New Councilmember Tunua Thrash-Ntuk was sworn in Tuesday during a ceremony inside a Long Beach council chamber packed with friends, family and other supporters.
“I stand before you with an immense gratitude and a deep sense of responsibility as the incoming and only member of the Long Beach City Council freshman class for 2024,” Thrash-Ntuk said.
Thrash-Ntuk who now represents the 8th City Council District, which covers portions of Bixby Knolls and North Long Beach. She won the seat following a victory in the March 5 Primary Election with 55.9% of the vote. She replaces the termed-out Councilmember Al Austin, who left office on Dec. 10.
The brief ceremony was preceded by a private reception held earlier inside the city’s Port Administration building next door. Seated or standing around a sleek diorama of Long Beach’s port, labor leaders, mayors and other dignitaries cheered on a succession of speeches in Thrash-Ntuk’s honor.
“Tunua’s election is more than just a win, it’s a declaration for the future,” said Yvonne Wheeler, president of the L.A. County Federation of Labor. “… She’s a change that we have been waiting for, and I (have) waited for, for years in this district.”
Several summed up the day as one that was a long time coming. Thrash-Ntuk ran in 2020 but lost, despite endorsements from top Democrats across the region and state, including state Sen. Lena Gonzalez and then-councilmembers Rex Richardson and Roberto Uranga.
“This is one of the best shots North Long Beach has had in a very long time,” Richardson, who is now mayor, said.
From a lectern inside civic chambers, Thrash-Ntuk addressed some of her remarks to North Long Beach residents but also toward the many volunteers in the audience, invoking the names of those who worked to build her political power base. She also vowed to work to get her district a bigger share of city services.
With experience in urban planning and housing, Thrash-Ntuk ran on a platform of filling vacant storefronts, reducing homelessness and quickening response times by firefighters and police.
In her campaign she pitched an expansion of Long Beach’s microloan program and on the creation of a North Long Beach Economic Development Plan alongside neighbor Councilmember Joni Rick-Oddie.
“I can’t imagine anyone else I want sitting next to me on the dais, making decisions right alongside me,” Ricks-Oddie said. “It’s been a little longer coming than we had anticipated, but you are so deserving.”
In the same ceremony, returning council members Cindy Allen and Suely Saro swore in for their second term, while councilman Daryl Supernaw, who did not attend due to illness, is set for a third and final term.
And 7th District Councilman Roberto Uranga was unanimously chosen as vice mayor.
If you live in the eighth district and would like to contact your newest elected official, call her office at 562-570-6685 or email [email protected]. For more information, click here.