Steven Neal, senior pastor for LIFE Gospel Ministries, will serve as the next president of the five-member Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, officials announced Monday.
Members of the commission also elected Sharon Weissman as vice president and Bobby Olvera Jr. as secretary of the board. Each July, commissioners select a president and two board officers to serve one-year terms.
The commission’s new officers will begin their terms on Aug. 10, when outgoing commission president Frank Colonna will ceremoniously hand the gavel to Neal during the board’s regularly scheduled meeting.
Neal represented North Long Beach on the City Council from 2010 to 2014. He’s a longtime community member, and co-founder of the Economic Policy Impact Center, a nonprofit agency working to advance opportunity for working families.
He also serves as executive director of the Long Beach Collective Association, and he has served on the boards of Long Beach Transit and the Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network.
“It is an honor to serve as president of the Board of Harbor Commissioners and I look forward to continuing our efforts to ensure the Port of Long Beach remains a leader in trans-Pacific trade,” Neal said in a statement. “The port is a vital economic engine for our city, our region and the nation, and I will work with my fellow Commissioners, Port executives and our many partners to continue advancing our zero-emissions goals and community outreach while bolstering our reputation as the Port of Choice.”
Appointed to a six-year term in July 2019 by then-Mayor Robert Garcia, Neal was unanimously confirmed by the City Council as the 70th appointee to the board since the commission was established in 1925. He was appointed to a second, six-year term in April 2025 by Mayor Rex Richardson.
Under the City Charter, the board sets policy for the port and directs the port’s Chief Executive Officer, who leads about 600 employees in developing and promoting the Port of Long Beach.