Mayor Picks Outsider as Port Executive

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa passed over the city’s top port executives Wednesday to nominate an outsider to head the nation’s largest seaport, calling it “a new day for the Port of Los Angeles.”

Villaraigosa named Geraldine Knatz, managing director of development at the Port of Long Beach -- the Los Angeles port’s biggest rival -- to oversee the sprawling San Pedro seaport with 58 berths and a budget of $693.5 million.

The move makes it clear that the mayor wants fresh leadership at the port and intends to make wholesale changes in its business practices and environmental standards. The Los Angeles port has lost ground in the last two years to Long Beach, the nation’s second-largest port, and it has come under increasing criticism for rising levels of diesel exhaust from ships, trains and trucks.

If, as expected, Knatz is confirmed by the Los Angeles City Council, she will be the port’s first female executive director and one of the top-ranking women in a U.S. maritime shipping industry largely dominated by men.

Villaraigosa, with Knatz at his side and cargo cranes looming in the background, praised her experience and her infectious enthusiasm.

“I liked her energy, frankly. I really did,” Villaraigosa said, noting that she shares his reputation as a high-energy individual “who wants things done today.”

Some harbor-area residents praised the choice, but several well-known local environmental activists faulted Knatz for what they called inadequate environmental reviews of some major Long Beach port projects.

“Her ‘Green Port’ policy is all smoke and mirrors,” said Bry Myown, a Long Beach activist. “She’s been very good at accomplishing port business growth, but she has little regard for the health of the residents or the safety of the port.”

Knatz will continue in her current post for the Long Beach port until mid-January, when she moves across San Pedro Bay.

She steps into a hot-seat post that has been vacant for more than a year and faces a host of serious challenges, including slow growth, vacant positions, internal turmoil, security challenges and rocky relations with port-area residents concerned about traffic and air pollution.

Several Los Angeles officials pointedly noted that the Long Beach port operates with about 350 employees, less than half the 858-member staff in Los Angeles. Long Beach contracts out more work, but that does not altogether account for the disparity, they said.

By choosing Knatz, Villaraigosa is rejecting the harbor management and policies set in place by his predecessor, former Mayor James K. Hahn. The port’s two current top executives, Bruce Seaton and Stacey Jones, sought the post, which has been vacant since Larry Keller resigned in the autumn of 2004.

Seaton and Jones were semifinalists for the job; Jones was one of the three finalists. The other finalist was former Oakland port chief Tay Yoshitani.

Hahn promoted Seaton and Jones, and named Seaton as interim executive director. In addition, Hahn’s sister, Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who represents the harbor area, lobbied hard for Jones to get the top job.

Knatz, 54, who has a doctorate in biological sciences, has held her current job since 1999 and was planning director for the Long Beach port for the previous 11 years. She has wrestled with the same challenges now facing the Los Angeles port -- spiraling air pollution and angry community reaction, demands for costly security measures, a lack of land for expansion, and cargo transportation problems caused by clogged freeways and strapped rail lines.

The mood at the Los Angeles port differs starkly from four years ago, when Hahn inherited a seaport at the top of its game. Villaraigosa finds himself overseeing a port that has seen its cargo growth slow to 1.3% a year from double-digit increases. The adjoining port in Long Beach has almost 20% annual growth.

Los Angeles’ port has suffered from the delay in deepening the main channel to handle enormous new ships that carry 8,000 containers. Those ships now dock in Long Beach.

Knatz said she does not think the Los Angeles port is doing anything wrong, but did say that once the main channel is deepened, the port’s fortunes would improve.

“After that happens, all that business is coming back, of course,” she said, provoking laughter from a crowd that included Los Angeles and Long Beach port representatives.

S. David Freeman, whom Villaraigosa recently named to head the Board of Harbor Commissioners, has already made dramatic changes at the port, encouraging public input and pushing for innovative new energy sources. He praised Knatz.

Freeman said he watched the mayor interview candidates. “She seemed the one most capable of thinking big,” he said.

Michele Grubbs, a vice president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Assn., which represents shippers and terminal operators, served on the selection committee and has worked with Knatz in her current job.

Describing Knatz as bright and innovative, Grubbs praised her work as a principal architect of Long Beach’s “Green Port” program to improve the harbor environment.

Wilmington resident Ken Melendez, another selection committee member, said he strongly supports Knatz, calling her highly qualified.

But Wilmington activist Jesse Marquez and San Pedro activist Noel Park expressed misgivings.

“I think she’s part of a system, and the systems of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the same, so it’s very disappointing,” Park said.

If Knatz improves the port’s environmental record, residents will support her, he said. But if not, he promised: “We’ll be in her face every day, like we have to Mr. Seaton.”