Battle Rages Over Ship Repair Maneuver : Politics: Rep. Hunter’s effort to protect San Diego shipyards pits him against both California senators.

California’s senators are siding with a group of Los Angeles County and Orange County congressmen up in arms over Rep. Duncan Hunter’s (R-Coronado) efforts to keep the Long Beach Naval Shipyard from bidding on short-term ship repair jobs now performed exclusively by San Diego companies.

At stake are jobs and millions of dollars in repair work at a time when military and defense-related spending are rapidly shrinking in Southern California. The battle is also a test of politicians’ ability to deliver much-needed financial help to their respective districts.

Hunter labeled the attempted diversion of repair work to Long Beach as the “snatching” of San Diego jobs and said it would disrupt San Diego Navy families who want to spend time together when ships visit port.

But Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), whose current district includes Long Beach, said Tuesday that “Duncan is putting up a tremendous fight to protect the interests of his district over the interests of the country.”

The Long Beach ban was included in the Defense Authorization bill passed by the House two weeks ago, despite letters of protest to Navy Secretary Lawrence H. Garrett and two attempts to thwart Hunter’s plan in committee.

Navy rules already call for the bidding limitation, and Hunter is trying to protect it through legislation.

Sen. Alan Cranston last week sent a letter to Senate Armed Services Chairman Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Georgia) “strongly” urging that the ban be dropped.

And Republican Sen. John Seymour recently wrote to the ranking minority member on the committee, Virginia Sen. John Warner, saying the ban is anti-competitive.

The Senate Armed Services Committee will take up the defense bill in late July.

The Long Beach Naval shipyard and several nearby private shipyards are now allowed to bid on larger, long-term repair projects. What’s in dispute are the short-term jobs taking less than six months to complete.

According to Navy rules, those jobs must be performed within a 75-mile radius of the ships’ home port--San Diego. The Long Beach yard lies 98 miles away.

Home port mileage boundaries vary in size in other parts of the country.

Hunter met in Washington with shipyard companies and suppliers in May, and the group was unanimous in its support for retaining the 75-mile limit, said Robert Bates, vice president for government affairs for Southwest Marine, a San Diego shipyard with a smaller facility in Long Beach.

Jobs are a fundamental issue, but Hunter contends that lifting the ban would also “adversely affect quality of life.”

Hunter said he has letters from Navy families asking him to keep the ban in place.

“Long Beach needs the work, and it’s a legitimate interest for the congressmen to seek it, but, in this case, it’s more important to keep the families together,” said Hunter.

While in port for short-term repairs, ships must keep 50%-75% of their crews on board and be ready to get under way in 48 hours, said Bates. If the mileage rule were scrapped, some sailors home-ported in San Diego would have to make the longer commute to the Long Beach yard.

“We’re supportive of the present home port policy,” said Bates. “When you’re dealing with tired crews, overhauls don’t go so well.”

To Rohrabacher and his supporters, the issues are competition and cost-effectiveness.

“I told the (Long Beach) shipyard that, unless they were doing the best possible job, I was not going to support them,” Rohrabacher said.

According to Rohrabacher aides, the yard has been the most efficient in the Navy over the last three years and saved $16 million in 1991 by completing projects for less than first estimated.

“It’s important to note that the senators are not taking sides over which shipyard but are more concerned about efficiency and competition,” Rohrabacher said.

The battle was joined early this year when an 11-member group of Los Angeles County and Orange County congressmen wrote to Navy Secretary Garrett in April urging Long Beach’s inclusion in the home port area.

Hunter got wind of the maneuver and, in early May, inserted the Long Beach bidding ban into the defense authorization bill.

Later that month Reps. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) and Ron Dellums (D-Berkeley) offered an amendment to delete Hunter’s language and have the Navy study the issue. They lost on a 25-28 vote.