What’s at stake in this race

The City Council is Long Beach’s main legislative body. Its nine members are among the most powerful people in the city, deciding how best to spend more than $3 billion each year on key services such as public health, streets and public infrastructure, law enforcement and the Fire Department.

City Council members have the power to change existing laws in the city and oversee the effectiveness of departments and specific programs. Through zoning and regulations, they directly influence housing and commercial development.

Individual councilmembers also act as advocates for the geographic area of the city they represent and have small individual budgets to support local festivals and nonprofits. Individual council offices are often residents' first and best point of contact when there’s a neighborhood problem that requires the city’s attention.

What do Long Beach City Council members do? 

• Influence and vote on the city budget that funds the Long Beach Police Department, major Public Works projects and more.
• Pass or repeal local laws, called ordinances, that can then be signed or vetoed by the mayor.
• Pass or adjust city fees and fines.
• Hire and fire the city’s top executive, the city manager.
• Set the city’s agenda and priorities through directions to the city manager.

You might know them from:

City Council members’ decisions have a direct impact on residents' lives. In their most recent term, they have:

• Lowered speed limits on dozens of city streets and picked where to place automated speed cameras.
• Mandated minimum staffing for self-checkout lanes at grocery stores in Long Beach.
• Allowed cannabis sales at some special events.
• Allocated money for a deportation defense fund designed to protect immigrants.
• Voted to participate in a lawsuit against the Trump administration seeking to block roving immigration raids.
• Made decisions on how to spend tens of millions of dollars on homelessness programs — including abandoning a “tiny homes” project and switching to a new shelter provider after an audit raised concerns about the old contractors’ billing practices.

Here are some things Long Beach City Council members don’t do

City Council members don’t control the Long Beach Unified School District or directly influence the city’s independent municipal agencies, including the airport, port, utilities department or Long Beach Transit, which operates the local buses. Council members also have limited power on their own, needing a majority City Council vote to pass ordinances, approve budgets and set policy.

Outside their own small offices, council members cannot hire or fire staff other than the city manager and police oversight director, or direct individual staff members what to do.

Council members are elected to four-year terms and are limited to three terms. It’s a part-time position, and they are paid a little more than $50,000 a year.

The City Council cannot override state or federal law. Ordinances passed must not conflict with California or U.S. law, regardless of local preference. And the city charter — essentially our local constitution — cannot be amended without voter approval.

Fast facts about Long Beach City Council District 3

• The district contains Belmont Shore, Naples and other affluent shoreline communities. It has a highly engaged electorate.
• Recently, rowdy crowds spilling out of the popular nightlife strip along Second Street have been a source of frustration for residents, and the city’s increased emphasis on tourism also has made parking increasingly difficult. Residents have shown up in force to lobby the City Council for answers.
• There also is frustration over how long the city is taking to finish a major construction project, which has snarled traffic for years, at the Colorado Lagoon.

What’s on the agenda for next term

Long Beach’s budget deficit, projected at over $60 million next year, will be a major topic for all councilmembers, who will have to decide on potential cuts.

Homelessness continues to be a major issue, with frequent discussion about encampments along the Los Angeles River, in Lincoln Park and around the Billie Jean King Main Library.

Olympic preparation, including several events in the downtown area, also will undoubtedly be on the agenda.

What it takes to win

Any candidate who earns more than 50% of the vote in the June 2 Primary wins outright. If not, the top two vote-getters advance to a general election Nov. 3.

The candidates for Long Beach City Council District 3

Kristina Duggan, incumbent

Kristina Duggan

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Courtesy Kristina Duggan

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Kristina Duggan was born in Long Beach and went to college at U.C. Riverside, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. In addition to serving as a councilmember, Duggan co-owns a psychological healthcare practice, Dr. Duggan & Associates. She’s held multiple positions within the Long Beach Rowing Association and said she recently traveled to the Olympics in Paris and Milan in order to better prepare for Long Beach’s upcoming hosting duties.

In her own words

Duggan said that one of the initiatives she’s most proud of is called “Lights, Camera, No Action.” It was rolled out for District 3 in 2024 and involved offering reimbursements for residents who installed public-facing cameras or lights on their property. Footage from the cameras was made accessible to the LBPD, and the lights illuminated alleyways or front yards to improve public safety. Duggan said the program resulted in 70 new locations with lights or cameras, and now the program may be rolled out citywide.

“So it’s a great program because people get paid back for installing a safety feature that helps the public and helps the police if there’s issues,” Duggan said.

Duggan said public safety, reducing homelessness and strengthening infrastructure are priorities — but the reality of Long Beach’s budget deficit will require them to go “back to the basics.” This means looking at infrastructural projects that have been approved without allocated funds and figuring out how to prioritize them.

“That’s so important when we have potholes, untrimmed trees, crumbling curbs and sidewalks,” she said. “That needs to be our focus.”

In addition, Duggan said her district contains the most tidelands area, and it’s her district’s responsibility to pay for the upkeep. That is an uphill battle with a rising sea level, deteriorating infrastructure and increasing pollution. The tideland fund is paid for in large part by oil revenue, but it’s not enough. That’s why, Duggan said, she introduced an initiative last year that would help the city retain more of the oil revenue. If not, there will be a ripple effect, she said.

“What’s going to happen is we’re going to have to backfill money to the tidelands with the general fund,” Duggan said. “And the general fund, that’s what funds things for central, north [and] west Long Beach.”

More voter resources:

• Website: KristinaDuggan.com
• Endorsements: Long Beach Police Officers Association, Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.
• Full endorsements list here.

