Potential Economic Loss to City Cited : S.D. Chamber Opposes Navy Homeporting Plan

Taking on the U.S. Navy for one of the rare times in its history, the board of directors of the San Diego Chamber of Commerce voted Thursday to oppose the Navy’s plan to spread its fleet along the nation’s three coasts--a move that eventually could cost San Diego the loss of 19 ships.

In taking the action, the board of directors rejected a recommendation by the chamber’s military affairs advisory committee, which had supported for military strategic reasons the so-called homeporting dispersal plan advocated by Navy Secretary John F. Lehman Jr.

While no official vote count was recorded at the board of directors meeting at the Sheraton Harbor Island East hotel, a show of hands putting the Chamber of Commerce on record against the Navy’s proposal was overwhelming, according to Garry Bonelli, a chamber vice president for military affairs.

The approximately 50 directors in attendance, however, voted to support expansion of the Navy’s fleet to 600 ships, a move strongly pushed by President Reagan and the Navy.

“This is the first time in recent memory where the board has taken an action opposing a plan recommended by the Navy,” said Bonelli, who noted that strong ties between the Chamber of Commerce and the Navy go back many years.

The Navy’s proposal to disperse its ships all along the nations coasts, a move it says would make the fleet less vulnerable to attack, has drawn the ire of cities such as San Diego with large concentrations of ships.

San Diego area shipbuilding and repair companies, for example, which already have lost $70 million in contracts this year, fear even greater losses if the homeporting plan is approved. The Senate favors the plan and the House opposes it. The proposal is now being negotiated in Congress.

Under the plan, the Navy will move 10 ships from San Diego. Combined with other losses because of attrition, that means San Diego would lose a total of 19 Navy ships between 1980 and 1993.

The Navy, however, says that its presence in San Diego will not decline, because larger ships will replace those sent elsewhere, and seven new helicopter squadrons will be stationed at North Island Naval Air Station.

In July, the Chamber of Commerce’s military affairs advisory committee, lead by George Cooksey, a McDonnell-Douglas company official, voted 21-7 to support the Navy’s plan, Bonelli said. The committee, a strong advocate for the military, believed the plan made sense from a strategic viewpoint.

That suggestion was overridden Sept. 4 by the chamber’s executive and finance committee, a 16-member group headed by Mike Madigan, senior vice president for Pardee Construction Co. The committee, whose members include chamber President Lee Grissom and heads of the chamber’s various committees, including San Diego Union editor-in-chief Herb Klein, voted 11-1 to reject the military advisory committee’s recommendation and oppose the homeporting plan. The sole vote in opposition was lodged by Cooksey.

According to Bonelli, the interests of the executive and finance committee reflect a broader feeling for business rather than military affairs, and the ensuing debate centered on the possible economic costs to San Diego and skepticism over the $799 million cost of instituting the Navy’s plan.

“The committee didn’t see that much strategic value in the plan and questioned the costs,” Bonelli said. Also, Bonelli acknowledged, “from a very provincial point of view” the committee looked at the proposal “and after debating it at great length decided there wasn’t that much in it for San Diego . . . and there was the potential for detriment to San Diego.”

Debate before the board of directors Thursday was relatively brief, Bonelli said, explaining the chamber will now write a letter to the Navy outlining its position.