Port of Long Beach Rejects Advice to Merge With Port of Los Angeles
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The Port of Long Beach has no interest in merging with the neighboring Port of Los Angeles as recommended by an independent commission’s recent report, a top port official said.
A March report by the Los Angeles 2020 Commission called for the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach — the largest container ports in North America — to combine operations as a way to bring more jobs and tax revenue to the area.
“Simply put, this is a bad idea,” Doug Drummond, president of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, said April 9.
“For more than 100 years, the two neighboring seaports have grown and thrived, side by side, run by separate port authorities,” he said. “I can assure you that the Port of Long Beach is better run by the citizens of Long Beach. We have no interest in sharing control of the Port of Long Beach with the city of Los Angeles and its fine citizens.”
A spokesman for the Port of Los Angeles said it is open to partnering further with its counterpart in Long Beach.
“We welcome the opportunity to discuss additional collaborative efforts that would both retain and expand the existing cargo and jobs at the San Pedro Bay port complex,” Phillip Sanfield, director of media relations at the Port of Los Angeles, said in a statement. “The two ports have a strong track record of working together on a wide range of initiatives related to the environment, security and efficiency improvements.”
The port declined to comment further.
The Los Angeles 2020 Commission’s report suggested that the ports could enter into an agreement to jointly manage their strategy, capital planning and rate setting under a governing board composed of equal representation appointed by the two cities.
“The individual ports would still oversee day-to-day operations for now, but over time the ports would naturally become more closely linked in day-to-day operations,” the report said.
Under that approach, the Southern California ports would compete with other regions, not with each other, the commission said.
The Los Angeles 2020 Commission’s report said the share of the nation’s goods handled by the region’s ports has declined by more than 5% in the past 10 years.
The commission, tasked with studying fiscal stability and job growth in Los Angeles, first met in April 2013 and issued its first report in January. The report it published in March, titled “A Time for Action,” was the group’s second and final report.
Staff Reporter Michael G. Malloy contributed to this story.
