Navigator Award Finalist: Long Beach, Calif., Mayor Robert Garcia
It takes an effective leader to champion the great ideas driving innovation in government so they can be adapted locally and implemented to improve public services.
This is the 30th in a series of profiles on the 50 finalists for Route Fifty’s Navigator Awards program. The first 10 finalists were from the Government Allies and Cross-Sector Partners category. Finalists 11-20 were from the Agency and Department Leadership category. Finalists 21-30 were from the Executive Leadership category. Finalists 31-40 were from the Next Generation category. Finalists 41-50 were from the Data and IT Innovators category. Explore our complete list of 50 finalists .
At a recent cities-focused event in Santa Monica, California, hosted by the Los Angeles Times that drew a of cross-section of L.A.-area urbanists, architects and civic stakeholders, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia came with a nicely produced #ThisIsLB promotional video showcasing all the city’s great attributes.
The included many of Long Beach’s signature features—the sun, sand and the Queen Mary, of course, but also its vital port facilities, great airport (my personal favorite in Southern California), diverse neighborhoods, educational and cultural institutions, aeronautics industry and broader commercial sector. It’s a “metropolis on the water,” according to the video.
What was featured in the promotion was all very familiar because I had spent a few great days visiting Long Beach this summer during the National Association of Counties annual convention , where I also heard Garcia share his city’s story.
And the 38-year-old mayor has a good story to tell about his city, which is sometimes is overlooked in the greater sphere of Los Angeles and Southern California.
Long Beach is a large city if it were to stand on its own. With a population of around 470,000 residents, it's larger than the cities of Miami, Atlanta and St. Louis (something the mayor pointed out).
Garcia, who was elected in 2015, is a champion for digital government. Long Beach has been previously recognized for its overall digital excellence. That covers the full municipal spectrum, from the city’s technology modernization efforts , open data work , cross-sector collaborations with national organizations like Code for America and the Bloomberg Philanthropies , revamped website and fiber expansion .
Long Beach, which held its Innovation Week earlier this month, unveiled the city’s new business portal to make it easier for entrepreneurs, startups and small businesses to interact with municipal agencies (and flourish in the city).
The platform was developed by the city’s Innovation Team through a collaboration with Code for America and with the support of the James Irvine Foundation and U.S. Small Business Administration .
In the web development world, it’s always exciting to see the results of a lot of hard work culminate in the release of a new website, tool or platform, especially something as nicely built as what Long Beach City Hall rolled out with BizPort. ( Check it out and / or watch this video .)
The idea of the business portal is not a new one . Many state governments have launched them in recent years. In September, Long Beach’s bigger neighbor, the city of Los Angeles, rolled one out .
But you don’t necessarily need to be the pioneer of idea to be a good executive leader in city government.
In the case of Long Beach, its new business portal and efforts to be a technology-forward municipal government, it takes an effective leader to champion the great ideas driving innovation in government so they can be adapted locally and implemented to improve public services.
Route Fifty is pleased to include Mayor Garcia as one of our Navigator Award finalists. He’s someone who is helping to drive change in his city hall, is leading a great team and is able to tell a great story about his city that could inspire others around the nation.
Michael Grass is Executive Editor of Government Executive’s Route Fifty and is based in Seattle.
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