Thursday, December 19, 2013

LB Harbor Board Gets New President

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on Dec. 17 elected member Doug Drummond as its new board president. Additionally, the board welcomed newly appointed Commissioner Lori Ann Farrell to her first meeting.

Drummond, a former Long Beach City Councilman and retired Long Beach Police Department Commander, was appointed to the five-member Harbor Commission by Mayor Bob Foster in 2011.

Farrell, a former Chief Financial Officer for the City of Long Beach who currently works as the City of Huntington Beach’s finance director, was appointed to the board by Foster last month.

In addition to Drummond’s selection as president, the harbor board also voted in Commissioner Rich Dines as Vice President and Farrell as Secretary. The election of board officers became necessary following the firing last month of former President Thomas Fields and the resignation of then-Vice President Nick Sramek.

Fields, a Long Beach advertising executive and former city planning commissioner, was appointed to a six-year term on the Board by Foster in December 2009, but after a series of disagreements, Foster had him removed Nov. 19.

Sramek, the man Farrell replaced on the Harbor Board, spent nearly six-and-a-half years on the panel before resigning Nov. 21, citing fatigue.

“It’s my goal to promote a spirit of cooperation among the Board and the staff of the Harbor Department,” Drummond said after being chosen president by his peers on the board. “I know that all of the commissioners take our responsibilities here very seriously. We intend to work together to make this port even stronger and better able to compete in the international marketplace.”

In her first meeting, Farrell said she looked forward to her new role as a harbor commissioner. “I’m hoping that together with the other commissioners we can really take our port to the next level,” she said.

With the seating of Farrell, the board currently has four members, one short of its allotted number. A fifth commissioner is expected to be chosen by Mayor Foster and confirmed by the City Council by either the end of the year or in early 2014.