West Division Leadership Forum 04/20/2016

District Six Primary: Josephine Villasenor: 04/12/2016

Happy Easter: To The Neighborhood

Sunday Safety Update: 03/20/2016 - 03/27/2016

Disclaimer: So, first I apologize for how long it's taken to get this up, The Crime Reports Website was down for much of January. I did talk to the director of Media Relations at a public safety meeting and tell our neighborhood resource officer, they weren't aware it wasn't updating. Just a reminder these are trends, and the presence of crime in one area in the past doesn't guarantee it will reappear in that area in the future.

Here are this week's trends in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. 
 
The biggest story is the one the map doesn't tell.

There is a marked increase in thefts and auto thefts within the neighborhood. Just South of MacArthur Park there is a cluster that induces drugs, assault, breaking and entering and kidnapping. This would be east of Orange and West of Alamitos, south of Anaheim. If you are close to that area keep am eye out. There is no neighborhood association in the area. The closest is AOC7 and Craftsman Historic District which operates east of Orange. The kidnapping was on Thursday at about 3pm.

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We support the LBPD but are very concerned how much violence is not making the news

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Within our neighborhood auto thefts begin around MacArthur Park and trend North East towards 15th Street. There are also thefts that begin at Cherry and 17th and then trend South West to 15th and Rose. You'll want to keep eyes on Gardenia, Rose, Gaviota and 15th, which is where both trends converge.

The big story the map doesn't tell is actually three stories combined

This closure was the day after the shooting, no word on why it happens

There are three major things that are not making this map. 

#1: Last Monday there was a shooting at Walnut and 15th. Here is the article confirming it. 

Police are investigating a non-injury drive-by shooting that happened near Long Beach's Lincoln neighborhood Monday afternoon, authorities said. Officers responded to a shooting call at 2:40PM on Monday, March 21 on the 1400 block of East 14th Street,

Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) spokesman Brad Johnson said."Officers arrived on scene and found that 2 male adults in a vehicle drove up to a parked car with 3 to 4 subjects inside," said Johnson. "The parties exchanged words, and then there was an exchange of gunfire and both parties fled the scene."

 A few notes, this article incorrectly identifies the neighborhood. The 14 block of East 14th Street is actually the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. But that's just the beginning of some sloppy journalism all around. 

#2: The second example comes the next day when several streets in the same area were shut down as another shooting had occurred around  10 in the morning the next day. Alleys, streets and major arteries were shut down. It was almost impossible to get from 17th Street to Anahiem if you were between Cherry and Orange. Somehow, what caused the shut down never made the news. The only way you know about this was if you saw it.  If it was connected to the earlier shooting, it's really odd this closure would have occurred an entire day later.

#3: Wednesday it gets worse, a lot worse: Thursday, 03/25/16, this story broke: 

Long Beach police are investigating a possible gang-related shooting near the Signal Hill border Wednesday night that involved at least two suspects exchanging gunfire, according to authorities. Officers were dispatched to Walnut Avenue and East Pacific Coast Highway at 8:06pm on Wednesday, March 23 regarding a shots heard call, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) spokesman Brad Johnson said. 

What was left out of this story:

• There were at least thirty shots fired. It could have been as many as fifty.
• There were a lot of calls on this shooting so information wasn't sketchy.
• There were also shots fired around Falcon and 11th.
• This was at least the second shooting in the area that week.
• There were likely crime scenes at MLK Park and the LBCC West Campus
• MLK Park has a reputation as a very dangerous gang hang out
• We did three community walks that week, so we were keeping an eye on things

The fact that nearly thirty shots may have been fired should have been the lead. There were enough details, I am sure the police knew this. There was also no warning for residents even though the two suspects continued to drive through the neighborhood after the shooting took place. What's even odder is the article on this shooting is almost entirely impossible to find when searching recent news on Long Beach area shootings. Usually, when you do a keyword search cross referencing Long Beach with shooting, the most recent appears.. When I do the same here, this shooting isn't on the first few pages of the search. If I add the date or location, I still have trouble finding it. 

We're about to do a Go Long Beach Run and get the dumping and tagging for this week taken care of. I can tell you it's down. But based on that information please keep all eyes open. Keep an eye on your neighborhood and watch out for your neighbors.

