HomeMy WebLinkAbout02.22.22 Agenda255 South Airport Boulevard | South San Francisco | California | 94080
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SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE CENTER
REGULAR AUTHORITY MEETING
Tuesday, February 22, 2022 – 5:15 p.m.
255 South Airport Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080
AGENDA
Call to Order – Pledge of Allegiance – Roll Call
Public Comment:
Note: For matters not otherwise listed on this agenda, the Authority welcomes your comments but is prohibited
by State Law from discussing the items raised. Such items may be taken under consideration and referred to staff
for further action as appropriate.
AGENDA
Action Items:
1. Review/Approval of Minutes from the December 6, 2021, Regular Meeting.
2. Election of Authority Chairperson for 2022.
3. Election of Authority Vice Chairperson for 2022.
4. Appoint Budget Subcommittee for the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Budget Process.
Discussion Item/s:
1. Review November P&L and Preliminary December 2021 P&L Statement.
Authority Announcements, Referrals and Future Agenda Items:
Executive Director’s Report:
1. First 21 days update
2. Update on the Operations Activities (Director of Facility Operations; Cameron Fuji)
3. Update on Conference Center Sales Activities (Director of Sales; Kathy Kearney)
Next Regular Authority Board Meeting will be on Monday, April 18, 2022 at 5:15 p.m.
Adjourn
255 South Airport Boulevard | South San Francisco | California | 94080
t: 650-877-8787
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MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO
CONFERENCE CENTER AUTHORITY
South San Francisco Conference Center
255 South Airport Blvd., South San Francisco, CA 94080
December 6, 2021
Meeting was called to order at 5:15 p.m. by Authority Chairperson Nicolas.
Authority Members Present: Buenaflor Nicolas, Shila Narottam, B.J. Patel, Tony Clifford, Richard
Garbarino, Reena Maharaj, Francois Camou, and James Coleman.
Authority Members Absent: None
Staff Present: Ali Wolf, Katie Leung, Kathleen Kearney, Cameron Fujii, and Dean Grubl
Authority Chairperson Nicolas requested a roll call and members listed above were present.
Public Comment:
There was no public comment.
Presentations:
1. Presentation by Sheldon Chavan, CPA, Partner of Chavan & Associates, LLP regarding Fiscal
Year 2020-2021 Annual Financial Statement.
Sheldon Chavan, CPA of Chavan & Associates, LLP presented the 2020-2021 Financial Statement to the
Authority. He stated the firm found no findings to report, no management comments, or
recommendations for the fiscal year. The Authority’s net position decreased by $1,295,428 or 19%
during the fiscal year; $573,283 of the said amount is classified as a decrease of investments in capital
assets. The Authority’s revenue decreased by 53% attribute to a lack of steady revenue due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The total expenses of all Authority’s programs decreased by 23% from previous
fiscal year due primarily to a decrease in overall operation because of the pandemic.
Action Items:
1. Review/Approval of Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Financial Statement and approval to submit same
to the South San Francisco City Council.
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Authority Member Garbarino moved to approve and submit the Fiscal Year 2020-2021 Financial
Statement to the South San Francisco City Council and Authority Member Patel seconded the motion.
The Authority agreed unanimously.
2. Consideration of resolution approving the Conference Center Executive Director Employment
Agreement between the Authority and James McGuire.
General Counsel Ali Wolf presented to the Authority the Executive Director’s Employment Agreement
recommended by the sub-committee composed of Authority Board Chairperson Flor Nicolas and
Authority Board Members Francois Camou and Reena Maharaj. She stated that, after a nationwide
recruitment and interview process, the Conference Center Authority, has selected James McGuire to
serve as the Conference Center’s next Executive Director. Mr. James McGuire has over three decades of
experience in the hospitality industry and extensive business and volunteer experience in South San
Francisco. The employment agreement incorporates the terms directed by the Authority Board Sub-
Committee and agreed to by Mr. McGuire.
The proposed agreement, provides for a three-year term, a salary of $192,000, and that Mr. McGuire
will receive the benefits enjoyed by other employees of the Authority. Ms. Wolf recommended that the
Authority approve the attached resolution authorizing the employment agreement for the Conference
Center’s new Executive Director.
Authority Member Maharaj moved to approve the the Conference Center Executive Director’s
Employment agreement and Authority Member Clifford seconded the motion. The Authority agreed
unanimously.
3. Review/Approval of Minutes from the October 18, 2021, Regular Meeting.
Authority Member Clifford moved to approve the minutes and Authority Member Coleman seconded
the motion. The Authority agreed unanimously.
4. Review/Approval of Minutes from the December 1, 2021, Special Meeting.
Authority Member Patel moved to approve the minutes and Authority Member Camou seconded the
motion. The Authority agreed unanimously.
5. Review/Approval of Substituting Item 2122-02 (New Directional Signs/Monitors/Accessories)
in the FY2021-22 Capital Budget and replace it with Replacing laptops for staff.
