Peter M. Warren,

CSPNC Port & Environment Committee, chair.

Remember Peanuts, the comic strip with Lucy and the football? Remember how she would pull the football away at the last minute from Charlie Brown?

Well, welcome to Peanuts San-Pedro style with the Port of Los Angeles as Lucy and the community as Charlie Brown.

It only took a few months for the Board of Harbor Commissioners (BHC) to pull away the football after promising in October to involve members of the community in all phases of the planning and design of the San Pedro Waterfront.

The promise was made in their unanimous vote September 30^th when the Harbor Commissioners approved the San Pedro Waterfront Plan and its Environmental Impact Report, passing a motion pledging to involve the community directly in the planning process. The promise was made in front of 500 community members who spoke passionately about the need for the waterfront improvements, with the vast majority giving priority to waterfront development in and around the downtown area.

 Five months after the vote, the Port and the Board have not created a plan for community input. Instead, they held one public meeting in February. But sadly there has been no follow through by the Port on the BHC pledge to “create a framework for public participation” by “identifying appropriate stakeholders” to participate in project implementation, schedule and design.”

 At the February meeting, Port Director Geraldine Knatz did answer questions. But neither she nor any of the Harbor Commissioners said how the Port plans to carry out the BHC promise of stakeholder input. Knatz explained that she just could not find time to work on the BHC promise of public participation. Ominously, she indicated that some of the commissioners are no longer interested in naming stakeholders to participate in planning our waterfront.

 To recap what happened in September last year, the BHC unanimously approved the Waterfront Plan with two revisions to the staff plan.

• One revision required that, should the cruise industry move into the Outer Harbor, the first cruise ship berth would go in the East Channel. (The staff preferred a berth facing Cabrillo Beach.)
  

• The second directed Port staff to identify stakeholders to work on the development and prioritization of the waterfront plan. It also told Port staff to come up with a new, comprehensive redesign of the Inner Harbor cruise terminal so it can function as the “Gateway to the San Pedro Waterfront.”

The second motion, from BHC Chair Cindy Miscikowski, read:

Direct the staff to report back to the Board within 30 days with an implementation strategy for the Project.  That strategy should include protocols for guiding the Board in and the Port staff in determining which projects go forward in which sequence.  The protocols should include analysis of the various financing mechanisms for moving forward on both revenue generating and non-revenue generating projects.  The protocols should also include a framework for appropriate thresholds to consider in the sequencing of each project.

Additionally, the protocols should also create a framework for public participation in the Project implementation including identifying appropriate stakeholders for the overall Project implementation as well as stakeholders for specific elements within the Project.  This should include not only input on the implementation schedule of the Project but input on design elements as well.

 Further, the staff is asked to include a proposal for more comprehensive design improvements for the Inner Harbor Cruise Terminal recognizing its importance as the Gateway to the San Pedro Waterfront with aesthetic and access improvements which befit its location and presence in the Port of Los Angeles.

 Of course, none of the public input has happened. This very public pledge to craft “a framework for public participation” has not been honored. Neither the Port nor the Harbor Commissioners treat us as customers and clients. Instead, they see San Pedro as a cheering section for the Harbor Commission and a platform for the Port’s development plans.

 There are numerous public entities full of people who can fulfill the role of “appropriate stakeholders” to provide public input. There is the Port Community Advisory Committee, which was created by the City Council specifically to advise the Harbor Commission on community issues. The Coastal and Central Neighborhood Councils are sister agencies to the Port under the City Charter. These two neighborhood councils, where the project will be built, are also loaded with San Pedrans publicly elected to represent the stakeholders in these areas. Other nearby neighborhood councils might also be asked to weigh in.

The Harbor Commissioners should honor the commitment they made to San Pedro. They should do that or they should rescind their own motion. Anything else is just Lucy playing football with the community.

 

San Pedro Waterfront Plan

First Public Input Event

Report by Peter M. Warren, Coastal PCAC representative; Port and Environment Committee, chair

The Port held its first San Pedro Waterfront public information session in February, nearly five months after the Board of Harbor Commissioners (BHC) approved the waterfront Final EIR.

The meeting was attended by about 250 people, who heard Port Director Geraldine Knatz give an update about possible timelines for projects this year and also say that the Port was strapped for funds to go ahead with downtown watercut and plaza. One project that will go head with federal stimulus money is the remake of Henry Gibson Blvd.

The two-hour meeting heard about a dozen folks comment. One questioner asked about the USS Iowa but was given no information about where the Port stands on the issue. There also was no information provided on how the Port plans to select and organize stakeholders in the planning for the project, as stipulated by the BHC when it approved the project. Instead, the Port leadership continued to treat the San Pedro community as an audience and platform for their plans rather than as a partner, client or customer.

Knatz did not answer a question from your representative. I asked how the Port plans to carry out the BHC requirements for stakeholder input. She said she did not have the time to work on the BHC required protocols governing project timelines, financial decisions and sequencing of each stage of the project. She indicated that some of the BHC were no longer interested in appointing stakeholders to review panels.

The meeting was largely a public relations program. The interest from the community was high, but there was no follow through from the Port on moving ahead with BHC requirements that the Port “create a framework for public participation” by “identifying appropriate stakeholders” to participate in “overall project implementation…schedule [and] design.”

