Long Beach HR Chief Headed to Napa

Suzanne Mason, the Human Resources head for the City of Long Beach, California, and a 25-year veteran of the city government, is leaving to head up the HR department of Napa County.

Mason leaves just as the city struggles with a $38.3 million general fund budget deficit. She was negotiating with city employees, hoping they would forgo contractual pay raises.

If an agreement is not reached, all city employees would have to take 21 days of unpaid furloughs in fiscal 2010.

Long Beach is a large city located in southern California, on the Pacific coast. It is situated in Los Angeles County, about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles. Long Beach borders Orange County on its southeast edge.

Long Beach is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the sixth-largest in California. As of 2008, its estimated population was 492,682. In addition, Long Beach is the second-largest city within the Los Angeles metropolitan area.