Office of the Mayor

Last night we took a big step forward by approving an interim agreement that could re-open Community Hospital this year. Long Beach and MWN, our operating partner, are now in the position to work directly with the California Department of Public Health and Office of Statewide Hospital Planning and Development for the State approvals needed to reopen the hospital. MWN will now complete the application for a new hospital license and the City will continue to work with the State on seismic compliance.

This week, in a major step forward for our Everyone Home Long Beach initiative, the City Council approved the purchase of land for Long Beach’s first city-run homeless shelter and bridge housing campus. More than just a shelter, the 3-acre site in North Long Beach will provide a bridge of services and support that people need to get off the street and into permanent housing.

A year ago at the State of the City I called for the creation of a year-round municipal shelter to support those in Long Beach experiencing homelessness. While we have actively partnered with LA County to open a winter shelter every year, the city needs a year round facility.

Last night I gave my 5^th State of the City address and my first one in my second term as Mayor. I discussed our historic low unemployment rate, crime rates dropping, and investments in infrastructure.

As we bring 2018 to a close, it's an opportunity to look back at the great year here in the City of Long Beach. It was another banner year of progress and growth for our city, and we were recognized for our efforts in sound financial reporting, public safety, economic inclusion, technology, addressing mental health and homelessness, housing, city planning, community preparedness, sustainability and LGBTQ inclusion and civil rights.

We are happy to announce the appointment of Xavier Espino to Fire Chief. Espino is a Southern California native who has served Long Beach in the Fire Department since 1986, where he has most recently served as assistant chief. He is a second-generation firefighter; his father retired as a Los Angeles County Fire Department captain. 

Thank you, Long Beach. I want to thank so many of you who were able to join us last week for our inaugural swearing in. I’m very grateful to our California Attorney General Xavier Becerra who administered the oath of office to me. I wanted to share my remarks after being sworn in and what to expect during this next term.

Long Beach lost a hero yesterday. The entire City and Fire Department family continues to mourn the loss of Captain David Rosa, a 17 year veteran of the Long Beach Fire Department who was killed in the line of duty. Captain Rosa’s body was escorted to the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office with full honors. Firefighters and community members from our city and throughout the region turned out to show their support.

I want to take this opportunity to bring you the latest news on Community Hospital. As you know, maintaining a hospital with emergency services has been a priority for us. 

I'm really proud the Port of Long Beach was recognized recently as the “Best Green Seaport” in the world at the 32nd annual Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards in Shanghai hosted by the Asia Cargo News shipping trade publication.

Today I signed into law an ordinance that bans Styrofoam food containers. This law will phase out the distribution of these single-use plastic products that find their way into our rivers and the oceans. These products are causing major damage to marine life and our ecosystem.

In the two months leading up to my second inaugural in July, I will not be going to City Hall. Next week, I'm kicking off the #GoLongBeachTour, a nine week tour of our community.

In the two months leading up to my second inaugural in July I won't be going to City Hall.

In 2013, the year before I was elected, we were euthanizing more than 4,000 animals a year at our animal shelter. Since then, we have made progress every single year, and last year we euthanized 1,065 animals at the shelter. We are making progress thanks to our amazing animal rescue & spay/neuter organizations, our animal advocates, the team and volunteers at Animal Care Services, and our City Council.

Over the last few years, I am proud we have appointed more women and diversified our commissions to ensure representation from across the city. I am committed to appointing even more women to close the gap and ensure women are leading at all levels of government.

This weekend we had the grand opening celebration for the Red Car Greenbelt, our newest park space that will enhance Long Beach’s walkability and bikeability with a newly paved path that adds routes for walkers and links to the to the Colorado Lagoon and bike path on 6th Street.

Last week, I held the annual Go Long Beach Awards, where I get a chance to honor some bright stars in Long Beach who are doing incredible things in our community.  It’s such an honor to spend time with them and recognize their efforts that make Long Beach a better place to live and work.  I’m sure you’ll agree that these honorees are well deserving.

We are investing historic amounts of resources to fix our city’s aging infrastructure. One of these exciting improvements is happening in Alamitos Bay in the Bayshore area.

Today I'm announcing a new initiative, 8 by 28, focused on completing 8 critical projects in Long Beach for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and Paralympics. We are taking a cue from Mayor Eric Garcetti’s 28 by 2028 initiative for LA County Metro.

Today I joined our Long Beach Chief of Police to announce Long Beach ended 2017 with the lowest number of murders recorded in our city’s history.

We saw a 33% reduction in murders from 2016 to 2017. There were 22 murders in 2017, down from 33 recorded in 2016. We know every victim had a family and each incident is tragic. As always, our Long Beach Police Department is committed to bringing justice to each family.

It was another great year in Long Beach!

2017 was a record-breaking year for Long Beach, from record lows in unemployment, to record highs in economic development and growth in wages.

I was happy to participate last week in the Long Beach Police Department's latest Academy Graduation, for Academy Class #91. The graduation at the Long Beach Performing Arts Terrace Theater was another example of our ability, thanks in large part to Measure A funding passed by Long Beach voters in 2016, to improve safety in our city.

Modernizing our city's infrastructure has been a priority of ours since I became Mayor. And one of a city's most important responsibilities is emergency response. That's why beginning today, hearing and speech-impaired residents of Long Beach and those in situations where it is too dangerous to dial 911 for help in an emergency can text to 911.

On Tuesday, November 28th, in partnership with the Long Beach Convention and Visitor's Bureau, we will be lighting up the tallest Christmas Tree in Long Beach!

