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Long Beach news

The Long Beach City Council, it turns out, couldn’t stay away from work for long. Members are cutting their summer recess short to tackle two weighty items Tuesday.

First up: a mid-year report found the city must pull roughly $27 million from savings to cover its current budget deficit.

That includes $16.5 million from the city’s $50.1 million emergency reserve — money meant for earthquakes, Achaean invasion and other general calamities, not something as tepid as a budget gap. It’s the first time the city has touched that fund since the worst of the pandemic, a sign of just how tight things have gotten.

And that figure, which covers this year’s city budget, doesn’t even account for the cuts Long Beach’s top officials have spent months describing as “inevitable” in the next budget year, which starts in October.

With reserves at their lowest point in years and little cushion left for another rough one, city leaders are set to unveil the 2027 budget on July 30 with what City Manager Tom Modica warned will bring “very difficult changes” for residents and city staff alike. What those changes may look like, he hasn’t said — only that service cuts (they prefer to use the word “reductions”) are coming.

Residents who want to weigh in on the budget and on the city’s approach to it can sign up for public comment at Tuesday night’s meeting. Can’t make it because of traffic, soccer practice or a dinner reservation? No excuses necessary — call in virtually using the link at the top of this agenda or email your comment. (P.S. Any date that gets mad about civic duties isn’t worth your time and effort.)

For those wanting to review the report, the city recently dropped a PowerPoint that offers an easier read-through. 

Also on the agenda, there’s the matter of the toxic runoff fouling the Los Angeles River and Long Beach’s own waterways.

A fire last month in a Boyle Heights warehouse — and the water used to douse it — sent a toxic slurry of incinerated solar panels, lithium batteries and millions of pounds of molding food into storm drains that fed into the river. 

Days later, the Dominguez Gap Wetlands — which connect to the river miles away in Long Beach — were coated in a thick gray film, with thousands of dead fish floating belly-up at the surface.

Tests found the runoff was highly toxic, with bacterial counts for E. coli, Enterococcus, and Total Coliform spiking above 24,196 Most Probable Number — even when diluted tenfold. 

Yet Long Beach officials say they weren’t notified about the contamination until five days after the fire started, a delay they warn could have triggered a public health crisis. Hundreds of people use the river estuary and connecting coastal waters for swimming, fishing and play.

Were you or someone you know affected by the runoff? Our advice, in order: See a doctor first. Then, once you’ve got a clean bill of health, take your grievances to the City Council.

Key updates from last week

  • Long Beach may have a streetlight problem going into the budget talks this summer. According to a report released Friday, the city has a diverse system of 35,000 streetlights and a third of the staff needed to maintain them. This is compounded by a surge in copper theft that drove annual repair bills from $15,000 in 2021 to nearly $223,000 in 2025 as turnarounds for replacing the wire system tripled in time from 30 to 90 days. And that’s not including the fact that LED fixtures installed between 2016 and 2019 are beginning to fail. Grossly over budget — their electric bill outpaces operating costs — the Public Works Department will ask for more funding to address these problems. 
  • After 20 years together, the city of Los Alamitos ended its animal care contract with Long Beach, opting instead for Orange County Animal Care. The vote was taken by their city council on June 15, with the official transition taking place July 1. 
  • On July 4, 1976, the Historical Society of Long Beach placed a time capsule in the Civic Center plaza that contained artifacts and messages. On Wednesday, they’re digging it up. For those interested in attending, RSVP with Kelline Gonzales at 562-570-6291 or email [email protected]. 
  • Survey says: We talk about the Olympics too much. I jest. The city is launching a survey to hear people’s thoughts on the Games as it prepares to host 11 disciplines. The survey runs through Sept. 30 and is available in Spanish, Khmer and Tagalog. 
  • June may not have been a great month for the U.S. soccer team, but it was pretty good for the nation’s ports. Cargo through the Port of Long Beach jumped 10.6% in June, ending as the third busiest June on record. Imports drove much of the surge, up 11% to 387,025 containers, while exports slipped 1.3% and empty containers rose 14.1%. Officials tie the boost to temporary 10% tariffs set to expire July 24, forcing shippers to rush cargo through in anticipation of changes to trade policy that could see costs spike. Year-to-date, the port has moved nearly 4.83 million TEUs, up 1.7% from the same period last year and just ahead of its record 2025 pace.

ICYMI — California and national news

  • Parents push Long Beach Unified to limit screen use, technology in the classroom (Long Beach Post)
  • Why e-commerce pitches are creeping into TV news (L.A. Times)
  • The World Cup has come and gone. LA loved the tournament, with some hiccups (LAist)
  • In Santa Monica, AI tickets are underway for cars blocking bike lanes (LAist)