Mason will focus on attracting, keeping high-quality workforce

suzanne-mason.jpgAfter competing against a very strong field of public and private human resources professionals, Suzanne Mason has been appointed director of human resources for the city of Long Beach. She will assume her new duties immediately.
“Having spent 20 years of my career working in the area of human resources, I am very happy today to accept this position,” Mason said. “I especially look forward to working with the mayor and City Council, city management and employees on challenges facing our workforce, including finding ways to retain our highly qualified employees and to attract the high quality work force needed to continue to provide the residents of Long Beach with exceptional services and facilities.
“With over two-thirds of the City Budget spent on employee-related costs, it is critical that we make smart investments in that area,” she said.
Mason will discuss the 2007-08 City Budget at the next general meeting of the North Long Beach Community Action Group at 2 p.m. Sunday at the North Long Beach Police Substation, located at 4891 Atlantic Avenue.
The Human Resources Department has three primary lines of business: personnel operations, employee services and administration, and risk management. Through the development and implementation of citywide personnel policies and procedures, the department assists other city departments in acquiring, developing and retaining a qualified and diverse workforce.
As a critical administrative arm of the organization, the director works closely with all city departments and, historically, has served as the primary liaison to the city’s labor associations. The director also maintains a close productive working relationship with the Civil Service Commission and staff.
Mason has worked with Long Beach since 1984 and during her employment has held a number of positions that progressively gained greater complexity. She has served as deputy city manager since fall 2002 and, from then to the present, has helped to lead such significant undertakings as the Financial Strategic Plan, the outside review of workers compensation, the Arts Strategic Plan, development of the city’s performance management effort, and the near-completed health insurance review process.
Throughout her career with the city, Mason has performed a variety of administrative, budget, human resources and internal services functions, and has sought-out opportunities for personal and professional development through participation in UC Irvine, Human Resource Management coursework, and the Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government program.
Mason earned her bachelor’s degree in history from UC Santa Barbara and a master’s degree in public administration from USC. She resides in Long Beach with her husband Greg and daughter Allison. The Masons’ eldest daughter, Elizabeth, is a freshman at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

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