You can hear Mayor Bob Foster for free Tuesday nights at Long Beach City Council meetings, on all but the last Tuesday of the month–but then, of course, he’s a little more limited in what he can say.

But at noon tomorrow at Frenchie’s Bistro, 4137 E. Anaheim St., Foster will talk economy over lunch–and maybe say a few words off-the-cuff–to the East Anaheim Street Business Alliance (EASBA), a not-for-profit business and community development group which has grown so quickly this year that the numbers on its website are even out of date.

“People down at City Hall said they thought we’d folded,” says the 17-year-old organization’s president since January, Rod Wilson of Pacific Research & Strategies.

Wilson has been working the telephones and pounding the pavement less than six months, but already he says EASBA enrollment has doubled from the “mid-40s” to more than 80 members. (Their website claims “more than 60 member businesses.”)

The EASBA includes much of the Anaheim Street Corridor, some of Long Beach’s most diverse territory: from Cambodian jewelry stores to indie rock clubs, hardware stores to lawnmower shops–even companies like Pacific Research & Strategies which does market research and public relations, and where they buzz you in the door.

Knowing this, Wilson decided earlier this year to roll out a survey of the estimated 600 businesses in the district. Results came back almost exactly as you’d expect: business owners want to feel safe, and fight graffiti–which ranges from tags (not graffiti) to … actually a pretty nice mural on the side of one Brite Spot (Anaheim Street has two).

That’s one way to raise EASBA’s profile. So is hosting monthly meetings at the toothsome Frenchie’s Bistro. This month’s flier says “All Are Welcome!” at the bottom–in a font which looks suspiciously similar to what Rockstar Games uses in its Grand Theft Auto video game.

At the March meeting, Long Beach Chamber of Commerce CEO Randy Gordon was the speaker, and the Chamber’s effort to recall embattled Long Beach Unified school board trustee Michael Shane Ellis was still alive–so Gordon talked about that. Your cost for lunch is $15, but c’mon–it’s Frenchie’s.

Future speakers will include Kerstin Kansteiner, president of the Fourth Street Business Association, which recently became an assessment district–and at its annual luncheon June 3, EASBA will host a roundtable business discussion featuring Richer San of Long Beach’s Gold Coast Bank, George Economides, publisher of the Long Beach Business Journal, and Long Beach City Manager Pat West.

For tomorrow’s luncheon, RSVPs are requested at 562.494.3800 or at info@easba.com.

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