Mendocino County Lodging Association
January 5, 2006
Harbor Lite Lodge


CALL TO ORDER: President Jo Bradley called the meeting to order at
2:00 pm. Board members present were Richard Strom, Jim Hurst, & Jan Rodriguez. Attended via conference phone were Bill Shupe, Mike Bradbury & Steven Musser. Penny Greenwood was present to bring us up to date on the BID meetings with the cities.

Penny began with an update on the four cities and their response to the BID. A meeting was held in Ukiah and one large TOT contributor was negative to the BID. She expressed concerns regarding adequate representation for the Inland area and whether the monies would be used for the coast versus Inland. Ken Patel represented the majority of
Lodging in Ukiah and they were in favor of the BID.

The city of Ukiah would be more favorable to the BID as long as 50% of the city’s lodging owners within the incorporated city limits were supportive. If 50% of Ukiah’s lodging owners were against the BID, the city counsel asked if they would be able to opt out of the countywide BID. Currently, the BID ordinance states that if the cities chose not participate in the vote, that is the only way, they will not be part of the BID. MCLA representatives said they would clarify that point at the January 18, 2006 meeting.

A MOTION was made by Jim Hurst that MCLA would be willing to stipulate that if 50% of lodging in an incorporated city is negative to the BID, they can opt out of the BID for that year. The motion was seconded by Richard Strom and was unanimously approved.

It was suggested a meeting be set up for lodging in Ukiah to answer their questions and discuss the BID. Note: After this meeting, the date of January 12, 2006 at the Hampton Inn at 11:00 am was set.

It was reported, that at the request of the City of Willits, an informal poll was taken of Willits lodging. The City of Willits wanted to gauge the interest level of their lodging owners toward the BID. The lodging owners met at the Chamber of Commerce on January 3, 2006 and the majority were in favor of the BID. The next step is a meeting with the City Manager, the City Planner, The Willits Chamber of Commerce and MCLA representatives. That meeting has been set for January 11, 2006 at 10:30 am at City Hall.

We are waiting to hear on the date and time of the Point Arena City Council meeting. Representatives of MCLA will attend.

MCLA representatives, Jim Hurst, Ted Kidwell, Jo Bradley and Bruce Lewis met with the Finance Committee of the City of Fort Bragg. The Committee voiced two concerns regarding the BID. The first concern was that if they allow the City of Fort Bragg’s lodging to participate in the BID vote and it passes, would this reduce their possibility of future TOT increases? It was determined that that concern would be pursued internally by the City of Fort Bragg. Their second concern was a question. Could the BID assessment of 1% arbitrarily be increased at any time in the future without City approval?

A MOTION was made by Richard Strom that MCLA will stipulate that the 1% assessment will not be raised without going thru the full BID ordinance process. Jim Hurst seconded the motion. It was approved unanimously.

The reminder of the meeting was spent in going thru the various County TOT paying Inns and assigning MCLA reprentatives to speak with them.

The reminder of the meeting was spent in discussion regarding MCLA’s future communications with all county lodging regarding the BID.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 pm.