Commission Sidesteps Vote on Future of Todd Shipyard : San Pedro: Efforts to sell the closed facility’s assets will proceed. But port officials say they support reopening the yard if a suitable tenant comes forward.

The Los Angeles Harbor Commission moved forward Wednesday with plans to sell off the assets of the old Todd Shipyards in San Pedro but reasserted its commitment to reopen the 110-acre site as a shipyard if a suitable port tenant comes forward.

The action by the commission, which sidestepped a formal vote on the fate of the former shipyard, followed an often emotional, two-hour hearing where a standing-room only crowd of former Todd workers, civic officials and labor leaders urged the port to reopen the site for shipbuilding or repair.

In the end, however, commissioners agreed only to consider any “viable” plans that come forward for the site, which has been vacant since August, 1989. In the meantime, they said, the port has no choice but to allow staff to come up with a plan for selling off the site’s assets, a plan that should take two to three months to develop.

Last week, port officials announced that they would consider selling off the assets--appraised at $6 million to $9 million--because no progress has been made in finding a new shipyard tenant for the property, which closed when Todd declared bankruptcy.

The port’s announcement led Assemblyman Dave Elder (D-San Pedro), among others, to seek a six-month delay Wednesday in any port action on the assets. That delay, Elder and others told the commission, was crucial to establish whether any new shipbuilding company can muster the financing needed to lease the site.

But just as crucial to that goal, Elder said, was the port’s willingness to assist potential tenants in reopening the site so it can bring new employment opportunities to the harbor, an area hit hard in recent years by the loss of manufacturing plants and other harbor industries.

“As the board no doubt knows, Todd Shipyard was a longtime business and economic mainstay of the greater harbor community,” Elder said, recalling how Todd’s work force stood at nearly 6,000 in the mid-1980s.

“My concern is that if the shipyard assets are in fact sold, that virtually eliminates any possibility of reopening the yard as we knew it,” Elder said, urging the board to “provide incentives, not obstacles” to potential tenants.

Elder’s remarks were echoed by a representative of Harbor Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores, community leaders, former Todd workers, officials of two companies vying for the site, and officials representing the Teamsters, longshoremen and fishermen’s unions.

Many of the speakers claimed that efforts at reopening the site as a shipyard have been stymied by port officials who seemed to be more interested in a profit-making operation--like a container or auto storage yard--than a business that could employ hundreds, perhaps thousands, of workers.

“You tell me how many jobs a parking lot or container facility adds to the community,” John Royal, a fishermen’s union official and former port commissioner told the board in one of several speeches that drew loud applause from the audience.

Port officials, however, insisted that they had made no decision on converting the site to other uses and, in fact, have made a preliminary determination that using the site for a container facility could be prohibitively expensive.

Moreover, they defended the decision to push forward with a staff study of selling off the property’s assets, arguing that the port cannot indefinitely keep the site vacant. To date, they said, the port has spent more than $1.2 million maintaining the yard and has lost another $8 million to $10 million in potential revenues.

“There is some frustration in all of us here,” Commissioner Jun Mori told the crowd.

The port acquired the site’s assets--which include buildings, cranes, machine tools and office equipment--in 1990 in a settlement with Todd over the disposition of the shipyard following Todd’s bankruptcy.

He added, however, that port officials, after nearly three years of waiting, have not found a company with the financial wherewithal to reopen the site as a shipyard. “We’ve had a lot of plans, a lot of proposals . . . but nothing to sink our teeth into,” Mori said.

Though the port’s staff continues to study sale of the assets, representatives of two companies interested in the site said Wednesday they are close to securing financing for a shipyard--a claim they have made before only to see commitments fall through.

John Stupakis, chief executive officer of Los Angeles Shipyard Corp., said the company has an investor’s commitment of $11 million toward a shipbuilding operation at the site.

Likewise, retired Rear Admiral Stuart Platt, who heads the competing Los Angeles-Long Beach Shipyards Co., said his venture is close to securing a financial arrangement with an investor. That investor’s name also will remain confidential until the port agrees to terms of a proposal, Platt said.

In the meantime, officials of both companies and the shipbuilders’ union viewed the commission’s action as a bittersweet reprieve for the old Todd site.

“They didn’t give us six months . . . they didn’t give us anything to speak of,” said Stupakis. He added, however, that his company was relieved that the port will not immediately “pillage” the equipment at the shipyard.

Added Kevin Sullivan of the Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America: “I consider (the commission’s action)) a victory because they did not sell off the assets. It’s not the victory we wanted. But it’s a partial victory.”

Chronology of Todd Shipyards

August, 1987: Seattle-based Todd Shipyards files for protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal Bankruptcy Code.

August, 1989: Todd closes its San Pedro shipyard, laying off the last of 3,000 workers at the 80-year-old facility.

April, 1990: Port regains control of the 110-acre yard after reaching settlement agreement with Todd over assets.

November, 1990: Port enters into exclusive talks with Los Angeles Shipyards, a new corporation formed to lease the Todd site.

February, 1991: Port ends exclusive talks with Los Angeles Shipyards after company misses a deadline for posting a non-refundable $250,000 deposit toward a lease.

November, 1991: Port officials say they will continue to entertain proposals for a new shipyard but will also consider other uses for the Todd site.

March, 1992: Port staff recommends selling assets at Todd site so property can be developed for other uses.