fairness" with regard to John Wayne Airport's noise and pollution impacts on residents. The City and residents have made this a primary annual goal in the General Plan, and we believe the word "balance" is the best description of what we rightfully seek in the public interest. In regard to reaching for "balance" and "fairness", we find a distinct imbalance growing when it comes to the matter of the City spending to market Newport Beach as a destination versus managing airport noise and pollution. Although VNB has a ten-year agreement until 2024, it must be reviewed each year and modifications can be made to the budget. The information contained in the staff report does not separate out the cost of such things as offices in the UK, China and the Middle East, and we would like to ask that you identify those costs and consider whether the money spent would be better allocated elsewhere. We acknowledge and respect the work done and success of the VNB. But we are concerned that its innate desire to grow ever bigger and more successful may be in direct conflict with the limited/finite size and nature of Newport Beach's geography, characteristics and environment. For instance: AirFair Letter re: VNB Budget July 21, 2018 Page 2 The VNB's "Beyond 2020 Initiatives" Objective 42 states the desire to "spark global passion for visiting Newport Beach; increase brand awareness for Newport Beach through bold, brand -building initiatives on a global scale that take the Newport Beach brand beyond traditional destination marketing into true destination storytelling." Newport Beach and Co. directly invests in marketing, media relations and travel—trade with sales offices in the UK, China and the Middle East. Given that VNB is presenting Newport's face to the world, we have serious concerns that the choice of means to present that face are more and more inconsistent with Newport Beach residents' best interests. In the long run, the sustainability of Newport's visitor service is more dependent on a relatively local market. Even though it may be enticing to reach for the big bucks represented currently by the China and Middle East markets, there are several reasons why the overly anxious encouragement of those markets is not a good use of our funds. For one thing, many cities throughout Canada and the United States are experiencing a serious problem of property values rising from foreign investors to the extent of pushing Iong-time residents out. And with specific regard to Newport Beach's situation, sustained growth of foreign demand for flights into JWA, which VNB proudly promotes on its website as "the most convenient gateway to Southern California", will create continued pressure for airport expansion, the worst possible scenario for residents. We would appreciate your willingness to ask more questions about this aspect of next year's budget allocations and to consider whether the City would not better use its funds seeking to generate the same tourism revenue from sources that will not put more strain on JWA, our beautiful town and its residents. Thank for your consideration. Melinda Seely and Jennifer McDonald AirFair co-chairs Received After Agenda Printed July 24, 2018 Item No. 12 From: Melinda To: 0"Neill, William Cc: Dixon. Diane; Avery, Brad; Duffield, Duffv; Muldoon, Kevin; Herdman, Jeff; Peotter, Scott; Kiff, Dave; Brown, Leilani; Finnigan, Tara Subject: Re: Visit Newport Beach 2018 Budget Date: Tuesday, July 24, 2018 11:55:52 AM Dear Will, Thank you for responding to our letter. When the matter was up for discussion at the time of the renewal of VNB's contract with the City (2014), members of the BOD of AirFair met with Mr. Sherwin in order to learn more about VNB. I was not present at that meeting so am not privy to the discussion and the notes from that meeting are not readily at hand. Subsequently, another BOD member (who had met with Mr. Sherwin) and I met with Ed Selich who was on the City Council at that time. We expressed out concerns about the contract renewal and received Mr. Selich's assurance that he would share our concerns with his fellow Council members and help to assuage them. That didn't happen and the ten year contract, much to our dismay, was approved with no caveats. Now, to the present: What has brought this matter to the forefront once again is the glossy 100 page brochure VNB put out last week. Does this reflect our CNB budget dollars at work? Members of the BOD have been present at other budget negotiations and are aware of how carefully the City Council looks at the allocations requested by other entities involved with our City. This is a much appreciated job of the Council members. Our tax dollars are important to us which is one of the reasons we feel confident you will want to look closely at this current VNB proposal. Finally, it is the stated Main Concern of each City Council in perpetuity to protect us from the impacts of John Wayne Airport. That being the case we hope you will perform your due diligence and look at all sides of this issue from the point of view of the residents. Sincerely, Melinda Seely, Jennifer McDonald Co -Chairs -----Original Message ----- From: O'Neill, William <woneill@newportbeachca.gov> To: Melinda <nbseely@aol.com> Sent: Mon, Jul 23, 2018 9:25 pm Subject: Re: Visit Newport Beach 2018 Budget Hi Melinda, Have you raised this issue with Gary Sherwin or anyone else on the board of VNB? If so, what was their response? Will Will O'Neill Mayor Pro Tem City of Newport Beach From: Melinda <nbseel�(@aol.com> Date: Monday, July 23, 2018 at 10:09 AM To: Diane Dixon <ddixonPnewportbeachca.gov>, "Avery, Brad" <bavery(@newportbeachca.gov>, "Duffield, Duffy"<dduffield(@newportbeachca.gov>, "Muldoon, Kevin" <kmuldoon(@newportbeachca.gov>, Jeff Herdman <iherd man(@newportbeachca.gov>, "Peotter, Scott" <soeotterpnewportbeachca.gov>, "O'Neill, William" <woneill(@newportbeachca.gov> Cc: Dave Kiff <DKiff(@newportbeachca.gov>, Leilani Brown <LBrown(@newportbeachca.gov>, "Finnigan, Tara" <TFinnigan(@newportbeachca.gov> Subject: Visit Newport Beach 2018 Budget