{"body": "GolfCommission", "date": "2008-06-18", "page": 1, "text": "ALAMEDA GOLF COMMISSION\nMINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING\nWednesday, June 18, 2008\n1.\nCALL TO ORDER\nChair Jane Sullwold called the regular meeting to order at 6:31 p.m. Chuck Corica\nGolf Complex, Ladies Lounge 1 Clubhouse Memorial Road, Alameda, CA 94502.\n1-A. Roll Call\nRoll call was taken and members present were: Secretary Bill Delaney,\nCommissioner Betsy Gammell, Vice Chair Ray Gaul, and Chair Jane Sullwold.\nAbsent: Commissioner Bill Schmitz and Commissioner Jeff Wood. Also present\nwere Interim General Manager Dale Lillard and Assistant Golf Professional Mike\nRobason.\n1-B\nApproval of Minutes - Regular Meeting of May 21, 2008, and Special Meeting of\nJune 4, 2008:\nThe Commission approved the minutes unanimously.\n1-C\nAdoption of Agenda\nThe Commission adopted the agenda unanimously.\n2.\nORAL COMMUNICATIONS\nNone.\n3.\nCOMMISSION COMMUNICATIONS\nChair Sullwold reported that she had a lunch meeting with City Council member\nMarie Gilmore last Wednesday to discuss the Golf Complex and the financial\nproblems. Chair Sullwold summarized the meeting by saying that she doesn't\nthink that she changed Councilmember Gilmore's mind, although she was able to\nvoice concerns of the Golf Commission. When questions about the Beltline\nexpense charged to the Golf Complex, Councilmember Gilmore stated that the\nChuck Corica Golf Complex is in a risk management pool with AP&T and one\nother City department (possibly Sewer). \"Risk management\" expenses are shared\non a pro rata basis among those in the pool, regardless of where the risk has been\nincurred.\nCouncilmember Gilmore expressed the view that Council is disappointed with the\nGolf Commission for failing to recognize the inevitability of going out to bid for a\nlong-term outside contractor. Chair Sullwold pointed out that the Commission last\nfall had reluctantly accepted the need for a contractor if the City was unable to pay\nChuck Corica Golf Complex\nPage 1\n6/18/08\nGolf Commission Minutes", "path": "GolfCommission/2008-06-18.pdf"}
{"body": "GolfCommission", "date": "2008-06-18", "page": 2, "text": "for capital improvements. In her speech to Council in December 2008, Chair\nSullwold, on behalf of the Golf Commission, recommended that the City pursue\nsimultaneously an RFP and a program of costing the Commission's list of\npossibilities for revenue generation. Councilmember Gilmore said neither she nor\nanyone else on Council heard that.\nCouncilmember Gilmore told Commissioner Sullwold that Council was prepared to\nrescind the Return on Investment and Surcharge, which amounts to approximately\n$270,000. The City is desperate for money, which explains why Council continues\nto characterize the act of rescinding charges as \"subsidizing the Golf Complex\nfrom the general fund.\" Councilmember Gilmore stated that Council expects the\nGolf Commission to \"sell\" the expected decision to lease out the Golf Complex.\nChair Sullwold also reported that on May 27, City Council conducted a budget\nworkshop where Golf Complex finances were discussed. No one from the Golf\nCommission was present because Interim General Manager Dale Lillard did not\ntell anyone about the meeting. At the workshop, Council asked many questions of\nand assigned tasks to the Golf Commission. After Mr. Lillard refused to give\nnotice, the Golf Commission held a special meeting on June 4, 2008, to prepare a\nletter to the Mayor and City Council that was hand-delivered on June 5, 2008. In\nthe course of e-mail communications, Mr. Lillard advised that \"it is our position that\nthe Finance Dept. and Auditor have provided more than adequate responses to\nthe [financial] questions raised and there is no need to provide any further\nresponse.'\nOn Monday, June 9, Council conducted another workshop at which Golf Complex\nfinances were discussed. Again, Mr. Lillard did not inform any Commissioner\nabout the meeting, asserting that it was a matter of public record and we should\nhave figured it out ourselves, and, again, Council directed many questions and\nassigned tasks to the Golf Commission. Upon watching the video of the meeting,\nChair Sullwold e-mailed Mr. Lillard, asking for the detailed budget worksheets that\nitemized the Golf Complex budget proposal submitted to Council, and asked that\ntwo specific agenda items be added to the Golf Commission agenda for its regular\nmeeting on June 18, 2008. The next day Chair Sullwold learned that Mr. Lillard\nwas refusing to provide any additional information regarding the proposed budget,\nand had refused to include the two specific agenda items on the posted agenda for\nthe Golf Commission meeting. Chair Sullwold made the motion that staff gives the\nGolf Commission 24-hour notice of any City Council meeting that may discuss the\nChuck Corica Golf Complex, Secretary Delaney seconded the motion, and the\nGolf\nCommission\npassed\nthe\nmotion\nunanimously.