There Was An Announced Clean Up of 15th Street - Updated

There was an announced clean up of 15th Street from Orange to Walnut. The good news is that 15th Street was significantly cleaner than it was in the past. 32 gallons of trash was removed, and normally that distance would take twice as many bags. 

I will be trying to get the rest of 15th Street tomorrow, if there is time. Because this is Spring Break, which I have off, there will be additional clean ups this week, at least I hope. We'll also try to get a dumpster for larger items soon. Sorry, no before and after pics, I didn't have time.

The Sunday Safety Update will be published tomorrow, with some big news. The Go Long Beach Run was finished with 14 requests. 1 tagging, 9 illegally dumped items and 4 curb repair requests.

We continued this clean up on Easter Sunday and got from Cherry to Gaviota. That only leaves Gaviota to Walnut untouched. We would have gotten more but the alley by the Carneceria took up a lot of space in the can. Below you can see a before an after picture of that alleyway. It was important to clean because gangs do try to congregate there, so that alley in particular needs to look well kept.

 

Ribbon Cutting At MacArthur Park

There was a ribbon cutting ceremony this morning at MacArthur Park. The ceremony featured a speeches from the current Sixth District City Council Man Dee Andrews, the directors of Parks and Rec, local poets and performances from dancers at the Homeland Cultural Center. 

The new playground is cast in vibrant purples, greens and yellows. The varied color scheme was meant to show reverence to the different cultures within the neighborhood. In addition to the renovations to the playground, there were also about $500,000 in renovations to the cultural center where free classes in: Bokator, Hmong Arts Belly Dance, Graf Murals, Youth Writing & Improv, African Dance, Aztec Dance, Cambodian Dance, Hip-Hop Dance, Guitar/Bass and Micronesian Music are held. That list is not exhaustive of all classes held at the theatre.

A break down of exactly where the money came from for the renovations came from will be published around Monday. I have a request in to Parks and Rec for a detailed break down.

The poetry reminded those in attendance that through the theater graffiti has morphed into art. Gangs have morphed into street dance. And that in many cases, the alienated have been given a voice. 

The bad news: There is no money left for the badly needed renovations of the restrooms, which does contradict earlier reports on how far the money would go. 

Grand Opening MacArthur Park Playground

From NextDoor: There will be a grand opening ceremony at MacArthur Park this Saturday, March 26, at 10 am to celebrate our new playground equipment and our newly renovated facility. The morning's activities will include entertainment by the Afrikan dancers and Street Dance Crew from Homeland Cultural Center, and the reading of a poem especially written for the occasion. The public is invited to attend the ceremony, and to tour the facilities afterwards.

Jim Ruggirello
Supervisor, Homeland Cultural Center at MacArthur Park

Community Walk Results: 03/21/2016: 11:00pm - 12:00am

Paenting Workshop: Risky Behavior: Wilson High

There Was An Announced Clean Up: Walnut Anaheim to 15th Street

There was an announced clean up in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood of Walnut from Anaheim to 15th Street. South of 15th, Walnut is usually very bad, especially by the apartments south of 14th Street. It took two days. But here are some before and after pictures. Next week we'll be getting 15th Street starting at Orange and get as close to Junipero as time will allow.

We also helped support the AOC7 clean up on Saturday. It was impressive, because earlier, Mary said she was worried that everybody else seemed to have something to do that day. Despite that, look at the turn out below. Am incredible turn out left places that we intended to clean the next day so immaculate, we had to go somewhere else and clean our own neighborhood instead.

The Incredible Turn out for the Neighborhood Clean Up This Weekend

City Council Candidate: Meet and Greet: 03/20/16 Ernest McBride Park

Sunday Safety Watch: 03/13/2016 - 03/19/2016

Disclaimer: So, first I apologize for how long it's taken to get this up, The Crime Reports Website was down for much of January. I did talk to the director of Media Relations at a public safety meeting and tell our neighborhood resource officer, they weren't aware it wasn't updating. Just a reminder these are trends, and the presence of crime in one area in the past doesn't guarantee it will reappear in that area in the future.

Here are this week's trends in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. 


