TITLE
Recommendation to adopt resolution authorizing City Manager, or designee, to execute a contract, and all necessary documents and any subsequent amendments, with Mastercard International, Incorporated, of Purchase, NY, for subscription to the Mastercard Retail Location Insights platform, at no cost, for a period of three months, unless extended at the discretion of Mastercard and the City Manager. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
City Council approval is requested to enter into a contract with Mastercard International, Incorporated (Mastercard), for subscription to the Mastercard Retail Location Insights (MRLI) platform, for a minimum period of three months, at no cost to the City.
On April 14, 2020, the City Council adopted 25 individual actions related to a local Economic Relief Package designed to help working families and small business owners impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. City staff are in the process of implementing these actions. To support these economic relief efforts, City staff would like to subscribe to Mastercard’s MRLI platform, which will provide the City with an integral data source to understand the economic impacts of COVID-19 on small businesses and provide insights for staff to support existing economic relief efforts.
MRLI is a platform that provides anonymized, aggregated Mastercard merchant transaction data, so cities can understand spending patterns by sector, neighborhood, and demographic. Mastercard remains the sole source provider of reliable and timely data to validate, evaluate, and benchmark the sales-based dynamics of cities like Long Beach. Additionally, by offering these services at no charge to City, Mastercard is the most cost-efficient provider. City staff will leverage MRLI for the following purposes related to COVID-19:
• Establish a citywide baseline of spending to help calibrate the City’s economic impact analyses;
• Measure how shelter-in-place guidelines have impacted spending by sector, yielding additional input data (i.e., complementing employment data) for analyzing the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by sector; and,
• Monitor how spending by sector evolves as shelter-in-place rules are relaxed, offering insights into the possible trajectory of the City’s economic recovery.
City Charter Section 1801 requires that contracts for City purchases be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder after a competitive bid process but allows for awards without a competitive bid process if accompanied by a Resolution adopted by the City Council.
This matter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney Erin Weesner-McKinley on June 16, 2020, Deputy Finance Director Sandy Tsang-Palmer on June 12, 2020, and by Budget Management Officer Rhutu Amin Gharib on June 16, 2020.
EQUITY LENS
The City has incorporated the Equity Toolkit into this recommendation as requested by the City Council on April 21, 2020. This recommendation is not anticipated to have any adverse equity impacts.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action is requested on July 7, 2020, to ensure a contract is in place expeditiously so City staff may begin using this platform to support the City’s economic recovery efforts.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal or local job impact associated with this recommendation. Mastercard will provide their MRLI platform at no cost to the City for the three-month trial period. At the end of the trial period, Mastercard may extend the use of the platform at their exclusive option. If Mastercard does not extend the use of the platform at no cost, City staff will evaluate the benefits and gaps of the program, and should the City determine there is value in continuing access to the platform, a regular procurement process will commence, and any potential costs will be brought back to City Council at a later date. This recommendation has no staffing impact beyond the budgeted scope of duties and is consistent with existing City Council priorities.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
BODY
[Enter Body Here]
Respectfully Submitted,
LEA D. ERIKSEN
DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
JOHN KEISLER
DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
APPROVED:
THOMAS B. MODICA
CITY MANAGER