\n4.\nAGENDA ITEMS:\n4-A\nResponse to City Council's Request for Options Regarding Future Operations at\nthe Golf Complex.\nThe Interim General Manager reported that he is working on some options\ninvolving course closures as a means to reduce expenses, but does not yet have\nChuck Corica Golf Complex\nPage 2\n6/18/08\nGolf Commission Minutes", "path": "GolfCommission/2008-06-18.pdf"}
{"body": "GolfCommission", "date": "2008-06-18", "page": 3, "text": "anything ready to present. He said that he will have some detailed estimates\navailable no later than Wednesday, June 25, 2008, and will provide them to the\nGolf Commission at that time.\nChair Sullwold passed out spreadsheets and summaries that showed the\neconomic impact of a variety of different ways that rate increases could be\nimplemented at the Golf Complex to increase revenues. She made the following\npresentation in support of these proposals:\nThis is the start of a new two-year budget cycle for the City of Alameda. Interim\nGeneral Manager Dale Lillard presented a proposed budget to City Council for the\nGolf Complex for the next two fiscal years that projects a substantial deficit\nbetween revenues that remain after City take-aways and expenses. The expected\ndeficit will exceed $700,000 per year, because the City Council refused to rescind\nthe ROI and Surcharge, as was recommended in the budget proposal.\nAlthough the Golf Complex does in fact make enough revenue to cover its\nexpenses; it does not make enough to pay them after first paying the City of\nAlameda as follows:\n2000/01\n2001/02\n2002/03\n2003/04\n2004/05\n2005/06\n2006/07\n2007/08*\nSurcharge\n265,869\n240,130\n230,084\n203,683\n156,825\n156,925\n151,527\n127,350\nPILOT/ROI\n188,696\n202,842\n187,719\n185,576\n401,138\n407,156\n323,922\n269,487\nCost Alloc.\n365,834\n381,092\n384,395\n410,886\n400,915\n412,942\n446,216\n530,523\nTOTALS\n820,399\n824,064\n802,198\n800,145\n958,878\n976,923\n921,665\n927,360\n*Through May 31, 2008; expenses for June 2008 still need to be added.\nNational Golf Foundation recommended at the end of last year that the City enter\ninto a long-term lease with an outside golf vendor to operate the Golf Complex,\nstating that this was the only viable alternative to deal with the dire financial\nsituation. A lease would be attractive to an outside golf management company\nbecause employees who currently work at the Golf Complex would be replaced\nwith non-union, non-civil service employees at greatly reduced salaries. Alameda\nCity Manager Debbie Kurita endorsed NGF's suggestion, recommending in\nDecember 2007 that City Council go forward with a Request for Proposals to any\ninterested contractors. Although that process was delayed by City Council's\ndecision to engage National Golf Foundation to create a master plan for the Golf\nComplex, which will be ready on July 1, 2008, it is expected that City Council will\nvery soon thereafter authorize the start of the RFP process.\nIt has been estimated that it could take as long as one year from the date of\nCouncil's authorization to reach a binding contract with an outside vendor. In the\nmeantime, if Mr. Lillard's projections are accurate, the City will continue to draw an\nestimated $700,000 out of the Golf Complex revenue, leaving a deficit between\nChuck Corica Golf Complex\nPage 3\n6/18/08\nGolf Commission Minutes", "path": "GolfCommission/2008-06-18.pdf"}
