Long Beach Utilities Board Welcomes Charlie Parkin
Published on July 24, 2025
Contact: Joy Contreras
Public Information Officer
Phone: (562) 355-1201
Email: joy.contreras@lbutilities.org
Long Beach Board of Public Utilities Commissioners Welcomes Charles Parkin
Former City Attorney Charles Parkin will serve as the incoming commissioner, succeeding commissioner Bob Shannon
LONG BEACH, CA — On July 24, 2025, former Long Beach City Attorney Charles Parkin joined the Long Beach Board of Public Utilities Commissioners succeeding former Utilities Commissioner Robert (Bob) Shannon.
Mr. Parkin served the City of Long Beach (City) for 38 years before retiring in 2022. He began his service to the City in—what was then known as—the City’s Oil Properties Department. Upon finishing his law degree at Pacific Coast University School of Law in 1995, he joined the City Attorney’s Office. Mr. Parkin was elected City Attorney in 2014. During his tenure in the City Attorney’s Office, Mr. Parkin was Deputy City Attorney assigned to the former Long Beach Water Department. Mr. Parkin has said he found water law to be “a great experience – complex and important.” On April 22, 2025, Mayor Rex Richardson appointed Mr. Parkin to the Board of Public Utilities Commissioners.
“We are thrilled to welcome Charles Parkin to join us as commissioner,” says Board President Gina Rushing Maguire. “Charlie brings decades of legal experience that will greatly benefit the Board, the department, and the Long Beach community.”
Charlie graduated cum laude from Pacific Coast University School of Law and received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach. Charlie is a lifelong Long Beach resident.
“My years of service with the City of Long Beach has given much pride and confidence in good governance, accountability, and transparency. I look forward to supporting the city that has given me and my family so much, especially in this new capacity. Thank you to Mayor Rex Richardson for his nomination and the Board for their support,” says Charles Parkin, new commissioner of the Board of Public Utilities Commissioners.”
Commissioner Parkin succeeds Commissioner Shannon, who was first appointed to the Board of Water Commissioners by Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster in April 2014. Commissioner Bob Shannon completed his tenure as commissioner on June 27, 2025. Mr. Parkin’s first day on the Board was July 24, 2025.
Board of Utilities Commission meetings are held on the first and third Thursday of every month at the Long Beach Utilities Administration Building, 1800 East Wardlow Road. Commission meetings begin at 9:00 AM and agenda items can be found online LBUtilities.org.
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