Keep an eye along PCH. There were auto thefts that trended west and breaking and enterings that trended East. Also keep your eyes open on Alamitos. Though Alamitos may quiet down when the bike lanes are done. There is increased property damage on Peterson. And there was property damage at Gaviota and Anaheim. The encampment that used to be at Walnut and Anaheim is now there in the alley north of Anaheim. Also notice a trend of thefts at Redondo and PCH. Note virtually everything in that circle took place on Friday.

There was a very suspicious van at Cherry Donuts. Read the details here.

There were three recent shootings outside our neighborhood. Two were officer involved shootings.

The first incident began about 6:30 p.m last Thursday., when officers spotted a vehicle that was "acting in a suspicious and evasive manner" near 68th Street and Long Beach Boulevard, said Marlene Arrona, a spokeswoman for the police department. The car stopped in the middle of Long Beach Boulevard, and a man inside left the car and fled on foot away from police, Arrona said. Officers chased the man about two blocks to an alley near 68th Street and Orcutt Avenue. In the alley, the man allegedly brandished a firearm and did not drop it, Arrona said. After the man was shot, officers provided medical aid and he was later taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. His identity was not released.

A man was killed during a shooting in the city’s West Side early Saturday morning, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) officials said. Officers were dispatched to the 2300 block of Cameron Street at 2:25AM on Saturday, March 19 regarding a shots heard call, LBPD spokesman Brad Johnson said.  “While responding to the scene they were advised that there was a subject down in the street,” he added. Arriving officers found a man suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to the upper torso, according to officials.

The final shooting was not officer involved: Police are investigating a shooting in North Long Beach that left a woman injured just after midnight Friday, authorities said. An officer was dispatched to a Downey hospital at 1:13AM on Friday, March 18 regarding a gunshot victim who was shot on the 6800 block of Atlantic Avenue, Long Beach Police Department (LBPD) spokesman Brad Johnson said.

Community Walk: 03/19/2016: 11pm to 1am

There was a community walk/ patrol through the MacArthur Park Neighborhood on Friday. Here's what we noticed. There was some suspicious activity. The most was a van with plates from Toyota of Huntington Beach hanging out in the lot of Cherry Donuts for over two hours. They appeared to be handing things off in small plastic bags to other cars. There were two passengers. A hale Hispanic driver and a female Hispanic passenger wearing a white hood. The van had a tan stripe along the center and Toyota of Huntington Beach Plates. There was a stocky male Hispanic in orange who seemed to be keeping watch. This is an issue because the van was seen at LB Ice a day later. If you see this van in the neighborhood, keep a close eye on it. The rest of the results are on the graphic above. Everything that Go Long Beach could handle was reported. There aren't enough details for the other suspicious activity to do anything other than keep an eye on those areas.

BBQ April 16th, 2016: 3pm - 6pm in MacAthur Park

Wednesday Safety Watch: Early Trends/ Downtown Trends

This map matches what I saw on Tuesday. Downtown is where things are most concentrated right now and most of the activity there appears to be trending East. There was a community walk. patrol tonight. Here's the path we took and what we noticed.

 

Clean Up: This Saturday Walnut and Anaheim: Headed North to PCH 10am

Sunday Safety Update: 03/06/16 - 03/13/16

Here are the crime trends for this week in the MacArthur Park Neighborhood. The map is almost empty this week. There was property crime that trends towards some auto thefts, that trend North East towards 17th and Orange. Be careful at the south end of Orange and Anaheim, the property crime is in the same place as an encampment that was just removed. In Cambodia Town East, there were also some property crime along St Louis and 11th that trend up towards St Louis and Anaheim where some assaults took place. The car thefts around Rotary Centennial Park appear to be heading away from the neighborhood this week.

There is a ton of tagging and dumping in an alley that spans Gaviota to Rose. The alley is just behind Anaheim. As part of our Neighborhood Expansion program this week we clean half of that alley and reported all the tagging for clean up. We also did a Go Long Beach Run through our own neighborhood and the AOC7. The AOC7 has a clean up next week. 

The map now shows where the dumped items are, so if the city doesn't pick it up before the clean up, AOC7 can just hand that map to Public Works. 

