Doug Otto is an attorney, community leader and lifelong resident of Long  Beach.

 Service to Education:  Doug is serving his 4^th term on the Long Beach City College Board of Trustees. He served as President of the statewide California Community College Trustees (CCCT) Board. He was also President of the Community College League of California (CCLC) representing California trustees and community college presidents and CEOs. In 2010 he co-chaired the statewide Commission on the Future of Community Colleges the genesis of the state legislature’s Student Success Task Force. Doug was instrumental in developing the nationally-recognized Long Beach College Promise which was a collaboration between the Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD), Long Beach City College (LBCC), California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) and more recently the City of Long Beach and the Port of Long Beach.

 Service to the community: Doug co-founded the City’s historic preservation organizations. He Chaired the Long Beach Planning Commission and chaired the City Manager’s Downtown Business and Development Advisory Council.  He chaired Long Beach Strategic Plan 2010 and was presented the David Landry Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Service. Doug is active in community organizations, including Long Beach Heritage where he was named Preservationist of the Year. He is a charter member of the Board of the Aquarium of the Pacific, where he chairs the Long-Range Planning Committee and is currently chairing the search for the Aquarium’s new CEO.

 Service to his profession: Doug is a successful trial lawyer and was a professor of law at Southwestern University School of Law for 16 years. He is a former President of the Long Beach Bar Association and was selected as Long Beach’s Attorney of the Year (2005). He was named Small Firm Lawyer of the Year by the California State Bar Association (2011).

 Education:  Doug attended Long Beach public schools from K-12; Long Beach City College; Stanford University BA, Union Theological Institute/Columbia University, MA; University of Chicago JD.

Personal:  Doug is married to Dr. Freda Hinsche Otto, formerly Asst. Vice Chancellor of the California State University.  They have five children and nine grandchildren.

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I am a lifelong Democrat.  I believe in social justice and equal rights. I have worked for many years in the community for these principles, and these principles have been a guiding force in my life. From my college days working for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference at the “Poor People’s Campaign in Washington, D.C.,” to providing free legal advice to kids and their parents during the late night sessions of “midnight basketball,” to providing free representation and support to the victims of the famous Long Beach “Halloween Hate Crimes,” to my current tenacious effort to thwart legal challenges to establishing a much-needed domestic violence shelter in Long Beach, I have been a fighter for the rights of everyone including the disadvantaged. As a community college trustee for 14 years, I have been an advocate for all Long Beach students, regardless of their ability to pay, through the Long Beach College Promise and through many programs that open doors to diverse and needy populations.

Personal:

• Age: 64

• Married, 43 years – Frank, husband

• Two adult children – Erin, daughter ; Ryan, son, (both LBUSD and CSULB graduates)

• Native, (born, raised, and still live in Belmont Heights, LBUSD District 4) Long Beach, California (3rd generation)

Education:

• LBUSD Public Schools – Fremont Elementary, Jefferson Junior High, Wilson High (several classes at Long Beach City College while in high school and college)

• University of Southern California (left during Junior year to tend to ailing parent)

• California State University, Long Beach – BA in Music; California Teaching Credential, Secondary Education, Music

• University of LaVerne – California Supplemental Teaching Credential, Mathematics

• CLAD Certification, LBUSD

Occupation:

• Teacher, Long Beach Unified School District (1979 – Retired July, 2018); and  again as a  substitute from January, 2019 to Present.

• Wilson Classical High School (12 years) – Mathematics/Music (piano), Monroe K-8 (5 years), Cubberley K-8/Newcomb K-8, Carver Elementary, Keller Elementary (6 years)

• 7-year break to raise children (piano teacher for CSULB Foundation's Saturday Conservatory, private piano/voice/'cello teacher, music teacher for private girls' school)

• Marshall Middle School (1/2 year), Washington Middle School (4-1/2 years)

• Substitute teaching (5 years, mostly long-term positions, starting with Hamilton Junior High, Bancroft Junior High, Hughes Junior High)

• Teacher, Youth Music Conservatory, CSULB Education Foundation

Organizations/ Affiliations: (partial list)

• Former Treasurer, Teachers Association of Long Beach (12 years); Recipient, Larry Acterman Award

