By Nick Diamantides
Staff Writer
Just when it seemed as if most of the election campaigning was done, a new write-in candidate threw his hat into the ring. On March 29— 16 days before the April 13 Long Beach Primary Election— Fernando Bernabe filed papers with the city clerk’s office to run as a candidate for the 7th District City Council position.
“I am running because I want to represent the people of the 7th District in a way that they have not been represented before,” he said. Bernabe explained that job losses and home foreclosures have severely impacted many families in the district and he hopes to use his expertise in the business world to reverse that trend. “I have been a successful businessman for 15 years. I know how to attract investors. I know how to build wealth,” he said. “Long Beach needs somebody like that in its government, and the people of the 7th District need somebody like that to represent them.”
Bernabe is the CEO of the F&L Bernabe Corporation, which serves as the umbrella company for the Inihaw Karaoke Restaurant on Willow Street in West Long Beach, FLB Video Pinoy (also in West Long Beach), and the Carson-based FLB Corporation, which sells and installs satellite and television systems in several states. He currently has 60 employees working for him.
Bernabe insists that because of his many business contacts he is uniquely qualified to attract new businesses to Long Beach. “We need to have big companies investing in Long Beach,” he said. “We have to do a better job of marketing the city.”
Bernabe decided to run for the 7th District council seat last February, but at that time his legal residence was in the 1st District. “I actually moved into my house in the 7th District about four years ago, but I didn’t bother to change my address because I own both houses,” he said.
The city’s election code requires a candidate to live in a council district for at least 30 days prior to filing to run for an election in that district. After deciding to run, Bernabe filed a change-of-address with the Los Angeles County Registrar. Thirty days after that change was finalized, he filed as a write-in candidate for the 7th District.
Bernabe acknowledged that as a last-minute write-in candidate, the odds seem to be against his winning, but he insisted that he is not letting that deter him. “Nobody knows what will happen on Election Day,” he said. “I am getting my message out. I believe I can bring good changes to the 7th District.” He stressed that, because he is funding his own campaign, he will not owe political favors to anyone. “My only responsibility will be to do what is best for the people who live in Long Beach, especially for those who live in the 7th District,” he said. “My heart is for the people of this community, and I want to help them.”
