2 NAACP Chapters Pick New Presidents

The Long Beach branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People has selected Charles Townsend as its new president.

Townsend, 47, replaces Frank Berry, who decided not to seek reelection after serving as branch president for more than 10 years. Townsend, who has been a member of the association since 1982, said the Long Beach organization, among other things, will monitor allegations of police misconduct and conduct voter registration drives. He will serve a two-year term as president.

A native of Long Beach, Townsend has been an architect at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for 26 years. He was chairman of the city’s Public Safety Advisory Commission last year, and helped organize a Pop Warner Football League at Poly High School, and the Long Beach Lancers Track Club. Townsend graduated from Poly High and Long Beach City College.

* The Compton branch of the NAACP has also selected a new president. Royce Esters, 53, was elected to a two-year term, replacing Willie Curry, who had been president since 1978. Curry was selected as a vice president. Esters said the organization will work to reduce gang and graffiti problems in the city. Esters, who owns a tax accounting and bookkeeping firm in Compton, has been a member of the NAACP’s Compton branch for more than five years.

* Judge John David Lord and Judge David W. Perkins have joined the Downey Municipal Court. Lord was appointed by former Gov. George Deukmejian to fill a court vacancy. Perkins was elected to the bench in November. He replaces retired Judge Reynaldo Chaparro.

* James F. Burton of Santa Fe Springs has been appointed to the Los Angeles County Aviation Commission, which makes recommendations to the County Board of Supervisors and the Regional Planning Commission on airport and heliport matters. Burton is vice president of the Southern California Contractors Assn.

* Dr. Paul C. Helfgott has been named chief of staff at Beverly Hospital in Montebello. A neurologist, Helfgott has been on the hospital staff since 1982.

* Dr. Michael Maguire has been elected chief of staff at Whittier Hospital Medical Center. Maguire has been on the staff there since 1978.

* Gretchen Passantino has been appointed director of the Biola University Writers Institute, which is part of the La Mirada university’s continuing education curriculum. Passantino has taught in the communication and English departments of the university for six years.

* The Southern California Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation has presented Dr. Edward S. Mongan with its National Volunteer Service Citation. Mongan is chief of medicine at Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center, a rehabilitative hospital in Downey.

* Virginia L. Grebbien has been promoted to assistant general manager for the West Basin Municipal Water District and the Central Basin Municipal Water District in Downey. The agencies provide water for Southeast cities and unincorporated county areas. A civil engineer, Grebbien was district engineer for the water district before her promotion.

* Attorney Douglas W. Otto has been given the Long Beach Heritage Coalition’s Preservationist of the Year Award. Otto has been active in helping retain and preserve the city’s historic buildings.

* Roz Gordon de Lizarriturri has been honored as business person of the month for January by the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce. She is the head of advertising specialties for RozMan Advertising.

* Three Long Beach police detectives were recently honored for their work with the sex-crime detail. Jana Blair, Randi Castillo and Lianne Osendorf were given the 1990 Child Protection Award by the Long Beach Area Child Trauma Council.

* Downey Police Sgts. Mark A. Dryer and Terry A. Pruitt have been promoted to the rank of lieutenant. Police Officers Joseph F. Eggert and Phillip R. Rego were promoted to sergeant.

* Lance Carlson is the new dean of the fine arts and humanities program at Rio Hondo College near Whittier. Carlson has been a fine arts and sociology professor at the community college since 1973.

* John Valasquez has been hired as building inspector for the city of Pico Rivera. Valasquez had been employed as a code enforcement officer for the city Planning Department.

* The Rev. Christopher (Kit) Wilke has been appointed associate minister of First Congregational Church in Long Beach. Wilke was pastor of Edgar Congregational United Church of Christ in Cranston, R.I.

* A. Peter Smargon has been appointed executive director of the Los Cerritos YMCA in Bellflower. Smargon and his wife, Janet, recently moved to the Southeast area from Albuquerque.

* Mark R. Brown has been appointed general manager of the Sheraton Hotel in Cerritos Towne Center.

* Two Southeast area residents, Joe M. Castorena of Bell, and Frank Camarillo of Whittier, are among 87 students at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to receive the J.W. Dyke Scholarship Award. The $600 awards are granted on the basis of financial need, academic standing, field of study and school and community involvement. Castorena is studying architectural engineering. Camarillo is majoring in aeronautical engineering.