Results tagged “Val Lerch” from Press Corps

City Council members Tonia Reyes Uranga and Patrick O'Donnell are endorsing Third District Long Beach Unified School Richard Lewis, his campaign announced today.

Lewis seems to be the chosen one for this seat to replace Michael Shane Ellis, who resigned. Council members Robert Garcia, Suja Lowenthal and Val Lerch, and the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce have also endorsed Lewis in the Dec. 29 special election.

Lewis, a financial controller, is a member of the Downtown Long Beach Associates' executive board and president of the East Village Association.

With state Sen. Alan Lowenthal endorsing Assistant City Auditor James Johnson in the 7th District City Council race Sunday -- on the heels of a couple of other significant endorsements and some new candidate faces -- next April's election is getting intriguing.

Last week, the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce announced endorsements in two races, supporting 9th District Councilman Val Lerch and 3rd District Councilman Gary DeLong for re-election. Before that, 7th District Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga was endorsed by the city's largest employee association, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

While the 7th District and 9th District races have had a slate of contenders for several months, a second challenger who is likely to shake things up recently joined in the 3rd District race. Tom Marchese, an attorney who is vice president of the University Park Estates Neighborhood Association and a board member for the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust, is running against DeLong. Marchese has been an outspoken critic of the DeLong and city plans such as the Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Swap. Another vocal critic, former Redevelopment Agency board member Terry Jensen, has been considering a run against DeLong since last month. I don't know whether these two will split the vote against DeLong, but I think they have potential to make a serious run for the 3rd District seat.

Now, things are starting to get intriguing, and Election Day is still five months away. This election may be one of the most significant ones for Long Beach in recent memory, as the city battles budget deficits, dwindling resources and a growing demand for serious reform at City Hall. The winners will have their work cut out for them. But first they have to get there, and that in itself won't be an easy task, even for many of the incumbents.

In case you're wondering who was behind those candidate endorsements announced Thursday by the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, keep reading.

The Chamber's Political Action Committee chose the endorsements, although only 10 of the 14 PAC members were able to attend candidate interviews, according to Chamber President and CEO Randy Gordon. Gordon said that PAC members are chosen by the existing PAC based on interviews with the Chamber members who are interested in joining.

Following is the list of the PAC members who were involved in the endorsement process, as provided by Gordon:

• Matt Kinley (Co-chairman of the PAC) - attorney with Tredway, Lumsdaine & Doyle, LLP
• David Neary (Co-chairman of the PAC) - president of WestLand Construction
• Randy Gordon (PAC secretary) - president and CEO of the Chamber
• Joanne Davis - president of Davis Group political consulting firm
• Lori Lofstrom - attorney for Holmes Lofstrom, PC
• Trini Jimenez - director of government affairs for Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Co.
• Jerry Miller - managing consultant for IMC Municipal Consulting and former Long Beach city manager
• Joshua Owen - president of Ability/Tri-Modal, a trucking, warehousing and distribution company
• Jay Davis - president of Universal Healthcare Insurance Agency
• Nancy Ahlswede - executive director, Apartment Association, California Southern Cities

While the PAC membership includes a few notable names, the one that jumps out at me is Jerry Miller, former city manager and now lobbyist. Miller was (perhaps still is) working for Los Cerritos Wetlands owner Tom Dean to convince the City Council to engage in a deal to exchange the wetlands for several city properties. The still-unresolved deal is highly controversial and faced criticism from fiscal conservatives and environmentalists alike.

What's interesting is that council members Val Lerch and Gary DeLong both voted for the deal, and now the PAC of which Miller is a member has unanimously endorsed both of them. Meanwhile, Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga, who was one of four council members to vote against the land exchange, didn't receive the Chamber PAC's endorsement, which instead chose to stay neutral in the 7th District race.

Is there a connection? It's hard to say. To be fair, the Chamber has endorsed DeLong and Lerch in the past, but has never endorsed Uranga. One could also argue that Miller's experience as city manager makes him an ideal PAC member to opine who should lead Long Beach. Still, DeLong also happens to be running against two vocal critics of the wetlands deal, Tom Marchese and Terry Jensen. I can't imagine Tom Dean would be too happy if he learned that Miller had endorsed one of them.

Ninth District City Council candidates Brad Shore and Val Lerch (the incumbent who is running a write-in campaign for a third term) are having fundraisers tonight. The election is still months away, scheduled for April 2010.

