Tony V - The Gift that Keeps on Giving!

EASTSIDER-There I was, wondering what to write about for this week’s post, and lo and behold, what should appear but an absolutely wonderful article in the LA Times about ex-mayor (and former CD 14 Council member Antonio Villaraigosa’s skullduggery at the Port of Los Angeles.  

It’s a very nice bit of investigatory reporting by Tony Barboza, but for some reason the article hasn’t been getting the attention it deserves, so what is a blogger to do? You guessed it -- this is an important cautionary tale about too much power being vested in the Mayor’s office since the 1999 Charter Reform. 

In this case, the “good” being performed was a much-hailed “greening” of the Port of Los Angeles, where harmful emissions have plagued residents for years  -- diesel powered trucks, cargo-handling equipment, and container ships being a primary culprit. For context, this reduction in pollution was not the product of City Hall -- in fact the long suffering residents and environmentalists had to sue the Port over serious health and environmental pollution issues, a lawsuit that was finally settled in 2004. 

A good thing, right? Well, not so much. Remember under Mayor Riordan’s 1999 Charter Reform, as I have written about before, the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles now has the power to not only appoint the members to all Boards and Commissions, he also has the authority to appoint all Department Heads in the City of Los Angeles. 

And this is a prime example of the potential problems in vesting so much power in the Mayor’s Office.  Back in 2008, the Port granted China Shipping North America a long term lease for a major expansion, with the condition that they significantly reduce emissions. But as the Times found out through public records requests, the ink was hardly dry when the Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles, Geraldine Knatz, appointed by Antonio Villaraigosa, secretly started to undermine the deal by waiving the requirements. 

This is a huge betrayal of the public trust. And what I find truly astounding is that Knatz put this waiver in writing in a series of actual written letters. But wait, there’s more. In a further mind-boggling absurdity (only in a public bureaucracy), staff then actually kept track of the violations! You simply can’t make this stuff up. 

Of course once the Times publicized the evildoing, all of the players and the politicians started scrambling like roaches zapped by Raid. Knatz tried to downplay the betrayal by saying that they were simply trying to help their customers ride out the recession. Of course she also gave up the Mayor, saying he wanted her to be “flexible.” 

For his part, Villaraigosa did not recall any conversations about any of these events. You betcha. And just in case we don’t believe him, he said that his deputies and advisors didn’t remember any of this either. 

The current crop of politicians are also running around shedding blame like flakes of dandruff. The current Executive Director of the Port vowed to fix the problem, blaming it on the prior administration.  An appointee of our current Mayor Eric Garcetti, he is described as a former shipping industry executive. I wonder how forceful this industry insider will be. 

Also, in a major CYA after the fact exercise, current Councilmembers Blumenfield, Koretz, and Buscaino are going to have a public committee hearing to whip those port officials into shape. How manly. I wonder if elected officials will ever tire of the blame game – you know, where a committee beats up on the staff as they claim that they personally are guiltless bastions of public integrity.

 

The good news is, I don’t think this one is going away. First, there is another terminal operated by TarPac which had a similar deal and is being “reviewed.” Second, the South Coast AQMD woke up and is starting to grind on the Port over compliance issues. Third, it turns out that the homeowners and environmentalists that won the legal settlement have a right to sue.

 

After our experiences with the Telephone Utility Tax you will excuse me for being cynical, but I think that, privately, the City and the Port pray for a lawsuit. Then they can hire their high priced law firm buddies to string the whole matter out for years while we pay the bill and they term out. You can find out how that game works here.   

Another part of that cynical me wonders how much the timing of all of these revelations have to do with driving a stake through the heart of any future attempts of Antonio Villaraigosa trying to run for governor. God knows that the proposition of foisting him on the entire State of California as Governor is scary at least to me, and I have to tell you, in the land of politics, it’s hard to be too paranoid.

 

That said, I feel sorry for our friends in the San Pedro/Peninsula area. They have long been treated as a backwater village, just as we have in Northeast LA. They deserve better, their kids deserve better, and I really hope this this story grows and grows, resulting in some actual relief and progress towards change. Kudo’s to the LA Times. 

 

On the other hand, before I get too carried away with hope, do not forget that Garcetti’s handpicked Executive Director at the Port of Los Angeles is a “former shipping industry executive.”  How droll.

(Tony Butka is an Eastside community activist, who has served on a neighborhood council, has a background in government and is a contributor to CityWatch.) Photo: Getty Images. Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.

-cw

 

CityWatch

Vol 13 Issue 102

Pub: Dec 18, 2015