Livengood looking for a new post

Andrew Edwards

Longtime Planning Commissioner Tom Livengood is looking for a new

job.

Livengood, a retired administrator from Long Beach City College,

is seeking a spot on the Ocean View School District Board.

He served on the Planning Commission for about a decade and half.

But if voters give Livengood their approval, he may trade those

duties for a seat on the board.

“I’ll see how it works out, but if elected to the school board

I’ll probably step off the Planning Commission if I felt I couldn’t

handle it,” Livengood said.

If he loses his bid, Livengood said he would retain his commission

membership.

During his tenure on the commission, Livengood, a past president

of the Amigos de Bolsa Chica, built a reputation as an

environmentally-friendly member of the body who also kept up good

relations with Surf City business owners. Livengood is a past

president of the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce and recently

supported the plans for Pacific City, the large-scale waterfront

development approved by the City Council in June.

“I kind of put my category as a human being,” Livengood said,

brushing off the label of environmentalist.

Livengood said he supported the school board’s decision to declare

its 15-acres of the Bolsa Chica mesa surplus property, primarily

because he thinks a possible sale would be a good deal for Ocean View

schools.

“The millions of dollars that, that can be sold for, and has to go

to facilities improvements and so forth ... frees up general funds

for the classroom,” he said.

Livengood is running with incumbent Barbara Boskovich. So far, the

pair have acquired endorsements from the Ocean View Teachers Assn.,

the California Organization of Police and Sheriffs and all six

sitting City Council members.

Councilwoman Jill Hardy, who worked alongside Livengood when she

was a planning commissioner, recalled that he did his homework before

coming to meetings.

“He really did a lot of research, and came well-prepared,” she

said.

Livengood touted his 35 years as an administrator at Long Beach

City College as an experience that has prepared him for the board.

One of his duties was to coordinate a report on the school’s finances

for its accreditation -- a task that required him to get students,

teachers, administrators, staffers and members of the public to agree

on a report.

If elected, one of his goals on the board would be to try and

foster a similar sense of cooperation on the school board.

“I would work hard to be part of a team on the board,” he said.

“We may not always agree on the issues, but I would really work hard

to make sure all five members are working together.”