| (August 31, 2020, 7:45 p.m.) -- To his critics and, oh, are there a loud, passionate group of them in this town, the illustrious Long Beach mayor, Mr. Robert Garcia, being mentioned seriously as one of the "17 rising stars of the Democratic Party" is a bit of delusional puffery perpetrated by those meanies in the Mainstream Media.
But I disagree with such an assessment for a number of reasons. You must understand Mr. Garcia is an important officeholder in the 43rd largest city in America, has for the past five months followed in lockstep with the Covid-19 edicts of California's two most powerful politicians, L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and state governor Gavin Newsom, has warmly embraced his party's weakening-the-police agenda by endorsing cutting 50 LBPD officers from LB's latest budget, emulated other big-city Democratic mayors around the country recently when he allegedly intervened with a stand down order to his police department that resulted in the Great Memorial Day Plunder & Pillage Festival in the downtown area and 214 LB businesses being looted. So, clearly, Mr. Garcia has all the imperative requisites needed to become an emerging figure in the Democratic Party to go with his close friendship with Vice President nominee Kamala Harris -- she swore him in as mayor in 2014 -- and his inexhaustible ambition and his expedient political instincts. You might recall that once upon a time he actually was a member of the Republican Party. He even founded the Long Beach Young Republicans and served as chief of staff for Republican Councilman Frank Colonna and was campaign manager of Colonna's unsuccessful 2006 mayoral bid (For some strange reason, these vital facts have been airbrushed from Mr. Garcia's Wikipedia bio.) But by 2007 the political winds had shifted dramatically in California and Mr. Garcia shifted with it to join the Democratic Party and successfully win the District 1 City Council seat in 2009. There isn't a policy of this latest incarnation of the Democratic Party that Robert Garcia hasn't heartily endorsed, and it's not surprising that he's firmly on board for something called Universal Basic Income, which will be discussed at the Sept. 1 Long Beach Council meeting. |
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A bunch of other Democratic mayors around the country came up with this idea and are set to institute such a handout -- the donation of $500 to an impoverished family -- but don't we already have various welfare programs intact for such assistance? How many bureaucrats will be needed to operate such an initiative? How will those who receive such a donation be chosen? Will it be by lottery or will a bingo-type machine be used? Where will the money come from since the scandalously over-burdened California taxpayer is already insufferably under siege and heading out of state? Will it stop at $500? Should the Dems force all those overpaid government workers in the state -- and there are hundreds of them -- to throw a few of their unearned extra thousands into the pot (certainly our very own beloved new LBUSD superintendent, Dr. Jill Baker, could alone fund almost sixty families with $500 payments each if only she'd forgo her undeserved $58,000 raise like she should.) Great ambiance, and a lot of credit should go to Robert Garcia, City Manager Tom Modica, the City Council members and other bigwigs in this town for allowing the Parklets to flourish and thereby saving a lot of restaurants from extinction (seven already have expired in Belmont Shore, Naples and the Market Place). But, alas, I did hear a few horror stories involving Kelly Colopy's notoriously meddlesome Health Department, including one in which a restaurant GM told me he spotted a tinted white van parked near his place with a guy in it using binoculars to spy on his help and diners. "Sometimes I think we're living in a Communist Society," he said. . . I suspect it's only a matter of time before this anonymous person decides to dislodge the other two hoops remaining because everyone is having way too much fun playing basketball. . .  The old Wilson High first baseman and famous criminal attorney, Mr. Greg Silver (photo right) is the latest to skedaddle out of town, as this lifetime Long Beach resident is moving in today with wife Karen at a home they bought in Huntington Beach.
He follows in the divine footsteps of another Donald Trump supporter, Big Ben Goldberg, although Mr. Silver says it wasn't only politics that inspired him to pull up stakes at Bay Harbor. "Obviously, I don't like the direction City Hall has been taking this city in recent years, but this also was a case of us just wanting to down-size a little," he says. "I'll always love Long Beach." Incidentally, Mr. Silver, now a member of the Virginia Country Club, has lowered his handicap to an impressive 8 in recent days. He just retired after working 34 years at Gulfstream in Long Beach, and the gentleman bodybuilder who once bench pressed 475 pounds these days competes in the Senior Olympics in weightlifting and the discus. Mr. Rice also was a pal of the Guinness World Record strongman, one-time Long Beach State football player and amateur boxing champion Glen Tenove. In their younger days, Mr. Rice and Mr. Tenove created quite a ruckus a few times when they hit the bars together around Long Beach, which was a long, long time ago. Mr. Rice and his wife Marlene reside in Los Alamitos and have two daughters. . . Incidentally, Mr. Rice once served as my bodyguard when I returned to Blair Field -- where the Los Angeles Rams then trained -- the week after the team's star linebacker, Isiah Robertson, nearly separated my noggin from my neck. Smartly, Ol' Isiah -- we later made up -- ignored me that afternoon because he would have had a problem had he tangled with the pugnacious Mr. Rice. . . . Viewpoints and op-eds on LBREPORT.com are proudly those of their bylined authors but not necessarily those of LBREPORT.com or our advertisers. We welcome our readers' comments/opinions 24/7 via Facebook and moderate length letters and longer-form op-ed pieces submitted to us at mail@LBReport.com.
Previously by Mr. Krikorian:
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