Port News: Mayor Bass Appoints Two Harbor Commissioners

The direction with which Mayor Karen Bass wants the Los Angeles Harbor Commission to go may have been revealed when Harbor Commissioner Lucia Moreno-Linares confirmed on Friday, March 24, she had received a “courtesy call” from the mayor’s office indicating she would be replaced by an appointee. 

The confirmation came during Moreno-Linares’ remarks when state officials presented a ceremonial check reaffirming a $110 million pledge to help fund the nation’s first training facility specifically devoted to supply chain workers, located within the San Pedro Bay port complex.

In a letter to the Los Angeles City Council, Mayor Bass said she is filling the vacancy created by her removal of Moreno-Linares, effective May 1 with Lucille Roybal-Allard.

Roybal-Allard was the first Latina elected to Congress in 1993. She left office on Jan. 3, 2023. The Democratic stalwart announced in 2021 that she would not seek re-election after the redistricting commission split up her district — a district that had the most Latino voters of any district in the country after the 2010 census. She began her political career in the California State Assembly, where she served from 1987 to 1992.

Mayor Bass also appointed Michael Munoz to replace Anthony Pirozzi. Munoz’s work history reflects a commitment to social and economic justice.

Munoz had served as research director for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy since 2017. 

In his resume, which he submitted to the city council, Munoz said he worked extensively to combat truck driver misclassification, worked on the Clean Truck Program implementation and developed a deep understanding of the relationship between truck driver misclassification, pollution, and the environmental impact of diesel emissions on the communities surrounding the Ports and along the supply chain.

He served as campaign researcher for the Warehouse Worker Resource Center/Teamsters before being promoted to research director when he took a position with LAANE.

While at the Warehouse Worker Resource Center, he collaborated with non-union workers and partners to attain better labor benefits, safer working conditions and enhanced workplace rights; demonstrated to workers their power lies in collective action and solidarity with their co-workers; and collected evidence to file charges for violations of labor law, racial/gender discrimination, and health & safety violations.

The current Harbor Commission includes three Harbor Area residents, Moreno-Linares (Wilmington), Diane Middleton, and Anthony Pirozzi (San Pedro). While Moreno-Linares expressed hope that a Wilmington seat remains on the commission, Mayor Bass’ choices indicate a more progressive and labor friendly direction. 

Indeed, Moreno-Linares has been under fire by labor-aligned groups since the 2019 vote permitting APM to outfit their terminal at Pier 400 to allow for automation. She voted with the majority (3-2) approving the permit. A Change.org petition was set up in which 1,909 people signed calling for her removal. The protest of that decision was organized by Gary Herrera as an unauthorized action by community members. At the  ceremony it was announced that Herrera had just been elected to be president of ILWU Local 13. 

The Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach Goods Movement Training Campus, originally promoted by former harbor commissioner and ILWU leader David Arian,  would provide a single and centralized location aimed at attracting, recruiting, and retaining workers in the goods movement sector. The $110 million allocation will be spread across three fiscal years, starting with the 2022 to 23 state budget with additional amounts in 2023 to 24 and 2024 to 25. The twin ports of the San Pedro Bay will match this investment with the help of the Pacific Maritime Association and possibly more funding from the Biden administration.