The Hollywood Park EDC approved funds to purchase rideshare gift cards for local restaurants as a holiday-season safety and business-support effort. The motion authorized funds sufficient to purchase five $60 gift cards per participating location and to cover nine participating restaurant locations, a total authorization of $2,700.

Board discussion noted that last year’s program had no strict limits on how restaurants used the cards, other than that cards be used for business-related purposes. Several members asked for a measurable standard to justify using sales-tax-funded resources. A staff-circulated best-practice note (TEDC guidance) states EDCs “cannot simply provide gifts of sales tax proceeds,” so the board discussed tying distribution to objective criteria. The board did not adopt precise distribution mechanics at this meeting but agreed staff should prepare distribution language for board review before gift cards are handed out.

During the meeting staff said the program’s intent is to support local businesses, discourage impaired driving and provide a small tool for restaurants to help ensure safe returns for patrons and staff. The board instructed staff to verify participating restaurants’ relevant health-inspection scores (the board had discussed a 95‑point cutoff during budget deliberations) and to return distribution language for approval prior to actual card issuance.

Ending: Staff will prepare distribution guidelines (including any health-inspection or business-performance criteria the board wants to require) and circulate the language to the board before cards are purchased or distributed.