2026-09-08 - Economic Development Project Team

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02:34>> Hey,

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05:35>> of business is update on the third ward

05:37equity fund. Uh Miss Barren is coming

05:39up.

05:41>> Thank you, mayor, commissioners. Uh let

05:44me pull this up here somehow.

05:48No.

05:52>> Uh I I don't know. I was just left by my

05:55my friend just left me. Let's see.

05:59PowerPoint maybe. Okay.

06:03Asanti.

06:06>> Sorry.

06:07>> No, it I mean it's kind of funny.

06:11>> I'm laughing because I'm hungry.

06:13>> Me, too.

06:15Uh all right. I do [clears throat]

06:17believe. Does everybody have hard copies

06:18of it?

06:19>> Yeah. Well, I mean,

06:20>> everybody's got hard copies.

06:22>> No.

06:23>> Are they extra hard copies in the

06:24audience?

06:26>> No, they're usually not extra hard

06:28copies. Let me see.

06:36>> There's probably some easy thing I'm not

06:38doing. It's probably user error.

06:40>> The AI assistant robot,

06:41>> right? AI assistant.

06:42>> Presentation.

06:45Old presentation.

07:09They didn't make it on here. If you can

07:11give me one moment. You guys all have

07:12the presentations. We'll get the

07:14electronic version of

07:15>> so we don't have I only have one hard

07:17copy here.

07:18>> Do we want to move on to a second item

07:19then?

07:20>> Yeah, I think

07:20>> all three presentations presentations

07:22>> all three presentations. So we could

07:24>> if you can email

07:27>> they were they'll

07:29get my computer.

07:36>> Do you want to recess for a couple

07:38minutes?

07:40>> Sure. We're in recess. Boom. Heat. Heat.

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08:27>> Okay. All right.

08:29So, I'll call us back to order and we

08:32will take our

08:34last item first.

08:36>> Yep.

08:37>> All right. Yeah, we can make this uh the

08:39non-visual version. So, uh I'm Jonathan

08:42Overman. I'm the administrative service

08:43officer for the development center and

08:45pleased to present our development

08:46center report for August of 2026.

08:50Uh our focus continues to be on uh

08:53monitoring our plan review times and

08:56inspection services when it comes to

08:57mechanical uh inspections and that

09:00division in whole. Um right now we are

09:03still at about four weeks out for

09:05inspections scheduling. Uh but staff are

09:08doing a tremendous job of squeezing uh

09:11contractors in to make sure that we can

09:13try to address their needs ahead of time

09:15uh before their scheduled appointment.

09:17Uh this entails a lot of like if an

09:19inspector is going to be within like a

09:21few blocks of a site, they'll stop in

09:23and squeeze extra inspection in while

09:25they're out there. Uh as far as review

09:28timelines go, our residential and less

09:30review timelines uh continue to stay

09:32near our 5day target. Uh they're running

09:35just a little bit above that at about

09:385.7 days on average. Uh the commercial

09:42side of things is our outlier where the

09:44average is about 8 days largely due to

09:46the mechanical review delay. Uh on that

09:48front we have uh secured uh former

09:52inspector um on the basically the 700

09:54hour club where they are doing solely

09:57mechanical inspection re or plan review.

10:00Um and then also just a note on units.

10:03uh just looking at where we've been so

10:05far this year. There are two over 2,000

10:07units currently permitted and under

10:09construction that we just wanted to

10:11highlight. So with that, I'll open it up

10:13to any questions.

10:15>> Great. Colleagues, any questions? City

10:17manager.

10:18>> Yeah, thank you. So you get to go first

10:20this time. officers. Um, in respect to

10:23an announcement [clears throat] that was

10:25made either last week, week before with

10:27Corwell and their major expansion over a

10:29billion dollar expansion investment in

10:31our community, improvement of um,

10:34service delivery to many of their

10:36patients and and constituents. Um,

10:40has there been any discussion about what

10:45activities uh we may need to support

10:48such a large construction development

10:52down the road? I know it's not imminent,

10:54but have have you guys been thinking

10:55about the kind of services that they'll

10:58need once once they get into full

11:00construction?

11:00>> Yeah, absolutely. With any large scale

11:02project like that, we try to dedicate uh

11:05inspection staff and uh uh other teams

11:08to uh support those types of

11:10developments on a weekly inspection

11:12almost. So for big projects like the

11:14soccer stadium, our inspectors are out

11:16there uh more frequently than usual and

11:18we would expect something similar in

11:20that scope depending on the needs of the

11:22contractor to make sure that we've got

11:25more eyes on it as they're going so

11:26there's not any surprises when it comes

11:28to like a inspection on a floor.

