October 1, 2004

Promenade In, Keller Out
“Bridge-To-Breakwater” Plan Approved as POLA’s Executive Director Quits
By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor

     It has taken a fair measure of proverbial blood, sweat and tears, but on September 29, the Board of Port of Los Angeles (POLA) approved the Bridge-To-Breakwater Waterfront Promenade Plan developed over the past 12-month period by the EEK/Gafcon team with the input of hundreds, perhaps thousands of San Pedro residents.
     Gone are the plans to relocate San Pedro’s monuments. Gone, too, are the plans to line Harbor Boulevard with high-rise buildings that would sever the community’s view of the water that has defined it from its birth. What remains is a plan that’s remarkably faithful to a series of community efforts dating back to the late 1990s, although continued community scrutiny will still be required, cautioned activists on the Port Community Advisory Committee (P-CAC), which wrote specific conditions into its motion to approve the plan. Vigilance is required to ensure the successful integration of San Pedro’s downtown and neighborhoods in the process, and to ensure that Wilmington’s waterfront development moves forward as well.
     The approval came less than two weeks after the announced resignation of POLA Executive Director Larry Keller, appointed under Mayor Riordan, who is strongly associated with the Port’s traditional disdain for the community. A national search for his replacement has begun, with second-in-command Bruce Seaton serving as interim Executive Director.
     “The sudden resignation of Larry Keller as the Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles gives both the Port Staff, the Port Commission, and the neighboring communities hope for a new start,” said June Smith, chair P-CAC’s Coordinated Plan Subcommittee.
     “What a great day!” said Councilwoman Janice Hahn, speaking before the Commissioners shortly before they approved the plan. “We will have a waterfront that rivals those around the world.”
     Hahn spoke just after restauranter John Papadakis, who stole the show. Several speakers highlighted the decades-long nature of the community’s struggle to reclaim the waterfront. But it was Papadakis whose vision and energy unified community support for the Promenade as never before. He came to the podium, holding aloft a goblet he claimed was the best vintage he had ever served. “This is the dirt from three groundbreakings,” he announced—from the Promenade Phase one earlier this year, and from the two downtown groundbreakings in the last two weeks (See “Thirty Years in the Hole,” p. 2) “It’s an opportunity of a century,” Papadakis said of the Promenade. “Would you like to be present at the planning of the Golden Gate Bridge?”
     Some voiced qualified dissent. Joe Marino and Cathy Beauregard lead the Youth Coalition contingent expressing dismay at the lack of organized sports facilities. However, Hahn and others declared strong support for finding other locations—notably Angels Gate—free from Tidelands Trust restrictions.
     All applauded the plan’s approval.
     Councilwoman Janice Hahn first called for Keller’s removal in the Spring of 2003, following a devastating audit of port leasing practices by City Controller Laura Chick. Federal and county prosecutors have been investigating POLA’s contracting practices for months.
     “We are looking for a leader at the Port of Los Angeles that shares my and the Mayor’s vision for the port—primarily that environmental issues are as important as economic issues,” Councilwoman Hahn said.
     “Larry Keller was hired by the Commissioners of Mayor Riordan, reflecting the priority to make the Port number one,” said P-CAC Community Co-Chair Jayme Wilson. “Under Mayor Hahn and his new Harbor Commission, the new executive director will be more attuned to balancing the growth with the needs of the community.”
     “I’m very excited and looking forward to working with Bruce,” said POLA Commissioner and P-CAC Chair Camilla Kocol. “His second day on the job he was there at the P-CAC meeting.”
     (Under Keller, top Port staff rarely attended P-CAC meetings. Port Engineer Stacy Jones, appointed relatively recently, was the sole exception.)
     However, others were less certain.
     “It was never about Larry Keller. Larry is only one person,” said P-CAC member Noel Park, a plaintiff in the China Shipping lawsuit, which substantially increased P-CAC’s clout.
     “The culture was there when he got there, and it’s still there. One person doesn’t make it or break it. There’s 80,000 people in San Pedro, and they’re all from Missiouri,” he added. (Missouri is known as “the show me” state.)
     “Mayor Hahn took office three years ago, and made these promises of major changes, and now that his re-election is looming, we finally see the first serious action being taken—the removal of Mr. Keller. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg of the kind of changes needed to change the culture at the port,” said P-CAC alternate Janet Gunter, who initiated the China Shipping lawsuit along with Park and Andy Mardesich.
     “Change is broader than one person. So we’ll see how serious he really is,” Gunter added.
     Ken Melendez, chair of P-CAC’s Wilmington Subcommittee, was similarly unconvinced, given the complete lack of progress on Wilmington’s waterfront plans since June, when the City Council approved the plan, and P-CAC sent it to POLA’s board.
     “It’s like pulling teeth to get them to work with us. I don’t understand how a city department can continue this kind of attitude toward a predominately Hispanic community.”