Cover Letter

January 24, 2019

Honorable Members of the City Council of the City of Los Angeles
c/o City Clerk
Room 395, City Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Los Angeles Harbor Department
Board of Harbor Commissioners
425 South Palos Verdes Street
San Pedro, CA 90731

Under City Charter Section 266 (a), the City Controller, Mayor and City Council shall jointly cause at least once in every five years, an Industrial, Economic and Administrative Survey (IEA Survey) of the Harbor Department (Harbor), and shall select an independent qualified organization to conduct the IEA survey.

The 2019 IEA Survey of the Harbor, administered by representatives from the Controller’s and Mayor’s Offices, and the Chief Legislative Analyst representing the City Council, was prepared by the firm of BCA Watson Rice, LLP, at a cost of $498,860.

The Harbor manages the Port of Los Angeles (POLA), the largest container port in the Western Hemisphere, encompassing 7,500 acres, 43 miles of waterfront, 220 berths, 27 major cargo terminals, industrial and commercial uses, and extensive roads, railroads and rights-of-way. In fiscal year 2017, the terminals handled nearly 200 million metric revenue tons of cargo.

This IEA Survey provides an extensive review and analysis of three areas: (1) cargo real estate and terminals; (2) commercial real estate; and (3) Harbor management. Some challenges identified include deepening the collaboration between the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, navigating pricing changes in the shipping industry, identifying business diversification opportunities, expanding real estate development possibilities and consolidating the deployment of technology to improve operational efficiency. The executive summary covers these and other key issues faced by the Harbor and makes specific recommendations to address them, Our goals are to strengthen department operations and build upon the POLA’s status as a leader in the increasingly competitive global market.

Ron Galperin, Controller, City of Los Angeles
Eric Garcetti, Mayor, City of Los Angeles
Herb Wesson, President, Los Angeles City Council

Respectfully submitted,

RON GALPERIN
Los Angeles Controller