Tina Posterli aims to transform Long Beach politics in assembly

Long Beach’s Tina Posterli is preparing to shake up the political landscape as she vies for the District 20 Assembly seat, drawing on her experience in local governance.

“I developed my voice and my passion for this work, really, since I was in my 20s,” Posterli said, citing her first jobs in public policy and communications for healthcare and water.

Her previous positions on the Long Beach City Council and as president of the Long Beach Board of Education have prepared her for the Assembly, she said.

“These experiences really shaped me and showed me the real legislative priorities that our communities need,” Posterli said. “I’m dedicated to securing funding for education to ensure all our students get quality education and keep our property taxes from spiking, and securing funding for much-needed resources that will help with flood abatement and infrastructure to protect our communities against flooding and sea level rise.”

While on the City Council, Posterli said she helped to secure over $200 million to close the sewage treatment plant that was discharging millions of gallons of effluent into Reynolds Channel. The funds were also used to improve Long Beach’s water treatment plant and repave 60 of the city’s roads.

Posterli said she also had a part in bringing the North Shore Critical Infrastructure Project, which added bulkheads, water pumps and flood mitigation, to fruition, after not being pushed through for decades.

One of her major agenda items, if elected to the Assembly seat, would be to again secure funds for flood mitigation and combating sea level rise, she said.

Another of her accomplishments, she said, was navigating the Long Beach district through Covid-19.

“I was president of the school board during the pandemic, so (I handled) crises, working across agencies — state, federal — to obtain funding to work within intergovernmental to keep our schools open and functioning,” Posterli said.

In the Assembly, she plans to advocate to change the school foundation aid formula to encapsulate many variables to ensure that Long Beach, Oceanside and other communities receive their “fair share,” of the primary state funding for schools, Posterli said.

She also hopes to tackle antisemitism in schools, by passing bipartisan legislation, and advocating for education to start as young as possible in academics.

Another item at the forefront of Posterli’s campaign is reproductive rights, she said. She was once the assistant vice president of governmental affairs and advocacy for a Planned Parenthood affiliate.

“We have Proposition One that’s going to be the Equal Rights Amendment, and it’s on the back of the ballot, and it is going to help enshrine things like abortion into our state’s Constitution, and that’s really important at a time when political whims across the country take away those rights in one fell swoop,” she said.

Despite having the Reproductive Health Act in the state, which protects abortion rights, the proposition would ensure that reproductive rights are solidified, in case of an extremist legislator or a governor looking to take them away, Posterli said.

In terms of offshore wind, and a project she voted down during her time on the City Council, Posterli said she understands the need for renewable energy, but not cables that would run through densely populated communities. She said community input on a route for such a project is necessary.

Her track record of connections with diverse stakeholders is her strong suit in representing the communities she would serve, she said.

“I’ve driven action toward common goals and been able to get people on the same page, and I do that all the time in all of my positions,” Posterli said.