Shelbyrae Black: ‘The city needs more parking’

Shelbyrae Black is very much a millennial candidate. She tweets out support for Democratic presidential primary candidates Senator Elizabeth Warren and South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg. She came to the interview clad in a Pod Save America t-shirt. She got her undergraduate degree in sociocultural anthropology and theater performance at the University of Washington. When asked if her youth is an asset, she responds with an enthusiastic, “Absolutely!”

“I think sometimes you have older generations who have possibly tried and failed,” she says. “I think they oftentimes bring negativity to the conversation instead of saying, ‘How can we achieve this?’”

Enthusiasm is a consistently apparent attribute when talking with Black. She’s running counter to the cynicism that often permeates politics today.

“You hear people say things like ‘Oh, politicians are all corrupt, we can’t get anything done.’ Okay, well, that’s not going to get anything done either,” she says. “And so, especially in a community where we have both here, right? We have this generation of people who have been here for decades. And I think you also see a lot of young people here as well who are engaged. And I think we need to listen to them more.”

Listening to people’s perspectives guided her development as a young adult. Raised in a small agricultural community in Washington, Black studied anthropology because she wanted to learn about cultures far removed from her upbringing.

“I went to college, and I was inundated with all these different cultures and things that I had never even heard about … I really wanted to learn about people,” she says.

After college she moved to New York where she pursued theater. A relative newcomer to the 1^st District, her and her husband relocated to Downtown Long Beach two-and-a-half years ago for his career in maritime law. Theater and anthropology may seem like unlikely areas of study for a city official, but Black sees the skill set as essential.

“So many people nowadays get their information and their history and their political opinions from film, TV, and some people, theater. And so, I really wanted to be kind of this medium where I could take people’s stories that need to be told and people’s voices who (sic) need to be heard. And I could do that in a way that is educational, (and) also entertaining,” said Black. “It’s a smooth transition from hearing someone’s story and taking in that information and then going to City Council and being their voice.”

While Black shows support for many progressive ideas—she believes housing to be a human right—she’s focusing her campaign on something else.

“I saw the number of candidates get in the race and after I looked at what they were focusing on, I was disappointed to see that my main issues weren’t at the top of their list. For me, it’s parking. If you talk to anyone in the district, you’ll see that we all can agree the city needs more parking,” she said.

Along with more parking, Black is calling for more police bike patrols Downtown, more resources devoted to cleaning alleyways, and a neighborhood library in the 1st District.

“I think that the role of city government is to make the day-to-day lives of the people who are here better, make it easier for us. And while I think it’s great to have big lofty goals, I want my City Councilperson to be working on my day-to-day,” she said.

Black chose to meet at 14th Street park to spotlight what she believes is its under-utilization.

“It’s a Saturday, and there’s a playground, and there are no kids on it. Where are all the kids, where all the parents?” she asks. “When I talked to parents nearby, they say that they don’t feel comfortable bringing their children to the park. I think there’s a number of reasons. You know, a lot of times it’s the health and safety issue, given the homeless population or the things that are happening in the park … And so for that reason I chose this park, because that’s something that I’m looking to change.”

Here’s Black:

There are serious health disparities between this district and other parts of the city. A big part of that is due to pollution. Are there any policies you’re excited to expand upon or bring to the City Council that would help improve the air quality?

We all know that the the more green space we have, the better off we all are. We’re obviously kind of at the corner of a very high pollutant area with the (Long Beach) Port with the 710 (Freeway). I think anything that city can do to help decrease poor air quality is going to be great. On top of that, I think that we need to be making sure we build more parks or more areas that we are allowing the space we already have to be utilized to its fullest extent.

Tomisin Oluwole
Fragmented Reflection I, 2021
Acrylic on canvas panel
24 x 30 inches

Click here to check out our interview with Tomisin Oluwole, a literary and visual artist based in Long Beach.

Instead of gunking up our site with ads, we use this space to display and promote the work of local artists.

Homelessness is a pretty big issue facing the 1st district. What are some of the solutions that you think can help alleviate homelessness?

I think creating a permanent residence where people can go—people get nervous about it because they think permanent and they think people can live forever. Maybe people do need a place that they can live forever. But I think there’s a lot of people who just need a little bit of a leg up. You know, I think if you look at the waiting list for Section 8 housing, and the hoops that people have to jump through and how difficult they make it to find housing, and then there aren’t enough support … And so I think (we should be) creating a space for people who are suffering from mental health issues, when they are potentially experiencing addiction issues, maybe they are really unlucky. Maybe their rent went up $900 and now they can’t afford to live there. We need to have a space where they can go and they can potentially get back on their feet. And I don’t think everyone will be able to move on. But I think that’s okay. Because at the end of the day, we’re all human beings and we’re all people. And if you talk to anyone in the district, they will tell you that homelessness is an issue. And they want to help. And so if the people who live here want to help the city needs to be helping, because that’s their job.

