The Sad Betrayal of Our Beloved Mayor Beverly O’Neill

This is a story of intimidation, deceit, manipulation, and abuse perpetrated by the Mayor
and his City Hall Machine to get Cindy Allen elected to the 2nd District City Council Seat.
The coerced Mayor Beverly O’Neill to endorse Cindy Allen.
To bear down upon a woman of 90 years of age to get what you want, although she
protests repeatedly, is the precise definition of Elder Abuse according to FINRA, the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Elder abuse is "a single, or repeated act, or lack of appropriate action, occurring within
any relationship where there is an expectation of trust, which causes harm or distress to
an older person."
Last Saturday in an attempt to understand what happened, a colleague of mine called
Beverly O’Neill personally to ask her what her reasons were for endorsing Cindy Allen.
During the conversation it was reported that Mayor O’Neill said she had never met
Cindy Allen and knew nothing about her. When pressed she said she was called by
Mayor Robert Garcia, and one other man she did not recognize, who forcefully
influenced her to endorse with such statements as “Cindy’s opponent is an evil, horrible
man who will destroy the City”. Robert Garcia never mentioned my name, Robert Fox,
so the former Mayor had no idea who this “evil man” was nor had any concept of what
he had done that warranted such disdain. My friend reports that at first she refused
citing her personal policy not to endorse anyone, deciding to stay out of politics in her
elder years. Garcia kept pressuring her until she finally just gave up and “said” ok.

Hearing of this abuse, I made a personal call to Beverly O’Neill. Last Sunday I called
her. Of course, she immediately recognized me and was quite cordial. I did not start
with my concern regarding her endorsement of Cindy Allen as I wanted to get an
impression of her current regard for me. We talked about me being on her campaign for
Mayor, and my participation in Alan Lowenthal’s Campaign when it was run by Sharon
Cotrell. I passed on the sad news that Sharon had just passed away. She gave her
condolences to Sharon’s family.
Then I told her why I was calling. I wanted to know what had persuaded her to endorse
Cindy Allen for the 2nd District Council race. She said, she had no idea I was running
against Cindy Allen. I piped up and said, What? Didn’t anyone tell you who the
candidates were in the 2nd District Council race?
Her answer was “no”, and that she had never met Cindy Allen and did not know
anything about her. Why then did you endorse her I asked. She immediately
apologized and said she was so sorry and that she had broken her pledge to herself
that she would not make any more endorsements. She explained that Robert Garcia
and one other man she did not recognize had called her and said what was stated
above. She stated she had no idea that they were referring to me, as she knew me and
liked me. She knew of my participation in the City of Long Beach for the past 36 years.
Again, she apologized. She said that Cindy had called her on phone and she sounded
like a very nice person. She stated again, she had never met Cindy.
We reminisced about my founding of the Alamitos Beach Neighborhood Association in
1992, my co-founding of almost all the neighborhood associations in the 2nd District and
my chairing the Just Five Organization that worked with her developing the concept for
our economic recovery in 1994, Trade, Tourism and Technology. She again said she
was so ashamed and heart-broken and didn’t know what to do. We talked about me
being the first openly gay Chairman of the Council of Business Organizations, and
Chairman of the Council of Neighborhood Organizations, and how I had even served as
president of the Business License Fee Review Committee and president of two Police
Advisory Committees. We talked about me being in City Council often speaking on
various issues for over 30 years. She was very upset and kept apologizing. “Oh, I am
just so ashamed.”
I reminded her that she had even been to my home for dinner. “The little house next to
the gas station on Broadway and Temple” and how she and her husband, so enjoyed
the dinner. She was even more upset and shaken. She said “Oh, my goodness”
I mentioned that I had been a longtime supporter of her mother’s foundation, The
Flossie Lewis House, how the foundation had helped one of my dear friends, and she
really started to sigh. It was getting to be too much, so I stopped my litany of things we
had done together to ease her pain.
Beverly was distraught and ashamed and very upset that she had been so manipulated.
She understood that once she had given her endorsement, it would be all over the
papers and print, and that withdrawing it would serve hardly any practical purpose. She
asked me what she could do to repair the damage. My response was, “When I find
myself in trouble and in question of what to do with my own mistakes, I give it all to God,
and then go into silent prayer,” and that perhaps that would assist her in her search for
a path forward. She agreed. She again said she was so ashamed and apologized
profusely. She told me she would reach out to “her people” in the 3rd, where she lives,
and the 2nd districts to try to undo the damage done. She restated that she certainly
from now on will never endorse anyone or anything.
In the end she was hurt and dismayed that she had been so misled. I didn’t want to
bring anymore pain to her, so we stopped our conversation with words of kindness and
friendship. She had been pushed into endorsing things she did not really understand
nor have any interest in, and that this was the end of her involvement in City Politics. It
is sad to see such grief and sorrow in this marvelously gentle woman, who led our City
out of a deep recession. She led with civility, grace, kindness, and love. She is the best
Mayor the City has ever had.
 My friends, we have come so low in our local politics that the City Hall Machine is
willing to abuse a 90-year-old woman of great soul, to force endorsements from
everyone else on false pretenses, and pervert any semblance of honor and integrity in
our system.
We have a choice to make: Either we stay silent and allow this brutal, unethical cadre of
political opportunists to hold sway over our City, or we speak up and denounce the
politics of cruelty, dishonor, lies, and cover ups, which is the very essence of the City
Hall Political Machine.
No one would be worthy to take a seat that they had to lie, steal or cheat to get, and the
people would not deserve to be represented by such a person. There is still a place in
Long Beach for honor, justice, truth, and integrity. Now is your chance to vote for or
against such high ideals.