February 20, 2013 at 6:30pm
Bungalow Building
727 Pine Avenue
Meet the Candidates:
Originally from Northern California, Katie Gaston moved to Long Beach to
attend CSU Long Beach as a President’s Scholar, studying Organizational
Communication. Through her service in Student Government and administrative
task forces, Katie co-founded an organization promoting mental health awareness
and positive self-esteem. Now recognized on 3 CSU campuses, HeadSTRONG
encourages students to focus on self-care while engaging in their studies. Post
graduation, Katie’s civic engagement continued as she co-founded Rotaract
Long Beach, an organization providing opportunities for young professionals to
develop leadership skills while serving the downtown community. Among regular
volunteer efforts, Rotaract raised over $6,000 for charity through hosting the annual
Great Sand Sculpture Contest and provided over 50 clean-water filters to Haitian
families. Professionally, Katie works as an Operations Team Lead for Central
Desktop, a collaboration-software company based out of Pasadena, CA.
Weston LaBar graduated from the University of Vermont with a Bachelor of the
Arts in Political Science in 2008. He spent one year as a marketing director in the
private sector before entering the arena of public policy. From 2009-12 He lived in
his home town of Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, where he held the position of Director
of Government Affairs to the Pocono Mountains Association of REALTORS® and sat
on over a dozen board of directors, overseeing a wide-variety of issues and sectors,
including the Monroe County Housing Authority and Monroe County 2020 Strategic
Plan Taskforce to name a couple. While with the REALTORS®, Weston ran the most
successful Political Action Committee in Northeastern Pennsylvania and gained a
reputation as being one of the most well respected visionaries in his vicinity. He
began private campaign and PAC consulting in 2011 with several communications
firms, before moving to Long Beach, California, and founding Political Advocacy
Consulting, Inc. in April of 2012. Weston secured contracts with several chambers
of commerce in Los Angeles County, including the Long Beach Area Chamber
of Commerce, to run the public policy and economic development arms of the
organizations to help advocate for business at the local, state, and federal level.
PAC, Inc. is a Public Affairs and Political Strategy Firm that works with pro-business
organizations, PACs, and candidates throughout the country.
Voting will occur at the membership meeting. More meeting details to follow!