The action occurred under peculiar circumstances.

Garcia, among 17 Democrat politicians collectively described in a Dem Convention release as "rising stars":(amplified as to Garcia by his Chief of Staff via her personal email domain coverage here), opened the Aug. 18 City Council meeting which began a bit later than its scheduled 5 p.m. time. Long Beach City Council meetings typically last until well past 6 p.m.

Mayor Garcia was mindful of his scheduled interview on MSNBC after 6 p.m. Pacific time. He'd boasted about it on his Twitter feed.

See y’all on @MSNBC after 9PM pacific time to talk a bit about the future of our country. Join us ????

— Robert Garcia (@RobertGarciaLB) August 19, 2020

[Scroll down for further.]

The Long Beach City Charter specifies that the Mayor's duties "shall be considered as the full-time employment of the person occupying that office. The Mayor shall preside at meetings of the City Council."

In an action unprecedented in our more than 25 years of observing LB City Council meetings, Mayor Garcia said "someone" -- he didn't say who -- had asked if multiple agenda items could be combined and approved in a single vote (presumably to hasten the proceedings.) The City Attorney said "yes" if the clerk announced each item individually and allowed the public to comment on each item individually.

The clerk read the items as titled and the collective items proceeded, but Garcia (invisible via teleconference) vanished and Vice Mayor Dee Andrews quietly took over.

Sponsor

Sponsor

Garcia subsequently surfaced on MSNBC.

I joined MSNBC to talk about Governor @GavinNewsom’s leadership - and how immigrants across the country deserve the same shot at citizenship that I got. pic.twitter.com/1b1TFM7wHU

— Robert Garcia (@RobertGarciaLB) August 19, 2020

Developing. Further to follow.

Sponsor

Sponsor

Sponsor

Sponsor

Sponsor

Sponsor

Sponsor

Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.