Wilmington Looks to Step Out From Under Port’s Shadow

Wilmington has long been the stepchild of the Port of Los Angeles, bearing the brunt of pollution and traffic as port officials have showered neighboring San Pedro with millions of dollars in beautification and development projects.

But the first gathering of the newly appointed Board of Harbor Commissioners suggests that could be changing.

The board will meet in Wilmington tonight for the first time in many years. The lead item on the agenda: a long-delayed plan to spend port money to revitalize the Wilmington waterfront.

The new focus reflects Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s promise to devote more attention and money to the largely Latino industrial neighborhood that borders the port to the north.

The commissioners traditionally meet every other Wednesday morning in San Pedro, in the official boardroom at the Harbor Administration Building. The room is built like a theater, and the five commissioners sit at a long table on a stage.

Some residents have accused port officials of arrogance and insularity because of how they treat communities near the port. That dynamic was underscored by the board’s lofty perch and by daytime meetings that working residents could not attend.

But daytime meetings will become less common, said Commissioner S. David Freeman, who is widely expected to become commission president. Freeman wants every other meeting held at night, with locations alternating between San Pedro and Wilmington.

And he has requested other changes.

“We’re going to be at the same level as the public. I don’t like sitting on the stage, looking down. And I want the staff sitting next to us,” said Freeman, the former general manager of the city Department of Water and Power. “These little details are important. We need to convey a message: We don’t have closed minds. We have open minds.”

Although the nation’s largest seaport sprawls across San Pedro and Wilmington, more affluent San Pedro has received more attention -- a trend that was accentuated in the last four years under Mayor James K. Hahn. Both the former mayor and his sister, Councilwoman Janice Hahn, live in San Pedro.

The contrast has grown especially stark in recent months with the planting of hundreds of trees along the San Pedro waterfront as part of an enormous $880-million rejuvenation project.

Wilmington community leaders have fought for their own waterfront project, a much smaller venture that lags far behind the San Pedro renewal. Port staff members are scheduled to report on its status at tonight’s meeting, which will begin at 6 p.m. at the Wilmington Senior Citizen Center at Banning Park, 1371 Eubank Ave.

Unlike most port agendas, this one contains a long list of subjects to be discussed rather than voted on. Freeman, a long-time proponent of alternative energy, has requested a discussion on the use of bio fuels, which are derived from plant matter.

“We’re in a transition from fossil fuels to renewables, and the port needs to be leading it,” he said.

Tonight’s agenda also includes a report on a sweeping pollution-reduction plan drawn up by a Hahn administration task force. Hahn pledged soon after his election to keep pollution at 2001 levels, but he left office without approving the so-called “no net increase” plan, which has been estimated to cost more than $11 billion.

Meanwhile, pollution has continued to grow. Freeman said he has read the task force report and hopes to put measures in place that will reduce pollution levels quickly. “There’s been four years of talking about ‘no net increase’ when pollution has grown 60%,” he said.