Recommendation to, subject to review and consideration by the Personnel and Civil Service Committee in accordance with Long Beach Municipal Code Section 2.03.065, confirm Charter Commission appointments pursuant to Section 509 of the City Charter and Section 2.03.065 of the Long Beach Municipal Code; or in the alternative, if for some reason the Personnel and Civil Service Committee does not meet prior to or on May 12, 2020 waive the requirement for consideration and recommendation by the Personnel and Civil Service Committee in accordance with Section 2.03.0650, and confirm Charter Commission appointments pursuant to Section 509 of the City Charter and Section 2.03.065 of the Long Beach Municipal Code.
Thank you. Motion carries. Now I will be taking up item 21, which is the Harbor Commission appointments. And I'm just start by just briefly allowing Vice Mayor Andrews so I know the committee heard the items to, to make the motion. Vice Mayor Andreas. Increasingly so from the last vote. Maybe coming back in. May not be back yet. So. Okay. Well, why don't we just we'll just move forward. I have a I have other committee members that were part of the committee. So I will believe that the the vice chair was customary. Warringah or council member Pearce, I believe. Yes. Now I'm back. I'm back on. Okay. So by Vice Mayor Andrews, you could make the motion, please, as chair of the committee for item 21, the Harbor Commission appointments. Yes, I moved the bulk sweeper. Your point is that this position great. And then there there is a second by councilmember summary from the committee. So thank you. So let me let me let me make some comments and then I have folks cued up and I'll go back to the members of the committee if they want to speak. So let me just make some general and general comments first. And I want to first just think the committee for hearing this, of course, and approving and moving the names forward of that. Thank you, Vice Mayor Andrews. And of course, I want to thank Councilmember Ranga and Councilwoman Pearce for for that work today. I'm certainly proud to present to when I see who I think are outstanding Long Beach residents as harbor commissioners for our harbor department at the city of Long Beach. They both have longtime ties to our city, of course. They are both have been also actively involved in our community and bring different perspectives, which I think will be really great to see on the commission. I'll begin by, of course, the other. The first appointment, which is a current vacancy as it stands, is going to be Bobby Olvera. And Bobby Olvera is currently the international vice president of the ILWU. And this, of course, is different than the local work, which he began here over 30 years ago with the LW since 1989 as a third generation longshoreman. He's held numerous roles in the out w course as we probably all worked with him as his capacity as the former president of Local 13 here in Long Beach and in the Los Angeles area. But he also served as the business agent, the chief dispatcher, numerous other roles, including vice president for the local. Once Bobby completed his work here in the in Long Beach and has been a Long Beach resident. He moved on and was elected the international vice president. So he really has a an international and national perspective as it relates to the work that's happening on the docks. And Bobby was also served the city as an economic development commissioner. He was an inaugural member of that commission, which this council approved to his to his work. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Miguel Contreras Foundation and has served on the board for the United Way of greater greater Los Angeles and also just views himself as someone that's really interested in the intersection between labor rights, which is but also a business and port issues. I'm separate of that. I want to also think Bobby for his service. Bobby is enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and I want to thank him for his service to our country and the work he's done there. So congratulations and thank you, Bobby. And the second appointment I someone who I think the city council knows really well, and that is Sharon Weisman. Sharon has been involved in public service in Long Beach for the last 45 years. She recently announced her retirement to add to the city and to the work she's done in my office. But I always say that the vast majority of Sharon's work happened long before she ever worked for me. And while I've enjoyed having her as a senior advisor and a transportation deputy to Metro, we all know that she has been chief of staff to her, to multiple legislators in the Assembly and State Senate, including Senator Ginny, are a piece that is an expert in goods movement and and issues around transit in her work in the legislature as well as at Metro. And is involved in just numerous community boards across the city. She started her career here in Long Beach while working at at Cal State Long Beach and is well connected there. She's currently the president of the Long Beach Library Foundation, of course, has served on the Arts Council of Long Beach and probably been involved in almost every civic organization across the city during her time. And so while we will miss here. Mr. here on the city on beach side and I want to I do want to congratulate her on her retirement. Just congratulations to Sharon, as you've been an excellent member of the city team. And we think and I think your new role and hopefully as a harbor commissioner is going to be a great one to see her work there. So congratulations to both of them. And with that, I want to turn this over to the council and for comments. They're also both on the line if once the council concludes with a welcome to say a few comments as well. So let me turn this over first to Vice Mayor Andrews to chair the committee. Any comments? Yes, thank you very much, Amir. First of all, I just especially would like to just say that I think that these are great efforts by you and I think you serve. I'm looking forward to working with both Lobby and Sharon, and I thank you very much as these two individuals. Thank you. And then the second of the motion, Councilmember Ringa. Thank you, Aaron. I, too, want to welcome our two new commissioners to the court, to the high commission. I've had a long history with both of them, and I'm looking forward to working with them in a different capacity. Thank you. Then I'm just going down the queue now. Councilman Rex Richardson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I think he made two tremendous appointments here. I've known both Mr. Olvera and Weissman for a long time. Miss Weissman has been someone that I've looked up to as as a staff member when I was just coming up as the chief of staff to Steve Neal. And I know our tremendous legacy of service to the state of California as chief of staff, to the late senator and Jenny represents. He has a tremendous history in our city. I know that she's going to serve our community well. Mr. Olvera is has an outstanding legacy of standing up for workers and really has a deep understanding of how the Port of Long Beach and I look forward