{"body": "GolfCommission", "date": "2008-06-18", "page": 4, "text": "the remaining revenue and anticipated expenses. This will require further\nincursions upon the Enterprise Fund, which stands at about $1.1 million at the\npresent time. City Council has asked City Staff and the Golf Commission to come\nup with proposals to fill the gap.\nChair Sullwold believes that closure of the Jack Clark South course is shortsighted\nand ill advised because it would make the Golf Complex a much-less attractive\nproposition for an outside vendor, which would have to budget for the expense of\nbringing the course back, thus reducing the amount it would be willing to spend for\ncapital improvements and lease payments to the City. In addition, although the\nFry course does not receive as much play as it did ten years ago, it alone could\nnot handle as much play as the two courses together generate at the present time.\nAccordingly, revenue would be substantially reduced.\nAlthough Mr. Lillard has refused to provide the Golf Commission with the detailed\nbudget worksheets that would allow in-depth analysis of projected expenses, Chair\nSullwold believes staff has done their best to cut those expenses wherever\npossible. There is no more fat to cut out.\nIf expenses can be cut no further, one must consider ways to increase revenue.\nOver the past six months the Golf Commission has initiated and/or supported the\nfollowing measures at the Golf Complex with that goal in mind: (1) reinstituted\na\njunior golf clinic on Saturday mornings that is currently bringing about 120 children\nand their parents to the Complex each week, resulting in increased play on the Mif\nAlbright course, expenditures in the restaurant, and creation of a future customer\nbase; (2) made adjustments to tournament policies in an effort to bring more\ntournaments to the Golf Complex; (3) requested reconfiguration of the Mif Albright\ncourse back to its original plan, and instituted lowered rates that have brought play\nlevels up substantially on that course; (4) urged more vigorous and effective use of\nwebsite marketing to promote special rates; (5) urged additional \"demo days\" by\ngolf equipment manufacturers that have increased sales in the golf shop;\n(6) ended much of the complimentary golf rounds at the Complex; (7)\nrecommended several fee adjustments, including raising the rates on the Jack\nClark course to be consistent with those charge on the Earl Fry course and\ninstituting a reduced super twilight rate to encourage play in the final hours of the\nday when the courses are otherwise nearly empty; (8) recommended that the Golf\nComplex engage a company that has offered to provide handsome scorecards for\nthe Fry and Clark courses in exchange for the right to include some modest and\ntasteful advertising in the scorecard booklets; and (8) established a marketing\nsubcommittee composed of Golf Commissioners, friends of the Golf Complex, and\na marketing executive who is volunteering his time to come up with further\nmarketing ideas. Unfortunately, however, none of these efforts is likely to\ngenerate anything like the amount of money that is necessary to fill the budgetary\ngap. The only thing left to do is to increase fees at the Golf Complex.\nChair Sullwold first considered a plan whereby all fees at the Golf Complex would\nbe raised by the same percentage. Assistant Golf Professional Mike Robason\npointed out that increasing fees for non-resident golfers is likely to backfire\nChuck Corica Golf Complex\nPage 4\n6/18/08\nGolf Commission Minutes", "path": "GolfCommission/2008-06-18.pdf"}
{"body": "GolfCommission", "date": "2008-06-18", "page": 5, "text": "because those golfers already have to drive some distance to play at Alameda. If\ntheir fees were raised to rates that are equal to or greater than other courses that\nrequire similar amounts of driving, many players would likely choose to play at\nthose courses, which are newer (Metropolitan, Monarch Bay, Callippe) or cheaper\n(Lake Chabot, Willow Park) than Alameda. In economics, the term for this is price\nelasticity: raise the price, and demand goes down correspondingly.\nResidents of Alameda are far less likely to desert the Golf Complex if rates go up,\nparticularly in these times of expensive prices at the gas pumps. Someone who\ncan get to the golf course in five or ten minutes is unlikely to decide to drive half an\nhour or 45 minutes to reach another course that charges similar or even lower\nrates because any differential would be eaten up by mileage costs. Moreover, the\nresidents of Alameda would be far more damaged than non-residents if a revenue\ndeficit ultimately caused the closure of part or all of the golf courses in Alameda.\nThe presence of three attractive, well-maintained public golf courses within a short\ndrive of anyone who lives in the City positively affects all Alameda residential\nproperty values. Finally, Alameda residents have for years played golf for\nsubstantially less than non-residents. In this time of fiscal crisis for the City of\nAlameda and the Chuck Corica Golf Complex, it is fair to ask Alameda's residents\nto help.