Cordero elected Long Beach Harbor Commission president
The Long Beach Harbor Commission voted in new officers last week with Commissioner Mario Cordero elected as board president.
The board rotates the positions annually, with each member moving up one step until serving as president. Cordero replaces immediate past president James Hankla on the five-member policy-setting board for the Port of Long Beach. The president's duties include presiding over the weekly board meetings and serving as the board representative in public.
The commissioners, eligible to serve two six-year terms, are appointed by the city mayor and confirmed by the City Council.
Cordero joined the commission in 2003, named by then-mayor Beverley O'Neill. He is a local attorney with a long-history in the workers compensation field. Cordero is also a political science instructor at Long Beach City College and served as vice-chair of a city Ethics Review Task Force that developed a code of ethics for Long Beach City employees.
Additional commission officers elected last week are Mike Walter as vice president, Doris Topsy-Elvord as secretary and Hankla as assistant secretary. Commissioner John Hancock, who is serving out the last week of his final term on the board, assumed the final non-officer slot. Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster is expected to nominate a replacement for Hancock to the City Council within the next several weeks.
One name being speculated on for Hancock's replacement is Doug Drummond, a former two-term City Councilman and Long Beach police commander.