To recap what happened in September, the BHC Sept. 30 approved the San Pedro Waterfront Plan. It contained two revisions from the PORT staff:

• one required that any new terminal in the Outer Harbor first be placed in the East Channel,
• the second directed Port staff to fully involve stakeholders in the development and prioritization of the waterfront plan. It directed PORT staff to upgrade the Inner Harbor cruise terminal design so that it can properly serve as the “Gateway to the San Pedro Waterfront” and befit its status as a signature for the Port of Los Angeles. (This was in a motion from Board President Cindy Misicowski.)

The Miscikowski motion read:

Direct the staff to report back to the Board within 30 days with an implementation strategy for the Project.  That strategy should include protocols for guiding the Board in and the Port staff in determining which projects go forward in which sequence.  The protocols should include analysis of the various financing mechanisms for moving forward on both revenue generating and non-revenue generating projects.  The protocols should also include a framework for appropriate thresholds to consider in the sequencing of each project.

Additionally, the protocols should also create a framework for public participation in the Project implementation including identifying appropriate stakeholders for the overall Project implementation as well as stakeholders for specific elements within the Project.  This should include not only input on the implementation schedule of the Project but input on design elements as well.

Further, the staff is asked to include a proposal for more comprehensive design improvements for the Inner Harbor Cruise Terminal recognizing its importance as the Gateway to the San Pedro Waterfront with aesthetic and access improvements which befit its location and presence in the Port of Los Angeles.

We have our work cut out for us if we expect the Port to listen to the community. We have our work cut out for us in getting the BHC to follow through on the commitment it made to San Pedro about public participation in its September approval vote.

It would seem that the Port does not need to look far if it wants to find people who want to fill these rolls. The Neighborhood Councils already exist as sister agencies within the Charter of the City of Los Angeles. Or the Port could turn to the PCAC as the means to create public participation. Unfortunately, the current Port administration is intent on dismantling PCAC.

The Port of Los Angles is holding its first public meeting since the Board of Harbor Commissioners approved the LA Waterfront development project.

When: Thursday 11 February 2010, 6:00PM to 8:00PM
Where: Crowne Plaza Hotel, 601 S. Palos Verdes St., San Pedro
Details: More details on the Port of LA Waterfront website and the flyer attached below

Coastal San Pedro’s own Soledad Garcia was honored by the Los Angeles City Council with a special resolution. The resolution was prompted by Soledad’s decision to step down after seven years as chair of the DWP Ratepayers’ Advocate committee. Citing just a few of the long list of public advocacy roles Soledad has held for decades, Councilwoman Janice Hahn called Dr. Garcia “The embodiment of what it means to be a public servant.”

Congratulations Soledad, and thank you!

Watch a video of the ceremony at City Hall.

Information about the construction of SRHS #15 at Angels Gate can be found at the following two websites:
http://www.laschools.org
http://www.srhs15.org
For complaints and inquiries, please use the following telephone hotline: 213-893-6810

 The Coastal San Pedro Neighborhood Council is hosting a free pancake breakfast from 10:00 to 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 8, at Angels Gate Cultural Center, 3601 S. Gaffey St, in San Pedro.

The public is encouraged to come visit the Cultural Center and enjoy pancakes and sausage while meeting members of the board to discuss topics and issues of local and citywide interest.

The Council will be giving away free tote bags and will be conducting free raffles throughout the breakfast.

Angels Gate Cultural Center is also having a studio artist art sale called the Crafty Vixens Holiday Sale in Bldg H from 11a.m. to 5p.m. and a new art show, Plain and Simple, will be opening in Gallery A from 2 pm. to 4 p.m. that day as well. Details available at www.angelsgateart.org.

For more information on the pancake breakfast, please call (310) 290-0049.

Media contact: John Stinson (310) 547-2528

LA County Metro will present a project update on the Harbor Subdivision Transit Corridor Alternatives Analysis (AA) in a series of upcoming public workshops being held between October 19 and 22. In the spring of 2009, Metro held public meetings to obtain public feedback on the four project alternatives to be carried forward through the duration of the study. Based on comments received at those meetings and more detailed technical analysis, Metro has completed the AA and will present the results at this next series of community meetings.  One specific interest to local residents is an alternative presented in the spring that included a light rail extension to San Pedro. 

Content presented at each meeting will be identical, so make sure to attend at the time and location most convenient for you.  Click here for the link to the Metro webpage with details on all dates and locations.

All stakeholders are invited to the next Board Meeting of the CSPNC on Monday 19 October 2009.

Get the agenda here.

Robert Greene, a long time neighborhood council observer, is an editorial writer at the Los Angeles Times.

At the Neighborhood Council Action Summit on October 3, 2009, he sharply examined neighborhood council significance to the Times and their potential, as yet not realized, to the neighborhoods of L.A. In essence, either continue to act as simply a student council carrying the water for City Hall and stay irrelevant, or become a force for change in your neighborhoods and the city by exercising your independence.

View Greene’s comments here.

The Action Summit was organized by Greg Nelson, former General Manager of the Los Angeles Department of Neighborhood Empowerment and community members. No public money was used.