Appointed by Mayor Bob Foster, Wise was sworn into the Harbor Commission to begin her six-year term, replacing Doris Topsy-Elvord, a former City Councilwoman who retired from the commission this past summer.
"Susan Wise makes a fine addition to the Board of Harbor Commissioners, and we applaud the City Council's affirmation of her appointment," said Board of Harbor Commissioners President James C. Hankla. "We welcome Ms. Wise to the commission, and look forward to her joining the board."
Wise was born in Chicago, and grew up in Glen Ellyn, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. She and her husband Erich P. Wise -- also an attorney -- have two grown daughters who both attended Long Beach public schools. One is a physician and the other is an attorney.
Susan Wise graduated cum laude from Lawrence University in Wisconsin in 1970 and from the University of Chicago Law School in 1974.
As an attorney, Wise, 59, has experience in both commercial and civil cases, and as a Superior Court mediator. She is a partner with Long Beach-based Wise Pearce Yocis & Smith. Her husband practices in another firm. Ms. Wise is a past president of the Long Beach Bar Association and the Women Lawyers of Long Beach, and three-term president of the Long Beach Legal Aid Foundation.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, she worked for one year in VISTA -- Volunteers in Service to America, a domestic version of the Peace Corps. In Long Beach, she has volunteered on the Board of Directors for the Children's Clinic, the YMCA of Greater Long Beach, and the Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership.