11:31um if that answers your question. So

11:34>> great. Uh Commissioner Sassy,

11:37>> thank you. Thanks for the report and

11:38thank you city manager for bringing that

11:40up. We do have um some open well not we

11:42but Corwell and their um agent, they're

11:46hosting uh open houses on this week,

11:49Thursday the 10th. I think there's one

11:51at 10:00 a.m. and one at 5:00 p.m. So I

11:54want to highlight that. I want to say

11:55thank you um to the mobile GR department

11:58who engaged last week with some

12:00neighbors

12:02um after we were having some questions

12:04about kind of um a not necessarily

12:08something related to the project but

12:09related to some street designs and

12:11things like that. So I'll be interested

12:13to see how that continues. Um but we

12:15really want to make sure that that focus

12:17of the open house is going to be on

12:18Corwell's project overall. Um just

12:21speaking about so that's one thing

12:22that's more of a comment but then can

12:24you share um John what are the I know

12:28obviously over the last couple years

12:29with the timing and retirements and

12:32obviously I know also Mr. Turkelson and

12:34team has been working on some other

12:36legislative pieces around um I don't

12:39know if it's technically a certification

12:40but anyways the requirements that are

12:42needed to do the inspections how many

12:44different contractual

12:46organizations and individuals are you we

12:48using and if you could you can add in

12:50like the 700 club folks in there. So

12:52right now for support of um our

12:55inspection services we are using one 700

12:58hour from member. We have a contract

13:01with safe built who is providing

13:03>> um uh inspector three days a week and

13:06then we are also partnering with um

13:09Kentwood uh whose inspector is helping

13:12us out and kind of the south uh east

13:15side of the city uh catching inspections

13:17over there as he can as well. And he's

13:19uh about half a day on most days. So

13:22that's where we're kind of pulling

13:23support from outside of our standard

13:26FTEES. So

13:27>> Okay. Thanks so much. Thanks for sharing

13:29the overview.

13:31>> Thanks. Um I guess no other questions.

13:36So Miss Barren, you still don't have

13:37your your slideshow, right?

13:40>> I don't

13:43likely

13:45Mr. Kane has that figured out

13:48>> and and frankly I think yeah item number

13:51two there I mean I I did see the slide

13:53presentation and I'm not sure that

13:54visuals are all that important for that

13:56that's but I'll leave it up to you which

13:58order you want to take it in.

13:59>> Uh so I'll I'll start uh the fiscal year

14:02the the remainder of the presentations

14:04really are under the umbrella of the

14:06third ward equity fund update for fiscal

14:08year 2027. Um, we did have the cultural

14:11business enterprise pilot uh stand on

14:14its own just because it's kind of a new

14:15and and cool uh new and cool thing we're

14:18trying to do uh and pilot uh under the

14:21umbrella of the third ward equity fund.

14:23And then we have a south prize

14:25presentation as well uh under the

14:27umbrella of of initiatives supported by

14:30the third ward equity fund. So hopefully

14:31we'll have the slides up by the time we

14:33get to that. I'm here I'm trying to

14:34change slides anyway. It's not going to

14:36work. Uh anyway, so I'll give you a

14:38verbal update of where we are for fiscal

14:40year 2027 third ward equity fund. Uh if

14:44you recall at the time uh of the

14:48commission's conversation around the

14:50adoption of the fiscal year 2027 budget,

14:52there is an allocation of $1 million

14:55again for the third ward equity fund. At

14:58that time, uh Commissioner Kilgore

15:00outlined proposed buckets buckets of

15:02investment, I always call them, uh with

15:05uh full commission support. So I will

15:06just verbally go through there through

15:08those and then kind of update you on

15:10each of the buckets. So um there is a

15:13total of a million allocated across

15:16infrastructure investment at 200,000,

15:19youth programming and support at

15:21300,000,

15:23Southtown cultural arts at 50,000,

15:26uh community support and programming at

15:29250,000

15:31and then uh economic develop more

15:33traditional economic development support

15:35at 200,000. Uh so those are the areas of

15:38investment and the amount of investment

15:40for fiscal year 27. So then kind of

15:42going back over each budget for each

15:45bucket uh for infrastructure investment

15:47in particular uh the the staff would

15:50recommend that that full 200,000 be

15:52channeled into continuing to uh work

15:55through the projects that were

15:57identified as part of the uh traffic

15:59safety audit on Kalamazoo corridor. So

16:02there were uh two signals if you recall

16:04from previous presentations about that

16:07particular safety plan. Two uh

16:09signalized intersections recommended

16:12with last year's fiscal year 2026

16:15allocation. One of those signals can be

16:17pursued. They're both being designed and

16:20staff is really focused on accumulating

16:22the necessary funds uh to also do the

16:24second signal. In addition, there were

16:26some other minor projects, signage, um

16:29site distance, some restriping, and some

16:31other um smaller dollar item projects.

16:35So, we are recommending and intend to

16:37bring forward a budget amendment to

16:39channel those uh the the fiscal year $27

16:42into those projects. Um and those would

16:45all those are uh anticipated to start

16:48next construction season depending on um

16:51how fast it takes us to accumulate the

16:54funds. they may continue over into the

16:562028 construction season

17:00for youth support and programming. Uh a

17:03couple of different investments being

17:04made with those $300,000 of funding. Uh

17:08we may have spoken of this before, but

17:11the city of Grand Rapids is uh fortunate

17:13enough to have the state RX for kids

17:16program in a portion of the city uh in

17:18the third ward and our matching uh

17:21contribution to that is being funded out

17:23of the third ward equity fund uh with

17:2550,000 of fiscal year 2027 anticipated

17:28to be transferred into that program.

17:30That is a three-year investment. So

17:3350,000 came out of fiscal year 2026.

17:36fiscal year 27 uh just speaking to

17:38$50,000 there and then would anticipate

17:41to continue that in fiscal year 2028.

