Graves Gets 3-Year Port Term, Schenk Draws Shorter Stint

Newly appointed Port Commissioner Clifford Graves was assigned the longer of two unexpired terms on the powerful agency that controls state tidelands around San Diego Bay, in a decision by a San Diego City Council committee Wednesday.

Graves will serve until Jan. 2, 1993, while colleague Lynn Schenk will serve until Jan. 2, 1991.

The 4-2 vote of the council’s Rules Committee settled the last remaining issue in the appointment of replacements for retiring Port Commissioners William Rick and Louis Wolfsheimer, who step down today.

Graves and Schenk were appointed Jan. 23 to fill the remaining portions of the two commissioners’ terms, following a brief power struggle over when Rick and Wolfsheimer would step down.

But the council had left open the question of which appointee would be assigned to the nearly three years remaining in Rick’s term and the 11 months left in Wolfsheimer’s spot.

The council waived its policy of limiting port appointees to two terms when it reappointed Rick and Wolfsheimer to third four-year terms to allow them to complete the task of overseeing construction of the city’s new bayfront Convention Center.

Graves won the longer term with the support of Mayor Maureen O’Connor and City Council members Ron Roberts, Wes Pratt and Linda Bernhardt, over the dissent of council members Abbe Wolfsheimer and Bob Filner.

Several council members also criticized a Jan. 19 legal opinion by City Atty. John Witt--which states that the council lacks the authority to remove any port commissioner without demonstrating malfeasance by the commissioner--and promised to ignore it if the issue is ever taken up by the full council.

The controversy stems from the desire of some council members to remove W. Daniel Larsen, the city’s third appointee on the seven-member Board of Port Commissioners, for allegedly failing to represent the council’s interests. Only four council members--Wolfsheimer, Hartley, Pratt and Filner--appear ready to vote to remove Larsen, leaving the group one vote short of the majority needed.

Pratt, who called Witt’s opinion “the very best in legal gymnastics,” said that Larsen’s ouster may be brought to the full council even if it lacks the support needed for passage.