PRESS RELEASE

Long Beach, CA - Due to high demand and in effort to allow more members of the public to provide ideas to create meaningful change for all aspects of racial injustice and inequity in Long Beach, the City is adding more community listening sessions, expanding the participation capacity per listening session, and hosting three open forum town halls for public participation. The events are part of the “Framework for Reconciliation in Long Beach” unanimously approved by the City Council to acknowledge the existence of and create a plan to address long-standing, systemic racism locally and in the United States.

“We recognize a lot of people want to be heard in this important and overdue process,” said Deputy City Manager Teresa Chandler. “We're expanding these sessions to listen to more residents and making changes in the structure to balance wider participation with ensuring the exchanges are organized and meaningful.”

There are three ways community members can get involved and share their ideas. Individuals can attend a town hall, provide written feedback by completing a brief online survey or by submitting their questions, ideas or inquiries to EquityLB@longbeach.gov, or attend a facilitated community listening session.

The below includes information and registration links to the recently added town halls and additional community listening sessions:

• Community Town Hall: Open Forums
  June 30, 5:30 p.m.
  July 9, 5:30 p.m.
  July 12, 4 p.m.

• Racial Equity Across Systems (including health, economics, education, etc.)
  June 18, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
  June 30, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
  
  
• Community Town Hall: Policing and Public Safety
  June 22, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
  
  
• Spectrum of Community Safety
  June 24, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
  July 2, 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
  
  
• Health Equity
  June 25, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
  June 28, 6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
  
  
• Racial Equity in Housing and Homelessness
  June 26, 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
  July 1, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
  
  
• Economic Equity
  June 29, 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
  July 2, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
  
  
• Equity in Education & Youth Services
  June 29, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
  July 3, 10 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
  

To comply with the City’s current health orders and physical distancing measures, listening sessions will be held virtually at this time. Additional details and registration information can be found on the City of Long Beach Office of Equity website.

More information about the Framework for Reconciliation can be found on the equity website and in this press release.

The Framework for Reconciliation in Long Beach centers around four key steps:

• Acknowledging the existence and long-standing impacts of systemic racism in Long Beach and the country.
• Listening to accounts and experiences of racial injustice, inequity, or harm of community members.
• Convening stakeholders to evaluate the feedback from the listening process and shape policy, budgetary, charter and programmatic reform ideas.
• Catalyzing action, presenting immediate, short-term, medium-term, and long-term recommendations for the City Council’s consideration.

About the City of Long Beach
Home to approximately 470,000 people, the multiple award-winning and innovative City of Long Beach offers all the world-class amenities of a large metropolitan city while maintaining a strong sense of individual and diverse neighborhoods nestled together along the California coast. As a full-service charter city, Long Beach is home to the Queen Mary, Aquarium of the Pacific, several museums and theaters, a highly-rated school district, Long Beach Airport, the Port of Long Beach, as well as many award-winning City departments such as Health, Parks, Recreation and Marine, Development Services and more. The City also has a highly-respected university and city college, two historic ranchos, five hospitals, five golf courses, 171 parks, miles of beaches, marinas, bike paths, and a Bike Share program.

For more information about the City of Long Beach, visit longbeach.gov. Follow us on social to keep up with the latest news: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

For the latest information on COVID-19, with details on all that the City of Long Beach is doing to keep its residents safe, visit: longbeach.gov/COVID19 and follow @LongBeachCity on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.