The district has had very low voter turnout in previous City Council elections. What are you doing now and what would you do if elected to increase voter engagement and increase turnout?

So it’s an education, it’s an access, and it’s a communication problem. So fun thing that was happening today down at Harvey Milk Park was they were registering people to vote, which was great. What a perfect spot to set set up, put voter registration. I think we could absolutely do things like that would be pretty simple. Because a lot of times, it’s just exposure to it. I think people don’t necessarily think about it unless they are prompted. We should be utilizing community areas and making sure that everybody’s aware.

Do you support the upcoming ballot measure to make the Measure A sales tax permanent?

Yes, with an asterisk. And the asterisk is: We’re really lucky enough to live in a city where people are almost happy to pay a higher rate (in) taxes. We just need to make sure that we’re using that money in the most efficient way possible and that we’re not squandering the benefit of having the support of the community. I think the city needs to be very careful in how they are using those funds. And if they are not creating the positive change people were hoping for, and you are creating more issues with the road diet and bike lanes, and if people are not seeing a positive change they’re not going to be happy. And I think we need to remember that we are really lucky to live in a city in a state where people are willing to give you the opportunity to make government work for them. And so we need to make sure that we’re focused on using that money to directly benefit the individuals who have just given it to you.

Is your campaign taking corporate contributions?

No … Is money in politics, a problem? A thousand percent. At the local level, there are a lot more ways to influence a vote when you’re on a smaller scale like the City Council as opposed to, you know, the national level. So your vote is essentially counting for a lot more. And people can be influenced, you’re only human, money is a big influencer … And that’s why I think we need to have individuals who are just citizens in the community on City Council, not necessarily someone who’s looking to run a national campaign, because people start fundraising for national campaigns years and years before. I’m not trying to run and be a politician. I’m not trying to fill the coffers for my next endeavor. I’m trying to run to help make a few changes. And I think we need to have more people like that on City Council, who are just individuals in the community who are going to go in, give their opinions, get some stuff done, and then leave, and make way for the next person.

How would you assess State Senator Lena Gonzales’s tenure as the 1st District Councilmember?

She’s incredible. She’s an incredible woman. I think she has made a lot of really positive changes in the community. I think she is, has paved the way for, you know, specifically women in politics. You know, it’s great to see somebody from the community now at the state level. You know, I think she is really smart and I really like her support of technology and the use of technology and how education coupled with with that can can really make a big difference for the future and what that holds. I think there are a lot of things that we can still improve on. I think kind of taking the benefit she’s given the community and building on that is going to be great.

How would you reduce crime in the district?

So I think that safety is always at the forefront of everybody’s mind. And I think that the Long Beach Police Department does does a good job. I think any support that they feel they need from the city to do a better job, we should we should be open to and I think, specifically, individuals would feel safer if we had more on-the-ground patrolling. I see a lot of patrols with SUVs. And I think that’s great. But I think from a safety standpoint, and it’s been proven time and time again, that when you have police who are walking the streets of the communities they’re patrolling, and they’re getting to know the residents who live there, and they’re getting a feel for the every day, they will be better suited to serve the community.

Do you think police transparency is an issue for the city? If so, what would you do to address it were you to be elected?

If you’re destroying records that are about to become public, you absolutely have an issue of transparency. To say otherwise would be silly. I think we need to be a community that feels supported and protected by the police. And I think that includes transparency about what changes they are doing and what training they are doing to help solve issues that the community has voiced their opinion about. I think we need to see positive changes in the police department. And the only way you’re going to do that is to see how they’re doing that … I think if you’re not doing anything wrong, there’s no problem with being open and honest with people. And that’s kind of how it’s always been right? If you pretend like you have something to hide, people are going to think you have something to hide. So don’t do that.

Do you think there should be more bike lanes in the district?

If we build more bike lanes, they need to be on the smaller, less crowded streets … I think making this city bike friendly is a very positive thing. But I think the reality is that Like 60 or 70% of people drive out of Long Beach for work every day. So the reality isn’t matching what the city is pushing. So the city is very supportive of new bike lanes. But I haven’t ever talked to someone who lives in the district who said, “Gee, I wish we had more bike lanes.” They ask for other things. That’s kind of a misunderstanding (by) the city, prioritizing something that they think is going to be beneficial because they want to make us a bike friendly neighborhood, which I think we’re already pretty bike friendly. But that’s just not the reality of where we live. I don’t think we should be putting in bike lanes and taking away parking. And I think putting in bike lanes in heavily congested areas is not safe for cyclists, pedestrians, or for the drivers. Putting the bike lane on Broadway, I don’t know that that was the best decision. I’d be interested to see why they chose Broadway. I think 3rd is a great street for it.