Talks with Tim is an unconventional Q&A by Tim Grobaty, who has been a columnist in Long Beach for nearly 50 years. Reach him at [email protected].
Kristina Duggan is the District 3 representative on the City Council. The district includes Belmont Shore, Naples and Belmont Heights. She assumed office on Dec. 20, 2022.
Tim Grobaty: You know the drill.
Kristina Duggan: Yes, I’ve read your interviews and you want me to ask myself the first question. I haven’t really thought of one. Maybe, “Where have I been for the last few days?” I just got back yesterday from Hawaii where I was visiting my daughter. She’s at the University of Hawaii studying marine biology.
Q: That’s what I wanted to be when I grew up. I loved taking marine biology at Wilson and LBCC. But math got in the way.
A: That’s right, you’re a Wilson guy. Both of my children went there.
Q: What did you and your daughter do during your visit?
A: We spent a lot of time diving with sharks. I’ve done it several times with her. We don’t do it with cages, we just swim with them.
Q: Hammerheads?
A: No, they’re supposed to be shy. Mostly Galapagos sharks.
Q: Don’t they scare you a bit?
A: When they get too close you have to get your foot out in front of you and move around and look dominant and they turn and go away.
Q: I guess that’s better advice than punching them on the snout. I always thought that seemed counterintuitive. I’m not gonna slug a shark. When people think of District 3, to the extent that they do, they think of Belmont Shore and Naples. What are some other parts of the district that you’re concerned with?
A: My husband Matt and I own a business on Seventh Street, so I’m part of Belmont Heights, and there’s the area around the Traffic Circle and farther north by the Brewitt Library. They need some love up there in the northern part of the district. I have a small portion of Zaferia, and that neighborhood is building up nicely.
Q: We don’t have time to tackle all of the issues in your district, so pick one: Parklets, homeless, crime or parking?
A: Homelessness. That’s the area in which we get the most complaints.
Q: Do residents just want the homeless people gone, or do they want solutions?
A: I think people want them out, they don’t want them sleeping in a car or van and using our neighborhoods as their residence. But they want them to have services, and I’m really trying to work with the council to get the city and staff to look at what other cities are doing with encampments. We need to know what the rules are. We’re gonna have a discussion about what residents are looking for and making it less gray on what laws and rules can and cannot be enforced, because they don’t know what’s illegal and what can be enforced. It’s the behavior that needs to be enforced; it’s not criminalizing homelessness, that’s not a crime, but behaviors that are crimes should be enforced.
Q: What do you do with whatever spare time you have between your council work and your day job? [Duggan runs operations at her husband’s business, Dr. Duggan and Associates, which has four offices, including ones in Cerritos, Seal Beach and Los Alamitos.]
A: I’m rowing as much as I can. I need to get back into a routine and get on a team again. I rowed in 2019 at Head of the Charles. It’s the biggest head race in the U.S. Two, three days of racing. It’s just amazing. I didn’t start until I was 37. I’m not a college rower. It’s my passion and the way I keep fit.
Q: Have you always lived in Long Beach?
A: I was born at Memorial, but my family moved to Simi Valley, where I went to school. I moved back to Long Beach with my husband in 1999,
Q: Where do you live now?
A: In Belmont Shore, on Broadway. I live on Broadway and I work on Broadway.
Q: What are you reading?
A: Oh my gosh, right now I’m reading so much news. I listen to a lot of podcasts. My favorite is Hidden Brain, but I also like American History Tellers and 10% Happier.
Q: Any TV at all?
A: Not much. I watch “Blacklist” sometimes because my husband likes it.
Q: I like James Spader, but the rest of the cast are horrible actors.
A: Yes, when Elizabeth Keen died my husband said, “Thank God.”
Q: And music?
A: I played piano growing up, so I listen to a lot of Chopin and Beethoven. But I also like Ed Sheeran, the Avett Brothers. I saw Taylor Swift, and while she’s not my favorite, when you listen to her music you realize she’s perfect for young girls. And I like music from the 1980s. I was into Duran Duran. Not Cyndi Lauper.
Q: Let’s examine why you don’t like Cyndi Lauper.
A: No comment. Keep working and someday I’ll tell you why I don’t like Cyndi Lauper.