Metropolitan Pier Exposition Authority Board met July 25.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
Board Members Present: Jeffrey Bethke, Chairman; Don Villar, Vice Chairman; Jorge Ramirez*, Secretary/Treasurer; Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart*; Nina Grondin; Samir Mayekar; Juan Morado; Sherman Wright
*Teleconference
Others Present: Larita Clark, Chief Executive Officer; Matthew Simmons, General Counsel; Jason Bormann, Chief Financial Officer; Pat Allen, Senior Director of Labor Relations and Campus Operations; Hilary Barker, Director of Procurement; Gloria Juarbe, Director of Human Resources; Pi Tao Hsu, Director of Treasury and Capital Management; Stephanie Lovelace Nieves, Controller; Jill Kolinski, Assistant General Counsel; Vickee Danz, Capital Finance Manager; Nicol Chervenak, Director of Planning and Program Manager; Kelsey Rubin, Director of Collection Sales;
Kelvin Moore, ASM Global/McCormick Place; Moira O’Brien, ASM Global/McCormick Place; Cynthia McCafferty, Hawthorne Strategy Group; Pat Doerr, HBAC; Rufus Purnell, Contractor; Maria Calderon, Compliance Officer and Board Administrator
General Matters: Chairman Bethke asked for a motion to permit Members Ramirez and Birnecker Hart participate via teleconference. Upon motion duly made by Member Morado and seconded by Member Villar, the remaining members present unanimously voted passing the motion.
A1. Roll Call: MPEA Chairman Bethke, called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. and Ms. Calderon called roll.
A2. Approval of Minutes: Chairman Bethke called for the approval of the minutes of the June 21, 2023 Special Board meeting.
Moved by Member Villar, seconded by Member Grondin, and the remaining members present voted approving item A2.
Roll call vote. Record as:
| Jeffrey Bethke, Chairman – Yes | Nina Grondin – Yes |
| Don Villar, Vice Chairman – Yes | Samir Mayekar – Yes |
| Jorge Ramirez, Secretary/Treasurer – Yes | Juan Morado – Yes |
| Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart – Technical Issues | Sherman Wright – Yes |
The motion passed.
A3. Public Comment.
There was no public comment.
Report from CEO: Ms. Clark reported MPEA signed the private management agreement with OVG 360 and the food and beverage service agreement with OVG Hospitality. Ms. Clark reported the private management agreement included unprecedented contract language for customers to continue to have freedom to bring in or procure services and vendors and language to protect their proprietary information. Ms. Clark reported that next month she, along with MPEA’s Intergovernmental Liaison and federal lobbyist will visit Washington, D.C. to meet federal legislators and staff
to identify financial opportunities for the campus. Ms. Clark has extended an invitation to the Board’s Secretary/Treasurer Mr. Ramirez to participate in the meetings in Washington, D.C. Ms. Clark reported that representatives of organized labor will be signing a labor agreement with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on campus today.
Report from Controller: Ms. Lovelace-Nieves presented the financial results for May and Preliminary June 2023. Report from Chief Financial Officer: Mr. Bormann presented the tax collections for May and Preliminary June 2023.
Report from McCormick Place General Manager: Mr. Moore reported the events that recently took place on campus: Bellator MMA had over 8,000 attendees and it was a Live Pay Per View Event; All Elite Wrestling had over 5,000 attendees and it was an “AEW Dynamite” Live Broadcast”; the American Library Association had over 15,000 attendees; USA Volleyball Girls’ National Championships had over 35,000 attendees, attracting more than 1,300 teams for the first time in Chicago; the American Dental Hygienists’ Association (ADHA) Annual Conference & Exhibition had 2,000 attendees; Nike National Invitational Tournament had 39,000 attendees; Oddities & Curiosities Expo had 13,500 attendees; and Wintrust Arena had Chicago Sky Games. Mr. Moore reported the upcoming events including: Black Women’s Expo with an estimated 30,000 attendees; Parliament of the World’s Religions with an estimated 10,000 attendees; Great American Dog Show with an estimated 50,000 attendees; and Fabtech with an estimated 36,000 attendees. Mr. Moore reported preliminary year-end numbers of266 events; 569 event days; 9,225,965 Net Square Feet; over 2 million attendees, and a 91% customer satisfaction rating.
Executive Session: Chairman Bethke asked for a motion to convene in Executive Session to discuss items C1 and C2. Upon motion duly made by Member Morado, seconded by Member Villar, and the remaining members present unanimously voted to convene in Executive Session.
Roll call vote. Record as:
| Jeffrey Bethke, Chairman – Yes | Nina Grondin – Yes |
| Don Villar, Vice Chairman – Yes | Samir Mayekar – Yes |
| Jorge Ramirez, Secretary/Treasurer – Yes | Juan Morado – Yes |
| Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart – Yes | Sherman Wright – Yes |
The motion passed
Review of Covered Actions and Eligible Agreements:
D1. Consideration of Approval of New Qualified Firms for Bond Underwriting and Investment Banking Services.
Moved by Member Villar, seconded by Member Wright, and the remaining members present voted approving item D1.