17:45We also traditionally through the third

17:47ward equity fund support grow 1000 as

17:50well as summer youth engagement

17:52activities. Um we did that for fiscal

17:54year 26. So I'm going to just share a

17:56little bit of data. We would expect to

17:58continue to invest in these or similar

18:00programs for fiscal year 2027. Uh so for

18:04fiscal year 2026, just a couple

18:07highlights for you. For grow 1000, the

18:10third ward equity funds were used to

18:12support 53 participants at nine work

18:15sites. Uh those were nine work sites in

18:18the third ward. Those 53 participants

18:21worked an average of 105 hours across

18:24those sites in areas like youth

18:26development, engagement, education, and

18:28recreation. And then in addition uh you

18:31may be familiar with our grow further

18:33Friday program sort of professional

18:35development and education program that

18:37we offer to all of the participants.

18:40Just a a note that those were all

18:42offered at MLK this year and if you

18:44haven't had a chance to see our

18:45community's children is now housed at

18:47the MLK community center. It's great fit

18:49there. Um, in addition, the youth

18:52engagement programs, the night quest,

18:54and the summer evening activities, uh,

18:56we would continue to support with this

18:58fiscal year 27 allocation. Uh, in

19:01addition, the office of equity and

19:03engagement is, uh, working on a spring

19:052027 event to empower youth with

19:09knowledge, skills, and opportunities to

19:11prevent violence, uh, and stay safe. and

19:13and we may be able to support that with

19:16uh some of the fiscal year 27

19:18investment.

19:20Thank you, Asanti. Uh then we're down to

19:23the Southtown Cultural Arts. So, I will

19:26have a few more slides on that one

19:28following me to give you more detail,

19:30but just a reminder, uh $50,000 was

19:33earmarked out of fiscal year 27 to

19:36support the cultural arts and that is

19:37being channeled into support for South

19:40Prize and this pilot program.

19:42Then uh community support and

19:45programming. So $250,000

19:48was earmarked for this particular uh

19:50bucket bucket. Excuse me. Uh and so one

19:53will be a pilot program.

19:57I'm sorry.

20:00Did you change that, Asanti?

20:03Okay.

20:05One would be a pilot program for a

20:07community support connector. So that

20:10would merge funds from the third ward

20:11equity fund as well as from the public

20:13safety trust fund dollars we anticipate

20:16from the state and would allow us to

20:18have uh both an an internal or a city

20:22employee who would be trauma informed

20:24and be able to provide some support or

20:26mediation services but then also be able

20:29to connect to and contract with other

20:31providers in the community particularly

20:34to support um communities that have

20:37experienced a trauma and may need some

20:39community support to get through that

20:41and also uh mediation type programming

20:44services. So that will be a pilot. You

20:46will hear more about the details of that

20:48at our next meeting on uh September 22nd

20:51as part of our annual performance

20:53report. We also see 100,000 for

20:56additional neighborhood group support.

20:59So that is uh additional funding for

21:01those groups that act as or are

21:03neighborhood associations in the third

21:05ward. Uh we're working through the

21:07details right now of how to distribute

21:08those funds uh to ensure that it helps

21:11expand the community engagement efforts

21:14of those neighborhoods. So more details

21:16to come as we bring the budget amendment

21:18forward. Um but again looking to support

21:21those third W uh centered neighborhood

21:24association and other groups. And then

21:27finally uh the economic development

21:29support position that was envisioned and

21:31supported uh with a $200,000 earmark

21:34here. If you recall, we did an update to

21:37EDPT several months ago at this point

21:39about this idea uh that there would be a

21:41shared position. The city would

21:43underwrite or fund the first year's

21:45expenses of this position and looking

21:48for additional partners to act as a

21:51employer of record and and otherwise

21:53partner to look for those uh economic

21:56development opportunities that

21:58collectively we really wanted to push

22:00and advocate for and have someone

22:01focused uh full-time on getting

22:03accomplished within that southtown uh or

22:07south area geography. So we are uh we

22:11have a draftou and we're working with

22:12partners on co uh comments to that to

22:15get that position in place and then this

22:17funding would support that position. So

22:20um before I turn it over to Ahmad Hardy

22:22to talk more about the uh uh pilot

22:26program and then Vera Naramar will come

22:29and speak about the south prize. Uh I

22:31just wanted to note that the next steps

22:33on all of these buckets would be budget

22:35amendments to transfer the funds to the

22:37appropriate departments or other

22:39providers. You will start to see those

22:41on the fiscal committee agenda as early

22:44as next uh meeting September 22nd when

22:47we'll have some of the infrastructure

22:49amendments brought forward as well as

22:51some supporting some of our youth

22:53activities as well. So with that I'm

22:55going to turn it over to Mr. Hardy uh to

22:57work through the next set of slides.

23:22Good afternoon, uh, mayor, uh,

23:25commissioners, and Mr. Washington. Um

23:30uh I'm going to talk about

23:33>> CBE.

23:34>> CBE. Yeah, a little confusing. I'm talk

23:37about a new pilot program that I've that

23:39I've been working on in the office of

23:41equity and engagement uh called the

23:42cultural business

23:45enterprise

23:47initiative.