to working with him and partner with him. And I think that this harbor commission is really shaping up to be a really outstanding board. I look forward to the prospects of what's to come in the years to come. Congratulations to both of you. Okay. Councilmember Councilwoman Mongo. Can you hear me? Yes. Good. I just want to say congratulations to both candidates. I think they're both exceptional. And I look forward to working closely with both of them. Councilwoman, Councilmember Pearce. Thank you. Thought I tried to queue up, but I guess I did that mistake of queuing up twice. As a member of the committee. I also really appreciate these nominations by the mayor. Both candidates have really demonstrated that they have led this city with their values with will show that they are doing what's best for every resident in the city. I know Mr. Olvera in his service to the city. I'm very excited about leadership, not only on economics, but the environment and making sure that we're balancing our port with all of those interests in mind. Same goes for Ms.. Weisman. Being able to see your decades of service. I know that our Harbor Commission is lucky to have both of you. I'm really excited to see how you lead during this tough time. So welcome to the team. Thank you. Councilwoman Pryce. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Okay. I want to congratulate both of these appointees. I think you're going to be excellent. I think one of the things that we don't talk about talking about is what a huge industry, the shipping and the goods movement industry is in the city of Long Beach. And I have to say that I myself didn't learn much about it. And the current challenges that we have until I was appointed by the mayor to serve on ACTA and having chaired that committee now for several years, I've learned a lot about the challenges that we face in the movement industry and this is really an unprecedented time and it's going to involve, much like the city, a lot of very difficult challenges and a lot of creativity. So Sharon and Bobby, I know you're going to do great and we're here to support you. And we just know that the next few months and probably years are going to be very challenging times for the port as we figure out how to maneuver some of the challenges that we face both nationally and internationally in terms of movement. So welcome and thank you for your service. And thank you, Councilwoman Councilman's in Dallas. Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to say what phenomenal choices these two are. Congratulations to you both. I think that this is the perfect time for you guys to be coming on, especially what we are facing that not only as a city, as a state, but also as a country. And I think that the work that you have done and demonstrated throughout the many, many years of your devotion to us has literally prepared you for this. And I thank you. And I can't wait to see all the wonderful things that you both will bring to this commission and, you know, go get them. Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. Councilman Austin. Councilman Austin. I'm not here in council in Austin. I'll come back to him. Council member supernova. Thank you. Just like to express congratulations to both of our new commissioners. Thank you to the committee for bringing these nominees forward and not mention ensuring Wiseman's legacy of service was that she ran the fourth District Council office before I came on board. So we'll always be in Denver for that. Thank you. Councilmember. She did. She did. She did do that. She did a great job. Thanks for. Thanks for mentioning that. Let me see. Is Councilman Austin back on the line? Okay. No, no. Catherine asked him. Okay. I know he's cued up, so I just want to make sure. Let me. Let me go. They're both here on the line. They're both going to make some very brief remarks to just kind of thank everyone. So let me start with Mr. Rivera. Mr. Rivera. Go ahead. I thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just want to express my sincere appreciation to you and all the council members for your confidence and your your words today. They both inspire me and humble me. I've got a history with the Port of Long Beach going back to the early seventies, sitting in a Volkswagen while my dad unloaded bananas. So I'm looking forward to the work ahead, to bringing the port some success, bringing the city some success, and with weathering these times that we have ahead of us. Thank you very much to all of you. Thank you, Mr. Olvera and Ms.. Weisman. Honorable Mayor and council. I want to tell you what an honor it is to be put forward by the mayor and to be considered by the council. I thank you so much for your kind words. I am honored to have your support and I can't think of a better way to continue to serve the city after my retirement. We all know that the most important thing is the fiscal health of the port. I will always keep that in mind. As we say, the port's the economic engine of the city responsible for one in five jobs. And I will always keep that in mind. I will never forget the harbor department is a department of the city and I will make sure it always acts to benefit the residents of the state as required by law and benefit the residents of Long Beach as allowed by law. So I will work to make sure we continue to reduce our impact on the environment. But equality is part of every decision we make, and we work always to serve the residents of Long Beach. I thank you again for this honor and the trust you placed in me. Thank you, Mr. Weisman. This finally that counts. Member after I get a chance to reconnect. If not, we'll take the roll call vote. Okay. And why don't we go ahead and do the roll call? Oh, oh, oh. Councilman Austin, perhaps. I'm having all kinds of trouble today. I'm so sorry, but I do want to extend my congratulations to the newly appointed harbor commissioners. Both of you guys have impeccable credentials, and I know you're going to bring great value to that board. Sharon, I've known for many years, Bobbie, as well. I'm impressed with both of your backgrounds. Obviously, actually having a subject matter expert on port issues. Somebody who's worked at the port for many years, I think is is a kind of value. But also having someone who understands transportation like Sharon does is is is just an added plus as well. And so congratulations, you both look forward to working with you for many years to come. Thank you. Make it, Councilman. Madam, the roll call, please. District one. Any high district to add District three. High District for. All right. District five. By. District six. I. District seven. I. District eight. District nine. All right. Ocean carries. Okay. Congratulations to you both and look forward to your service on the on the board. And just as a note, I know that Mr. Albers is begins begins as soon as he can get over there with the paperwork and expenses at the end of the the current term, which would begin July 1st. Thank you. Thank you both. And we're moving on to the next item. And so we have two hearings, which, of course, will do first. So let's begin with the first hearing that we have, which is item number nine.