The Board of Trustees held a public meeting on Thursday announcing the new appointee for the personnel commission, Robyn Gordon-Peterson.
The personnel commision are unelected positions which are picked by the Long Beach City College Board of Trustees.
They have the job of setting hiring and firing practices for Long Beach City College.
Those in attendance at the meeting included Gordon-Peterson and the Board of Trustees, who shared their congratulations, and went over the process for picking an appointee.
Over the course of the meeting, the various trustees shared their thoughts on the new appointee.
Virginia Baxter said, “I think she exemplifies the best in our citizenry with her exceptional background and her commitment to fairness.”
The other trustees congratulated her and also expressed their excitement.
Trustee Sunny Zia acknowledged Gordon-Peterson’s work, “helping the homeless students associates group.”
By the end of the hearing, Trustee Douglas W. Otto was called upon by Vivian Malauulu, board president, to explain the process.
The process started with a notice looking for individuals with a set of desirable credentials, and their information is sent in and reviewed. Those people are interviewed, and then elected.
Ending with a public hearing, as Malauulu explained, “This is time set aside for the public to express their view on the personnel commission.”
Gordon-Peterson said, “I wasn’t going to announce it until you said yes, and tonight it’s yes!”
“I’m a person who is very thorough, I don’t take this appointment lightly… I’ll do an excellent job I assure you,” she said.
Regarding Richard “Dick” Gaylord, Trustee candidate and former member of the Commission, Gordon-Peterson said, “I have big shoes to fill, I mean he’s a legend … And so I promise to live up to that legend.”
Gaylord served as the commission board appointee for over 20 years
During the Area 4 Board election, one of the major issues brought up the whether or not there would be a greater focus on hiring from within.
According to a Long Beach Post journalist Stephanie Rivera, internal promotions have been greatly reduced in the last decade.
The meeting ended with an adjournment.