23:48Oh, what it is is that uh for those who

23:50know me uh I am a

23:54musician. Uh so this is a joint passion

23:57project of uh uh using uh my public

24:00administration skills and my music

24:03skills and uh putting them both both to

24:05work. Um so uh essentially uh what this

24:09program is is trying to untap the large

24:12creative economy that we have here in

24:15Grand Rapids in in greater West

24:18Michigan. What it is is that well we

24:21have a lot of musicians and performing

24:25artists across across the region who are

24:28essentially small businesses but we

24:30don't uh see them that way because we

24:32often see them as uh as just artists and

24:35it's using the city's uh microlo

24:37business enterprise certification as a

24:39way to organize these artists as small

24:42businesses as they essentially are. Um,

24:46and it's really is a concept to use

24:49music and live performance as a way of

24:52placemaking across the uh business

24:55quarters across the city of of Grand

24:58Rapids.

24:59What is a CBE? CBE is essentially the

25:02same thing as a microlo business

25:05enterprise uh certified business, but uh

25:09essentially it's just one that focus

25:10more on the up on the arts and live

25:14performances uh but essentially has the

25:17same certification guidelines as any

25:19normal microlo. This the CBE moniker was

25:24just used to

25:26distinguish them outside of the normal

25:28microlo business

25:31certification.

25:33Um,

25:35so what we plan on doing is that we're

25:37partnering with the Southtown CCIA uh on

25:40their U South Prize event that that Vera

25:43will we'll be talking about next. And

25:46essentially uh we're going to be having

25:47a series of live performances on

25:51September 26th on their voting day uh as

25:55as alongside their soft prize event that

25:57know have uh free live music all across

26:00the third award that is free and open to

26:03the to to the public. Um is meant to

26:07create uh uh engagement at those places

26:09of business. uh we tried to focus mainly

26:12on places of business rather than rather

26:14than nonprofits even though there are a

26:17few nonprofits part of that as we were

26:19trying to be good partners with the

26:21Southtown CIA. So we're going to have a

26:24minimum 15

26:26artists perform free shows at all of

26:29these events. Uh you it's free and open

26:32to the public and anybody is welcome to

26:33to come and join.

26:37Um, so what we're asking for is $20,000

26:40towards this uh a partnership with the

26:42Southtown CIA uh for this uh CBE

26:45certification partnering with the uh

26:47Michigan Music Alliance and

26:51O opener um to help us find find the

26:55artists uh get them certified as micro

26:57locals but also pay uh pay them for

27:00their live performances and also uh uh

27:04contracting with any uh video

27:08videography or photography companies to

27:11help capture the event.

27:15Uh kind of just went went through that.

27:17Most of the money is going to go to to

27:19to to the artist. Um uh the Michigan

27:23Music Alliance is uh getting a small

27:25fund to help coordinate the artists

27:27working with with OEE. Uh there are some

27:30contingency uh uh funds included for

27:33documentation and also sounds and PA

27:35because many of the venues may not have

27:38their own PA and sound system. So so we

27:41budgeted out for that.

27:44[sighs and gasps]

27:45Um, and as as I listed, the main

27:48partners are OEE, uh, the Michigan Music

27:50Alliance, which is a, uh, statewide

27:52alliance of musicians and artists across

27:54across the state, but a lot of their

27:56leadership is based here in Grand

27:58Rapids, the Southtown CIA, and the

28:01certified CBES that will be uh,

28:04certified throughout throughout this

28:05project.

28:07Uh if all if all goes well, uh we'll be

28:10having a post-pilot

28:14outcome to see how this model can uh

28:17really be utilized across the whole city

28:18of Grand Rapids, uh throughout all of

28:20our business

28:22quarters throughout of the the city,

28:25including the six CIA and the the

28:28downtown DDA.

28:33Um the main point is uh is to really see

28:37uh artists and small artists in uh live

28:40performance and small businesses and

28:42start uh having above board payments. I

28:44know as a pro as a uh paid

28:48musician uh for a lot of time during

28:50that part of my career we were paid

28:52under the under the table. Uh my goal in

28:56this uh uh project is to get that above

28:58board uh as much as possible and show uh

29:01the city that the creative economy is a

29:04big part of the of the uh business

29:06community and we should see it more

29:10[groaning]

29:11as that.

29:13Uh with that said, no um I don't see any

29:16of our partners here, but uh happy to

29:18answer any questions if you have any.

29:23Well, I guess um the the central

29:25question here is it's one thing to talk

29:28about certifying people, but essentially

29:29what we're talking about is a program

29:30that starts paying people for doing

29:33music performances, right? So, um we're

29:36not paying the symphony currently. Um we

29:39don't pay a lot of uh we don't pay any

29:42the amphitheater. So, I think we've got

29:44to, you know, we at least have to

29:45acknowledge that we're we're talking

29:47about a uh a city direct uh uh cultural

29:53activity uh proposal. So, um

29:58the city hasn't been paying anybody

29:59under the table to to do music

30:01performances as far as I can tell. And

30:03this perfor and this proposal uh

30:06involves as you pointed out the bulk of

30:08it being the city paying musical

30:10performers, right? uh only for this

30:12pilot. Um so there's a bigger uh

30:15initiative uh that is uh that that has

30:19to come. Uh the real goal is to get uh

30:22more venues, things like coffee shops,

30:24hotels, uh small restaurants to have

30:27more more live music and we're

30:30partnering with the goal is to partner

30:31with the CIA uh and using their funds to

30:35help increase cultural placemaking

30:37within those um in within those regions.