• Former Treasurer, California Teachers Association Bay Valley Service Center Council (4 years)

• Former Representative, CTA State Council, Communications Committee (11-1/2 years)

• Elected Delegate, National Education Association Representative Assembly (16 years)

• TALB Positions held: Finance (Chair), Negotiations (Scribe), Elections (Chair), Grievance Representative, Site Representative

• LBUSD and LBUSD/TALB Joint Committees: Strategic Plan (Communications), Master Plan, Budget Advisory, Health Benefits, High School Teacher Council, Evaluations, Middle School Reform, Carpe Diem, Curriculum and Textbook Adoption Committees

• LBUSD/LBCC/CSULB Joint Committees: Long Beach College Promise Symposium

• Wilson High School Committees: Chair, Site-Based Decision-Making; Chair, School Site Council; Mentor, Male Academy; Member, Redesign Team

• California Teacher Credentialing's Commission for Professional Competence (current panel member, judicial tribunal for teacher dismissal hearings, 15 years)

• Former Vice-Chair, CTA Republican Caucus

• Former Chair, NEA Republican Educators Caucus

•Elected member, Vice-Chair and Former Chair, 70th (formerly 54th) Assembly District Republican Central Committee

• Secretary, Republican Party of Los Angeles County

• Member of the Century Club of Long Beach

• Former Scholarship Chair and Former 1st Vice-President (Programs), Long Beach Republican Women Federated

• Delegate (blue card voting member), California Republican Party

• Member, Music Teachers Association of California

• Member, Sigma Alpha Iota Professional Music Fraternity for Women

• Member, Music Educators National Conference

• Member, American Choral Directors Association

• Member, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics

• Past-President and former Treasurer, Fremont PTA

• Former Area Advisor, Area B, Long Beach Council PTA

• Lifetime Member and Former Troop Leader (8 years), Girl Scouts of America, Greater Long Beach Council; Recipient of the Outstanding Leader Award, Marina Service Center

• Former Congregation President/ Secretary/Choral Director/Worship Leader, East Side Christian Church, Long Beach

• I am a career teacher who understands the needs of students and have extensive experience in budgets and financial management.
• I have hands-on involvement working on the Long Beach College Promise Pathways Symposium and support collaboration between LBUSD, LBCC and CSULB faculty members to maximize efforts towards seamless education
• I believe in equity and accessibility for all students/community stakeholders.
• In these challenging economic times and with our district's declining enrollment, we must keep the budget balanced without overburdening our students. Budgetary cuts must be made as far away from the classroom as possible.
• As a third-generation resident of Long Beach, I have a vested interest in ensuring that our community maintains a first-rate K thru 12 system that serves all students.
• I will seek partnerships with local businesses to assist students in becoming productive members of the community by making informed choices in preparation for college or for learning a skilled trade.
• Students should have the opportunity to choose an alternative path to college. Vocational training should be available from middle school through high school for those seeking a career in the skilled trades.
• I have been a mentor and master teacher for CSULB students preparing to enter the teaching profession.
• I have taught financial literacy and guided students through career exploration via project-based learning.

Born and raised in Long Beach, I attended Long Beach Unified schools and graduated from California State University, Long Beach. My husband and our three adult children also proudly attended and graduated from LBUSD schools. 

I have worked with K-12 students for over 25 years including experience as a former teacher in Long Beach Unified School District and Norwalk-La Mirada School District, and presently as a substitute in LBUSD classrooms. I am a former PTA President at Horace Mann and Signal Elementary School, a LBUSD AmeriCorps Site Supervisor, a Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition Board member, and a longtime active member of First Congregational Church of Long Beach. In every capacity, I have always leveraged the power of education to improve the lives of Long Beach students.

Since 2004, I have served as the Executive Director of DAYS Long Beach, a nonprofit that annually serves hundreds of students in Long Beach providing supplemental educational opportunities throughout the year.  Early in my career I worked at a Long Beach halfway house for incarcerated women. While there, I partnered with Long Beach City College, to provide the first ever court recognized parenting course for residents who were on parole to help prepare them for reunification with their families.