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Executive Director Grubl introduced Cameron Fujii, Director of Facilities Operations to speak to the
Authority regarding this item. Mr. Fujii stated that over the past 12 months the Conference Center staff
have been experiencing several laptop issues; including battery replacements, hard drive failures and
cracked screens. He mentioned that the computers are over three years old and are within the
recommended replacement window. He asked the Authority to shift funding for the new directional
signs and monitors this fiscal year to the replacement of new laptops for the staff. The Capital
Improvement cost for the new directional signs and monitors was $30,000 and the computer
replacement for all staff computers will be about $22,000. The computer replacement cost includes
hardware and software installation and migration.
Authority Member Garbarino moved to approve the substituting line item for the New Directional
Signs/Monitors/Accessories in the FY2021-22 Capital Budget and with laptops replacement for staff.
Authority Member Clifford second the motion. The Authority agreed unanimously.
6. Review/Approval of the Authority’s 2022-2023 Regular Authority Board Meetings Schedule.
Grubl presented to the Authority the Regular Authority meeting dates for the years 2022 and 2023. He
stated that there are two dates that have been altered from the third Monday: June 6, 2022, and June 5,
2023. The meeting dates have been moved to the first Monday of June, so that the Authority will be
able to present their fiscal year budget to the City Council later in June.
Authority Member Maharaj moved to approve the 2022-2023 Regular Authority Board Meetings
schedule and Authority Member Patel second the motion. The Authority agreed unanimously.
Discussion Item/s:
1. Review of September and October Preliminary Financial Statement for Fiscal Year 2021-2022.
Chief Financial Officer, Katie Leung reviewed the preliminary September and October 2021 Financial
Statement for the Authority. She stated that Operating Total Revenue fell short of the budgeted amount
by $73,083. Leung stated total gross profit for year to date was $91,752 under budget.
The Total Operating Expenditures were approximately $46,726 below what was budgeted. Preliminary
net income net depreciation expense is $2,748; however, Conference Center Tax revenues are not fully
included in this amount.
Authority Announcements, Referrals and Future Agenda Items:
Grubl mentioned that the Authority will be electing a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson for 2022 during
the Authority’s regular schedule meeting in February.
255 South Airport Boulevard | South San Francisco | California | 94080
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Executive Director’s Report:
Grubl introduced Kathleen Kearney, Director of Sales who assembled a power point presentation to give
an overview of what the Sales and Catering Departments have been doing for the last few months and
what is scheduled for the coming year. She reviewed the recent activities that included: ongoing
telemarketing, email blast for Meetings and Social Events to 1,200 existing clients, focus on the
Conference Center’s digital assets, attended Unique Venues Virtual Annual Conference, creation of a
new social flyer for the holidays that has been published in the South San Francisco Chamber of
Commerce Newsletter for two consecutive months, email blast for social events to 100 local clients for
the holidays, attendance in the San Francisco Travel Associations Annual Luncheon with local hoteliers
and the San Mateo County Silicon Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Kearney reviewed the website and social media activities that has taken place over the last two months.
She mentioned lead generation has seen an 81% in in Request for Proposals since the Conference
Center escalated our SEO and digital ad buys in November without exceeding our existing digital budget.
She stated that for the year of 2021, compared to full year 2020, traffic on the Conference Center’s
website is up 46%. Paid search traffic is up 57%, Organic traffic is up 41%, and Direct traffic is up 14.8%
The most popular page on the website was the home page, which saw a 32% increase in visitors (none
of the paid campaigns sent traffic to the home page). The Meetings page was the second most popular,
seeing a 120% increase in visitors, with Celebrations having a 70% increase. Both segments saw
increases in user moving to Floor Plans pages with 69% and 46% increases in traffic - proving that
visitors are moving deeper into conversion focused pages as part of their Customer Journey.
Total traffic to the Conference Center’s website in November was 3,339 compared to 2,017 in October,
representing a 65% increase. November compared to September was up 89%.
Paid searches drove 102% more visitors, and Organic drove 19% more visitors in just one month. Social
media traffic was up 688% (the initial numbers were low). The Conference Center saw the highest
amount of social media traffic in November, as we had in the last 2 years combined.
Grubl introduced Cameron Fujii, Director of Facilities Operations, to give an update on the Operations of
the Conference Center. Fujii presented a power point presentation to the Authority. He mentioned that
they continue with the COVID-19 response and prevention program that the Conference Center instilled
in place last year.
He stated that the FY2021-22 Capital project for replacing the evaporator fans in the cooler and freezer
was completed last month. For the first of the new year, the Operations Department will be replacing
255 South Airport Boulevard | South San Francisco | California | 94080
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the PTZ cameras and installing the booster water heater for the dishwasher. He stated that Operations is
currently prioritizing critical capital projects for the coming fiscal year with a focus on building recovery
and budgetary responsibility.
Chairperson Nicolas announced the next Regular Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 22, 202 at
5:15 p.m. The meeting was adjourned at 6:17 p.m.
Buenaflor Nicolas Dean Grubl
Authority Vice Chairperson Executive Director