Three candidates filed paperwork before last week’s deadline in hopes of replacing incumbent Long Beach Community College Board of Trustee Doug Otto, who was elected to the Long Beach Unified Board of Education in March.
Herlinda Chico, who works as a field deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn; Dick Gaylord, a Belmont Shore-based realtor; and Lee Loveridge, a community college professor at Pierce College in Los Angeles are all vying to replace Otto, who has held the Area 4 seat since 2004.
The other open seat this November is held by Board President Vivian Malauulu, who was the only candidate to file for the district’s Area 2 seat.
Both Chico and Gaylord filed on last Friday’s deadline to submit paperwork outlining their intentions to run, but both had announced they would seek the seat well before August.
While Los Angeles County election officials said that Chico had yet to file any financial disclosure forms, Chico said her treasurer did file forms before the last filing deadline in June. She estimated that she’d raised nearly $50,000 and said she has a goal of doubling that before November.
Similarly, there were limited financial documents available for Gaylord’s campaign. The county provided copies of financial contributions made to his campaign through December 2019, which showed he had raised about $7,000, mostly through private and real estate industry contributions. However a member of his team said Tuesday that the campaign had raised about $45,000.
“We just wanted to make sure everything was wrapped up nicely with a bow before we handed it into the county,” a representative from the campaign said.
Loveridge filed his intent to run earlier last week and said that he hadn’t seriously considered running for the open position until the spring. He previously taught at LBCC before taking a position at Pierce College as a professor of physics and astronomy.
He said that as a resident of the city for about 40 years and a previous employee of the school he would bring the type of experience to the job that his competitors might lack.
Loveridge said that he has yet to start fundraising seriously, but will start in earnest if he’s able to gain the endorsement of the campus faculty.
“Without their support I don’t think I can mount much of a campaign but with it I think I’m the best candidate,” Loveridge said.