Downtown Huntington Beach Task Force Invites Public to Meetings Pictured are council members on new task force left to right: Joe Carchio, Connie Boardman, Jim Katapodis The City of Huntington Beach Downtown Task Force was recently selected and now meets the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month. at 'Main Street Library, 5:30 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend the meetings and provide input. The Task Force was established by Huntington Beach City Council to review how to create a sustainable and vibrant downtown economy, while maintaining a safe and high quality of life for the residential neighborhood. TASK FORCE: Three council liaisons Mayor Connie Boardman Councilmember Joe Carchio Councilmember Jim Katapodis Five Downtown residents Kim Kramer Ralph Palomares Michael Wentworth Cathy Werblin Susie Smith Three restaurant/bar representatives and one alternate Ron Newman - Sharkeez Stephanie Wilson - Fred's Mexican Cafe Cesar Pena - Black Bull Chop House Craig Glatz - Kilarney Pub and Grill One retail owner representative Moe Kanoudi - Main Street Eyeware One representative from the Huntington Beach Marketing and Visitor's Bureau Hilton Waterfront Resort General Manager J.D. Shafer One representative from the Downtown Business Improvement District Brett Barnes - Duke's Huntington Beach One representative from the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce HB Digital Owner Dominic Iorfino The Downtown Task Force is staffed by the Office of Economic Development, the specific events supervisor, Police department, Planning department and City Attorney's office.'For additional information on the meetings or to be included in the email list for meeting notifications, contact Kellee Fritzal at kfritzal@surfcity-hb.org BACKGROUND: Long before the riot broke out on July 28, 2013 in Downtown Huntington Beach at the end of the US Open of Surfing, Downtown Huntington Beach residents has formed Huntington Beach Downtown Residents Association (hbdra.com) to act as a voice for issues affecting quality of life in a portion of the city that can see up to 15 million visitors in a single year. In 2011 the first report of its kind released to the public quantifying Public Safety issues facing Downtown Huntington Beach as a community of nearly 4000 residents. Bullet points from that report included: ' Of the 69 largest cities in the State, Huntington Beach is #1 in DUI traffic accidents involving death or injury. Surf City is #1 in DUI arrests 4 years in a row. ' The Downtown Neighborhood has a crime rate 800% greater than other neighborhoods in the City. Thus includes crimes such as Rape, Aggravated Assault, Burglar and other major felonies. ' Downtown crime is 40 times more than allowed by the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control. ' Surf City HB has 700% more bars and 300% more liquor stores per capita than the rest of Orange County. ' 28% of all the bars in Huntington Beach are located Downtown. The are 55 times more bars per square mile in Downtown Huntington Beach than the rest of the City. ' Downtown HB experiences 73 times more alcohol-related assaults and 136 times more Drunk in Public arrests.