Oxnard Harbor District Chief Quits to Take Mississippi Job

The executive director of the Oxnard Harbor District, which owns and operates the deep-water Port of Hueneme, has resigned to become director of the Mississippi State Port Authority at Gulfport.

Anthony J. Taormina, widely credited with turning the once-sleepy Hueneme harbor into a bustling port during the last nine years, will be replaced by the district’s deputy executive director, William J. Buenger.

“This was a position that I wasn’t seeking,” Taormina said. “They came after me and asked me to help put together a master plan. . . . There’s a new challenge for me. It’s a larger port, with more competition.”

The Gulfport facility handled 700,000 tons of bulk cargo last year, along with 60,000 cargo containers, officials said. The Hueneme port handled 790,000 tons of cargo.

Taormina will earn $100,000 annually in Mississippi, compared to about $99,960 here.

A former Port of San Francisco deputy director of planning and research, Taormina came to the district in 1985. Buenger, a 1963 graduate of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, has been deputy executive director of the harbor district for seven years. He will take over Dec. 9, but Taormina will remain in a consulting role until Jan. 20.

“I’m elated with the opportunity to take on this new role,” Buenger said. He said he probably won’t change much for a while and will continue to look for new customers.

Buenger’s position will be filled by Judith E. Cofer, now the controller and deputy treasurer of the district.

Operating revenues at the Port of Hueneme jumped about $1 million last year to $6.1 million--the highest ever, a recent study concluded. Port tonnage was up 26%.

The first comprehensive study on the harbor since 1989 also found that the harbor now generates about 2,500 local jobs and contributes about $275 million to the county’s economy. That is an increase of $75 million and 500 jobs from the 1989 study, officials said.

Since 1989 the Oxnard Harbor District has attracted Land Rover/Range Rover, Mitsubishi Motors, Cool Carriers and Sunkist Growers to the port.