There have not been shootings since the last round. However, the one that took place in North Long Beach at Artesia and Butler, now has identified the victim. Authorities Tuesday identified a man killed in a possible gang-related shooting in Long Beach that also left another man wounded. The shooting occurred about 3 p.m. Thursday near Butler Avenue and Artesia Boulevard, said Long Beach police Sgt. Brad Johnson. Tyrone Douglas, 19, of Long Beach died at a hospital, said coroner’s Assistant Chief Ed Winter. We are trying to identify victims, to prevent any shootings in Central Long Beach from being statistics as opposed to names/ real people.

The Wrigley Association: Candidate Forum

Tonight the Wrigley Association hosted a forum between all six District Six City Council Candidates. Unlike the last write up, here I'm simply going share what each said about themselves that stood out in a brief paragraph. The forum was attended by about thirty to forty people. Questions were chosen by the association and by the audience for specific candidates. 

Josephine A Villaseñor hails from Whittier. She became involved in the community after forming the Wrigley Community Watch. Villaseñor who has her BA in business management with an emphasis in Early Childhood Development. She is also a member of the Community Emergency Response Team, a Red Cross Volunteer and a fund raising event coordinator chief for the VIDC at the Veteran's Hospital. When asked how to bring life back into the sixth district, Viillaseñor said her top three goals would be addressing homelessness, public safety and lessening restrictive business environment. For instance, in Signal Hill where license fees are $55 instead of the $400 they are in Long Beach. She also stated if we expected businesses to support our community, our community needs to shop locally and support out businesses. When asked how she'd get along with other members on City Council, Villaseñor replied when I patrol, I patrol Districts 1,2 ,3, 4, 7 and six. I don't see borders, I just see a community.

Erik Miller who asserted the sixth district had not changed since he grew up at 14th and Walnut across from Anioch Church. Miller, who left the neighborhood to get his degree in architecture, would later return to the Wrigley Community. There he became involved in the Gang Reduction Intervention Task Force and Operation Jump Start. He also helped fund the PEACE Basket Ball League. When asked which of Dee Andrew's votes he disagreed with, Erik cited the cutting of funding to Long Beach Police. In order to restore funding, Miller supports the Mayor's one percent sales tax increase. At the forum, if he won the April 12th Primary would first sell that sales tax increase to the public.

Robert Harmon. grew up in Seal Beach. He didn't go to college, he went to war. He's a veteran of Desert Storm who started the MacArthur Park Neighborhood Association. Harmon, who credits himself with driving the gangs out of MacArthur Park, said that to raise funds for police, safety and infrastructure we would need to take a hard look at the city's financial choices. In he end, he called the one percent a bitter pill. Harmon cites deferred maintenance in the district as the reason sand stated we would either pay for it now or pay a lot more later. Harmon, who attended every meeting of the Anaheim Corridor Re-Visioning, had submitted his own Cambodia Town Beatification Project, to several neighborhood stakeholders and stated it could be applied to every Long Beach corridor.

Dee Andrews is a 69 year resident of Central Long Beach. He is the incumbent City Council member in District Six. He has termed out, however the City Charter allows him to seek a third term as a write in candidate. Much of the time Andrews was responding to criticism. Several challengers cited a lack of change in his district during Andrew's tenure. Andrews called this a weak argument that "Ray Charles could see through." When asked why he should be re-elected Andrews stated he had just gotten the ball rolling and would like to be there when  his plans and projects come to fruition. According to Andrews one of the reasons for the budget short fall in past years was an over reliance on income from oil companies. And because of this, some hard choices had to be made.  Without cutting 200 jobs in public safety we might have had to cut 700 jobs that were tied back to the infrastructure.

The Primary Election will be held on April 12th, 2016. You can register to vote withe the City Clerk's office. You can also vote early by mail or in person at the City Clerk's Office. We're still going to cover the race for the LBUD board and the board of college trustees. And there will be a Go Long Beach Run soon. But spoiler alert: Jessica Alvarez, gets our support for LBUSD School Board due to her involvement with bringing Safe Passage to the Westside. We'd like to see it expanded to Franklin and Washington Middle Schools ASAP. That would have a huge impact on safety here in Long Beach, and it would do so very quickly.

