MINUTES: Meeting of the Board of Directors

Thursday, April 18, 2024

member’s remote attendance is limited to locations identified in advance on the agenda. For a full guide to Open and

Public meetings under the Brown Act go here.

Members of the public may attend online using this link.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82301353406?pwd=Sm42R0RFUHVRa2RZWm1CV0wzQ3diZz09

DIRECTORS PRESENT (15)

Bombard, Fornasiere, Noll, Stevenson, Allen, Bradley, Cassidy, Flathers, Foley, Garcia, Hohenstein, Maistros, Paret, Vega,

Wright

DIRECTORS ABSENT (4)

Approval of February 2024 Monthly Financials

Luttjohann reminded the February 2024 financials were delayed due a QuickBooks software issue which is now

resolved.

Motion to approve Noll, second Paret; passed unanimously.

Approval of March 2024 Monthly Financials

Motion to approve by Cassidy, second Fornasiere; passed unanimously.

REPORT OF THE CHAIR

Reminder--April 30 Special Meeting—Bombard reminded attendees of the April 30 full-day meeting which is scheduled

as a closed session. Luttjohann explained that since the two-day session in February he’s had several consultations with

Today is the last day for board members to provide feedback on this document.

today is due to work conflicts. She added that Wright requested an excuse for the March meeting that is not listed on

the agenda. Bombard requested each absence be presented as its own motion.

Motion to approve the absence of Villalobos as excused by Noll, second Bradley; passed unanimously.

Motion to approve Latorre’s excused absence by Garcia, second Cassidy; passed unanimously.

Motion to approve the absence of Alkibay as excused by Hohenstein, second Fornasiere; passed unanimously.

Motion to approve Wright’s March absence as excused by Hohenstein, second Garcia; passed with abstention by

Wright.

The closed session ended at 1:29 and all guests were invited back into the room. Stevenson read the slate of proposed

directors and requested a motion.

Motion to approve Grayce Upton, Yoli Say, Lisa Beach, Cinde Cassidy, and Amanda Bombard as the 2024

Proposed Slate of Directors by Noll, second Garcia. Roll-call vote passed with abstentions by Bombard and

Cassidy.

Stevenson welcomed the new board and said these terms begin July 1. He reminded all board members to work as a

team for the overall good of Catalina Island business. The Proposed Slate will be sent to the CITA membership for final

approval.

Stevenson announced the board position of Marketing Chair will remain open and officer nominations are being

accepted until June 1. Luttjohann said the Executive Committee Slate will be presented at the May or June meeting

positive feedback and decent scores, although a bit lower than the previous year. Luttjohann was surprised to learn only

six Catalina Island shore excursions are currently available onboard cruise ships. A discussion on excursions included

Flathers informing there is a required dress code for participating on-shore businesses; surprisingly a belt is one of the

requirements. Garcia has tried several times to submit activities for her businesses to be booked on-board cruise ships.

She said it is quite hard to be accepted. Stevenson explained Catalina Island Co (CICo) offers their tours to Royal

Caribbean and Disney, but no longer does business with Carnival. Several mentioned the large commission required to

participate. Luttjohann informed of the recent Santa Barbara decision to limit cruise ship calls to that port. This could

affect Catalina Island either way; possibly good if Avalon is substituted as a port of call for Santa Barbara, however if

California Coastal Cruises are pulled, there would be less stops here. Luttjohann submitted his report as written.

Sales & Marketing Report—Fornasiere stated CITA partnered with Visit California sending a dedicated email to a list of

233K+ and the open rate was fantastic at 52.05%. She said the CastAway promotion begins April 25 and on May 7

another sponsored Visit California email blast will go out with this information. CITA was invited to attend a media event

earlier in April and made valuable connections. CITA is working with 62Above to follow up and connect with those media

contacts. A proposal and budget request at the March meeting approved $67.5K for photos, videos, and drone content.

The negotiations were successful meaning 2.5 days for the price of 1.5; unlimited drone and video usage in perpetuity;

longer photo usage rights; and video delivered in a color format to upload to our DAM system. On-island shoot dates are

May 13-15. The 2024-25 Map was printed on Tuesday, is being bound and folded with delivery set for next week.

Luttjohann stated USA Today is searching for the Best Summer Travel Destination and Catalina Island is among the

nominees; voting can be done daily until May 13. Bombard urged all to set a reminder to vote daily.

Events Report—DeMyer reminded tonight the Mixer begins at 6pm and is hosted by The Avalon Hotel which invited

Avalon Smart Homes to co-host. She spoke of other upcoming events like Shred, Taste of Avalon, Restaurant Week,

Pride, and the Summer Concert Series with a Beer Garden run by Rotary. DeMyer is meeting with Bleu World to discuss

free admission, food vendors and a Mariachi band. The annual Cinco de Mayo event is 6-9pm with live music by

Sin Frontera. The Silent Film Festival, May 17-18, will not be held in the Casino Theatre this year and will

encompass two days at the museum’s outdoor amphitheater. Movies are Hitchcock’s last silent film Blackmail

and a comedy, Safety Last, with Harold Lloyd's granddaughter present to introduce the film. Fornasiere

announced this is her last meeting as a board member. She accepted a position as Director of Community

Outreach with Catalina Island Health. Bombard thanked her for the years she has served in a permanent seat on

the board, many times on the executive committee. Luttjohann appreciated how her knowledge and skills were

utilized often for CITA. As her report ended the room erupted in applause.

Noll looked at his watch and noted the first Resource Fair just ended, consisting of 11 booths to assist with

Bombard family for donating the freight to the mainland. The Rotary Club asks for gently used blankets, shoes,

and clothing for children and adults. Bombard requested a report on how much is collected and Luttjohann

added, the number of boxes or weight would be a nice way to inform on the amount not dumped in our landfill.

Hohenstein announced Veronica and Francisco Bravo are opening Sunset Bar & Grill at the Catalina Canyon Inn

on May 3. The Rotary Wine Fest is set for June 22 at Two Harbors.

Paret gets a happy feeling when the Disney Cruise line horn plays a few notes from When You Wish Upon A Star.

He wondered if the chimes tower might respond or play Disney tunes while the ship is in port.

Vega reported that May 13 will be a big day with the potential of 6.5K visitors. Eight volunteers will help direct

Wright mentioned she had success with workers hired at the Avalon High School job fair. She urged others to

support the upcoming event.

Skelton gave an update on the Catalina horse riding business. He stated things have not moved as quickly as he

would like but they are moving forward. The land has water at the property and a permit was filed with Edison.

He has lined up horses and saddles. Phase one is less horses but he promises summer 2025 more horses will

optimize the operation. He is looking forward to bringing back something special to the island.

Bombard said Catalina Express extended the Spring Schedule. The Summer Schedule was released and she urged

people to book early for travel as reservations were being booked as the schedule was being uploaded. Cassidy

asked if Catalina Express would consider updating their travel time. She checked in cranky hotel guests, upset

the trip is not one hour as advertised. Cassidy added, the trip has not been one hour for quite some time.

Bombard explained they are softening the timing to say approximately one hour or one hour 10-15. It was

agreed that passengers do not take into consideration the time it takes to disembark.

the signs and visitors can connect with COAST on the screen.