30:41But but for this initial project, yes,

30:44uh the third word

30:47equity funds would be used for this one

30:50particular

30:52event.

30:53>> So having done a fair amount of event

30:55planning myself at my coffee house back

30:57in the day, I guess I'd have one

30:59question would be what's your target

31:00size for the uh performances and the

31:03other would be are these all going to be

31:04interior or are these some of these

31:05going to be outside?

31:07>> Uh for the events, some of them will be

31:09will be a mix a mix of both. Um uh we're

31:12working with the planning department on

31:14working with the businesses on permits

31:17if the event if if the show was going to

31:19be outside on on the sidewalk or in

31:22their parking lot. Uh the goal for the

31:24for the

31:27majority of venues going forward would

31:28be for it to be inside the inside inside

31:32the the building as much as possible.

31:35But we're having conversations um

31:37internally to uh to to shape out how

31:41permits could work going forward. But um

31:44um but uh more or less uh the the the

31:48ideal size is up to the actual venue.

31:51Um, so for example, if a coffee shop

31:53know that you have was to pay an artist

31:56$200 to to to play at at their venue,

32:00our goal is just to incentivize more

32:02things that that that that are like that

32:05and working with the CIA on using the

32:07the CBEs in the in the certified

32:10businesses as a as a way to help to help

32:12spur that.

32:13>> Okay. City manager.

32:14>> Yep. Thank you Ahmad for being um

32:18creative and seeing how we can activate

32:21uh places and appreciate Southtown's

32:23effort and and certainly third world

32:25equity fund. I was just going to share

32:27uh this type of placemaking

32:30geographically target targeted

32:32activation does happen uh within the

32:36downtown uh development authority

32:38boundaries. Uh the world of winter is a

32:40good example where you have um both

32:44visual placemaking art but also um you

32:48have artists performing as part of the

32:50activation and so uh the DDA via VCV

32:54DJRI helps to incentivize that and so I

32:56think this is replicating on a smaller

32:59scale [clears throat] uh what's

33:01happening there and I I do know that

33:03there are opportunities for sponsorship

33:06though in addition to the the CIA And if

33:09this proves to be effective, hopefully

33:11some of the uh people in the corridor

33:14who uh would benefit from that

33:16additional traffic would be interested

33:19in investing in it. Uh additionally, uh

33:22but also it is good to uh think about

33:25what other um places um throughout the

33:30city would would benefit from it. What I

33:32see when it's done downtown though, it's

33:35primarily in a public space at a park.

33:38So, it's while it may benefit, property

33:43owners, businesses individually, the

33:46entire public can enjoy that in in the

33:50public space. So, looking forward to

33:51seeing how this rolls out there and

33:53throughout throughout the city.

33:55>> Thank you.

33:57>> Okay, any questions, colleagues, or

33:59comments? Great. Oh, Commissioner Sassy,

34:01go ahead.

34:01>> Thanks. Can we go um I want to say thank

34:04you for this presentation. I think, you

34:07know, um yeah, I see it would be

34:09something new. I remember us talking

34:10about this in in the in the lunchroom,

34:12if you will. And I think businesses

34:15trying to figure out how do they

34:16differentiate themselves from one

34:17another right now in this economy. Um

34:20and I love to think about those that are

34:22in this creative economy. Yep. they are

34:24small business owners and hopefully for

34:25them to understand um you know some more

34:29than others what are those obligations

34:30or how they can actually grow or you

34:32know create a presence. So thank you for

34:34that. Um but I'd love to go back to the

34:37other presentation for a second if we

34:39could. Um if we could pull that up.

34:45And so I wanted to and and this is

34:48really probably more so for my

34:49colleagues too. Commissioner Kilgore as

34:51you what you all are thinking about for

34:53a third word equity fund and how do we

34:55tie I heard heard I thought you say Miss

34:57Baron's the public safety trust fund.

34:59So, kind of the same thing. Some of

35:00those programs, those afterhour

35:02engagement, those summer activities, um

35:06those are things that the city was, I

35:09think, funding before and then now we've

35:10allocated some third ward money to it,

35:13but we are going to be having this um

35:16call for action for RFPs for the public

35:18safety trust fund. And so, is the

35:21expectation that those organizations

35:23should be applying for that money? Do we

35:25think that because I just wonder how the

35:27that time flame time frame to apply for

35:29that money coincides with our budget

35:32year. So I wondered about that

35:35colleagues.

35:35>> It's the final slide. Uh Mr. Kay. So uh

35:38just to make sure I'm not conflating two

35:41things. The public safety trust fund

35:43dollars

35:44>> are channeling with the third ward

35:46equity dollars to do totally new

35:48programming. Okay. So that would be that

35:50traumainformed support and mediation.

35:53Okay. that would help uh serve multiple

35:56objectives that we we to date have not

35:58traditionally funded. Okay. Um not the

36:01the youth programming. That's a separate

36:04um

36:04>> but that line item.

36:05>> But that was mentioned though, wasn't

36:06it? If you could go back to the ne the

36:08last slide,

36:10>> right? So in the prior slide, the third

36:12W equity fund um is supporting the youth

36:15engagement.

