Nigel Lifsey has lived in Long Beach since 2009. He grew up in Los Angeles before attending Boston University on a scholarship, where he graduated in 2006 with an undergraduate degree in economics. 

According to his Linkedin profile, he worked for Deutsche Bank for nearly six years before being hired on at his current job as a portfolio accountant for Post Advisory Group, a $17 billion junk bond firm in West Los Angeles.

In 2018, he co-founded Urban Society Long Beach, an entertainment company that hosts events and provides DJ services for private events.

Owing to his educational background, the 35-year-old became interested in government after learning the role it plays in economics. One motivating factor he cites for running for City Council was “concern” over the leadership of current Second District Councilmember Jeannine Pearce and specifically her conflict of interest related to the Queen Mary.

Lifsey lists parking, affordable housing, and homelessness as his top priorities if elected. He has promoted some unique proposals, including reconfiguring Broadway and Third Street into one-way roads and de-privatizing scooters like Lime and Bird and replacing them with a fleet run by Long Beach Transit. He is also a supporter of redirecting more city funds to address homelessness and sanitation, and scaling back taxes he believes disincentivize commerce.

What will be your biggest public safety priorities if elected? Do you support increasing police presence? Are there other programs or policies that are not law enforcement-based that you believe can decrease crime? 

I am not necessarily supportive of increasing the police presence as far as patrols.  However, I believe we can improve officer-community relations by increasing their presence at neighborhood association meetings, school assemblies, etc. I believe it is important to associate officers with more friendly, fun environments in order to reduce some of the tension that can arise when interacting with officers in more stressful emergency situations.

Do you believe money in local elections plays an undue influence? Would you be in favor of reforming officeholder accounts or even abolishing them?

I do believe money plays an undue influence in local elections. I personally do not have a lot of political and financial connections, which has significantly inhibited me from getting my name out to the masses. I believe that (if) I was on equal financial footing with my opponents, I would have a greater chance of running a successful campaign.

The mayor indicated in January that the city is committed to preserving the Queen Mary despite needing what is estimated to be over $200 million in repair work. A $23 million city bond for repair work has already been spent. Do you believe the city should continue to invest in the ship and how?

I very much enjoy the Queen Mary, and I believe it is an important economic asset to our city. However, one issue I have with the Queen Mary is the barriers to entry, even for residents. The cost of parking, plus the cost of admission, can be cost prohibitive when there are so many other entertainment and dining options in Long Beach. I think we should invest in the ship, but also make it more of a destination for local residents by removing those surcharges for Long Beach residents. I believe this would increase visits to the ship and improve its viability as a business operation.

Projected city budgets for fiscal-years 2021 through 2023 show shortfalls of up to $22 million primarily due to ballooning labor, pension and insurance costs. Would you vote for cutting city services in order to alleviate this deficit? If not, how would you deal with it?

Yes, I would vote to alleviate the deficit by asking employees to contribute more to their pension plans.

LiBRE: Despite the passage of AB 1482, we are working with multiple residents in District 2 facing a 60-day notice right now. There is no proper enforcement of the law and since it’s new there’s no cases tested in court yet. There is also a loophole that allows landlords to evict a tenant if they want to “substantially” remodel the property. We would like to know what you would do to protect tenants from unjust evictions? Note: The City Council passed an ordinance to close this loophole on Feb. 18. 

I would like to open the conversation with the other councilmembers about revisiting the renter’s bill of rights, and discuss what additional tenant protections can be put into place to ensure that renters do not face unfair evictions.

Everyone In (Long Beach): Homelessness has been identified as an issue of top importance by Long Beach residents. How will you, as the District Two Councilmember, step up to help end homelessness in your community and in Long Beach as a city?

Our budget is a reflection of our priorities. And we hear so much talk about the homeless crisis. Well, if that is true then we must treat it as such and increase and improve the amount of homeless services and facilities that we have. I would plan to go through the budget and discuss where we can reallocate some existing funds toward homeless services. Additionally, the issue of poverty is a macroeconomic issue that we must address by improving the overall economy of Long Beach.

Surfrider Foundation, Long Beach Chapter: Given the certainty of increasing sea level rise how does the candidate feel about the City’s efforts to build new structures on the beach, such as the Jr. Lifeguard tower, the Belmont Pool, and the expanded Alfredo’s concession stands?

Our beaches are the largest recreational spaces that we have in Long Beach, so I am for activating our beaches and making them safe spaces for residents to enjoy. I also think if engineers are responsible and transparent about the potential environmental impacts on the beach, we must ensure that those impacts are minimal to zero before we continue to overdevelop our beaches with new structures and businesses.

Long Beach Transportation And Parking Solutions: What are you willing to do to fight for a comprehensive Parking Plan that uses modern parking planning, data, and professional evaluation to balance the needs of drivers with other modes of transportation?

Parking is by far the biggest complaint that is voiced to me. I have a fairly simple short-term solution, which should not be too time consuming to implement. I would like to see neighborhood establishments that have parking lots (e.g. churches, grocery stores, etc.) open up their parking lots to residents during the overnight hours outside of that establishment’s operating hours. This would alleviate the parking congestion during the overnight hours without impacting the business owner’s need for customer parking. In the long-term, we must attract more businesses and jobs to Long Beach, and further incentivize and encourage those businesses to hire local Long Beach residents. This would serve to reduce the dependency on cars entirely and reduce the need for parking.