LBT Leadership

Board of Directors

Long Beach Transit is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors appointed by the Mayor of the City of Long Beach. Each Board Member is confirmed by the Long Beach City Council and serves up to two, four-year terms. Two other non-voting Board Members serve as designees of the Long Beach City Manager.

The Board meets once per month and selects its officers each December.

David Sutton

Chair

01/2023 – 12/2026
Second Term

Director David Sutton is a District 4 resident and he is the Executive Officer Finance-TAP of LA Metro. In his current role he directs the largest Smart Card regional fare collection system in the U.S. serving 26 transit agencies and oversees a diverse department of 81 contract and non-contract staff, including TAP Customer Service. Director Sutton received his Master of Public Administration and Bachelor of Arts, Psychology from California State University, Long Beach.

Director Abigail Mejia is a resident of Council District 1 and currently serves as District Director to California State Senator Lena Gonzalez. She is a graduate of California State University, Long Beach and has been an active member and advocate for the Long Beach community for many years. Director Mejia is currently President of the Democratic Women’s Study Club of Long Beach, and serves as Women’s Committee Chair for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers union (IAM). Additionally, she is a Board Member of the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition and serves on several other community boards in the city.

Abigail Mejia

Vice Chair

01/2024 – 12/2027
Second Term

Raul Añorve

Secretary/Treasurer

02/2022 – 12/2025
First Term

Director Raul Añorve is a resident of the 9th Council District and has been an active community member by previously serving on the City’s Citizens Police Complaint Commission, Grants Committee Panel for the Arts Council of Long Beach, and was a Fellow with the Equality California Leadership Program. Director Añorve works as a Paralegal for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, Safe Neighborhoods & Gang Division. He is an LBT customer, a graduate of Leadership Long Beach, and was inducted into the Equality Plaza at Harvey Milk Park in Downtown Long Beach for his work surrounding LGBTQ causes.

Director Eduardo Angeles is a Council District 3 resident. Director Angeles currently serves as the Director of State and Local Government Affairs for American Airlines in the Western Pacific States. Prior to this position, he was the Managing Director and Senior Counsel of the Los Angeles Office of Government and Regulatory Affairs practice group. Director Angeles also served as a Senior Assistant City Attorney for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office assigned to the Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) Legal Division. Prior to his LAWA position, he served as a Presidential Appointee as the Federal Aviation Administration’s Associate Administrator for Airports. Director Angeles earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his law degree from the University of California, Hasting College of Law. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the U.C. Hastings Alumni Association. Director Angeles has served as an Adjunct Faculty Member at Loyola Law School and California State University, Los Angeles and served on the State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners.

Eduardo Angeles

07/2023 – 12/2024
First Term

Director Randy Rawlings is a resident of the 5th Council District and currently works at Virgin Orbit as a Business and Customer Experience Analyst. He has experience working in the City of Long Beach’s Legislative Department and was also a Business Strategist and Freelance Consultant. Director Rawlings earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Technological Entrepreneurship and Management from Arizona State University.

Randy Rawlings

01/2023 – 12/2026
First Term

Tunua Thrash-Ntuk

05/2023 – 12/2025
First Term

Director Tunua Thrash-Ntuk is a District 8 resident and is a seasoned community and economic development practitioner with more than 15 years of experience in both non-profit and private sectors. Her strengths range from community advocacy, to asset and real estate development around neighborhood revitalization. Currently, Director Thrash-Ntuk is the President and CEO of The Center by Lendistry, which is a nonprofit organization that aims to impact small businesses in underserved communities by providing necessary business resources for success. Director Thrash-Ntuk has previously served as Senior Executive Director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation in Los Angeles (LISC LA), where she successfully expanded LISC LA’s housing, small business and lending programs and deepened its commitment to racial equity by bridging gaps in wealth and opportunity for Greater Los Angeles families and businesses. For her accomplishments and leadership, she has been awarded California Black Women’s Collective’s “Trail Blazer Hall of Fame Award,” was named LA’s 2021 Impact Makers to Watch by Stratiscope and received the Wells Fargo Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Award by Los Angeles Business Journal. Director Thrash-Ntuk is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she earned her Master’s in City Planning, as well as an alumna of UC Berkeley.

City Representatives

Joshua Hickman

Business Operations Manager, Public Works Department

City of Long Beach

City Representative Hickman is a Business Operations Manager for the City’s Public Works Department. In his current role, Mr. Hickman is responsible for managing internal services that support the Department’s diverse services, process improvements, and internal and external partnerships. He joined the City in 2017 as a Program Manager. Prior to joining the City, Mr. Hickman gained over 15 years of experience managing and delivering multiple capital investment projects focusing on sustainable development. He has a Master’s Degree in Green Building from the San Francisco Institute of Architecture and a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Construction Management.

