Long Beach City Council confirms Colonna, Lowenthal appointments to Board of Harbor Commissioners

The Long Beach City Council on Tuesday voted unanimously to confirm Mayor Robert Garcia’s appointments of Frank Colonna and Bonnie Lowenthal to the Board of Harbor Commissioners, which oversees the Port of Long Beach and the staff of the City’s Harbor Department, the Port of Long Beach said on Wednesday.

Colonna and Lowenthal are both former City Council members; Lowenthal is also a former state Assembly member and Long Beach Unified School District Board Member. Their first meeting as Harbor Commissioners is set for Aug. 14.

Colonna will fill the seat of Commissioner Doug Drummond, who was appointed to a partial term of four years in 2011 and was reappointed in 2015, with the intent to retire in August 2017. Colonna’s term runs into 2021. Lowenthal is appointed to a six-year term; she is replacing Commissioner Rich Dines, who joined in 2011. Harbor Commissioners are appointed by the mayor to a maximum of two six-year terms.

Frank Colonna is a 3rd District resident and has been a real estate professional and business owner in Long Beach for more than 30 years. He served two terms as Council member and two years as Vice Mayor. He is currently on the Economic Development Commission.

Bonnie Lowenthal is a 2nd District resident and has been an active leader in the Long Beach community for decades. A licensed family counselor and mental health consultant, Lowenthal served as Vice Mayor while on the City Council as the 1st District representative. She also chaired the Select Committee on Ports and Transportation Committee as a state Assembly member.

Lowenthal and Colonna will be the 68th and 69th Long Beach Harbor Commissioners since the current commission structure was formed in 1925. Lowenthal’s appointment to the commission makes her the seventh woman appointed and marks the first time in the Port’s history that the five-member Board has four female members at the same time.