City Council kicks off ‘Long Beach Listens’ on Feb. 20

In keeping with their pledge to be more accessible to residents, the City Council has scheduled its first monthly community meeting on Monday, Feb. 21 at the West End Firehouse at 7:30 p.m.

City Council President Fran Adelson, one of three Democrats elected to the council in November, said that the council plans to hold the community meetings once a month throughout Long Beach beginning this month, part of an initiative called Long Beach Listens.

The meetings will be held in different parts of Long Beach — including North Park and the West End — to gauge residents’ concerns and to encourage them to get more involved in local government.

Adelson, who said that these kinds of community meetings had not been held in about six years, explained that the gatherings would not be run by any local community organizations.

“With this particular initiative, we don’t want to go to somebody else’s community meeting to speak,” Adelson told the Herald last month. “This is a totally independent effort, and we’re going to put information about the meetings on the website.”

According to the city’s website, the meetings will take place at a different location every month and provide residents with an opportunity to meet and communicate with city officials. Upcoming meetings will be taking place in the East End, North Park, and virtually every other section of the community. For more information, visit longbeachny.org.