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.
Paul Eakins reports on Long Beach City Hall, and local and regional
politics. A newcomer to the Press-
Kris Hanson reports on the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles,
covering environmental issues, economic triumphs and
pitfalls and trade trends of America’s largest port.
He also writes a weekly column “On The Waterfront”,
appearing Tuesdays, and also produces an occassional video
and column titled “On The Job,” which follows the hard-working
men and women who keep Southern California’s economy humming.
Karen Robes Meeks came to work for the Press-
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