Irvine : Council Leans Toward Backing Visitors Bureau

A proposal to create a visitors and convention bureau in Irvine that would be partially funded by the city has received preliminary approval from the City Council, which voted 3 to 2 to give the plan a closer look.

Under the plan, supported by hoteliers and the Irvine Chamber of Commerce, the city would funnel 1% of its hotel-bed tax into a bureau that, in turn, would promote Irvine as a place for tourists and business people.

Paul Brady, assistant city manager, said the bed taxes will add about $2.75 million in city revenue during the upcoming 1985-86 fiscal year. Of that amount, he said, the proposed convention and visitor’s bureau would receive about $344,000.

In addition, three representatives of the city would sit on the bureau’s 11-member board of directors.

Brady has until Aug. 20 to present the council with a formal funding agreement between the city and the chamber. If the council approves, city financing could begin by late this year, he said.

Council members Larry Agran and Barbara Wiener, whose votes against the plan led to its defeat when it last came before the council in March, again cast “no” votes Tuesday night, but this time they were unsuccessful in blocking the plan.

Agran called city financing of a visitors bureau a “rip-off of unprecedented proportions” and an “unwarranted subsidy of a private sector promotional entity.”

“We’re not talking about a fledgling, little company,” he said. “We’re talking about the Marriott Hotel, the Irvine Co. and Holiday Inn . . . companies that already know how to promote themselves.”

In other business, the council put off action on a proposed charter amendment that would permit residents to choose a mayor through direct balloting.

Tuesday’s meeting marked the third time since May that the proposal, sponsored by Agran, has come under consideration.

Like most cities in Orange County, Irvine’s five council members select a mayor from among themselves to serve a one-year term. Under the Tuesday proposal, Irvine’s mayor would be chosen by majority vote in a citywide election.

The council will again deal with the plan at an unspecified date. Even if adopted, the amendment would still have to be approved by city voters in a general election.