Long Beach
The seventh-largest city in California and home to one of the world's busiest seaports, Long Beach pairs a working waterfront with a dense downtown, miles of coastline, and a charter government that runs its own utilities, airport, and health department.
- Population 466,742
- Size band large
- Area 51.4 sq mi
- Government Council–Manager (charter)
- Council by-district
- Incorporated 1897
- Meetings YouTube channel ↗
Coverage: 54 meetings · 818 substantive items · 2025-12-02 → 2026-09-22 · agenda source: PrimeGov
Long Beach's council activity over the past three weeks has been anchored by the adoption of the Fiscal Year 2027 budget, a multi-part action at the September 8 meeting that set appropriations across all fund groups, approved the Capital Improvement Program, adopted new salary schedules for management and sworn personnel, fixed Public Utilities rates for water, sewer, and gas, and authorized a $28.7 million transfer from the Harbor Fund to Tidelands Operations. The budget adoption also included a $7.3 million Community Investment Company budget and the Gann Appropriations Limit resolution — a comprehensive fiscal close that sets the operating baseline for the year ahead. Labor costs are actively rising: the council revised Firefighters Association skill pays under both the expiring 2022–2025 MOU and the new 2025–2028 MOU in the same September 1 meeting, and has returned twice to amend the Long Beach Management Association MOU with revised salary and specialty-pay provisions.
Infrastructure investment dominates the contract pipeline at significant scale. The September 15 meeting awarded a $22 million taxiway reconstruction at Long Beach Airport alongside a $4.8 million airport IT software renewal, while September 22 brings a $25.7 million BikeShare modernization contract with Drop Mobility plus a $709K amendment to the existing Pedal Movement operator contract — signaling a deliberate push to expand active-transportation options. The council is also moving $155 million in short-term utility financing: $60 million in senior gas revenue notes, $45 million in senior sewer revenue notes, and a $50 million revolving credit facility with Wells Fargo, all on the September 22 agenda. Alongside these, a $18.5 million infrastructure construction contract and a $4 million utility-management services amendment reflect sustained capital spending across the public-works portfolio.
Public safety and social services show a cluster of new and recurring investments. The council accepted $850,000 in combined California Office of Traffic Safety grants for three separate traffic-safety programs at the September 8 meeting, secured a $4.5 million Board of State and Community Corrections grant and a $1.49 million SAMHSA behavioral-health agreement at the same session, and on September 22 awarded a $6.1 million contract to construct a year-round homeless shelter at 702 West Anaheim. Historic preservation surfaced as an emerging theme: six Mills Act contracts are scheduled for September 22, and a $300,000 feasibility study for a Historically Black Cultural District was awarded September 15. The council also directed a joint presentation from the Office of Police Oversight and LBPD on the 2024 oversight report, a transparency measure with no dollar figure attached.
(Synthesized from the 120 most recent items.)
What to watch AI-generated
Key items (8)
- [19] Recommendation to receive supporting documentation into the record, conclude the public hearing, and take the actions necessary to adopt the Fiscal Year 2027 budget as listed in Attachment A. (Citywide) — Long Beach, 2026-09-08 · The FY27 budget adoption hearing — the council's broadest single fiscal action, setting appropriations across all fund groups for the year
- [26] Recommendation to adopt resolution of the City Council of the City of Long Beach approving the issuance from time to time by the Board of Public Utilities Commissioners, on behalf of the City of Long Beach, senior gas revenue short-term obligations issued pursuant to the terms of a senior indenture and a credit agreement and certain related documents which provide for a revolving line of credit in an amount not to exceed $60,000,000, outstanding at any one time, for a maximum period of three years, to bridge finance various capital projects for the City of Long Beach. — Long Beach, 2026-09-22 · $60M senior gas revenue short-term notes, the largest single item on the September 22 agenda and part of a $155M utility-financing package
- [31] Recommendation to adopt Specifications No. RFP PW-25-631 and award a contract to Drop Mobility, California LLC, of San Francisco, CA, for operation, maintenance, and modernization of the City of Long Beach's BikeShare program, in the amount of $23,346,518, authorize a 10 percent contingency in the amount of $2,334,652, for a total contract amount not to exceed $25,681,170, for a period of three years, with the option to renew for two additional one-year periods; and, authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any necessary subsequent amendments. — Long Beach, 2026-09-22 · $25.7M BikeShare modernization contract with Drop Mobility — the largest active-transportation investment in the reviewed period
- [14] Recommendation to adopt Plans and Specifications No. R-7299 and award a contract to All American Asphalt, of Corona, CA for the Taxiway F Realignment and Reconstruction Project at the Long Beach Airport, in the amount of $22,015,857, authorize a 10 percent contingency in the amount of $2,201,586, for a total contract amount not to exceed $24,217,443, and authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any necessary subsequent amendments; Adopt Categorical Exemption CE-26-051; and Increase appropriations in the Airport Fund Group in the Airport Department by $29,878,726, offset by grant revenue and Airport funds available. (District 5) — Long Beach, 2026-09-15 · $29.9M contract for Taxiway F realignment and reconstruction at Long Beach Airport, the largest capital project award in this period
