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Vol. 33 No. 6
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Tozer named co-chair of L.B. chamber group had become too political, and she wanted to “do good.” “Sometimes you have to put Leah Rosensweig-Tozer was yourself out there if you want to recently elected co-chair of the do good,” Tozer said about the Long Beach Chamber of Com- chamber. merce, the first woman to hold Tozer acknowledged that the post in the organization’s 140- being co-chair would put her in year history. the spotlight more than her 17 To z e r s a i d i t fellow board mem“ s h o u l d n’ t h ave bers, the most in the taken this long” for a chamber’s history. woman to be in this She also noted, position, but she is though, that runready to represent ning the chamber is the “historically a group effort by the under-represented” entire board. women-owned busi“I love the people nesses. I work with on the Tozer, 47, is a lEAh board,” Tozer said. well-known real“It’s not just me, it’s estate broker in the RoSENSwEiGcollective. Even so, I city and a former TozER will continue to City Council candistand up for the date who ran unsucright thing, even if cessfully last year it’s not the popular under the banner of Long Beach point of view.” United. She will serve as chamSam Pinto, a Long Beach fireber co-chair with James Lynch, fighter and Board of Education owner of JM Lynch Construc- trustee, said he is “very excited tion. Both were vice chairs for Leah,” noting that her “perbefore succeeding Ian Danby in sonal energy and personality mid-January. Danby, an eight- will help maintain the quality of year chamber member, had been the chamber.” the chair the past four years. “She’ll bring a lot of energy Tozer joined the chamber six like she already has,” said Liz years ago, saying she thought Nachman, owner of Rebuild the change was needed because the Continued on page 9
By BRENDAN CARpENTER bcarpenter@liherald.com
Courtesy Facebook
A piERCE-MANUFACTURED FiRE truck similar to one the LBFD wants to buy.
LBFD wants $1.7M truck, which concerns City Council By JAMES BERNSTEiN jbernstein@liherald.com
The Long Beach Fire Department wants to buy a new ladder truck for $1.7 million to replace an aging vehicle that was badly damaged in Hurricane Sandy in 2012. But some City Council members are expressing alarmed about the price at a time when the city is $500 million in debt. Joseph Miller, who became commissioner of the Fire Department in December and is a veteran firefighter, delivered a lengthy presentation about the need for a new truck at a city council work session Jan. 26.
Miller explained that Long Beach is considered a “highhazard area” by the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit that focuses on equipment safety. He pointed out that the city has 61 highrise buildings as well as schools, nursing homes and hotels. He also noted that the city is on a barrier island, and needs to be “self-sufficient in case a bridge fails.” Additionally, Miller said, new high-rises are being built, including two nine-story condominium buildings and a 10-story apartment building on the six-acre Superblock between Riverside and Long Beach boulevards.
In May 2021, Miller said, the senior mechanic in Long Beach’s garage told a committee formed to study the truck issue that the city “should start looking to purchase a new ladder truck sooner rather than later, because the damages in need of repair were increasing, as was the overall cost to keep the ladder truck in service.” For a department presentation last September, the Firematic Supply Company, which has facilities in Yaphank, designs, manufactures, sells and services firefighting equipment and works with Pierce Manufacturing, one of Continued on page 9
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love the people I work with on the board.