Long Beach city officials urged to hire more minorities

North Park residents sent a clear message to city officials on Wednesday: stick to your campaign pledge to hire more minorities, and don’t layoff the few that are currently working for the city.

More than 100 residents turned out to the Martin Luther King Center on April 4 for Long Beach Listens — part of a series of community meetings that members of the Democratic City Council majority launched after taking office in January — where they called on officials to address a number of recent appointments at City Hall and demanded greater minority representation.

Many told City Manager Jack Schnirman and council members Fran Adelson, Len Torres and Mike Fagen that no opportunities were given to North Park residents to apply for vacant or newly created positions that were recently filled in the administration, despite a campaign promise to hire more minorities to executive positions.

“Every time people run for office, they come down and ask for our votes, and when they get elected … they forget that we exist,” said resident William Johnson, who asked Schnirman if any of the recent hires were African American.

“I’m not prepared to give you any detailed answers on that today,” Schnirman said, adding that he could not publicly discuss specific personnel.

For years, North Park residents have called on city officials to implement reforms on issues such as policing, affordable housing and hiring practices. In 2009, a protest was held outside of City Hall, where residents called for reforms such as equal and anti-nepotism policies when it came to hiring.

During last year’s campaign, residents said that the Democratic City Council candidates — who handily defeated the Republican-led coalition candidates in November by pledging to be more transparent and accountable — had promised to end the “friends and family” hiring practices.