Go deeper: 

• Compare Your Candidates: Kristina Duggan (Long Beach Post)

Brian Cochrane, freelance journalist

Cochrane is a journalist and writer, who spent his early days as a reporter working for the Long Beach Press-Telegram. He went on to spend the bulk of his career at Variety and as an editor for pharmaceutical company Allergan. Cochrane is currently on the board of the Belmont Shore Residents Association, which he said has helped provide insight to the overarching issues facing his district.

Cochrane said that overall, Long Beach’s city structure needs to be more dynamic and responsive to the needs of its residents. “They care about their neighbors and their community,” he said. “But the efforts to get something done seem onerous to people so often, and it seems like [residents] have to do extra work to even get an answer, let alone a solution to something.”

In his own words

Central issues in his district include violence, traffic congestion, property damage and quality of life nuisances stemming from the nightlife on Second Street, said Cochrane. The current enforcement system isn’t working, he said, and assigning additional police officers may not be an option — or even the most effective solution. So Cochrane said that he, along with the Belmont Shore Residents Association, researched how other jurisdictions in California approach alcohol enforcement and assembled a policy document that outlines alternative solutions. One possibility, Cochrane said, is privately funded staff or security that’s paid for by fees that come from the local restaurants and bars.

Besides law enforcement, most city services operate under standard 9 a.m.-to-5 p.m. working hours, Cochrane said. And that makes it difficult for residents to get help in the evening or off-hours with homelessness or business curfew issues.

“So much of our city centers around [a] process that is kind of set by city people telling the community what it’s supposed to do. … I want to reverse that equation to the best extent possible,” he said.

That’s why, if elected, Cochrane said he’d host hyper-local town halls to meet with neighborhood associations and even specific residential blocks to brainstorm solutions that could be taken to the City Council.

More voter resources:

• Website: Brian Cochrane LinkedIn

Go deeper: 

• Crime, drunkenness and busking: Residents say Long Beach’s Belmont Shore is unsafe (LA Times)
• Belmont Shore says public drinking is a scourge; police hardly ever ticket it (Long Beach Post)

Rebecca Hinderer, small-business owner

A Long Beach resident since 2010, Hinderer says she’s worked as a bartender, general manager and, as of December 2020, restaurant owner of Let’s Yolk About It. That gave her a front-row seat to the inner workings of Long Beach city government as she secured a liquor license, all while walking a financial tightrope to keep up with rent and insurance.

“It was a great insight to what my grit is,” she said.

In her own words

Hinderer said her experience of building a small business, as well as working as a consultant, have helped her create a road map of ways to improve the city’s permitting process. She said increased transparency is a huge first step, such as creating government portals that could show wait times for permits, and making building and health codes less complex and more accessible.

Hinderer said small businesses pay a high sales tax to the city, so helping keep these stores and restaurants open is a win-win.

Hinderer said she’d like to see this same approach to transparency when it comes to homelessness. If the general public could see online where beds were available and for how long, that could be a meaningful starting point to help get unhoused people off the street.

Overall public safety is a top priority, Hinderer said. She said the city has an “alarming” shortage of police officers. Her district’s thoroughfares, such as on Second Street, see thousands of people out in the evenings, she said. But when there are fights or disruptions to residents, it seems there are “zero” police officers to be found, she said.

“And I’ve worked in this area for 20 years,” she said. “That’s never been the case.”

Hinderer said she wants more officers on scene in the busiest parts of the city when they’re most-needed — from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. She also wants to see more unarmed officers, privatized security or even trained local residents to fill in the gaps, particularly when it comes to assistance for the unhoused.

More voter resources:

• Website: BecksforLB.com
• Endorsements: Former District 3 Councilmember Suzie Price
• Full endorsements list here.

Go deeper: 

• Who’s running in Long Beach’s elections? (Long Beach Post)
• Long Beach warns of ‘difficult year’ of budget cuts but promises the pain will be short-term (Long Beach Post)
• Lopsided fundraising in Long Beach mayor’s race: No challengers report bringing in any cash (LAist)

Ronald Sampson, activist/design engineer

Ronald Sampson

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Courtesy Ronald Sampson

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Sampson is a full-time community activist. He said he’s a former member of Local 78 and most recently oversaw engineering fabrication for an HVAC and plumbing company. Sampson describes himself on Instagram as a “Man of God, Loving Father Who Is Promoting Unity & Optimism for the City of Long Beach.” In 2025, he submitted a request for proposal for Long Beach to open its own recycling center to process aluminum cans, scrap metal and used electronics. Sampson said a portion of the profits generated could then be donated to economically disadvantaged children and families in Long Beach Unified School District.

His initiative ultimately was denied, but Sampson said he continues to push for change.

“We cannot afford for people to keep choosing familiarity over common sense,” he said.

In his own words

Sampson said the No. 1 issue in Long Beach is public safety. He said there needs to be an equitable distribution of resources because currently, only certain portions of his district have needed safety infrastructure such as street lights and crosswalks. Sampson said he’d also push for more motorcycle police officers to better manage traffic and improve pedestrian safety.

“It should always be public safety over profit,” he said. “It seems the current … city leaders are putting profit over public safety.”

On the northern side of District 3, the city has been turning old motels into homeless shelters, Sampson said. But they also need to be providing support services for the people living there, such as partnering with local trade unions to enroll them in training and provide employment opportunities. As an example of a potential collaboration, Sampson cited a program in Willowbrook, where a high school partnered with a hospital across the street to establish a type of internship program for students.

This would also help move residents toward higher-paying local jobs, Sampson said. Because as of now, only 12% of people who live in Long Beach actually work in the city. In addition, 65% of all residents are “cost-burdened” — meaning they have to spend one-third or more of their income on rent.

More voter resources:

• Website: @ronaldsampsonlb

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