36:16>> That's Yeah, that's what I'm that's what

36:18I'm wondering about.

36:18>> Okay. Not public tra safety trust fund.

36:20Okay. Gotcha. Well, that's that's what

36:22I'm I'm wondering because so not so it's

36:25not being Yeah. It's not public safety

36:27trust fund. It's third word money. Yes.

36:28The public safety trust fund is going to

36:30open and so are these programs going to

36:33continue to be supported by the third

36:35word equity fund or should we be having

36:37some communications about maybe these

36:40organizations should consider applying

36:41for the public safety trust fund? Just

36:43trying to match it up to our budget.

36:45>> I understand the question

36:45>> so nobody feels like they're left out of

36:47something later. So you're talking about

36:49the 200,000 that could be potentially

36:51used for violence prevention.

36:53>> We've not excluded anyone from applying.

36:55So it was an open call for application

36:58and I think upon award that may

37:01>> further our future budget allocations of

37:04the third W equity fund, but we've not

37:07eliminated or disqualified anyone from

37:10trying to scale or grow their program.

37:11Got it.

37:12>> I do like to go back. Thank you for uh

37:15bringing up uh the question that led us

37:18to discussing the $150,000 for the pilot

37:23uh community support connector. So, Miss

37:25Barren highlighted earlier that there

37:29were a couple discussions during the

37:31budget process.

37:33one was around uh this community

37:36informed trauma response and doing it

37:40outside of a just a critical incident,

37:43some type of violent incident. But

37:46>> um we talked about maybe when there's

37:48disruption in other services, there may

37:52be a way to to to

37:54>> proactively or react [clears throat]

37:56respond to some of the neighbors. The

37:58other was a mediation

38:00program where we'd have a third-party

38:03>> uh either employee or independent

38:05contractor help us to um bridge, build,

38:09reconcile uh between groups of partners.

38:13I think what uh Miss Baron said, Mayor

38:16uh just asked me about it. What we don't

38:18know if there would be enough work for

38:21one for two people to do both. And what

38:24we are thinking about is a pilot program

38:28where one person or one contract would

38:31do both and we would learn from it

38:34before scaling.

38:35>> And that is what we want to have further

38:37conversation with uh the commission on

38:40the 22nd.

38:42>> Okay.

38:43>> About how those programs might might

38:45work.

38:45>> Okay.

38:46>> Before we proceed uh moving forward.

38:48>> Okay.

38:49Well, I don't want to get into it too

38:50far too too far right now, but yes, this

38:53is completely news to me. Uh I don't see

38:56how this is a third word equity uh issue

38:59at all because we're trying to deal with

39:00community violence. We're trying to deal

39:02with citywide community violence. Uh and

39:04we did have robust conversations about

39:06having specifically a mediator position

39:09uh to try to diffuse community conflict

39:12which is a different discussion than the

39:14discussion about uh how you how you help

39:17the community deal with the trauma of

39:20say a shooting in the community. Uh and

39:22I think that those are pretty separate

39:24tracks and I'm certainly I'm I'll say

39:27I'm very reluctant to think about

39:29mashing those all together. um question

39:32of uh trauma-informed counseling

39:34responses to trauma is an important

39:36conversation to have, but uh the

39:38question of how you um diffuse conflicts

39:41[clears throat] in the community is a is

39:43I think a very distinctive and

39:45distinguishable

39:47>> uh item and I certainly don't want it

39:48that work um segmented into one ward to

39:51the city. I think that um that's far too

39:54important an issue to uh to to

39:57segregate. So,

39:59>> mayor, I just want to clar that that is

40:01not geographically limited the mediation

40:03services at to the third ward that would

40:05be uh leveraged throughout the city.

40:07What we're what we're trying to do if

40:10we're going to hire someone, ensure that

40:12there's enough uh hire our contract,

40:15there's enough work for that person. And

40:17so, um I look forward to the discussion,

40:21but certainly we wouldn't limit the

40:22mediation program just to the third

40:24ward.

40:29Uh, Commissioner,

40:30>> sorry, I'm going to jump around a little

40:31bit and then I know Vero is going to

40:33come up here, but um, but because we're

40:35talking about the first the second slide

40:38has the um, you know, where the

40:40investments are. So, we have we have a

40:42lot of stuff going on right now. I just

40:44want to highlight that we have um this

40:46third world third ward mural project

40:48that's happening that's being

40:50publicized. Ver's going to talk about

40:51South Prize, which is super exciting. I

40:54mean, they're all exciting. Um there's

40:56RFP that's been released for the gun

40:58memorial. I just want to make sure these

41:00like people understand these are all

41:03separate things. Um obviously they're

41:05they're kind of connecting, but I would

41:06hate for any of any of them to get

41:08diluted into sort of this is like one

41:10project because there's been a lot of

41:12efforts to go into all of these. So I

41:14just I just want to say that for the

41:16record. Thanks. Uh, Commissioner, I was

41:19speaking to staff this morning and I

41:22think the um public announcements of all

41:26of them have been individually um and

41:29which is a good thing. There's there's

41:30certainly a lot of things that are

41:31happening, but I think it may be good

41:34[clears throat] to uh lay out

41:37collectively everything that's happening

41:39so people can see them stacked against

41:42each other, differentiate the dates and

41:45what some of the scope and participation

41:47is. And so I think we are working with

41:49our communications office on that. I do

41:52want to go back to the point uh I made

41:55earlier because I I want I want the

41:56public to be be clear again when we're

41:59talking about um that $150,000

42:03on that

42:05next slide

42:08what what we're saying and now I'm not

42:10recalling what what it may be is one

42:14person may be actually employed and the

42:17other portion of it could potentially be

42:19a contract that that same person

42:21overseas to create enough work for a

42:25single position. Otherwise, just waiting

42:28on someone to call for mediation or

42:30waiting on a trauma would not be a

42:34tragic incident would be the most

42:37prudent use of a full-time equivalent

42:39position. That that's that's the intent.

