Los Angeles Harbor Commission

Los Angeles harbor commissioners zeroed in Wednesday on what promises to be one of the toughest challenges facing Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: how to expand the nation's largest seaport while slashing air pollution that threatens the health of residents who live near the port. The panel's new president, S. David Freeman, sternly told port managers to accelerate efforts to pinpoint new ways to cut emissions from ships, trains and trucks serving the port.

The U.S. attorney's office has ordered Los Angeles to turn over records from closed meetings of the Harbor Commission as part of its probe into contracting practices at the city's port, airport and Water and Power departments. The subpoena, dated April 26, requires officials to turn over notes from three meetings last year, including one at which Mayor James K. Hahn's chief of staff, Tim McOsker, met with port commissioners without the city attorney, who usually attends.

While executive director of the Port of Los Angeles, Larry A. Keller helped woo shipping giant Maersk Sealand to a prime site at the port at the same time he was living in a home partially owned by the firm, port and county records show. Keller wrote two letters to Maersk in 1998, enclosing detailed responses to the firm's interest in opening a new hub in the Los Angeles area and inviting officials to discuss a deal.

In an emergency closed-door meeting today, Los Angeles harbor commissioners will review a major shipping firm's legal filing aimed at blocking the port's current search for a tenant for a "green terminal." Commissioner Camilla Townsend said Monday that she and Commissioner Thomas Warren requested the meeting because of their concerns about the court petition filed last week by London-based P&O Nedlloyd Container Line Ltd. in Los Angeles Superior Court.

The Los Angeles Harbor Commission on Wednesday tapped a London-based shipping firm to set up a "green terminal," marking the first time the nation's largest seaport has crafted a lease aimed at reducing air pollution. Commissioners voted 5 to 0 to begin final negotiations with P&O Nedlloyd Container Lines, the world's fourth-largest container shipping firm, which has promised to use cutting-edge clean-air technology at the site.

The Port of Los Angeles on Wednesday announced an unprecedented plan to improve its relationship with San Pedro and Wilmington--two waterfront communities that long have endured the worst effects of the harbor's growth in cargo operations. Hoping to end the so-called Hundred Years' War with neighbors, harbor commissioners outlined an initiative to give San Pedro and Wilmington more say in planning and to improve communication on issues that directly affect them.

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved Mayor James K. Hahn's five nominees for the Harbor Commission and two nominees for the Board of Water and Power. After a short round of questioning, Thomas Warren, Elwood Lui, James Acevedo, Nicholas G. Tonsich and Camilla Kocol were placed on the commission that supervises operations of the Port of Los Angeles. Mary E.

Ted Stein, a lawyer and developer who ran for city attorney in 1997 with the enthusiastic support of Mayor Richard Riordan, on Friday was fired from his Harbor Commission post by the same mayor. "The mayor has asked Ted Stein to step down," said Deputy Mayor Manuel Valencia. Riordan, the mayor's deputy said, decided to tap real estate developer Rick J.

John C. Cosgrove, 84, insurance executive, former harbor commissioner and philanthropic leader. Cosgrove, born in San Francisco and educated at Stanford University, was formerly president of Cosgrove & Company, founded by his father, and was division president of its successor, Marsh & McLennan. He was named to the Los Angeles Harbor Commission in 1954.