- [33] Recommendation to adopt Plans and Specifications No. R-7236 and award a contract to New Dynasty Construction Co., of Tustin, CA, for the construction of the 702 West Anaheim Year-Round Shelter, in an amount of $5,274,219, authorize a 15 percent contingency in the amount of $791,133, for a total contract amount not to exceed $6,065,352; and, authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute all documents necessary to enter into the contract, including any necessary subsequent amendments; and Increase appropriations in the Capital Project Funds Group in the Public Works Department by $2,000,000, offset by California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) Homeless, Housing and Assistance Program (HHAP) Funds from the Health and Human Services Department. — Long Beach, 2026-09-22 · $6.1M year-round homeless shelter construction at 702 West Anaheim — a concrete infrastructure response to homelessness services
- [21] Recommendation to authorize City Manager, or designee, to execute an agreement, and all necessary documents or subsequent amendments, including amendments to the award amount or terms, with the Board of State and Community Corrections to accept and expend grant funding in the amount of $4,499,948, for the Proposition 64 Public Health and Safety Grant Program to enhance youth prevention, community education, and responsible cannabis retail efforts that promote public health and safety in Long Beach, for the period of July 1, 2026, through December 31, 2031 at the discretion of the City Manager; and Increase appropriations in the Health Fund Group in the Health and Human Services Department in the amount of $4,499,948, offset by grant revenues. (Citywide) — Long Beach, 2026-09-08 · $4.5M BSCC grant for public safety/justice programming, the largest grant accepted across these meetings
- [15] Recommendation to adopt resolution approving a Letter of Agreement to the 2025-2028 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Firefighters Association (FFA) to reflect revisions to FFA skill and other pays. (Citywide) — Long Beach, 2026-09-01 · Firefighters Association 2025–2028 MOU revised to reflect updated skill and specialty pays — part of an active multi-meeting labor renegotiation cycle
- [22] Recommendation to direct City Manager to work with Director of the Office of Police Oversight and the Long Beach Police Department's Chief of Police to provide a joint, comprehensive presentation regarding the 2024 Office of Police Oversight (OPO) Annual Report, the 2025 Complaint Investigation Review, the resulting recommendations, and the current, tangible status of the Long Beach Police Department's (LBPD) implementation. — Long Beach, 2026-09-22 · Council directive for a joint LBPD/Office of Police Oversight presentation on the 2024 oversight report — a recurring accountability signal with no fiscal footprint
Scorecard vs 6 cohort peers
Each topic is shown as this city's share of council attention (% of its substantive items) next to the median share of its peer cohort — so size doesn't distort the comparison. Dollars are shown per resident (a causal denominator) and suppressed where too few peers have extracted amounts.
| Topic | Attention share | Peer median | vs peers | $ / resident | Peer median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget & Finance | 40% | 25% | ▲ +15pp | $1644.65 | $786.45 |
| Governance & Administration | 20% | 18% | ▲ +2pp | $12.00 | $1.02 |
| Public Safety | 10% | 6% | ▲ +3pp | $441.34 | $11.87 |
| Permitting & Land Use | 9% | 8% | ▲ +1pp | $30.48 | $15.13 |
| Streets & Infrastructure | 9% | 15% | ▼ -6pp | $1215.80 | $313.23 |
| Economic Development | 5% | 5% | ▼ -1pp | $61.86 | $6.40 |
| Climate & Environment | 3% | 6% | ▼ -3pp | $133.85 | $192.04 |
| Homelessness | 2% | 2% | ≈ | $137.24 | $30.27 |
| Other | 2% | 1% | ≈ | $3.56 | n/a |
| Housing | 1% | 6% | ▼ -5pp | $26.31 | $155.13 |
pp = percentage points of attention share. Peers: Glendale, Pomona, Claremont, Redondo Beach, Los Angeles, Culver City.
📅 Browse all meetings & agendas (49) — filter by date, topic, or keyword
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Peer cohort comparable cities
Cities most comparable to Long Beach by population, size, governance, and sub-region — the basis for fair comparison. Budget attributes are not loaded yet; cohort uses size, governance, and sub-region. With a small sample this is a soft grouping — the framework scales as cities are added.
Decisions worth knowing
Biggest dollars
Contested votes
Vote records are partial — captured only where a city publishes minutes or an official council journal (chiefly Long Beach and Los Angeles); this is not a cross-city contestedness comparison.
Learning from peer cities
Matches found from similar agenda wording across cities — useful starting points to investigate, not proof that one city copied another.
Where Long Beach and peers overlap
Matters Long Beach worked on that peer cities also took up.
Ideas from peer cities (not found here yet)
Matters peer cities acted on that we haven't found a comparable item for in Long Beach.
Data gaps & notes (6)
- 2026-07-14 City Council Meeting - Cancelled: No agenda document published for this meeting.
- 2026-07-07 City Council Meeting - Cancelled: No agenda document published for this meeting.
- 2026-06-23 City Council Meeting - Cancelled: No agenda document published for this meeting.
- 2026-06-02 City Council Meeting - Cancelled: No agenda document published for this meeting.
- 2025-12-23 City Council - Cancelled: No agenda document published for this meeting.
- 867 items ingested; brief generated from the first 160 by recency for length.