Meet Robert

 

Robert Garcia was elected to the Long Beach City Council on April 7, 2009 to serve the citizens of the First City Council District. Robert is the youngest elected City Councilmember and the first Latino in Long Beach history.

 

Robert is an administrator at Long Beach City College and has taught Communication Studies at both Cal State Long Beach and Long Beach City College as a part-time faculty member. Robert's passion for education has led him to pursue a Doctorate in Higher Education, and he recently successfully defended his dissertation. Robert also has a Masters Degree in Communication Management from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Studies from California State University, Long Beach.

He has worked for St. Anthony High School as Public Affairs Director and was part of the team that turned around the Downtown School from near closure to current success. He has also worked as a Council Aide to former Vice-Mayor Frank Colonna and is the co-founder of the LBPOST.com, a local news website.

With a vision to improve Downtown Long Beach and its neighborhoods, Robert and his neighbors founded the North Pine Neighborhood Alliance (NPNA), a Downtown neighborhood association that has successfully advocated for a new Downtown Dog Park, the elimination of check cashing businesses, and clean and safe streets. As President of the NPNA, he works closely with community leaders on public safety, economic development, and environmental issues.

He has worked with Downtown business leaders to create a successful plan to attract quality retail and has been a strong advocate for new parks and restoring our beaches. Robert has been a residential advisor to the Downtown Long Beach Business Associates and served on the Downtown Visioning Taskforce.

Having always been interested in reducing the homeless population in Long Beach and serving the less fortunate, Robert is an active board member of Children Today, a Long Beach non-profit that manages two childcare centers for homeless children. He also spent two years as an AmeriCorps volunteer, working with a local organization that assisted women who were victims of domestic violence.

Robert was born in Lima, Peru, and immigrated to the United States at age 5 with his family. He grew up in Covina, California and was raised by three strong women in his life - his mother, grandmother and aunt. Robert's mother Gaby often worked two jobs to provide for the family, and it eventually paid off. He became the first person in his family to attend and graduate college.

Robert left Covina and moved into the dorms at California State University, Long Beach. While at CSULB, Robert was elected student body president, and worked with campus administrators to create new scholarships and campus leadership programs for students.

He is also a graduate of Leadership Long Beach and is a member of Surfrider and the Sierra Club.