Panel to File Suit if Feud Over Port Fees Isn’t Settled

After months of stiff negotiations, the State Lands Commission has informed Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan’s office that it will sue the city next week if a feud over fees paid by the Port of Los Angeles is not resolved at the bargaining table.

Atty. Gen. Daniel E. Lundgren, whose office is representing the state panel, initially planned to file a lawsuit March 20, but at the city’s request delayed it for one week. Riordan is to talk with Lt. Gov. Gray Davis, who is a member of the state panel, this week as other city officials make eleventh-hour attempts to head off intra-governmental litigation.

At issue is whether the port should pay the city $80 million in back and current fees for municipal services performed on its property. The Harbor Commission has already paid the city $20 million. Lundgren has written that back payments were unconstitutional and instructed the city to return the money. He has said, however, that he is willing to negotiate with the city about current and future fees.

With less than a week before the deadline, many observers said privately that the talks were fruitless and that a legal showdown is inevitable. “The bombers,” said one lawyer involved in the feud, “are in the air.”