Long Beach Post: Former Long Beach Mayor Beverly O‭�‬Neill Endorses‭ Lillian Kawasaki for Long Beach City Council

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Former Long Beach Mayor Beverly O‭�‬Neill Endorses‭ Lillian Kawasaki for Long Beach City Council

by Long Beach Post | Staff Reports | 01.27.12 |

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10:03am | Former Long Beach Mayor Beverly O‭�‬Neill announced today her endorsement of Lillian Kawasaki to represent Long Beach City Council‭�‬s‭ ‬8th District.‭� ‬She joins a broad coalition of community leaders,‭ ‬business leaders,‭ ‬and elected officials in supporting Lillian‭�‬s campaign.‭� ‬Mayor O‭�‬Neill cites Lillian‭�‬s long-time devotion to the Long Beach community,‭ ‬and Lillian‭�‬s depth of leadership experience,‭ ‬as the qualities Lillian brings that represent the best choice for Long Beach.

Mayor O'Neill

recalls that when she‭ ‬�appointed Lillian to the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners,‭ ‬there was no doubt that Lillian had the skills,‭ ‬background,‭ ‬and dedication to fulfill the demands of the job.‭� ‬The same is true today.‭"

Previously,‭ ‬Lillian Kawasaki has served as the General Manager of the Los Angeles Community Development Department,‭ ‬where she oversaw job training and‭ ‬business development programs‭ ‬dedicated to economic and community revitalization.‭� ‬Lillian also served as the head of the Port of Los Angeles‭�‬s Environmental Management Division,‭ ‬proactively greening port growth and development.

‭"‬I am very honored‭ ‬to have Mayor‭ ‬O‭�‬Neill‭�‬s endorsement.‭ ‬She ‬served as a three term Mayor‭ ‬and‭ ‬continues her‭ ‬dedicated‭ ‬service to‭ ‬the Long‭ ‬Beach‭ ‬community.‭ ‬Like‭ ‬Mayor O‭�‬Neill,‭ ‬I‭ ‬look‭ ‬forward‭ ‬to‭ ‬bringing the varied‭ ‬constituencies‭ ‬together to build a stronger‭ ‬and‭ ‬more vibrant‭ ‬city,�‬ ‬said‭ ‬Lillian.‭�

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10 Comments so far.

8th Res
Kawasaki has going for her that she did not try to carpetbag another district in prior election and her support will come from Long Beach and 8th District residents and not unions from across the county and state.

Eee Gads
Well, many people lost a bunch of respect for former Mayor O'Neil when she went out of her way to have a statement of support for the unlawful, hyper dense, ill fitting 2nd+PCH project read into the record twice recently.

She basically came out of retirement to offend many former supporters.

Why didn't she just speak for herself, she has plenty of time and is healthy?
And why would she chime in against the legitimate concerns of so many of her neighbors anyway? It seemed improper. It felt weird, like the voice behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz.

When council listened to a local power broker read her thoughts, but then rejected the project, you had to think about how it must feel to have had a lot of power as a 3 term Mayor,then lost this power and to now have little remaining.

Many feared that this statement would tip the scales. That night it did not. If we get a hideous 2nd vote, who knows.

Ms Kawasaki is a nice lady but the present Mayor hand picked her and urged her to run. That concerns some people who favor a more objective and independent Council Dais.
Our Mayor has a Gang of 6 councilpersons who usually vote his way now, he gained a vote in the last election.
Does he need a gang of 7 or do we need more independent voices behind the rail, like Gabelich was ?
Ms O'Neill served well, bless her, but remember, she also endorsed Gary DeLong, twice?
Eee Gads !! And she is a registered Democrat ? Quadruple Eee gads !
Austin is a good man,he will get some big endorsements too. Just watch.
Rae Gabelich's endorsement will be much bigger news.

Carlos
Austin works for a union and his wife works for Laura Richardson. I agree that Mayor Foster has six Councilmembers in his pocket, but anything is better than another vote that only supports a union position. In the recent negotiation over the Fire Dept contract, Foster tried to require only 3 persons per truck (from 4) in order to stop the fraud where that contract requires 100% manning. Overtime for fireman averages about $46k + salary as employees call in sick or take vacations and their fellow workers get time and half. Final agreement was for reduction in fire pension payments. Sometimes Foster does things right and supporting Lillian is proper.

Real 8th Resident
Foster has done more for Bixby Knolls and North Long Beach than Oneill ever has. She ruined this city. Not a great endorsement.

Who is Rae endorsing?

Reality
Go figure. One an honest citizen, the other a politician. Isn't it about time we elected people who are "for Long Beach" rather than for people who are simply using LB as a stepping stone to state offices like treasurer?

Pencil-Me-In-O'Neil
Former Mayor O'Neil is the one that found the loophole in the term limits legislation by introducing the write-in concept for a third term. Then a citizen she backs destroying the environment that is in her back yard without a care or concern with the implications that would bring. Perhaps Ms. Kawasaki would do better by garnishing the last decent mayor who Eunice Sato instead of Pencil-Me-In-O'Neil?

Hold on...
Hold on...wasn't it Mayor Bev who made all those HUSH 2 people wait for hours in the Council Chambers everytime the Airport Expansion plan was on the Agenda?????

What?
With all the problems Long Beach has...what the heck does Kawasaki mean by "I‭ ‬look‭ ‬forward‭ ‬to‭ ‬bringing the varied‭ ‬constituencies‭ ‬together to build a stronger‭ ‬and‭ ‬more vibrant‭ ‬city,”‬ Great JUST what we need...a talking head!

MKT
Great, her only experience is working for big government. She is undoubtedly a Democrat, don't we have enough of those already?

Go Al
Rae just endorsed Al Austin so this endorsement will be fairly worthless.

Rae is the Kingmaker in the 8th, not a former Mayor who tried to super size the airport