Commission appointments are made by the Mayor, subject to Council voted approval. Dines, who was the first candidate to file paperwork entering the race against Mungo, refused to drop out of the race, finished second in a three-way race in April and is now in a June 5 runoff with Mungo.

Mr. Dines' description of what he experienced has some similarities to what LBREPORT.com previously confirmed and reported in connection with the Mayor's race.

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• On Jan. 11, 2018, one day before the deadline for filing ballot qualifying paperwork, Robert Fox (Exec. Dir. of LB's grassroots Council of Neighborhood Organizations) signed and filed a Notice of Intention to run for Mayor and within hours gathered sufficient voter signatures to qualify for placement on the ballot for filing with the City Clerk the next day. But the next day, Mayor Garcia swiftly scheduled a meeting with Mr. Fox, after which Fox announced that he'd decided not to run for Mayor based on Garcia's willingness to schedule meetings with residents in each Council district regarding Land Use Element revisions and to publicly declare the Mayor's opposition to rent control.

• In late March 2018, James Henry "Henk" Conn, the only person to enter the Mayor's race, told LBREPORT.com that a Garcia-Commission appointee (a high school chum) met with Conn in late December 2017 and suggested that Conn not enter the Mayor's race on grounds he might be more effective in advancing his policy goals if he had a "seat at the table" [figure of speech] and offered to phone the Mayor to facilitate a meeting. In early January 2018, Mr. Conn declined to hold such a meeting with the Mayor, remained in the race and despite scant resources ended up receiving 21% of the vote.

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Not long after Mr. Dines rebuffed the Dec. 2017 suggestion that he drop out of the Council race, at least one media outlet made a Public Records Act request related to a 2016 letter to then-Harbor Commissioner Dines from Mayor Garcia. The letter, on the Mayor's office letterhead, stated that an "independent investigation by the City Attorney was conducted concerning allegations of inappropriate statements and conduct" by Dines toward various Harbor Dept. employees. Garcia's letter asked Dines to obtain training and counseling in order to improve his performance as a Harbor Commissioner, but added this wasn't optional and was a condition of his continued service as a Harbor Commissioner. Then-Commissioner Dines signed a written acknowledgment as part of the Feb. 3, 2016 letter, stating that he agreed to comply with the letter's terms and conditions, but told the PressTelegram in connection with its February 1, 2018 story, and reiterated today to LBREPORT.com, that he'd "only agreed to sign this letter if I could sign my rebuttal letter to it."

The PT's February 1, 2018 story notes that in his Feb. 9, 2016 written response, Commissioner Dines thanked Mayor Garcia for "keeping this matter confidential, protecting my reputation and for including this response to your letter for the record."

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In recent days, the Garcia letter surfaced in an anti-Dines mailer paid for by the "Long Beach Neighborhoods PAC" (an independent expenditure committee, not the Mungo campaign committee), whose address is the same as the business address of TMSI, a company whose president is retired LB 3rd dist. Councilman Gary DeLong (2006-2014), who is among re-election supporters of Councilwoman Mungo. The PAC was active in the 2016 election cycle and also contributed to the 2018 re-election campaign committees of Mayor Robert Garcia, Councilman Roberto Uranga and City Prosecutor Doug Haubert. [On May 30, 2019 City Auditor Laura Doud issued a statement indicating that [in an anti-Dines mailer] the PAC had misrepresented certain findings in a Harbor Dept. audit by her office; LBREPORT.com's May 30 request for comment on that matter from Mr. DeLong is pending.]

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Mr. Dines also volunteered to LBREPORT.com that in the period leading up to Mayor Garcia's announcement of whether he'd reappoint Dines to another term on LB's Harbor Commission term, the two met at a downtown location. Dines said Garcia's first question was whether Dines planned to run in the 5th Council district in 2018. Dines said that if reappointed, he'd serve his entire Harbor Commission term. A few weeks later, Mayor Garcia chose former Assemblymember/Vice Mayor (and 2014 candidate for Mayor) Bonnie Lowenthal to replace Dines on the Harbor Commission.

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On July 24, 2017, Councilwoman Mungo presented a Certificate of Recognition to outgoing Commissioner Dines, which stated:

In recognition of your notable service as a member of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners. Thank you for your leadership, invaluable contributions and stewardship to our Port over the years and for advancing efforts to increase collaboration among business, labor and our greater Long beach community.

The Certificate of Recognition was signed by Councilwoman Stacy Mungo.

On October 6, 2017, Mr. Dines filed paperwork to seek the 5th district Council seat...and things changed.

Developing.