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.