REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Presentation by TAP International of the Performance titled "Santa Clara Convention Center and Convention-Visitors Bureau: Restructuring Operations Can Strengthen Accountability, Performance and Revenue"
Report
BACKGROUND
On May 22, 2018, staff requested direction from Council on the management fee to the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce & Convention-Visitors Bureau (Chamber) for the management of the Santa Clara Convention Center. After a detailed staff presentation and Council discussion, Council approved a motion to:
Direct the City Manager and City Attorney to begin a process of exploring a term sheet for a new agreement with the Chamber of Commerce for their management of the Convention Center; begin the process to execute a financial and performance audit of the Chamber; and that the management fee be suspended until such time that we can enter into a new agreement.
On June 5, 2018, the City Manager's Office executed a contract with a highly qualified performance auditing firm, TAP International (TAP), whose principal, Denise Callahan, has expertise in convention center performance audits. TAP International is a consulting firm that provides performance management evaluation and has over 100 years of combined experience conducting performance audits. Project director/manager Denise Callahan has an extensive auditing background and has trained multiple local, state, federal, and international audit organizations on performance auditing as well as provides on-going coaching and quality assurance reviews. Ms. Callahan's past experience has included performance audits of other larger convention centers (San Diego, Fresno, and Stockton), as well as decades of experience on compliance audits, internal audits, and best practices reviews for federal, state, and local government agencies.
The scope of work of the audit included:
1) Assess the fiscal health of the City's Convention Center and the Convention Visitors Bureau (...
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