Sunday Safety Uodate: 02/28/2016 to 03/06/2016

Disclaimer: So, first I apologize for how long it's taken to get this up, The Crime Reports Website was down for much of January. I did talk to the director of Media Relations at a public safety meeting and tell our neighborhood resource officer, they weren't aware it wasn't updating. Just a reminder these are trends, and the presence of crime in one area in the past doesn't guarantee it will reappear in that area in the future.

The two obvious patterns are there are some thefts trending south east along 17th Street. Outside of the neighborhood there crime is trending east along 10th and away from the place where the homicide occurred last Sunday. There have been two homicides in Central Long Beach and three in Long Beach over the last week, and three in Long Beach all together. Both homicides in our area were on Sunday in the early morning hours after 2am. Of the incidents you see on both maps, a lot was happening on Friday, March 4th. If you hear gun shots, never assume they're fireworks. Always call them in.

• On Sunday February 28, 2016, at approximately 3:24 a.m., Long Beach Police were dispatched to assist the Long Beach Fire Department in the 1000 block of Norman Court on a call of a dead body. I still can't find a name for the victim.
• A possibly gang-related shooting in North Long Beach Thursday afternoon left one man dead and another with non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said. Officers responded to Artesia Boulevard and Butler. The deceased has not been identified.
• On Sunday March 6th, 2016 at about 2:44 a.m. LBPD found a man (adult) with an apparent gunshot injury in a vehicle a few blocks south and east in the 1700 block of Pacific Ave. The victim has been identified as Ryan Davone Martin, 23, of Long Beach. 

There is a trend of thefts and thefts from cars moving from Rotary Centennial Park towards the neighborhood. But the pattern is somewhat weak. There is also a trend of thefts moving away from a meth arrest right outside the neighborhood towards the Poly Neighborhood. Based on these patterns, keep an eye on Junipero, along the east side of our neighborhood. Also keep an eye on 10th Street and Poly High School. 

There are a lot of dumped items in the neighborhood and along PCH, in most alleys. 

Also based on a patrol along PCH to Magnolia, Magnolia to Hill, Hill to Pacific and Pacific to PCH and PCH back home, we would have had to stop every ten seconds to report everything we saw., I'm going to do a Go Long Beach Run early tomorrow to get at the dumped items. Remember, if you see something say something. Three fatal shootings in one week is three too many. And the gangs do not own this city, be strong and take it back.

Also, we still have two clubs for a car to give to anyone willing to take the pledge to keep their neighborhood clean. 

Looking At the 2016 City Council Candidates

There was a Candidate's Forum on 03/02/2016 at the Long Beach Public Library. Among the district's Long Beach will be voting for are the 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th District City Council races. Last night's forum featured all ten City Council Candidates.

The vote on April 12th will be for for the Long Beach City College Trustees, LBUSD Board Members and four City Council races. 

This write up will focus on the City Council Candidates only. We will cover the Board of Trustees and LBUSD Board races at a later date. During the debate each candidate was asked three questions prepared by the Neighborhood Leadership Program, which put on the forum. Each candidate was also asked one question from the audience and given a chance to provide a closing statement.

These are paraphrases of the candidates' answers, not direct quotes. We're not being subtle, the candidates we're endorsing have a star next to them.

District Two:

Erik Gray

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Vision. I believe the 2nd District is a District in transition. From 7th to Pine to the Promenade the city should elect someone with a vision to bring the District to a better place.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax? I support putting the sale's tax on the ballot. There are different ways to get funds as we're developing and we need to make sure our initiatives are business friendly.


What is the most important issue facing your district? Chose several issues but added parking. Altimos Beach residents may get home from work and need to drive  45 minutes to find a place to park.

Why we picked Erik Gray. Aside from being endorsed by everyone, Gray comes off as very down to earth, sincere and has already been very involved in the community before running for council. Of all the second district candidates Gray seems to be the best balance of the how to support business and the community as Downtown Long Beach grows.

Jeannine Pearce

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Integrity. Council members, wherever you reside must allow a seat at the table for everyone.


Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax? Supports the tax. Our number one priority needs to be supporting police and fire as our density increases.


What is the most important issue facing your district? Homelessness. We need a value base budget process. 

