Natalie Hanson

LONG BEACH — A familiar face is returning to the Long Beach City Council — albeit for just a few months.

At a July 6 regular meeting, city councilors voted to appoint former councilor and longtime resident Natalie Hanson to the seat formerly held by Kevin Cline, who resigned his position that same day. Cline informed fellow councilors and city officials in the spring that he would be vacating his seat this summer because he and his family are moving out of the state.

Hanson will serve out the rest of Cline’s term, which was one of two council seats up for election this year. A pair of business owners, Patrick Reddy and Karla Jensen, are vying for the open seat, and will succeed Hanson once the Nov. 2 general election has been certified.

Because city council positions are non-partisan, state law dictates that it is up to the remaining Long Beach city councilors to fill any vacancies within 90 days of the seat being vacated. If they do not, the authority would then shift to the Pacific County Board of Commissioners.

With Cline’s term set to expire in just a few months, the councilors decided to reach out to past councilors to see if they would be interested in serving out the rest of the term. Hanson was the sole former councilor to express interest, and was interviewed by councilors during a council workshop on June 21 before officially being appointed to the position at last week’s meeting.

Born in Chicago, raised in Sacramento and a Long Beach resident for nearly 20 years, Hanson worked for 22 years until her retirement as the director of governmental affairs for the California Public Utilities Commission, which included lobbying the California State Legislature and even Congress in Washington, D.C. for a year.

Hanson, 80, served on the city council from 2013-17, occupying the seat that she now once again holds. Hanson also served on the Long Beach Planning Commission before serving her initial term on the city council. Councilor Sue Svendsen called Hanson “one of the most civic-minded people I have met” in an Observer column published in May celebrating Hanson’s 80th birthday.

“She has not only been involved in so many areas of the community but she has influenced the direction of every organization she has been involved in. She is an inspiration and a treasured resource,” Svendsen said.

In her years on the peninsula, Hanson has been active in a number of community organizations and initiatives, including as a member of the AAUW Willapacific branch and the Peninsula Lions Club, a trustee for the Long Beach Elks, and a lead volunteer for the Food4Kids weekend meals backpack program, among many others.