42:41That's the thought. So, that that's what

42:43we'll talk more about.

42:47>> Okay. If there's no other questions on

42:50that, then I would invite uh Vera to

42:52come up uh and speak about South Prize.

42:55It's an exciting development in the art

42:57prize world.

43:01>> Hello. Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor, a city

43:03manager and commissioners. My name is

43:06Vera Nakamara, and I lead the corridor

43:08and neighborhood investment work in

43:10economic development. Thanks for the

43:12opportunity to present my super artistic

43:15slides for you this afternoon.

43:18So over the years I've been in this role

43:20at least uh even preceding me um the

43:23topic of how to spread some of the ad

43:25prize activity into neighborhood um

43:27neighborhood business districts keeps

43:29coming back every year and it is also a

43:32topic that um I get to discuss every

43:34time at every board meeting post at

43:37price prize. So obviously the CIA have

43:39been very active in that area in

43:41discussing ways that they can um

43:44maximize that enterprise energy and

43:46bring some of that um traffic into their

43:48districts. Over the years we've seen

43:50that um show up in different ways like

43:52poutine week in on Michigan Street which

43:54is very great fourth year running

43:56strong. We've seen a big um worldclass

43:59art um public art that was um activated

44:03at the west side um last year which was

44:05a great partnership with Westside CIA

44:07and at Price team. Um South Prize is um

44:11coming off of the Southtown CIA. This

44:13idea started kind of coming up to them

44:16last year when they were discussing

44:18again South South Prize um Southtown has

44:21a larger footprint. So all these ad

44:23activations that are happening would not

44:25really work for what they were hoping

44:26for. So they decided that they would

44:29come up with their own mini ad prize. We

44:31went through several iterations of them

44:33and we um ended up with a south prize

44:36through a partnership with ad prize. So

44:39South Price toward South Price event um

44:41is pretty much um a mini South Price.

44:45The goal is to activate business

44:47districts in the south south

44:49neighborhood and make them living

44:51galleries. The goal for this initiative

44:53will be to expand some of that at prize

44:55energy of course but also spark some

44:57neighborhood pride. There's a lot of

45:00cultural activity happening within the

45:01south town and this would be a great

45:03opportunity for us to bring that out for

45:05the entire community to celebrate.

45:09So for south prize 2026 here is what

45:12you'll essentially be seeing. So, we're

45:14talking business storefront galleries.

45:16We're connecting businesses with art,

45:18excuse me, artists throughout Southtown.

45:21We're also talking special food and

45:23business promotions. So, we have

45:25kitchens, restaurants that are coming up

45:27with really special prize menus, south

45:29prize menus that we'll be seeing

45:31throughout the period. We are also

45:33adding a transportation layer to it.

45:36Since we have a really large footprint,

45:37we wanted to create opportunities for

45:39people to move through all six business

45:41districts. There will also be a special

45:44voting day event on September 2026 which

45:47will climax most of the activities that

45:49we have planned. And then finally, we'll

45:51have our announcement on October 3rd

45:53which will be happening on the At Price

45:55stage.

45:57Essentially, we see this as a win-win

45:59collaboration. So, we're creating

46:01opportunities for local artists to come

46:04and display their art. We're creating

46:06opportunities for neighborhood to engage

46:08with businesses, but also for businesses

46:11to transform their storefront. And the

46:13hope is that we're pulling in some

46:14traffic from the downtown and

46:15neighborhood business areas, and that

46:17will essentially translate to um

46:20economic activities that we hope to see

46:21in the corridor. And then for the

46:23Southtown CIA, this of course also

46:25aligns with our goals and priorities. So

46:28this is truly a win-win for all the

46:30parties. These are the key um districts

46:33that will be activated throughout. We

46:35have currently identified venues and

46:38artists for all of these business

46:40districts. So a lot is going to happen

46:42across

46:44for event timeline. So currently we have

46:47completed our artist registration and

46:49venue matching as of the timeline that I

46:52have here. Um we have matched our venues

46:55with artists hopefully and so we're

46:57hoping to have our arts installed by

46:59September 17. 26 is very important day.

47:03That is when we're having our voting day

47:04event which we're hoping will be again

47:07the highlight of the entire um period

47:10and then of course we'll have the artist

47:12at East finalist announcement um on the

47:14ad prize stage October 3rd.

47:17So the V public voting piece is a big

47:20part of this. Um obviously we're

47:22mimicking um ad prize in lots of ways

47:24but the goal is that we'll have people

47:26going um through the business district.

