AND THAT’S GOT TO BE UNCOMFORTABLE
The Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has released a statement saying that it does not have an endorsement on Measure T, the Long Beach Unified School District’s proposed property parcel tax, which will be presented to voters on Nov. 3.
The text:
“At its October 22, 2009 meeting, the Board of Directors [...]

The Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce is encouraging its members—or, hell, anybody—to write Mayor Bob Foster and members of the City Council in support of satisfying the demands of JetBlue Airlines for improved facilities at Long Beach Airport.
“Stop Taking JetBlue For Granted,” pleads the headline above a first-person plea by Randy Gordon, CEO of the [...]

Joseph F. Prevratil, who drove the Queen Mary into bankruptcy, goes before the city council in Corpus Christi, Texas, on tonight with a $25 million proposal to redevelop the town’s long-shuttered waterfront arena. As with all job applicants everywhere, Prevratil had to provide references—and he got them from some of the most-familiar names in Long Beach, including [...]

(OR WHY RANDY TERRELL JUST MAY BE THE BRAVEST MAN IN LONG BEACH)
Only a few days remain to catch Mayor Bob Foster’s Magical Measure-I Mystery Tour, the tough-medicine show that Long Beach’s chief executive has been rolling around town for more than two months. Step right up to witness an astonishing display of Hizzoner’s remarkable [...]

It’s officially not official yet. Despite hearing from Mayor Bob Foster, and devoting considerable discussion to the topic, Long Beach Chamber of Commerce hasn’t decided how it feels about Hizzoner’s proposed $571 million infrastructure bond–which will be in our hands and on our ballots in November.
And it may not know how it feels until some [...]

With 100 percent of the votes still not cast–and more to the point, not going to be–the results are official: Michael Shane Ellis, the so-called “worst school board member in Long Beach history,” has defeated Randy Gordon, the so-called “self-appointed mayor of Long Beach.”
The troubled Ellis will not face the recall election sought by the [...]

Haven’t heard from Long Beach Chamber of Commerce CEO Randy Gordon in a bit, but he was the featured speaker at today’s meeting of the East Anaheim Street Business Alliance, held at the tasty Frenchy’s Bistro.
And for a man who literally said he didn’t want to talk about still-embattled Long Beach Unified school board trustee [...]

Chamber of Commerce President Randy Gordon and political scion Josh Lowenthal make for an odd couple. It’s weirder than you think

JOSH LOWENTHAL by KELLY FLOYD
The aggressively expanding influence of the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce on local politics isn’t just worrisome anymore. Now it’s getting weird . . . as in the discovery that Chamber [...]

Josh Lowenthal, a thus-far-private citizen from Long Beach’s most-prominent political family, has been contacted by top officials of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce about running for the Board of Education seat that may soon be vacated by the Chamber’s effort to recall Michael Shane Ellis.
Altogether now: “What th–?!?”
“We sat down with Josh,” confirms Randy Gordon, [...]

Three P-T round-up stories get 2008 in the boat and hit it with the oar
Round-up stories in newspapers are usually a double negative: horrific to write–lotsa busy work, little pay-off–and life-shortening to read. Like weather stories.
And so without further ado, here are three round-up stories from recent issues of the Press-Telegram. But good ones–chock fulla [...]