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.