Lompoc council directs city manager to draft consolidated economic development office plan

The Lompoc City Council voted 5-0 on May 27 to direct the city manager to prepare a proposed implementation plan for a consolidated economic development strategic initiatives office, following a presentation by a councilmember who proposed a permit-navigation “concierge” and other revenue-focused tools.

The proposal, introduced during the council’s budget workshop, asks the city manager to return with a timeline, a preliminary budget and an implementation plan “to establish an economic development and strategic initiative function as described in the briefing, to be returned at a time to be determined after the budget.” Councilmember Bridge made the motion; no second was recorded in the public transcript. The clerk recorded the motion as passing 5-0.

Councilmember Bridge told the council the city has relied primarily on cost-cutting measures and occasional fee increases and needs a more proactive revenue strategy. Bridge recommended creating “a permit navigation focus, a permit concierge” — a single point of contact to shepherd businesses and projects through permitting, grants and other city processes — and…