Ryan Lum has lived in the Second District since 2000. He and his wife Anji Bee create content for the YouTube channel Happy Healthy Vegan that boasts over 200,000 subscribers and over 33 million views. It features videos promoting the vegan lifestyle with informational dietary and exercise vlogs and product reviews. Lum is an enthusiastic consumer of bananas, claiming to eat at least 10 bananas a day. The duo also creates dream pop under the moniker Lovespirals.

Lum waded into local politics this past year with a video challenging opponent Robert Fox’s stance on the Broadway road diet, which replaced two opposing motor vehicle lanes with two bike lanes on Broadway between Alamitos and Redondo avenues in an effort to make the corridor safer for pedestrians and cyclists. Fox claims that the road diet made the street more prone to crashes. Lum argues the opposite and offered to take Fox on a bike ride down Broadway to prove the point. There’s no word on whether the outing ever took place, but the two do seem to have struck up a friendship. 

Lum’s top issue is the environment and averting the negative effects of the climate crisis. He is in favor of instituting a Green New Deal in Long Beach, which would include moving the city toward 100% renewable energy, increasing biking infrastructure, and the “removal/reconfiguration” of the breakwater. If elected, he would also make “sure meat and dairy-free food options are available at city-related events and at our public schools and colleges.” He is a strong proponent for a “housing first” model to address homelessness and is also in favor of increasing renter protections.

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’m in favor of more proactive rather than reactive policing. That means police who actively and regularly patrol our neighborhoods. In my 19 years of living in my neighborhood, I have never seen a police officer walk my street. Instead, I only see them after an incident happened and they’ve been called to respond. Would-be criminals will think twice if they know there’s a high chance of police officers nearby, rather than zero chance as there is now. 

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

Yes, 100%. I would go further and not allow enormous contributions from special interest groups, super PACs, such as (those used by) police and fire department unions. If they can (spend) virtually unlimited funds (on) the candidate of their choice, it’s unfair to the rest of us who are limited to $400 contributions. This discrepancy has the effect of these large contributors buying an election.

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’m open to looking at all ways of keeping the Queen Mary here. It is our city’s icon. Committing city funds should be a last resort though. Their hotels have high occupancy rates and the ship is a destination for both tourists and locals. I would like to see more ideas about how to better utilize the areas near the Queen Mary to increase its operator’s revenues, which can go (to) the ship’s much needed repairs. 

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?

Our city needs an audit of its current finances so we can all have an accurate account of how our money is really being spent. I’m confident a lot of fat-trimming can be done that would not impact city services or public safety. And investments in renewable energy, which should have been made years ago, need to be made now in order for the city to save money. The city’s aging vehicle fleet needs to be replaced with electric vehicles. EVs require just a fraction of the maintenance costs of internal combustion vehicles. Furthermore, the city will greatly reduce its fuel costs by moving to EVs since the city can charge these vehicles for free with solar energy captured here. So it’s going to take a forward-thinking City Council to make decisions like these that will not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also significantly reduce the city’s energy costs.

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. 

Yes, affordable housing and renter’s protections are some (of) my top issues. I am aware of long-time District Two residents that have been served eviction notices this year, after the protections of AB 1482 went into effect. And yes, I am aware of the loopholes and workarounds that these commercial property managers are exploiting so that they can make these profit-based evictions.

First, “substantial remodel” needs to be more clearly defined. In the case of these District Two residents, no building permits had yet been filed with the city. So it’s very dubious that there were truly substantial renovations planned. Evicting all the tenants while the property managers do low-impact work such painting, roofing, etc. is a clear exploitation of this loophole. Secondly, if substantial work is truly needed for the building’s safety and maintenance (and with permits secured) such that nobody can reasonably occupy the property, I would require a city inspector to determine if this were true. If so, the displaced tenants should be given at least 2 months rent compensation for the hardship placed on them. Furthermore, these tenants should have the first option to re-rent their prior units at the same rate (or close to) that they were paying before.

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?

Homelessness (is) another top issue for me, and I am the only candidate who has a plan that has been shown by peer-reviewed science to be truly effective. I am an advocate for the Housing First model, which offers permanent and affordable housing for those who are experiencing homelessness. Housing First also offers the support needed to keep people from returning to the streets. This model was implemented in Salt Lake City and resulted in a 91% reduction in chronic homelessness. Despite its success rate, this model remains on the fringe of homeless policy. I will raise awareness of Housing First among the city government and build support for its implementation here.

I want to mention that I support the removal/reconfiguration of the breakwater. The return of waves will improve water quality to the bay and beach ecosystems, and most likely reduce beach erosion on the peninsula. The Army Corps of Engineers needs to do what it said it would do, which is to RESTORE our wetland ecosystem, rather than merely ENHANCE it as they are now proposing.

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?

Climate change is my number one issue, so I very well understand that sea levels are on the rise. With regard to building at or near sea level, the city needs to look at the projected sea level rise estimates as guidance for future development. For example, for a major development such as the Belmont Pool, the city should estimate the lifespan of the development and cross reference that timeline with sea level rise. If the development would be inundated while in the middle of its lifespan, then proceeding forward with such an expensive project should be taken with extreme caution. I realize sea level rise presents us with unprecedented challenges and there is currently little regard for it in current city planning. Our city needs to be proactive and have climate change experts on staff who can advise the city and help develop a policy that takes sea level rise into account.

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?

I have lived in parking-impacted cities (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Long Beach) for most of my adult life. So I completely understand the basic desire of a person to be able to park near where they reside. In my 19 years here in Long Beach, I have seen next to nothing from the city in the way of improving parking. Any changes they have made have been for the worse. So I firmly believe the city needs to conduct (and complete) a parking study, based on solid, objective, unbiased data. The study will be the basis of a parking master plan, which will be under the direction of a parking manager to oversee its implementation.

For immediate and inexpensive relief, I propose that street sweeping changes from a weekly interval to a monthly interval in parking-impacted areas. And street sweeping hours should start no sooner than 9 a.m. These relatively easy changes would ease some of the parking strain by making more streets available for overnight parking. Long Beach makes nearly $1 million from street sweeping violations, taking advantage of the impacted-parking situation. I also support parking ticket relief for those who would prefer to donate their time to community service.