Concord Weighs Tourism, Elections, Mental Health Funding, And Traffic TV

CONCORD, CA —Concord's annual tourism report, the 2026 election, funding for a mental health response team, and other items involving turning a hotel into housing as well as live better live traffic TV, are on Tuesday’s City Council agenda.

Tourism

Visit Concord’s tourism report gives the city both a number to tout and a warning to watch.

Overnight visitor volume fell a little more than 1 percent from 2024 to 2025. That translated into a drop from 546,400 person-trips in 2024 to 539,700 in 2025.

Visitor spending slipped just 0.2 percent, to $211.6 million. But direct travel earnings — wages, benefits, and proprietor income tied to travel — rose 4.4 percent, climbing from $85 million to $88.8 million.

Tourism-supported employment added about 20 jobs, while tax revenue generated by visitor spending reached $16.6 million, down 0.6 percent, according to Visit Concord in a report to the City Council.

The report frames tourism as an uneven recovery story. Revenue from the Concord lodging tax and Tourism Business Improvement District collections remained down 21 percent from the 2018 benchmark year, and the report says the small-group market has not fully rebounded. Visit Concord also warned that hotel renovations could depress transient occupancy tax and tourism district collections, with recovery potentially taking up to two years.

Visit Concord reported a busy year of promotions. The organization promoted the Concord Taco Trail, Contra Costa Beer Trail, Spring Brews, Fourth of July events, Mt. Diablo outdoor adventures, and Concord Pavilion programming. It also supported the Taco Challenge, Restaurant Bingo, Holiday Sip and Stroll, and other campaigns that drew nearly 100 local businesses.

The Concord Visitor Center has also become a bigger part of the city’s tourism strategy. The center offers pop-up shops, culinary demonstrations, art installations, music and history exhibits, transportation information, discount offers, Wi-Fi, a conference area, volunteer opportunities, and Concord-branded merchandise. Visit Concord says between 4,000 and 8,000 people visited the center and Pavilion pop-up, including nearly 400 during Sip and Stroll.

The tourism item is scheduled before a presentation by Beth Javens, Visit Concord’s president and CEO. Council members are being asked to adopt a resolution accepting the Concord Tourism Improvement District’s 2024-2025 annual report. The district, created to increase hotel room-night bookings, uses assessments from participating lodging businesses to fund tourism marketing, promotional programs, sales lead generation, and related efforts.

City Council Elections

Also on the agenda is a resolution calling the Nov. 3, 2026, General Municipal Election.

In November, voters will choose City Council members for Districts 1, 3, and 5, and a City Treasurer, each for a four-year term. The seats are now held by Councilmembers Laura Hoffmeister, Dominic Aliano, and Laura Nakamura, and City Treasurer Patti Barsotti.

Candidate statements would be capped at 250 words, and candidates would pay publication costs: $1,626 for City Treasurer, $481 for District 1, $318 for District 3, and $488 for District 5. Based on 73,477 registered voters and an estimated cost of $3 to $4.50 per voter, the election could cost the city between $220,431 and $330,647.

Police Mental Health Team

Another consent item would steer $590,450 from Contra Costa Health Services to the Concord Police Department for a Mental Health Evaluation Team program running from Jan. 1, 2026, to June 30, 2028. Under the agreement, Concord would provide an unmarked police vehicle and assign one officer to work with a county clinician in Concord and Central Contra Costa County.

The program pairs a sworn officer with a licensed or qualified mental health clinician to respond to mental health-related calls, assess people in the field, help de-escalate crises, connect people to services, and reduce avoidable hospitalizations, arrests, and repeat calls when appropriate.

The team would focus on Concord, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, San Ramon, Moraga, Clayton, and Martinez.

The item was delayed until Contra Costa County could hire a clinician, which happened in June 2026.

Hotel To Housing

Council members will also consider a housing item tied to the Valley Motel at 3590 Clayton Road. Hope Solutions received a $760,000 city grant to convert the motel into supportive housing, including 12 studio apartments for people experiencing chronic homelessness.

Valley Motel ownership is pursuing a 13-unit residential conversion and asked the city to waive or defer a $123,662 Park Land Fee, but staff recommends denying the deferral and requiring payment before the certificate of occupancy.

Live Traffic TV

Two infrastructure projects could also move forward. The Oak Grove Fiber project would award a $947,000 contract to install fiber optics in order to connect traffic signals to the city’s future traffic management center, and support live traffic camera feeds on Concord TV.

The project should improve air quality by reducing delay, travel time, stops, and emissions. It fiber optics will also provide live video streaming of real-time traffic conditions on Concord TV. The City currently broadcasts live traffic camera feeds.

Concord City Council Meeting
June 23 at 6:30 p.m.
Civic Center
1950 Parkside Drive
www.cityofconcord.org