In an emailed statement, the immediate past 5th district Councilwoman stated:

Former Councilwoman Schipske: After careful consideration, I am endorsing Corliss Lee as my choice for the 5th Council District. Corliss Lee is conducting a thoughtful, positive grass-roots campaign on the issues of concern for those of us who live in the 5th. She is not controlled by any special interest and is not taking her marching orders from City Hall.

It is only because of her community efforts opposing the Land Use Element that the 5th District will not have increased building sizes and neighborhoods ruined by high density.

Corliss Lee has been asking the questions that she will work to get answered: where has all the tax money gone in Long Beach?

I ask voters to join me in helping Corliss Lee make the 5th Council District open and transparent again. Vote for Corliss Lee for 5th Council District.

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Ms. Lee entered the race after Councilwoman Mungo disparaged accurate LUE information by Ms. Lee at an April 2017 community meeting (LBREPORT.com coverage with audio here), and Councilwoman Mungo still didn't criticize city staff's proposed LUE at a June 13, 2017 Council study session. Mungo began to pivot after grassroots opposition (including by Ms. Lee) grew in September, and by early October 2017, Mungo said she opposed increased density although without specifics. In November 2017, Mungo was still urging residents to place stick-on arrows on maps showing in what 5th district areas they most strongly opposed increased density, stopping short of opposing all proposed 5th district mixed use density until the March 6 Council item when she moved to do so.

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At various community meetings during her incumbency, Mungo has taken swipes at Schipske, blaming her (without mentioning her name) for items including Studebaker Rd. bollards (when record is complicated and Mungo arguably shares recent blame, details here.) Councilwoman Mungo has also boasted that while her predecessor's motions frequently "went down in flames," Mungo's motions have passed with the support of her fellow Council incumbents.

Incumbent Mungo endorsers include a political action committee linked to the leadership of the LB Area Chamber of Commerce (an arguably polarizing endorsement, since the Chamber urged the Council to allow international flights at LB Airport; Ms. Lee worked with grassroots groups to oppose international flights and Councilwoman Mungo voted in late January 2017 to "receive and file" the proposal (take no further action on it at that time.) Councilwoman Mungo also has the support of the leadership of the LB Police Officers and Firefighters union PACs (the two largest contributors to the June 2016 sales tax increase.) Last week, Mayor Garcia (the most visible supporter of the June 2016 LB sales tax increase that failed passage in nearly every 5th district precinct) announced his endorsement of Councilwoman Mungo.

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Former LB Harbor Commissioner Rich Dines (appointed in 2011 by Mayor Foster) entered the Council race in October 2017, and came out swinging against increased 5th district density and has criticized Mungo's vote for the Civic Center transaction. (In July 2018, Mayor Garcia declined to reappoint Dines to the Harbor Commission (although Dines had given Garcia a $250 re-election campaign contribution in April 2017.) Candidate John Osborn entered the race in December 2017, loaned his campaign $10,000 in early February, reported spending no sums by late February and on March 15 announced at the end of an LVNA candidate forum that he's endorsing Councilwoman Mungo. (Mungo and Osborn are both Republicans.)

Encouraged by constituents, Schipske began a write-in campaign against incumbent Mungo but ultimately opted to run against SE LB-OC state Senator Janet Nguyen (R, SE LB-OC), blasting Nguyen for supporting SB 35 (which in certain circumstances requires cities to give housing developers near rubberstamp approval without historically allowed public CEQA appeals and local parking requirements.) Senator Nguyen and Council incumbent Mungo have appeared together at LB-area Republican-party arranged meet-and-greets/fundraisers.

Ms. Lee has criticized incumbent Mungo for failing to agendize a Council resolution opposing SB 35 and for the failure of the Council's State Legislation Committee (chaired by Austin, with Mungo and Gonzalez as members) to meet between Jan. 10 and November 21 while the state legislature was advancing SB 35 and multiple other bills to passage.

SB 35 was supported by Sac'to's Democrat legislative leadership, and long knives came after Schipske. Two days before February's CA Democrat Party convention, an OC trial lawyer/former Dem Assemblyman announced his entry into the state Senate race, supported by former LB Mayor Foster. The last minute entrant siphoned away sufficient Party support to block Schipske's access to state Dem Party funding support, effectively derailing her campaign. (LBREPORT.com coverage here.

Facing term limits for a third Council term in 2014, Schipske ran for Mayor but was heavily outspent by opponents. In the 5th district, she endorsed Carl Kemp, a veteran City Hall and Port staffer, former aide to a federal Maritime Commissioner and founder of a LB lobbying firm. A little over two years later, LB residents citywide were stunned when federal prosecutors announced that Mr. Kemp had accepted a plea agreement of guilty for failing to report roughly $750,000 in income over a six year period.

Vote by mail ballots for the upcoming election are now flying in LB's 3rd, 5th, and 7th Council races whose outcome (on April 10, and in a June runoff if no candidate receives over 50%) will decide whether incumbents or challengers approve City Hall priorities, spending actions and developments impacting neighborhoods citywide. No candidate challenged the 1st district incumbent Lena Gonzalez. A challenger who entered the 9th district race against incumbent Vice Mayor Rex Richardson ceased campaigning after someone (who remains unidentified) pulled a campaign "dirty trick" by getting a website with the challenger's name and webposting bogus messages. Mayor Garcia faces one poorly funded ballot opponent.