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Deke Hunter, with Hunter Storm, provided a business profile and their repertoire in building in Redwood City and other communities (presentation on file). He explained that his organization has much strength to make this a reality. He asked for a strong consideration by Council. One Council Member asked about the issue of housing versus business use. Ms. Ekas provided information on the pros and cons of each option. One Council Member would like to go slower rather than faster and she finds this an opportunity to look at what is out there and find a balance between the need for office space and the need for other uses. This Council Member inquired about timelines and Mr. Bell explained that an RFQ (Request For Qualifications) would take about 90 days and staff could come back towards the end of summer. He added that on the RFP (Request For Proposals) process under the RDA, it would take longer. Another Council Member supported the RFQ process and two others concurred. Ms. Thompson added that the RFQ is more of a conceptual design approach. Another Council Member noted that this has to be good for the entire downtown. Yet another Council Member agreed with the RFQ approach. A Council Member asked about the interest in downtown, and staff commented that there is great, acute interest from the developer community. Another Council Member agreed with the RFQ process and he described what he would also include as important elements specifically: financial capability, conformance with existing rules, and bonus points for housing and innovation. Public Comment: Gita Dev appreciated the Council's discussion and suggested a competition for the RFQ without guidelines to allow for greater creativity. She opined that there are too many cars in downtown to make it a truly pedestrian experience. One Council Member suggested either divorcing the sites or merging them. Mayor Ira believes time is of the essence and he wants to move quickly with this. He wants to set up a Council sub - committee with Council Members Gee and Seybert so this does not linger but gets moved along. Mr. Bell noted that this is a top priority for the City and Council and it will come back to Council within 90 days. He noted that there was agreement on doing some clean -up of the City Charter. Mayor Ira said that the Charter Committee needs to be resurrected to see what other edits will be placed on the ballot. Council consensus was to go with option #2 and pursue an RFQ (Request for Qualifications) process with some Charter clean -up. C. Receive Report and Provide Direction Regarding Proposed Ballot Measures Increasing Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) and Business License Tax. (307) JOINT CITY COUNCIUREDEVELOPMENT AGENCY BOARD May 23, 2011 MEETING MINUTES PAGE 13 MINUTE BOOK NO. 63 Page No. 331