Roll call vote. Record as:
| Jeffrey Bethke, Chairman – Yes | Nina Grondin – Yes |
| Don Villar, Vice Chairman – Yes | Samir Mayekar – Yes |
| Jorge Ramirez, Secretary/Treasurer – Yes | Juan Morado – Yes |
| Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart – Yes | Sherman Wright – Yes |
The motion passed.
D2. Consideration of Approval of Second Amendment for Hotel Management Services for the Marriott Marquis Chicago at McCormick Place.
Item D2 was deferred to a later date.
D3. Consideration of Approval of Amendment to Existing Contract for IT Services for MPEA Corporate.
Moved by Member Morado, seconded by Member Wright, and the remaining members present voted approving item D3.
Roll call vote. Record as:
| Jeffrey Bethke, Chairman – Yes | Nina Grondin – Yes |
| Don Villar, Vice Chairman – Yes | Samir Mayekar – Yes |
| Jorge Ramirez, Secretary/Treasurer – Yes | Juan Morado – Yes |
| Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart – Yes | Sherman Wright – Yes |
The motion passed.
D4. Consideration of Approval of New Contract for Oracle JDE EnterpriseOne Software as a Service Licenses.
Moved by Member Villar, seconded by Member Grondin, and the remaining members present voted approving item D4.
Roll call vote. Record as:
| Jeffrey Bethke, Chairman – Yes | Nina Grondin – Yes |
| Don Villar, Vice Chairman – Yes | Samir Mayekar – Yes |
| Jorge Ramirez, Secretary/Treasurer – Yes | Juan Morado – Yes |
| Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart – Yes | Sherman Wright – Yes |
The motion passed.
D5. Consideration of Review of Confidential Executive Session Minutes.
Moved by Member Villar, seconded by Member Morado, and the remaining members present voted approving item D5.
Roll call vote. Record as:
| Jeffrey Bethke, Chairman – Yes | Nina Grondin – Yes |
| Don Villar, Vice Chairman – Yes | Samir Mayekar – Yes |
| Jorge Ramirez, Secretary/Treasurer – Yes | Juan Morado – Yes |
| Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart – Yes | Sherman Wright – Yes |
The motion passed.
D6. Consideration to End Retention of Verbatim Audio Recordings of Executive Session Minutes.
Moved by Member Morado, seconded by Member Villar, and the remaining members present voted approving item D6.
Roll call vote. Record as:
| Jeffrey Bethke, Chairman – Yes | Nina Grondin – Yes |
| Don Villar, Vice Chairman – Yes | Samir Mayekar – Yes |
| Jorge Ramirez, Secretary/Treasurer – Yes | Juan Morado – Yes |
| Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart – Yes | Sherman Wright – Yes |
The motion passed.
D7. Consideration of Approval of Collective Bargaining Agreement: Projectionists Local 110.
Moved by Member Villar, seconded by Member Grondin, and the remaining members present voted approving item D7.
Roll call vote. Record as:
| Jeffrey Bethke, Chairman – Yes | Nina Grondin – Yes |
| Don Villar, Vice Chairman – Yes | Samir Mayekar – Yes |
| Jorge Ramirez, Secretary/Treasurer – Yes | Juan Morado – Yes |
| Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart – Yes | Sherman Wright – Yes |
The motion passed.
D8. Consideration of Approval of Contract Renewal for Equipment Rental and Service.
Moved by Member Villar, seconded by Member Wright, and the remaining members present voted approving item D8.
Roll call vote. Record as:
| Jeffrey Bethke, Chairman – Yes | Nina Grondin – Yes |
| Don Villar, Vice Chairman – Yes | Samir Mayekar – Yes |
| Jorge Ramirez, Secretary/Treasurer – Yes | Juan Morado – Yes |
| Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart – Yes | Sherman Wright – Yes |
The motion passed.
E1. New Business.
There was no new business.
E2. Consideration of Approval of Executive Session Minutes of the June 8, 2023 Regular Board Meeting.
Moved by Member Wright, seconded by Member Grondin, and the remaining members present voted approving item E2.
Roll call vote. Record as:
| Jeffrey Bethke, Chairman – Yes | Nina Grondin – Yes |
| Don Villar, Vice Chairman – Yes | Samir Mayekar – Yes |
| Jorge Ramirez, Secretary/Treasurer – Yes | Juan Morado – Yes |
| Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart – Yes | Sherman Wright – Yes |
The motion passed.
E3. Adjournment.
Chairman Bethke moved to adjourn the meeting moved by Member Villar, seconded by Member Wright, and the meeting was adjourned by unanimous vote of the Board.
Roll call vote. Record as:
| Jeffrey Bethke, Chairman – Yes | Nina Grondin – Yes |
| Don Villar, Vice Chairman – Yes | Samir Mayekar – Yes |
| Jorge Ramirez, Secretary/Treasurer – Yes | Juan Morado – Yes |
| Dr. Sonat Birnecker Hart – Yes | Sherman Wright – Yes |
The motion passed.
Time meeting adjourned: 9:57 a.m.
https://www.mpea.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/MPEA-Board-Minutes-Regular-Session-July-25-2023-Final.docx.pdf
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