\nChair Sullwold therefore proposes to eliminate all residential rates for golfers at the\nChuck Corica Golf Complex. Assuming no decline in the number of rounds played\nas a result of these increases, the plan would generate more than $430,000 in\nadditional revenue, very close to the amount of the projected deficit. Chair\nSullwold acknowledged that this is very harsh, and very much contrary to the\npolicy and practices at the Golf Complex during most if not all of the 81 years of its\nexistence. It is, however, clear from watching the City Council budget workshops\nand listening to what Councilwoman Marie Gilmore had to say off the record that\nthe City Council is unable and therefore unwilling rescind any of the fees it\nimposes on the Golf Complex. In order to avoid closure of our courses, the Golf\nCommission needs to ask Alameda residents to pitch in to support their Golf\nComplex.\nThe motion was made and passed to have a Special Meeting on June 30, 2008 at\n5:30 pm in the Ladies Lounge at the Golf Complex to consider recommendations,\nincluding a proposal for a fee increase, to make to City Council at its meeting of\nJuly 1, 2008.\n5.\nORAL REPORTS\n5-A\nGolf Shop and Driving Range activities report by Assistant Golf\nProfessional Mike Robason.\nThe Assistant Golf Professional reported that the Ladies Day on June 11, 2008\nwas very successful and he is going to try and schedule an event once a month.\nThe Golf Complex's largest \"Demo Day\" will be held on July 19, 2008 from 10 am\nto 4 pm. He will be setting up junior Clinics on Thursday afternoons from 3 p.m. to\nChuck Corica Golf Complex\nPage 5\n6/18/08\nGolf Commission Minutes", "path": "GolfCommission/2008-06-18.pdf"}
{"body": "GolfCommission", "date": "2008-06-18", "page": 6, "text": "5 p.m. for juniors 7-17 years of age. The Pro Shop has begun receiving the junior\ngolfer subsidies from the Northern California Golf Association.\n5-B\nGolf Complex Maintenance activities report by Superintendent Doug\nPoole.\nVice Chair Gaul stated that the Earl Fry Golf Course is in excellent shape. Chair\nSullwold added that the Jack Clark Golf Course is also in good shape.\n5-C\nBeautification Program and Junior Golf Club by Mrs. Norma Arnerich.\nMrs. Arnerich reported that there are quite a few new trees out on the golf courses.\nThe East Bay Junior Golf Championship was well attended with 140 golfers and\nwas very successful. Mrs. Arnerich thanked Mike Robason for all of his help with\nrunning the event.\n5-D\nGolf Complex Restaurant Report, Jim's on the Course.\nNo report given.\n6.\nCOMMISSIONERS' REPORTS\n6-A Marketing and Promotions, Commissioner Gammell.\nCommissioner Gammell reported that the Father's Day promotion went well. The\nPro Shop will be having a 4th of July sale with all items red, white and blue on sale.\nAlso during the month of July all women's apparel and shoes will be 20% off.\n6-B\nGolf Complex Financial Report, Secretary Delaney.\nPreviously discussed.\n6-C\nNew Clubhouse Project, Vice Chair Gaul and Commissioner Schmitz.\nVice Chair Gaul stated that the project is on hold pending the outcome of the\nMaster Plan.\n6-D\nMaintenance, Buildings, Security, Albright Course and Driving Range, Commissioner\nWood.\nNo report given.\n7.\nORAL COMMUNICATIONS, NON-AGENDA (Public Comment)\nNone.\nChuck Corica Golf Complex\nPage 6\n6/18/08\nGolf Commission Minutes", "path": "GolfCommission/2008-06-18.pdf"}
{"body": "GolfCommission", "date": "2008-06-18", "page": 7, "text": "8.\nOLD BUSINESS\nDon Roberts stated that he has attended hundreds of board and commission\nmeeting over the years and the Golf Commission is one of the finest he has seen.\nConnie Wendling stated that she thinks that it is a shame that the City of Alameda\nand the Council do not realize what an asset the Golf Complex is to the City\n9.\nWRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS\nIncluded in the Commission packet was a memorandum to the Finance\nDepartment showing the surcharge payment for May 2008 was $15,119. The\nyear-to-date total to the General Fund is $127,350 for fiscal year 2007/2008.\n10.\nITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING'S AGENDA\nSee above.\n11. ANNOUNCEMENTS/ADJOURNMENT\nThe Meeting was adjourned at 8:43 PM.\nThe agenda for the meeting was posted 72 hours in advance in accordance with the Brown Act.\nChuck Corica Golf Complex\nPage 7\n6/18/08\nGolf Commission Minutes", "path": "GolfCommission/2008-06-18.pdf"}