Community Corner

Hercules-Raised Publisher Dies In Car Crash

Beach Post, Inc. publisher Shaun Lumachi, who was raised in Hercules passed away over the weekend.

Shaun Lumachi, 33, a prominent Long Beach businessman and Hercules native, who attended Pinole Valley High School, died in a car crash on Saturday.

Lumachi was attending the National Workforce Association's conference in Florida over the weekend, when he was fatally injured in an automobile accident, Belmont Shore-Naples .

Lumachi was a longtime advocate for the Greater Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and formerly its political action committee head, was killed in a car accident Saturday while on a city business trip in Florida, city officials confirmed.

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Two other members of a regional business and workforce development group were also injured, one of them a City of Long Beach employee. City officials said both were treated at a hospital and released.

Lumachi, a Belmont Shore resident, leaves behind a wife and his family, said Third District Councilman Gary DeLong. Councilman Robert Garcia, a longtime friend, said the couple had no children.

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Details of the crash were not immediately known but DeLong said that Lumachi, whom he called a friend, was working for the City of Long Beach attending a Pacific Gateway Workforce Development conference in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The LBPost.com, of which Lumachi was the publisher, stated in a short note late Saturday: "For the respect of his wife, family, and friends, the details of Shaun's passing will be held until the Long Beach Post feels the moment is more appropriate."

On Lumachi's Facebook page at about 2:30 p.m., the following, in part, was posted by family friend David Sommers:

"I am very sorry to share this news with Shaun Lumachi's community of friends and family. Shaun was killed in a car accident outside of Key West, Florida earlier today.... Shaun's wife and family have only recently learned of this tragedy, and on their behalf, I would ask that you keep them in your thoughts and prayers today."

The Press Telegram quoted Sommers stating how the car crash occurred:

David Sommers, a close friend of Lumachi ever since the two attended Sacramento State University together, said that Lumachi and two others traveling to the conference had taken a late-night flight to Florida and driven to Key West for the day before the conference was to begin.

On Saturday morning, the group was returning to the mainland along a causeway when a pickup truck going the opposite direction veered across the road, Sommers said. The driver of Lumachi's vehicle swerved and the truck hit the back, left side of the car, where Lumachi was sitting.

Sommers told the paper he'd known Lumachi since their days at Sacramento State. Lumachi grew up in the Oakland-area town of , where he attended Pinole Valley High School (Class of '96). Sommers said Lumachi transferred to the university from community college in Spring of 1999 and immediately started an Italian-American club; he graduated in 2001.

Naples and Belmont Shore's representative on the City Council expressed sorrow at his passing.

"It is absolutely awful.  Shaun was a great friend and I will miss him very much," DeLong said Saturday afternoon via e-mail. "My heart goes out to his wife Dezire and their family."

Lumachi has spent years working for the Greater Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, said to be the largest south of San Francisco. The Chamber's website provides a lengthy biography, including this:

"As president and founder of Chamber Advocacy, Shaun Lumachi maintains results-driven government affairs efforts for organizations throughout California. Shaun secures community involvement to develop and advocate legislative priorities, serves as a resource on issues impacting the client's communities, and implements effective communication strategies."

 Randy Gordon, CEO of the Chamber and Lumachi's employer, provided the following quote that the City released:

"Shaun was an incredibly bright and creative young man who worked for the Long Beach Chamber for the last 10 years as our Public Policy consultant," stated Gordon. "His advocacy efforts brought our Chamber many accolades and recognitions from local, state and national business leaders as well as elected officials."

He added: "Shaun was like a third son to me and this is such a tragic loss of a wonderful young man who left us far too soon. I will deeply miss him!"

A statement was released from the Long Beach City Manager's Office at about 5 p.m.:

"Today, there was a tragic accident involving City of Long Beach staff conducting business in St Petersburg, Florida, where they were to attend the National Workforce Association conference.  Two board members of the Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Board and one City staff member were involved in a traffic collision.  Shaun Lumachi, Chair of the Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Board, did not survive his injuries.  The other two members, Workforce Investment Board member Larry Rice and City staff member Erick Serrato, were brought to the hospital but have since been released. 

 “The City of Long Beach has lost a valued member of the City’s family today, and a loved and respected leader in our community,” said Mayor Bob Foster.  “Our hearts grieve for Shaun and his family.  This senseless tragedy has taken an incredible human being from us much too early.”

Further from the Chamber's website: "Since founding Chamber Advocacy, Shaun has worked to sponsor legislation at all levels of government, activate local communities on over 1,200 issues, and builds and maintains a grassroots advocacy Web site portal for each client."

The Chamber does not state what year Lumachi began the advocacy foundation but in 2007, Lumachi co-founded the online publication, Long Beach Post, which covers city news, government and sports. The co-founder was Robert Garcia, an aide to then-Councilman Frank Colonna.

Again, the Chamber's website: "Lumachi is an active member of the Long Beach community serving as a member of nearly a dozen nonprofit boards of directors. He also serves the Long Beach community as the co-founder and publisher of Long Beach’s second-most-read media publication, the Long Beach Post. Shaun and long-time friend, Long Beach City Councilmember Robert Garcia, founded the company in 2007. Councilmember Garcia left the day-to-day operations of the company in December 2008 to run successfully for elected office."

Lumachi once headed the Chamber's Political Action Committee.

Of his on-line publication, Lumachi declared that it is the second-most widely read city publication and vowed this year to grow it into the largest by 2015.


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