Possibly our friendliest city manager ever, Pat West’s reign is clouded by managerial choices

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY
I never met longtime Cerritos City Manager Art Gallucci—back in the late ’90s, when I covered his part of the world—but I always wondered how he’d fare against then-Paramount City Manager Pat West in a no-holds-barred, fight-to-the-death, tango-’til-they’re-sore Friendly-Off. [...]

Four months after she died alone, retired city clerk Jean Comstock will get a proper send-off
Jean Comstock was retired from Long Beach City Hall longer than she ever worked there—15 years, from 1977 to 1992—but City Hall is about to send her off properly.

Unhappy with the extent of concessions being demanded by City of Long Beach negotiators, the union representing the majority of city workers has called for a “Rally for Fairness” at its headquarters Tuesday afternoon (Sept. 15), followed by a short march to City Hall and a show of unity at three city council meetings scheduled [...]

For the second time in a little over a year, the cops have been called to her office at city hall. Do we need to be concerned, councilwoman?

PHOTO by DANIEL DE BOOM
By Dave Wielenga and Theo Douglas
Long Beach’s budget was out of balance again, and everyone at city hall was pressed to reduce expenses. When [...]

There’s good news in this morning’s Los Angeles Times for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, according to reporter Ronald D. White.
“For the longest time, we used to joke that our biggest export was our fine California air,” Eric Caris, assistant director of marketing for the Port of Los Angeles, told White. Not [...]

Mothers, geezers, students and the unemployed explain why we need this place

The large crowd clustered outside the doors of Main Library at 10 a.m. on a Tuesday is mostly just folks–ordinary people—and that comes as something of a surprise, given the city’s claims that Main Library is too big and used only by the homeless.

The mayor and the city manager explain why the city should—nay, must—close our largest temple of knowledge

PHOTO by RUSS ROCA
Thirty-two years ago, city officials were so bullish about the grim new Burton W. Chace Civic Center that they threw open the doors before it was finished, just for a day: July 4, 1976.
“It was kind [...]

If those four historic houses the Redevelopment Agency is currently selling aren’t your bag–and yes we certainly tried, going so far as to throw in an old velvet Jesus painting–consider that 39 pieces of downtown Long Beach airspace will go on the block late next month.
As Joe Stevens tells us in today’s Press-Telegram, the West [...]

The agenda for Tuesday’s evening’s meeting of the Long Beach City Council is available by [clicking here].  The March 11 meeting begins at 5 p.m. on the first floor of City Hall, located at 333 W. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach. C’mon down!

Those of you who’ve been waiting eagerly to see what would become of Assistant City Manager Christine Shippey’s job–now that she’s on her way to San Jose–can stop waiting.
Assuming the City Council approves, Shippey will be replaced by current Director of Planning and Building Suzanne Frick. Frick, in turn, will be replaced by current Redevelopment [...]