47:28They're hopping on trolley and enjoying

47:30the art. But also while doing that we

47:32have um QR codes that they'll be able to

47:35scan and then get to vote for their

47:37favorite art piece and that will help us

47:40to pick the finalists that we have in

47:41mind for October 3rd.

47:44So we have um three finalists and in

47:47mind and that is going for a total cash

47:49prize of 3750.

47:52Um we're think we have the first place

47:54going for 2,000 second place for a,000

47:57and in the third place for $750.

48:02In terms of the proposed budget, so

48:04we're currently working with up to

48:0673,750.

48:08Um, a huge chunk of that obviously came

48:11from the Southtown CIA and so far that

48:14has been budgeted for general event

48:16operations. The third W equity fund

48:19allocation of up toward 30,000 will be

48:21going mainly towards the transportation

48:23component. That was a last piece that we

48:25added to the scope um due to the need to

48:28again expand this opportunity to the

48:30whole corridor.

48:33So that is it um for South Prize. Happy

48:35to answer any questions. I also have

48:38Lauren here in the room. She is with us

48:40um Genesis Consulting and they are a

48:43corridor management team that are

48:45actively um working on this event as

48:48well. Thank you. Um I guess

48:52>> my first question would be the 30,000

48:54for transportation. Can you tell us what

48:56what we get for that? Is that hiring

48:58trolley for the event or what?

49:00>> Yes. Um when we first discussing trolley

49:03um seem to be the first one that came

49:05up. Um that's what's being used across

49:06at our business district. So that is

49:08what we're planning for. Um I will have

49:11again Lauren is here to speak to any

49:14changes to that um plan as said the last

49:16time we spoke. And I guess given that

49:18we're going to have a, you know, huge

49:19number of people downtown, this is not

49:21just to be inside those districts, I

49:23hope, but also to hope to pull people

49:24out of the downtown energy.

49:27>> Yes. Go ahead and turn this up.

49:30>> Hi, I'm Lauren Thomas. I work with

49:32Genesis Consulting on this. So, yes, we

49:35are looking. We're partnering with Heart

49:37Prize. So, we're going to be sharing

49:38some of their trolleys in kind of the

49:40South Division area. So, we are hoping

49:42to bring people from Art Prize downtown

49:45into the business districts. Um, so

49:48we're going to have

49:50trolleys that go within the business

49:52districts to take people from venue to

49:54venue, but then we'll also have trolleys

49:57that will take people between each of

49:59the business districts. So, there's a

50:01lot of movement going on in that way.

50:04Um, but yes, our biggest hope is to take

50:08people from the business districts down

50:09to downtown, but then also pick people

50:11up from downtown into the districts.

50:14>> Awesome. Thanks. [snorts] And how will

50:15people know what those trolleys look

50:17like when the time comes?

50:19>> So, we are working on getting either

50:21some outdoor signage. We were talking

50:24about doing like some magnetized signage

50:27that has South Prize on it as well. Um,

50:30but we're also going to utilize our

50:32volunteers. So, we're going to have

50:34people that will be wayfinders who will

50:36be on the trolleys to let people know

50:38where they're going. Um, if they have

50:40any questions about, hey, I want to get

50:42to Madison Square. How do I get there?

50:44Our volunteers will be able to answer

50:45that for them. We're also going to have

50:47these pamphlets that have maps on them

50:49and show where the trolley stops are as

50:51well. So, we're trying to make it a

50:53whole map type of thing that people can

50:56access within that pamphlet, but then

50:58also on their phones as well.

50:59>> Awesome.

51:01Uh, Commissioner Kar. Thank you, mayor,

51:03and thank you all so much for the

51:04presentation. I have been so excited

51:06about this. I also have a question about

51:08the trolley service bureau. If I

51:10remember correctly, for Uptown, um we

51:14paid around 18,000 for trolley services

51:17and now this is saying 30,000. So, is it

51:20a larger footprint? Can you explain the

51:22the difference of cost there?

51:24>> Yes. So the um uptown one that you

51:26referenced was the shuttle pilot which

51:29was a different initiative that was

51:31running for a couple weeks and that was

51:33tied towards um the events that were

51:36happening um here downtown. This

51:38[clears throat] is different since we

51:40are only probably using the trolley for

51:42a day the special event day. I don't

51:45know if it's running for the entire

51:46period

51:47>> but yes that's why that was different.

51:49Also the uptown area, they used magic

51:53buses. So those were I think those are

51:55different compared to what we're hoping

51:57to use for this one.

51:59>> Something more festive and interesting.

52:02>> Well, based on I I think what you're

52:05asking, why is it costing more?

52:07>> Yeah. Why? Yeah.

52:08>> So if it's not the same duration, why is

52:11that more?

52:12>> Um I should also add that the 30,000 is

52:15what was allocated for this. Um, we have

52:17not received quotes for how much the

52:19transportation is going to cost just

52:21yet.

52:22>> So that's like a ballpark.

52:23>> It's a ballpark. And also we may have

52:26additional operational expense. So a

52:28huge chunk of this 30,000 will go to

52:30transportation, but it will also

52:32overflow to other event areas.

52:34>> Wonderful. Thank you very much.

52:36>> Great. Thanks for the presentation.

52:38Appreciate it. Okay. Uh, I think that

52:41ends our meeting. Thank you all.

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