Harbor Board Gets Two New San Pedran Commissioners

Newly appointed Harbor Commissioners Patricia Castellanos (left) and Anthony Pirozzi (right) with Councilman Joe Buscaino (source: Councilman Joe Buscaino Facebook page)

Last week’s announcement of Executive Director Dr. Geraldine Knatz’s retirement isn’t the only shakeup happening at the Port of Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners — the five-member board that makes decisions for the Port — is getting two new members appointed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, and both are from San Pedro.

Patricia Castellanos, deputy director of policy advocacy group the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, was confirmed to the board last week, and former San Pedro Chamber of Commerce Chairman Anthony Pirozzi was confirmed Tuesday. Castellanos and Pirozzi replace outgoing commissioners Robin Kramer and President Cindy Miscikowski, respectively.

The last time the board had so much San Pedro representation — former ILWU President Dave Arian is the board’s current vice president — was under Mayor Jim Hahn.

Castellanos, who grew up in Carson but lives in San Pedro, worked with the board when she was LAANE’s director of the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports. Before that, she worked for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

“I think this will provide me with an opportunity to serve the community and city in a different way and I’m looking forward to that,” she said. “I think one of the greatest strengths from the community organizing I’ve been doing for the past 20 plus years is listening to various perspectives and trying to come up with solutions.”

She believes it’s important for the Port to maintain and expand on the environmental achievements reached under Knatz’s direction.

“There remains environmental justice issues that are important to the communities and we want to make sure we not only maintain the gains we’ve made in the last 5 to 6 years, but continue to be innovators in how we experiment with new cleaner technologies.”

Pirozzi, an engineer at Boeing and community leader, was confirmed Tuesday, which also happened to be his birthday. He had his eye on getting a seat someday back when he reported to the board on behalf of Eastview Little League.

“I’m excited,” Pirozzi said. “What I hope to bring to the board is a perspective of what the community really wants to see when we talk about waterfront development, because I think it’s the most important thing we can do to change our future. Change is coming and our community is thirsty for it.”

He believes a big part of making sure the waterfront is a success is for the port to stay competitive and be run like a business.

“We have a lot of challenges ahead of us. We’re standing in the face of automation, so that means we have to figure out how to better prepare our local workforce for the future. We have to keep cargo flowing through as efficiently as possible and be competitive.”

In a statement, Mayor Garcetti’s office praised the new commissioners:

“These talented Angelenos on the harbor commission will focus on ensuring that the Port of LA retains its place as the nation’s leading container port while minimizing its environmental impact to build stronger neighborhoods in the Harbor area and across Los Angeles.”