Joan Garnica

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Integrity. Somebody with integrity will embody all the 14 qualities a leader would be expected to have.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax?  Was less supportive of the idea. I am concerned that we need long term funding. We need to put ourselves in a place to succeed.

What is the most important issue facing your district? Parking, I am the only candidate who has imporved parking in the Second District. I would also say public safety and making sure we have a connected community.

District Six:

 
Josephine A Villaseñor

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Courage. It takes courage to stand up to the gangs, it takes courage to stand up to the violence, it takes courage do what's right for the community.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax? I support the sales tax. I'm a part of the Community Emergency Response team and we need to put our police, fire and first responders first.


What is the most important issue facing your district? The most important issue is the gangs. We need to stop them from recruiting from our elementary schools. That's why I started the Wrigley Community Watch which has grown from one person to 35 patroling not just District Six, but District's 1,2,5,6 and 7.

Why we picked Josephine Villaseñor: Every candidate running for sixth District listed public safety as the District's number one concern, Josephine is already very active within the community having been a part of CERT, the American Red Cross and forming a large community watch group in Wrigley that has dealt with everything from drug dealing to human trafficking.

Erik Miller:

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Accountability. 

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax?  There's no question that there's a lot of violence in the Sixth District. You know when you've entered District Six and you know when you leave it.

What is the most important issue facing your district?  Violence in the 6th District.


Dee Andrews:

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Service. Service has been lacking in my community. Often times, they get to you when they get to you.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax?   Any dollar is a good dollar. Crime is up but, crime is up everywhere. A clean city is a good city.

What is the most important issue facing your district?  Our number one issue is public safety. But I don't think a lot of people know what it was like in the 90s.

Robert Harmon

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Integrity. Integrity is more than just a word, it defines a person. You have to do what is right all the time.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax?  It's a bitter pill we have to take. We have to do the right thing. We have infrastructure that needs to be maintained; it’s been deferred, we pay now or we pay later

What is the most important issue facing your district?  Why do people graduate without any financial literacy skills. Let's extend a ladder for people to move up and become home owners.




District Eight:

Al Austin II:

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Courage. It takes a lot of courage to run. Every word is scrutinized by the public and the press especially in a district like the 8th.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax?  I voted in support of this. This is about infrastructure and public safety. What do we put a value on. Long Beach is on the verge of becoming a world class or a third world city.


What is the most important issue facing your district?  What is the most important depends on where in the district you live. We already spend 70% of our budget on public safety. For those close to the airport the most important issue is airport noise.

Why we chose Al Austin. It's a close call between Austin and Turnbow. In the end, Turnbow's comment about negotiating hard with the unions, seems to imply more police at the expense of lower pay for police and fire. And we think that's a lot to ask of anyone who builds a career out of risking their life for their community. We also don't find it realistic.

Wesley Turnbow

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Accountability.   I want to bring Town Hall meetings where we connect citizens with City Council.

Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax? You must address crime, cities and sidewalks but you don't do it with short shortsightedness. We need to do things that are business friendly or businesses won't come up our city.

What is the most important issue facing your district?  Public safety. We have to negotiate hard with the unions to prevent cuts to police and fire during trying economic times.


Laurie C. Angel

What is the most important quality a leader should have? Respect. You have to respect the process, the neighborhoods, citizens, each other and the public.
 
Do you support the mayor's one cent sale's tax? The sales tax was not vetted in the businesses. We'll have the highest sales tax in the city and there is no guarantee it will be spent on public safety.

What is the most important issue facing your district? Safety. It's a long term and a long range issue. This starts with the youth by giving them constructive things to do and growing up understanding right from wrong.

About Early Voting

There are two options for voters who can't find time off for the April 12th primary vote. The first of those options is mail. Long Beach resident's can also vote early by going to the County Clerk's office and voting in person. 

Both options will be open starting on 03/14/2016. Both of these options are meant to fight off the disappointing turn out Long Beach saw in 2014 when only 14.2 percent of registered voters turned out for the primary vote.

The only candidate that did not sit at the table and get questions from the moderator was Daryl Supernaw, who is running unopposed. Instead Supernaw gave a three minute statement in between the candidate's answering these questions and the Q and A with prospective members of the LBUSD School Board.