This morning the City of Long Beach in partnership with the The Long Beach Community Investment Company (LBCIC) and Century Housing Corp. celebrated the grand opening of Anchor Place, a new affordable housing development at the Century Villages at Cabrillo (CVC).

Today, developer Thomas Safran & Associates, Clifford Beers Housing and Long Beach city officials will celebrate the opening of Immanuel Place, a new senior affordable housing complex built into a former church.

The longest tenured train car on Los Angeles’s oldest light rail line will soon retire to Long Beach.

Metro’s board of directors approved a framework on Thursday for preserving train cars now being decommissioned and replaced by the transit agency after nearly 30 years of service on the Blue Line, which opened in 1990.

As Mayor and as an educator, supporting our libraries and promoting literacy are both very important to me. That's why I'm inviting you to join the Mayor's Book Club, which will feature local writers and an annual conversation and event.

July 15 marked the end of my first two years as Mayor of Long Beach, and I wanted to share some of our accomplishments. This infographic highlights the progress we've made on economic development, education, livability, and civic innovation. 

I'm looking forward to two more years of hard work and strong progress!

 Last night it was my honor to present my second State of the City address at the Terrace Theater. More than 2,000 people attended – and at least 1,000 more streamed it to watch on-line.

The night was a chance for me to share many of our accomplishments and plans, as well as the challenges we face. It was also an opportunity to show everyone this fantastic video, “This is Long Beach”. 

Traveling to and from LAX just got a lot easier for Long Beach residents. 

Today, Long Beach Transit begins its new FlyAway bus service from Long Beach to LAX. Hourly service will be provided from 5:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily from the Long Beach Transit Hub at First Street and Long Beach Boulevard. The fare is $7 one way, and for every adult fare, two children age five or under can ride for free  

Last night, after many years of public discussion and deliberation, the City Council gave final approval to plans for a new Civic Center for Long Beach. The new center will include iconic architecture, a completely new main library, a revitalized Lincoln Park with new spaces for events, a new City Hall, and the Port’s headquarters, as well as a residential and retail component.

It is vital to move forward with this project, not just because our current Civic Center needs replacing, but because of the tremendous positive economic impact for downtown.

Last week I joined Councilman Daryl Supernaw and our city team as we rolled out our new emergency notification system, Alert Long Beach. I want to encourage you to sign up, so you can to stay informed about major weather events and public emergencies.

You can sign up for Alert Long Beach here  

Today, in a brief ceremony at the Cesar Chavez Park Children’s Garden, I signed the Compact of Mayors to join the world’s largest coalition of city leaders addressing climate change. 

More information about the Compact is here: 

http://www.compactofmayors.org/

The City of Long Beach has already been working to combat and adapt to our changing climate, and those efforts will continue. But now, as part of the Compact of Mayors, the City will expand its efforts. 

Two days after I was installed as Mayor, I gave my very first speech at Cal State Long Beach on my education initiatives. I discussed the city joining the Long Beach College Promise initiative and launching the Mayor's Internship Challenge. I also spent time discussing an issue which I think is critical to the success of our city: universal preschool. 

Thanks to the Long Beach Unified School District, we have added over 800 new preschool seats in the last year. 

I was deeply honored to be in Washington, D.C. this week at the invitation of President Obama and the First Lady to help them welcome Pope Francis on his first official visit to the United States.

I joined the President and other mayors and officials as Pope Francis arrived at the South Lawn of the White House. I am proud that our city was represented at this historic event. 

I want to make sure you are aware of two important community meetings happening tomorrow.

First, an opportunity for residents to learn about the steps being taken to prevent future power outages like the ones we’ve recently experienced, and then my final “Meet the Mayor” event of the summer.

July 15 marked one year since taking office as your Mayor. I've been focused on four key areas: Education, Economic Development, Civic Innovation, and a Livable and Sustainable City.

Please take a minute to check out the four graphics we've created to keep everyone informed about what we are working on.

Last week, Long Beach experienced one of the biggest public emergencies in the city's history. Thankfully, due to a strong response from our city team, our public safety personnel, many volunteers, and community partner agencies, we saw no serious crime, injuries, or property damage. I’ve never been prouder of Long Beach.

Now that the power is back on to all customers, we will be taking a long, hard look at why this happened, and what needs to be done to keep it from occurring in the future. Meanwhile, I want to encourage everyone to use this experience as a reminder of how important it is to be prepared for an emergency.

Yesterday morning at the Aquarium of the Pacific, in collaboration with our  education, business, and community partners, I was honored to kick off the Long Beach Internship Challenge. And, if you own or work in a business or organization that can offer internships, I want to ask you to join this challenge.

The evening of January 13, 2015 at the Terrace Theater

5:00 PM: Terrace Theater lobby opens. Food trucks available. Mingle with friends and family

6:30 PM: State of the City

RSVP at:www.StateoftheCityLB.com

Last week, Long Beach went big and approved a project team to build a new downtown Civic Center. After many months of public meetings, careful study, and healthy debate, Plenary-Edgemoor Civic Partners was unanimously selected by the City Council. This is great news for our city: We are going to get a new Civic Center and revitalize our Downtown.

The project includes a new Main Library, Lincoln Park, City Hall, Port Headquarters, and new housing, retail and a hotel.

Long Beach has been named a Top Ten Digital City for the fourth year in a row, earning sixth place for large cities - one rank higher than last year, and the 3rd best in California.

I'm proud that Long Beach is a leader in innovation and continues to improve in our use of technology to increase efficiency, transparency, and responsiveness. And, I'm committed to continuing to move forward in this area...