Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia announced last week 14 appointments to city commissions, including two charter and five non-charter commissions. This round of appointments fills all seven seats on the newly formed Technology and Innovation Commission.
“I’m incredibly grateful that these outstanding citizens have agreed to serve Long Beach,” Garcia said. “I’m especially excited to assemble an all-star team for our new Technology & Innovation Commission. They will be a critical group tasked with helping us create the government of the future.”
Garcia spearheaded the creation of the Technology and Innovation Commission, along with the restructuring of the Technology Services Department as the Technology and Innovation Department, to support the City’s use of technology to increase efficiency and openness, and to attract technology businesses to Long Beach, according to the mayor’s office. These are the first appointments to that commission.
Garcia has prioritized civic engagement, and with these appointments will have named 75 commissioners since taking office five months ago, according to his office. The appointments for these non-charter commissions all came before City Council for approval last Tuesday. The charter appointments will be reviewed by the Personnel and Civil Service Committee on Jan. 13 and referred to the full council for action.
The new appointments are:
Charter:
Planning Commission
Mark Christoffels has been a resident of Long Beach for more than 25 years and a practicing civil engineer in local government for more than 30 years. He has a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from University of California, Irvine, and a master’s in business administration from Pepperdine University. He is both a registered civil engineer and land surveyor in California. This is a reappointment.
Board of Water Commissioners
Gloria Cordero is a life-long Long Beach resident who has worked in public affairs and communication in Long Beach, at Long Beach City College, at Southern California Edison, and as the principal of her own consulting firm, ABC Advocacy, LLC. She has a master’s in public administration from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s in Sociology from California State University, Long Beach. A former teacher, she is a prior recipient of the Junior Chamber’s Woman of the Year Award.
Non-charter:
Technology and Innovation Commission
Milton Arcos works as a software architect and product developer for Integrated Rental Systems. He has also founded and developed a voice-over IP phone company and has extensive communications and networking experience. He is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach.
David W Ferrell co-founded the Long Beach Code For America Brigade as a local chapter of Code For America, and he serves on the board of Long Beach Tech, a nonprofit focused on elevating the tech entrepreneur community in Long Beach. He has served as a tech consultant and taught web marketing, UX design and other technology courses at Biola University.
Cindy Hanks is the deputy director for Academic Computing and Multimedia and Broadcast Services at Long Beach City College. She has more than 30 years of experience in using technology to improve education including the development of multimedia systems for classrooms and the large-scale installation of technology infrastructure in public works projects. She has a master’s degree in education technology from California State University, Long Beach.
Robb Korinke is a consultant on open data and government technology issues for California Forward, a nonprofit group advocating for governance reforms in California. In this capacity he has worked with public agencies and private firms to promote broader adoption of data and technology driven tools. Additionally, he has a background working with tech start-ups and creative, government-centered firms.
Juan Lopez is the special assistant for the Los Angeles City Controller focusing on technology and open data. Some of the projects he has implemented in Los Angeles include: LA’s first civic accelerator, the Civic Innovation Lab; coordinating the controller’s first web app to search for unclaimed property; and designing the city’s first Community Financial Report, a condensed snapshot of the 400-page Comprehensive Financial Report. As a member of the controller’s Data Team, he pioneered the City of Los Angeles’s first open data portal, Control Panel LA, which gives citizens free and unfettered access to the financial information of the city.
Andrew Schrock is a Ph.D candidate in communication at the University of Southern California, where he researches mobile communication, social media, and data, particularly their relationship to social cohesion and civic engagement. A particular area of interest is open government data; with Open Data LA, he has helped survey how 88 counties employ OGD and has written on the topic in the academic and popular press.
Gwen Shaffer is an assistant professor at California State University, Long Beach. Her research has included telecommunications policy and broadband advocacy. She has crafted recommendations for local governments hoping to expand broadband adoption in low-income and disenfranchised communities, and she has developed policies for communities using technology to boost civic engagement. Additionally, she served on a task force that advised the City of Philadelphia on a successful $18-million federal stimulus grant proposal for information and technology initiatives.
Board of Health
Kelley Tenny is the health curriculum leader for the Long Beach Unified School District. She has been teaching for more than 15 years and has a degree in community health education form California State University, Long Beach. She was nominated by the school district for this seat on the commission.
Commission on Youth and Children
Jeremiah Jones is a student at Hughes Middle School. He started his own clothing line, including operating a retail store at the Pike for more than two years, and in 2014 he was a guest speaker at the TEDX Reno conference.
Megan Kerr was elected to the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education in April of 2014. As a member of Long Beach Council PTA, she was appointed as school board liaison and is currently the director of Community Concerns. She was on School Site Councils at two schools and is the parent representative at the District Community Advisory Committee (DCAC) and the Superintendent Parent Forum for the last three years.
Human Relations Commission
Desmond Fletcher has been a Long Beach resident for more than 20 years and is active with many groups in his community, according to the mayor’s office. He is a founding member of the new Country Club Neighborhood Association, where he has made strides in bringing information and events to the neighborhood.
Long Beach Transportation Company Board Of Directors
Nancy Pfeffer is the founder and president of Network Public Affairs, an environmental and transportation consulting firm. She has served for seven years as director of Regional Planning for the Gateway Cities Council of Governments and is a board member of both the Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network and City Fabrick, a local nonprofit. Pfeffer has a master’s degree in Public Policy from the University of Southern California.
