Community News

Rotary Charitable Foundation Gives $70,000

Long Beach Rotary Charitable Foundation (LBRCF) President Gail Schwandner announced a recap of donations made during 2019-2020.

“We are particularly pleased to award these grants to organizations that are assisting community members during the health and economic crisis caused by the global pandemic,” said Schwandner.

Grants totaled $70,000 with half of that providing direct COVID-19 relief to:

California State University Long Beach (CSULB) Student Emergency Fund – $10,000 for Emergency Student Services, providing food from the Beach Pantry, assistance for students who lost jobs due to COVID-19 business closures and computers to assist students manage remote learning.

Long Beach City College Emergency Fund – $10,000 for assistance to the 25,000+ Viking students impacted by COVID-19.

Long Beach Community Foundation Coronavirus Relief Fund – $10,000 to assist frontline COVID-19 workers and their families as well as businesses affected by the pandemic.

Salvation Army, Long Beach Citadel COVID-19 Response – $5,000 to provide food for vulnerable families and low-income seniors.

Thanking the LBRCF Board members, Salvation Army Captain Sergio Garcia said, “This support is especially appreciated at a time when the number of people needing our assistance has skyrocketed due to loss of wages members of our community are experiencing.”

CSULB President Jane Close Conoley said, “Our Beach community is grateful that the LBRCF funds came at a time when many in the community were not aware that throughout this pandemic, we have been delivering services to our students. Through our Student Emergency Fund we have been providing basic needs assistance.”

Additionally, $5,000 was donated to each of the following Long Beach nonprofit organizations for programs benefitting local youth and education: Children Today, Long Beach Camerata Singers, Long Beach Day Nursery, Leadership Long Beach, Operation Jump Start, and Pediatric Therapy Network.

The Long Beach Rotary Charitable Foundation (LBRCF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, for Rotarians and other interested parties to make tax-deductible donations to benefit the Long Beach community. The LBRCF grants funds to nonprofit organizations focusing on youth and education.

The Rotary Club of Long Beach is the oldest service club in Long Beach, the largest Rotary Club in District 5320 and among the top 50 in the world. The Rotary Club of Long Beach is comprised of approximately 300 Long Beach business and community leaders whose motto is “Service Above Self.”

Current President, Mollie Bennet Beck, is the 103rd President of the Rotary Club of Long Beach.

For information about the LBRCF: www.rotarylongbeach.org/projects/long-beach-charitable-foundation

For information about the Rotary Club of Long Beach: www.rotarylongbeach.org.

Malloys in Los Altos Closes

A “press release” indicates that the E.J. Malloy Pub at 5506 E. Britton Drive is now closed.

“With much sadness, we are letting our Los Altos store go,” according to the release from business owner Brent Brakebill.

No additional details were provided. The Fish Tale Restaurant formerly occupied the site.

Beatles Tribute Band

Abbey Road – A Tribute to the Beatles with a special guest perform on Saturday, June 20, at the Gaslamp. Tickets for the seated show are $20 at the door. The venue has full COVID-19 protocols in place.

Doors are at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m. Dinner reservations may be made by calling (562) 596-4718.

The Gaslamp Restaurant is located at 6251 E. Pacific Coast Hwy. The venue’s website is www. gaslamplongbeach.com.

City Manager Announces New Appointments

Long Beach City Manager Tom Modica announced several new key leadership appointments that will complement the existing leadership team:

Assistant City Manager

Per the City Charter, Linda Tatam will be empowered to perform all duties of the city manager in the event of his absence or disability.

Tatum is currently the director of development services, where she oversees planning, building safety, code enforcement, housing and neighborhood services as well as the Long Beach Community Investment Corporation (LBCIC), which provides funding for affordable housing development in the community.

Tatum holds a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning and has over 30 years of private and public sector planning experience. She started with the City of Long Beach as the planning bureau manager in 2015 and was appointed as director of development services in 2018.

Deputy City Manager

Teresa Chandler, who has been serving as interim deputy city manager since September 2019, has been appointed permanently as deputy city manager.

Chandler will continue to guide projects related to homelessness, violence prevention and youth development. She also assists in innovation delivery in these key priorities for the city.

Chandler will also represent Executive Leadership, as the city develops and implements a “Framework for Reconciliation in Long Beach,” which acknowledges the existence and long-standing impacts of systemic racism in Long Beach and the country.

She has more than 20 years of management experience in both public and nonprofit organization settings.

Admin. City Manager

Rebecca Guzman Garner has been appointed as the administrative deputy city manager. Garner recently served as acting assistant city manager and was not a candidate for the permanent position. In this new role she will serve on the city’s Executive Management Team with a focus on administrative duties in the Office of the City Manager and the City, including oversight of Council priority projects and coordination with departments of strategic Council initiatives.

Garner has worked in many departments over her 30-year career with the city, including Public Works, Financial Management and the Police Department. She has been part of the city’s Executive Management Team for the past 20 years, working closely with the mayor and City Council and city management on all aspects of the city’s governance.

Director of Parks, Recreation and Marine

Brent Dennis has been appointed as the director of parks, recreation and marine. Dennis brings over 40 years of experience in various complex park departments in city and county governments as well as non-profit agencies in the Midwest and California.

Most recently, Dennis served as the director for the City of Tucson’s Parks and Recreation Department where he led the department through its first successful voter-approved bond ballot initiative known as Proposition 407 that now provides $225 million of funding and reinvestment in 100 different city parks.

During his time with the City of Tucson, Dennis oversaw the successful launch of many key initiatives such as a new Park Ranger Program and a transformative, non-toxic integrated Weed Management Program.

Director of Development Services

Oscar Orci has been appointed as the Director of Development Services. Orci will oversee planning, building safety, code enforcement and housing and neighborhood services as well as the Long Beach Community Investment Corporation (LBCIC).

He started with the city as the deputy director of development services in 2016. During his tenure as deputy director he helped managed an unprecedented level of new development throughout Long Beach, including mixed use development and thousands of residential units, including affordable housing development, hotel rooms and commercial spaces and the new Civic Center.

He has also served as the city’s representative for Community Hospital’s seismic compliance efforts, guiding the development of the aerospace industry and the integration of technological efforts such as electronic plan check, web-portal integration and permit streamlining.

Deputy Director of Development Services

Christopher Koontz has been appointed as the deputy director of development services. Since 2018 he has served the city as planning bureau manager and prior to that he served as the advance planning officer.

Koontz has overseen award-winning planning work including: adoption of the city’s Midtown Specific Plan and South East Area Specific Plan; adoption of the Grant Neighborhood Historic District; development review and permitting that lead to 2019 being the city’s best in over 30 years for new housing starts; adoption of the city’s Land Use Element; and creation of the city’s Omnibus Zoning Reform program.

Prior to joining the city, Koontz served as the Chief of Airport Planning with Los Angeles World Airports, managing planning and historic preservation staff and operations for LAX, LA/Ontario International and Van Nuys airports. He also has planning experience with the City of Los Angeles, where he crafted and implemented citywide policy.