Another Blow to the Region : Base commission: Think again on Long Beach closing

California and especially Southern California have been rocked hard by military base closings, with 26,000 civilian jobs lost across the state in the last seven years as defense cutbacks have taken hold. The pain is not yet over. This week, as part of the latest round of proposed base closings--another round is probable in a few years--the venerable Long Beach Naval Shipyard was targeted for elimination on the recommendation of Navy Secretary John H. Dalton. The shipyard’s budget of $282 million for its 3,100 civilian workers stimulates hundreds of millions more in regional economic activity. A closure, which is probably at least three years off, would clearly mean a staggering loss to an area whose economy has already been badly shaken.

Excess shipyard capacity is the key reason given for putting Long Beach on the hit list. Since the end of the Cold War the armed forces have shrunk by one-third, defense budgets by 40%. The Navy is being reduced proportionally to about 350 ships. The Pentagon figures that closure of the shipyard would save $1.9 billion over the next two decades. But the final word on Long Beach’s fate has not yet been spoken. That word rests with the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission, which now begins reviewing base-closing recommendations. The commission’s final list will go to President Clinton by July 1. He must accept or reject it in full. Thus the commission’s fact-finding visit to Long Beach sometime in the next few months will be crucial.

Long Beach objectively has much going for it, not least that it has operated in the black since 1988 and that it has a skilled and dedicated work force. But the commission also is supposed to consider the local economic impact of closures. An area that has lost 30,000 jobs since 1990 in the McDonnell Douglas cutbacks and lost further revenue from last year’s closing of the Long Beach Naval Station can argue persuasively that the shipyard is vital to the regional economy. We hope the commission listens well.