The first meeting of the Special Events Committee, formed by District 2 City Councilman Kevin Faulconer following the controversy surrounding the PB Street Fair (formerly known as the PB Block Party) met for the first time Thursday, Jan. 11, to begin organizing.
The PB Street Fair failed in the spring to win community support from the three main community organizations: the Pacific Beach Community Planning Committee (PBCPC), the Pacific Beach Town Council (PBTC) and Discover Pacific Beach.
Community suggestions poured into Faulconer’s office suggesting a committee be organized to help with community support and to create guidelines for special events.
“We had some of the issues with the PB Block Party in terms of how that was going, how that should happen, what some of the issues were. We had different groups in the community that took different positions,” Faulconer said.
The organizations voted on the composition for the committee. They voted to send two members from each group and three members-at-large to be selected by Faulconer, according to Allison Stanley, council representative for Pacific Beach.
“It became clear to me that one of the things that would be beneficial is how is it we can come together here in Pacific Beach and find a way and a process that can make special events work so that the event is worth it to the entire community,” Faulconer said. “And that’s really what this group is all about. To have a voice and input that says this is how we would like things to work in Pacific Beach.”
Each of the recognized community organizations elected two members from their group to serve on the committee. Faulconer chose the three at-large committee members from those who had expressed an interest in being involved.
Committee members are Todd Brown and Rob Bueschel of Discover Pacific Beach, Eric Swenson and Georgina Smith from the PBTC and Marcie Beckett and Chris Fuller of PBCPC. At-large members are Monica Green, Eric Lingenfelder and Rob Rynearson.
“It’s really going to be a group that’s run and operated by you. It’s not my group, it’s your group. It’s not the city’s group. You’re an advisor, and I think an important one and I will look at this group for advice and recommendations, as I know the city is,” Faulconer said before turning the meeting over to the group.
During the first meeting, the committee unanimously elected Todd Brown of Discover Pacific Beach and owner of Bub’s Dive Bar & Grill, 1030 Garnet Ave., as the committee’s chairman.
After some debate, the committee decided to elect both Marcie Beckett and Rob Rynearson as the first and second vice chairs, respectively. Rob Bueschel was elected secretary and is in charge of recording the minutes for each meeting.
Faulconer suggested that one of the groups first orders of business, after establishing a mission statement and a clear and concise policy, should be to write a letter to the city letting it know that any group or organization wishing to hold a special event in Pacific Beach should first contact the Special Events Committee.
“I think it’s a long time coming,” Brown said of the committee. “I think the key is”¦we can create a structure where it takes the ambiguity out of it and it creates a channel for the community to be able to express what kind of special events they want down here. The rest just becomes negotiation in terms of promoting the business district and the community at large without having a negative impact.”
The group reviewed the Gaslamp Quarter Association Special Events Policy as well as the Promote La Jolla Special Events Policy to get an idea of what works for other groups as a guideline for a policy specific to the needs of Pacific Beach.
The committee did not establish a mission statement or policy at their first meeting, but elected to give the responsibility to the executive members ” Brown, Beckett, Rynearson and Bueschel ” to create a rough draft to be reviewed by the committee at their next scheduled meeting.
The committee members will then take the rough draft to their community organization for further review. The committee will then finalize the draft with input form its members, the community organizations and the public, who are invited to attend the Special Events Committee meetings.
Ultimately, the committee established that their role would be a “one-stop shop” for promoters who want to hold a special event. Rather than having to go to each community organization and ask for their approval, the promoter would only have to go to the committee. The committee representatives for each organization would then take the proposal back to their group for approval.
The committee did not decide if they wanted to meet as needed or have regularly scheduled meetings. They will decide the frequency of meetings once the mission statement and policy are finalized.
The next meeting of the Special Events Committee is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 23, at noon at the Earl & Birdie Taylor Library, 4275 Cass St.
The group is scheduled to review the rough draft mission statement and policy in time for approval from the community organizations at their next scheduled meetings.