Former Civic Group Revived

Story by Jeff Lipton

A Long Beach civic organization that was disbanded almost 15 years ago is making a comeback.

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The Central Neighborhood Block Association, which has been inactive since 1999, is being revived, with Long Beach residents Frank McQuade and Barbara Bernardino pumping new life into the group.

The civic group’s first meeting is scheduled for June 5 at 7 p.m. at the Magnolia Center, where McQuade and Bernardino hope to sign up many new members. City Manager Jack Schnirman and Police Commissioner Michael Tangney have been invited to speak at the group’s inaugural meeting.

“I will be disappointed if we don’t get at least 50 people to this meeting,” McQuade said.

The organization was first founded in 1997 and experienced a productive two years before it was left inactive, McQuade said.

“We had a good two years of community mobilization,” McQuade recalled. “But it just fell by the wayside.”

McQuade, who was vice president at the time, said he was running for a City Council seat, the president had moved away and other members had other commitments.

“There were a couple of reasons that we couldn’t keep going,” said McQuade. “When we first formed the group in 1997, it was an important time in the history of Long Beach. It was a time of transition.”

McQuade and Bernadino decided to reorganize after Hurricane Sandy, witnessing many neighbors who are still in need of assistance and how residents have helped others get back on their feet. McQuade said Long Beach residents need that kind of support now more than ever.

In addition, the purpose of the group is to allow residents to get to know their neighbors even better.

The area the group covers is National to Lindell boulevards and Park Avenue to the bay front.

But the group’s leaders are determined to hook up with other Long Beach civic organizations such as the West End Neighbors Civic Association and the North Park civic group to tackle issues on a broader scale.

“This way Long Beach groups could come together on a regular basis and share notes and bigger concerns,” McQuade said. “But first we want to make sure our group is up and running.”

Bernardino even looked into making the scope more widespread, by joining a barrier beach alliance and bringing groups together every couple of months to take on serious problems facing the barrier island, such as bay front flooding. 

One of the main issues is that the cost of flood insurance is driving residents away from the barrier island, McQuade said. Other issues they hope to tackle include anything from street safety to overdevelopment and the subdivision of property.

One of the interesting aspects of the new group is that McQuade is a Republican and Bernardino, a Democrat. They want to show that they can put aside their political affiliations to help neighbors in need.

“We’re on different sides of the political aisle, but we want to show we can come together as one and do everything possible to help and not make it in any way a political thing,” said McQuade, who unsuccessfully challenged long-time Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg for his seat in 2006.

New Central Neighborhood Block Association members will be asked to pay a nominal fee to join the group to help offset postage and printing costs, said McQuade.

He said it’s easier to get the word out now than it was when the group was first formed because of Facebook and other social media.

“We are more advanced and it should be easier to sign up people,” he said.

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