Gone before it got started

Just five months after the City of Long Beach formed an Environmental Advisory Board, City Manger Charles Theofan has taken steps to reconstitute it.

     “The appointed people on the board all got a letter saying that the city was disbanding, reorganizing and reappointing people,” said former City Council member Denise Tangney, who helped organize the group but was not a member. “Some people got a handwritten note at the bottom of the letter saying, ‘Hope you re-apply,’ and others didn’t.”            

Theofan said that members of the board, which the City Council approved on Aug. 4, serve for an unspecified time and at the pleasure of the city manager. He added that he did not personally know five members of the seven-member board that Tangney had nominated. “I’m sure that the vast majority, if not all, will be reappointed,” he said.            

Asked why he chose to disband the group now, Theofan replied, “It’s just personal preference. New administration. Logical time to do it.”

In August, Tangney said the board was formed at the urging of the public and would advise the city on issues like e-filing, making city-owned buildings more green, and educating the public on green initiatives.          

Tangney explained that the board’s charter required that it have nine members with specified term lengths. But when it was approved by the council, it had only seven members and no tenure specifications. The appointed board members include residents Sandra Patrick, Sheri Cavera, Sarah Nicholas, Peter Breitstone, Neil Monteko, Bill Hostleger and Lisa Goodman, but meetings were open to any resident who wanted to get involved.

“I don’t know if they had this in mind when we first started, or what,” Tangney said of the sudden reorganization, though she admitted that she was not surprised that she was removed from her position.            

Asked if his actions were political, Theofan said he wanted to separate politics from the work the board was expected to do. “I just want to satisfy myself that the seven people on the board are going to have no agenda other than a positive, cooperative agenda for the city,” he said.