Aide Chosen to Fill City Manager’s Job

LONG BEACH — The City Council has chosen Long Beach’s No. 2 administrator, Henry Taboada, to replace his boss, James C. Hankla, as city manager when Hankla retires at the end of the year.

After a nationwide hunt for a new manager, Taboada, 59, won unanimous endorsement from elected officials at a council meeting Tuesday night. He will serve as the city’s first Latino city manager, according to city spokesman Greg Davy.

Taboada has worked as a civil servant in the city for 23 years and has a master’s degree in public administration from Cal State L.A.

He has overseen the city’s administration since August, when Hankla began juggling his City Hall work with his duties as the new executive director of the Alameda Corridor rail project.

Although city officials said Taboada faced tough competition for the post, the decision to pick a political insider should come as little surprise. Long Beach has chosen only one outsider to run its administration in the last 49 years.

Hankla was lured away from Los Angeles County, where he worked as chief administrator. However, he was no stranger to Long Beach, where he began his Civil Service career.