Shore is having his event from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Smooth's Sports Grille, 144 Pine Ave. The minimum donation is $20. Learn more about Shore at www.bradshore.org.

Lerch's event will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. at INCO Co., 6621 Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 280. Learn more about Lerch at www.writeinvallerch.com.

When times are tough, common sense says to put that extra cash in the bank, under the mattress, in the cookie jar or wherever else people squirrel away money.

Well, times couldn't be tougher for the city of Long Beach, as officials try to pass a budget that has the largest general fund deficit - $38.3 million - in the city's history.

In the middle of seemingly endless budget talks Tuesday, the City Council approved a measure that would give Long Beach its own cookie jar. Maybe a better term would be a safe, because it would come with a lock to which only the people of Long Beach would hold the key.

The proposal by council members Val Lerch and Gary DeLong is to create a City Charter amendment requiring a "rainy day fund."

Under their proposal, whenever the city's revenue growth exceeds 5 percent over the previous year, half of that money would be placed in the fund. In lean fiscal times, the city could withdraw up to 50 percent of the rainy day fund in one year, but no more than the amount of the revenue decline from the previous year.

The council unanimously approved having the Charter Amendment Committee consider the feasibility of implementing the fund when it meets Sept. 22. The council would have to approve placing the fund on the election ballot, likely in 2010, and Long Beach voters would decide whether to approve the charter amendment. 

Vice Mayor Val Lerch, who is running as a write-in candidate to serve a third term in the 9th District City Council seat, has announced his kickoff campaign and a fundraiser will take place Aug. 3 at El Ranchito Restaurant, 5345 Long Beach Blvd., from 6 to 8 p.m.

The election takes place April 13, 2010, and Lerch faces a mix of advantages and challenges. As an incumbent, he has an edge over the competition, but as a write-in candidate he has a serious disadvantage. Few write-in campaigns have been pulled off in Long Beach politics. The most notable and recent one was when then-Mayor Beverly O'Neill one a third term with a write-in campaign in 2002.

Lerch faces three announced opponents so far: Steve Neal, a social worker who came close to defeated Lerch in 2006; Dan Pressburg, a financial consultant who previously worked on Lerch's campaign and council staff; and Brad Shore, a therapist, airline employee and union activist.

Learn more about Lerch and his opponents on their Web sites (I don't believe Pressburg has one yet): www.writeinvallerch.com, www.steveneal.org, www.bradshore.org.

Among the many items that went before the Long Beach City Council in a busy and long-running meeting Tuesday was a resolution in support of the state propositions that will be on the ballot next week.

The council voted 4-3 to support the resolutions. Council members Suja Lowenthal, Patrick O'Donnell, Dee Andrews and Tonia Reyes Uranga voted in favor, while council members Robert Garcia, Gerrie Schipske and Rae Gabelich dissented. Vice Mayor Val Lerch abstained, as he usually does on resolutions about ballot measures or similar issues. Lerch has said a non-partisan governmental body like the council shouldn't take a position on issues going before voters, just as it shouldn't back political candidates. Councilman Gary DeLong was absent from the vote.

Will the council's vote make a difference? Polls show voters are likely to reject the propositions May 19. Only Garcia articulated Tuesday why he couldn't support the legislation -- he said he can't support Prop. 1D, which would shift First 5 Children's Commission funding to general health and human services programs for children, and he called the Prop. 1E mental health measure "draconian."

Read up on all of the propositions at the California League of Women Voters voter guide site. It's an objective site that shows the arguments on both sides of each proposition.

It's always interesting watching a newcomer step into the role of council member. When Robert Garcia was sworn in Tuesday to represent the 1st District, several questions crossed my mind.

Will he tend to vote with the council majority? Or will he join agitators such as council members Gerrie Schipske and Tonia Reyes Uranga in what is often a quite vocal minority? Will he target a barrage of questions and comments at city staff, like the aforementioned agitators, or will he be the silent type, like Councilman Dee Andrews? Maybe he'll be an activist on his specific issues, the way Councilwoman Rae Gabelich is, or he may become that unknown x-factor whose vote could go either way, like Vice Mayor Val Lerch's sometimes is.

His first day on the job, Garcia had a lot of big decisions to make, and the public saw a councilman who was willing to go with the majority or the minority.

