Get involved. Everything with this study is open to the public. Yes YOU!
In attendance:
Task force members and Community participants: M.G. Orender (Chair), Tony Allegretti, Charles Appleby, Ron Barton, Danny Berenberg, Melody Bishop, Juan Diaz, Pam Edwards-Roine, Bruce Ferguson, Randy Goodwin, John Haley, Amy Harrell, Annette Hastings, Donald Harris, Bob Johnson, Kish Kanji, Millie Kanyar, Scott Kim, Bruce McKenzie, Kelly Madden, Karen Mathis, Don McClure, Mike Miller, Medardo Monzon, Michael Munz, Ted Pappas, Dennis Pate, David Potts, Fred Pozin, Jim Pritchard, John Reyes, A.D. Roberts, Toney Sleiman, Michael Stewart, Scott Stuckey, Arnold Tritt, Phil Tufano, Tri Vu, Robert White, Anthony Williams, Mark Wood, and Tony Wynn
Staff – Mickee Brown, Skip Cramer, John Reyes
** [Staff note: Please advise staff if your name is not listed above. Also, the phrase “study participants” as used below refers jointly to task force members and community participants.]
Meeting Time: 5:30-6:45 p.m.
Speakers: The Honorable Michael Corrigan, City Council President
R. William Crowe, City of Jacksonville Assistant General Counsel
Purpose: Orientation for study participants on roles and processes
Discussion: Task force chair M. G. Orender opened the meeting by introducing the evening’s agenda and asking City Council President Michael Corrigan to provide study participants with an overview of why it is important for the community to have an open dialogue about the future of the convention center at this time.
Michael Corrigan
Though many studies have been conducted in the past, Jacksonville is in a unique position right now to plan what happens next with its convention center due to tremendous community growth. As a community, Jacksonville must decide if pursuing more convention business and/or a larger facility is a worthwhile investment and if so what can be done to maximize the chance for success.
JCCI was chosen as a third party facilitator for this exercise because the organization has a history of being fair and inclusive. Everyone will not agree with the final results, but everyone will have an opportunity to participate in the process.
Later M. G. introduced members of the Convention Center steering committee and members of the subcommittees they will helm as follows:
· Kelly Madden, Business Demand
· Phil Tufano, Marketing Support and Infrastructure
· Charles Appleby, Site Selection
· Mark Wood, Finance
· Don McClure, Facility Operation
· Ron Townsend, Community ROI
[Staff note: A full list of members per subcommittee is available upon request.]
Each subcommittee meeting will be announced in advance to allow all task force members to participate in the process as fully as his or her time will allow. That information will be made available at each meeting, via the JCCI web, and on request.
JCCI Executive Director Skip Cramer reviewed the roles of the steering committee, the task force, community participants, and JCCI.
Steering committee: Along with influencing the design and content of the study, each steering committee member will helm a subcommittee examining one critical area of the study (see above).
Task force: Each member of the task force has two primary roles; subcommittee member and general (task force) consensus member. As a member of a subcommittee, task force members will explore one topic in detail over a period of three weeks. Upon reconvening, the general task force will review the subcommittee’s work and through consensus reach agreement on the smaller group’s findings and recommendations.
Community participants: Are welcome to share their observations and give input at every subcommittee and task force meeting. Specific time will be set aside on every agenda for such inputs. Observations and comments are also welcome via the JCCI website, CCTF web log, and the comment cards to be distributed at every meeting – these are all avenues for the community to voice their opinions for the study record. However, community participants are not consensus members of the task force.
JCCI: In addition to neutral third party facilitator, JCCI is the study’s record keeper and administrator. Any material to be considered by the task force must be cleared in advance through JCCI. No materials may be distributed at meetings without this clearance.
Skip reminded all attendees that the study process is most successful when everyone leaves behind his or her professional and/or personal interest to represent the interests of Jacksonville’s citizens. He also asked that the meetings be governed by the following rules of engagement (JCCI’s Forum Decorum).
- Start and end on time - Turn all cell phones and pagers off
- Engage in active listening - Raise your hand to speak
- All ideas and opinions are debatable - Attack the person not the problem
- Stick to the topic - No filibustering
- Respect the process - Have a great time!
Skip reminded participants that all information pertaining to the task force (agendas, schedules, meeting summaries, notices, etc.) are available on the web (
http://www.jcci.org/), by email request at
ccctf@jcci.org, or by contacting JCCI’s offices (396-3052).
M. G. also provided study participants with an update on the three contract studies that will influence the length of the study.
On December 15, 2006 steering committee members commissioned two studies; one to determine Jacksonville’s appeal as a tourist destination and another to clarify whether or not Jacksonville would become a sought-after destination for conventioneers if there were additional convention space. The results from both studies will be available at the end of February. The results from both studies will then inform the work of the Business Demand subcommittee beginning in March. If the task force then agrees the studies do not support expanding convention capacity, the task force will end its work.
On January 25, 2007 the steering committee met to discuss feasibility study proposals from five firms. The top ranking firm was Convention, Sports and Leisure (CSL) International, with offices in Dallas and Minneapolis. While the selected firm will be notified, the feasibility study contract will not be executed until the task force agrees that the outcomes of the destination and appeal studies support proceeding with that step. That decision is expected in March. The task force is scheduled to review the feasibility study results on June 28, 2007. If the cost vs. benefit is disproportionate (high cost/low benefit), then the task force’s work will cease.
Bill Crowe, Assistant General Counsel, gave the last presentation of the evening regarding Florida’s Sunshine law. The highlights of his presentation are listed below.
All Convention Center Task Force meetings are governed by Florida’s Sunshine law.
The Sunshine law requires that 1) meetings of boards or commissions must be open to the public; 2) reasonable notice of such meetings must be given, and 3) minutes of the meeting must be taken. Tell-tale signs of potential violations include, short meeting notice, lack of minutes, and whispering at meetings.
The Sunshine law applies to any gathering, whether formal or casual, of two or more members of the same board or commission to discuss some matter on which foreseeable action will be taken. Telephone conversations and chance meetings are also subject to Sunshine law.
Members of a public board are not prohibited under the Sunshine law from meeting together socially, provided that matters which may come before the board are not discussed at such gatherings.
Any material made or received by the board or committee to perpetuate, communicate or formalize knowledge is considered public record, subject to Florida record retention requirements and Freedom of Information Act requests. All written documents, tapes, photographs, films and sound recordings are also considered public records and are subject to inspection.
To gather more information about Sunshine law contact Bill Crowe directly, review the packages of information distributed by Bill and the CVB, or visit the Florida Office of the Attorney General online (myfloridalegal.com)
For the purposes of the Convention Center Task Force all “master files” will be maintained by JCCI.
M.G. opened the floor to public comment from all in attendance, but none were offered.
The meeting was adjourned at 6:45pm.
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