When artist and author Sage Magee spoke at a Long Beach City Council meeting on August 25, her passionate public comment gave fellow residents a much-needed laugh.
Magee was one of the many outraged constituents who packed the City Council chambers, waiting to address city leaders. Some came to express their opposition to an unpopular proposal—a threat to defund the public library department by $1.4 million. Others came to question the city’s expensive new rebranding campaign, the Long Beach Vibe City Initiative, a vague scheme that Mayor Rex Richardson spent his summer peddling.
“Long Beach is special,” Richardson told the Los Angeles Times in June. “But it’s hard to explain why if you haven’t been here . . . the best way to describe it is that it’s a vibe.”
When Magee approached the microphone, she announced that she was there to talk about budget cuts to the library. Then, she asked, “Is the vibe of Vibe City illiteracy? The city manager is proposing cutting public-facing services like it’s Detroit in ’08. This hub city is somehow chronically broke . . . I have not heard any revenue-raising ideas out of any of you in the face of these devastating public job losses.”
City leaders were not amused by Magee, but everyone else was. Residents cackled and applauded, approving of Magee’s on-point political analysis and her stylish delivery. During her sixty-second commentary, which you can watch on YouTube, Magee personified what’s special about Long Beach.