In closed session, and for the first vote of his career, Garcia voted with the minority -- Schipske and Uranga -- to release confidential documents about the controversial Los Cerritos Wetlands land exchange. But in open session, Garcia joined the majority in voting to implement employee furloughs, while Schipske and Uranga voted against them because they wanted to postpone the vote.

We've also got to give Garcia credit for sticking around through all of the major and contentious votes Tuesday. Typically, newly inaugurated council members take off immediately for a celebration, but Garcia stayed until almost 9 p.m. despite his planned 7 p.m. party.

So, what do you think Garcia's political future and role on the council will hold?

Voters and residents got their first look Thursday night at the 1st District City Council candidates, and it was quite interesting to see the contrast in their personalities, speaking styles and policy stances.

The large crowd too was an interesting mix, with a few rambunctious groups supporting various candidates and several local political figures, including Vice Mayor Val Lerch, Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga, and Gabriella Holt, the Republican candidate for the 54th District of the state Assembly last November.

The forum resulted in a bit of big news and some tough words. See my story that went online last night for a full account of the event. It's worth checking out.

Long Beach City Councilman Dee Andrews has endorsed candidate Robert Garcia for the council's 1st District seat, Garcia's campaign announced today.

The endorsement brings to three the number of council members who are backing Garcia in the April 7th special election to replace Bonnie Lowenthal, who is now a member of the state Assembly.

Here's what Andrews, whose 6th District neighbors the 1st District, said in a statement:

I am proud and excited to endorse Robert for the Long Beach City Council.  He represents the change we need at City Hall. I look forward to having a grassroots partner who will stand up for neighborhoods and those most affected by crime and gangs. It's rare to find someone with his energy and innovation and I look forward to working with him.

Garcia also has been endorsed by council members Val Lerch and Suja Lowenthal, state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, state Sen. Jenny Oropeza, Assemblyman Warren Furutani, former Mayor Beverly O'Neill, and the city's police and firefighters unions.

Seven candidates are running for the 1st District seat.

Long Beach Vice Mayor Val Lerch on Jan. 7 will give an update on key City Council issues at Good Morning Long Beach.
Admission is $15 for members and $30 for non-members.
The event will start at 7 a.m. at The Grand, 4101 E. Willow St. in Long Beach. Call 562-590-9234.

Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi will participate in the 12th Annual Veterans Day Parade on Saturday in North Long Beach, the city has announced.

He will ride in an antique fire truck with Vice Mayor Val Lerch down Atlantic Avenue from Harding Street to South Street.

The parade will take place from 10 to 11 a.m. followed by a ceremony and other activities at Houghton Park.     

At 1 p.m. today, Vice Mayor Val Lerch will flip the switch on a new traffic light at Jordan High School.

The light, installed to help improve student safety, was made possible by the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency, which spent $900,000 on medians, a pedestrian signal and crosswalk.

It's been rumored and referenced around City Hall for a couple of months, but Vice Mayor Val Lerch finally confirmed this week that he does plan to run a write-in campaign for a third term when his current term is up in 2010.

Lerch said he won't make an official announcement until next year.

"I will run a write-in," Lerch said. "The problem is, in politics things can change."

He said he has received much public support to stay in office.

"I've been asked too many times in my community and neighborhood associations to run a write-in," Lerch said.

Lerch was elected to represent the 9th District in North Long Beach in 2002 and was re-elected in 2006. Under the City Charter, his name can't appear on the ballot again, but he can win a third term as a write-in candidate.

While write-in candidates face tougher odds, getting elected through a write-in campaign isn't an unheard of feat in Long Beach. In 2002, then-Mayor Beverly O'Neill won a third term as a write-in candidate.

 

Council members Val Lerch and Tonia Reyes Uranga are both positioning themselves to replace Bonnie Lowenthal as vice mayor.

When four council members are sworn in for another four years July 15, the council will vote on who will take over for Lowenthal. Lerch says he has enough votes on the council to be chosen as vice mayor, but Uranga also wants to serve.

The vice mayor title is largely symbolic, giving no more power than any other council member, except to run the council meetings when the mayor is absent.

The vice mayor is chosen by a majority vote of the council, and often the most senior member is given the position. If that's the case this time, then Uranga would win the position. She was sworn in a few minutes before Lerch in July 2002.

Check out a full story about the vice mayor position in my weekly City Hall roundup column, "333," in Thursday's Press-Telegram.