(Jan. 7, 2016, 8:50 a.m.) -- The City Clerk's website indicates that veteran community advocate Laurie Angel has pulled papers to challenge incumbent Al Austin in LB's 8th Council district. Ms. Angel has worked on Redevelopment, multiple neighborhood improvement and grassroots advocacy issues over the years as a community volunteer. She is a long-time 8th Council district resident.

In September 2013, LBREPORT.com noted that Ms. Angel had "eloquently urged the the Council to restore funding to LBPD's field anti-gang unit" in testimony on its FY14 budget (and included on-demand of her words at this link.) Ms. Angels' podium testimony, we noted at the time, "failed to move any Council incumbents" on the issue. (Councilman Austin voted with Council majorities in Sept. 2013, Sept. 2015 and Sept. 2015 for management-proposed, Mayor recommended budgets that failed to restore LBPD's field anti-gang unit.)

In November 2015, Ms. Angel testified at the City Council, raising issues she viewed as problematic regarding a dense residential development ("Riverwalk") that would allow 131 townhouses on a little over 10 acres on the site of the former Will J. Reid Scout Park. Ms. Angel indicated at the time that she doesn't necessarily have a problem with density, but said the density proposed at that location raised a number of issues. Councilman Austin made the motion to approve the project, including its Environmental Impact Report. (LB residents, including Ms. Angel, formed a grassroots group ("Citizens About Responsible Planning") that has retained legal counsel and brought a legal action to challenge the City Hall-proffered EIR.)

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In March 2015, Ms. Angel won an appeal she filed and pursued that successfully overturned an action by LB's Planning Commission, and overcame support from city staff, and denied a conditional use permit for beer/wine sales for offsite consumption at an Atlantic/South (SE corner) convenience store. In her testimony, Ms. Angel provided the Council with detailed information and testified on the history of Redevelopment in North Long Beach after the 1992 riots. She noted the Atlantic Ave./ South St. location was/is meant to become a key location on the 8th/9th district border for NLB's revitalization.

In making a motion to overturn the Planning Commission decision, sustain the appeal and deny the CUP, Councilman Austin said the factors cited by Ms. Angel and Mr. Fowler were persuasive (and in seconding the motion, Councilman Richardson said he agreed completely with Councilman Austin on the matter.)

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The City Clerk's website also indicates that Wesley Turnbow has pulled papers to enter the race. Mr. Turnbow, who acknowledged to LBREPORT.com that he's a political newcomer, runs a Compton-based metal finishing firm. Its website has a customer approval page listing a number of aviation industry firms here.

In two quick telephone conversations with LBREPORT.com (Jan. 4 and 5), Mr. Turnbow said he's entering the race because Austin "hadn't done very much" and says the district and the City should be more "business friendly."

Asked with what votes by the incumbent he disagreed, Mr. Turnbow didn't name any offhand, leading us to ask about some specifics. He said he would have voted as Mr. Austin did on the "Riverwalk" development. He indicated that he has mixed feelings and doesn't yet have a firm position on whether the City should allow a federal inspection (customs) facility at LB Airport that would enable international flights. (If allowed, such a facility couldn't be limited to a single operator.) In July 2015, Councilmembers Austin, Supernaw and Uranga voted against pursuing the study; the item is scheduled to return to the Council for funding approval on Jan. 19.

Incumbent Austin recently announced the endorsements of LB's police officers and firefighter associations (unions) PACs, four Council incumbents (Gonzalez, Price, Uranga and Richardson), three former Councilmembers (Neal, Lerch and Topsy-Elvord), LB Planning Commissioner [and UP RR Dir. of Port Affairs] Perez, LB Schoolboard members Kerr and Williams, LBCC Trustees Kellogg and Otto, Congressmembers Hahn and Alan Lowenthal, State Senators Lara, Hall and Mendoza, former state Senator Karnette, former Ass'ymember Bonnie Lowenthal and incumbent Ass'y speaker Rendon and Ass'ymembers O'Donnell, Gomez, Gipson and Jones-Sawyer, Sr.

In April 2012 race, Councilman Austin prevailed over a candidate with strong LB establishment ties (including then-Mayor Bob Foster) when Austin had the support of organized labor and exiting two-term 8th district Councilwoman Rae Gabelich. Ms. Gabelich isn't listed among Austin's current endorsers.

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Councilman Austin took the lead in opposing a controversial city management budget-driven paramedic staffing plan. Management's plan was opposed by the LB Firefighter union and was ended in mid-2015 by order of the L.A. County's Emergency Medical Services Agency management.

In November 2013, Councilman Austin was among a Council majority voting to enable up to 15% pay raises over three years for management staffers who several years ago formed a collective bargaining unit (union) to represent their interests. (The vote was 7-2, with Johnson and DeLong dissenting.)

In three separate votes (Dec. 2013, Dec. 2014 and Dec. 2015), Councilman Austin voted to authorize spending several million dollars to pursue a new Civic Center without seeking bids or inviting Council presentations to seek information independent of city management from architects/retrofit experts on the option of seismically retrofiting LB's less than forty year old City Hall.

The Council's most recent actions (9-0, Dec. 15, 2015) include spending $3 million from city surplus and will consume $1.7 million each year for the next ten years to demolish and abate asbestos at the old LB courthouse that management didn't include in its Civic Center transaction.

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In November 2015, Councilman Austin joined a unanimous Council to approve giving a new Queen Mary operator a new 66 year lease; Councilman Austin was among those who didn't inquire publicly what the new operator intends to do with the leased public land. (Austin was absent on the Jan. 5, 2016 re-vote, which was 8-0.)

In February 2015, Austin joined (8-0, 4th dist. vacant) in allocating $1 million to obtain a roughly $3 million "innovation grant" from Bloomberg Philanthropies for unspecified projects overseen and controlled by the Mayor and City Management. The Mayor and city management indicated the $4 million would first focus on unspecified "economic development," but didn't indicate where, when, on what or for whom the sums would be spent to promote "economic development"...and no Councilmembers inquired how the City would recoup the $1 million taxpayer sum the Council voted to allocate.

In May 2015, Councilman Austin was the primary agendizer (joined by Councilmembers Gonzalez and Price) of a Council resolution to put the City of Long Beach on record as supporting "Meatless Mondays." In Council discussion at the time, Councilman Austin said he agendized the non-binding item as a way to "raise awareness and add to the dialogue" on the issue and said it is important to Long Beach, which has the highest rate of childhood obesity in California, and childhood obesity has lifelong health impacts including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and some types of cancer. He noted that other city governments (including Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco) had adopted similar resolutions.

"If even for one day a week, people think a little bit more about what they are eating, and consider trying new healthier menu options, then this resolution will have accomplished its purpose." (The Council voted 7-2, Mungo and Supernaw dissenting) for the non-binding resolution.)

Developing.