Christopher Koontz is Director of the Development Services Department for the City of Long Beach. Joining the City in 2015, Mr. Koontz is responsible for managing the five bureaus within the department, overseeing boards and commissions for new development, historic preservation and housing production, and preparing and implementing plan, ordinances, programs mandated by state law, housing regulations and environmental reviews. Mr. Koontz has nearly 17 years of experience in development services and city planning. Mr. Koontz earned a Master’s Degree in Planning and a Bachelor Degree in Policy, Planning and Development from University of Southern California.

Christopher Koontz

Director of Development Services Department

City of Long Beach

Executive Leadership

Kenneth A. McDonald

President and CEO

Kenneth A. McDonald has 30 years of transportation experience in both the public and private sectors. He has overseen transit programs and projects and has had direct responsibility for daily service delivery at two of the largest public transit agencies in the country. He is a member of the Conference of Minority Transportation Officials and serves on several committees of the American Public Transportation Association.

Lilia Montoya has over 17 years of leadership experience in the transportation industry. She has worked in the public sector for over 30 years and comes to LBT with the knowledge of overseeing transportation budgets, operations and administration. Most recently, she served as the Deputy Chief Operations Officer at the LA County Metro Transportation Authority, where she directed operational budget functions, provided policy recommendations, and represented the agency in the community. She also served as the Director of Transportation at the Los Angeles Unified School District and held other leadership roles with two additional transportation organizations.

Lilia Montoya

Deputy CEO

Vincent C. Ewing

General Counsel

Vincent C. Ewing has more than 20 years of public agency legal experience (including 10 years advising agencies on public transportation) having served as General Counsel to the Alameda-Contra Transit District; as City Attorney to the City of East Palo Alto, where he counseled the Dumbarton Express, a regional public transit service; as Assistant City Attorney to the City of Santa Rosa, where he counseled its Transit Division; and as Deputy City Attorney for the City of Los Angeles, where he served as a prosecutor and civil litigator.

Elizabeth Brown is a highly accomplished Human Resources professional with more than 20 years of experience in HR management. Ms. Brown’s extensive career in Human Resources has seen her take on prominent leadership roles, making a significant impact in her field. Prior to her tenure with LBT, she most recently served as the Human Resources Director at Neighborhood Legal Services of Los Angeles County where she led efforts in organizational design and played a pivotal role in fostering staff diversity, equity, and inclusion. As the ED/VP, Organizational Development and Administration (ODA), Elizabeth is responsible for leading the human resources strategy and cultivating talent development programs aimed at advancing LBT’s mission, vision, values and strategic priorities. Supported by many professionals who encompass the five operational divisions of ODA: Human Resources; Talent Acquisition; Risk; Training and Development; and Environmental Health and Safety.

Elizabeth Brown

Executive Director/VP, Organizational Development and Administration

Lee Burner

Executive Director/VP, Transit Service Delivery and Planning

Lee Burner is a career transportation professional with more than 28 years of transit experience in both public and private transportation sectors. His extensive background includes management and independent consultant services to transit organizations, both nationally and internationally. Mr. Burner’s experience includes bus transportation, light rail, paratransit operations, contract development, strategic planning and organizational financial stability.

Pretty George has over 15 years of experience in Information Technology. During this time, she has successfully deployed various technology solutions ranging from business, financial and human capital management systems to security integration initiatives. Ms. George has had the privilege to manage a diverse team of IT professionals throughout her career. Her passion lies in launching new software programs and integrating existing systems into new platforms to enhance user experience. Ms. George envisions a future where technology seamlessly converges across various industries, ultimately improving consumer outcomes and driving organizational success.

Pretty George

Executive Director/VP, Information Technology

Mike Gold

Executive Director/VP, Customer Relations and Communications

Mike Gold is a communications professional with over 20 years of experience in the public and nonprofit sectors. He is a 2019 graduate of Leadership Long Beach and a Coro Executive Fellow. Gold built successful outreach, community relations and communications campaigns in Long Beach and throughout Los Angeles and Orange Counties. Gold directs LBT’s customer and community facing programs, including community relations, customer service, marketing, media relations and social media. His team also oversees all agency branding and internal communications.

Lisa Patton has more than 26 years of progressive experience in transportation and finance including fiscal contingency planning, financial forecasting, treasury management, capital planning and budgeting. Her experience includes leadership roles within private companies and public agencies. Ms. Patton has the distinction of having provided executive financial leadership to LBT through the recession without laying off a single employee.

Lisa Patton

Executive Director/VP, Finance and Budget

James Scott

Executive Director/VP, Maintenance and Infrastructure

James Scott has over 20 years of experience in transportation and logistics management and vehicle maintenance. He prides himself on being an innovative leader with proven organizational, analytical and team-building skills. His experience includes FedEx Ground, Knight Transportation Port Services and Premier Transportation and Warehousing, Inc. Mr. Scott comes to LBT directly from M S International, Inc., where he worked as the Fleet/Transportation Director managing and directing a private fleet of 175 delivery trucks and 400 non-delivery vehicles across 30 locations.

Getting Around

Routes and Services