Ports delay container fees for the 24th time p. 3 O.G. Domino back on the block: West Coast melodic rap pioneer talks history, new music and new horizons p. 11 Nima Karimi of Bocca Felice gives back p. 12 Nima Karimi
HELP WANTED: A New CD 15 Council Rep
Do you know who’s running to replace Joe Buscaino?
By James Preston Allen, Publisher and Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor
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[See CD15, p. 4]
Council District 15 candidate Anthony Santich at far left. Photo by Raphael Richardson. From left to right, DC 15 candidates Bryant Odega, Danielle Sandoval and Tim McOsker. Photos by Arturo Garcia-Ayala
Haste Makes Waste?
POLA’s hurry-up project approval process raises alarms By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
The EcoCem low-carbon cement facility proposed for berths 191-194 sounds great on first hearing — it’s been estimated that cement production is responsible for approximately 8% of CO2 worldwide, and EcoCem is a leading producer of a low-carbon alternative that could help cut that dramatically — a perfect fit with the Port of LA’s cherished image as a “green port.” But the devil’s in the details, and they include the almost certain presence of chromium-6, the cancercausing form of the heavy metal that gained notoriety with Erin Brokovich. The 100-year old Portland cement plant in Davenport, just north of Santa Cruz — originally built to supply cement for the Panama Canal and Pearl Harbor — was shut down in 2010 when chromium-6
was found in concentrations up to 10 times normal atmospheric levels. That was five years after the Mexicobased manufacturing giant, Cemex, purchased the plant and modernized it to produce “green cement.” Nor is the EcoCem project alone. Since November, it’s one of three industrial projects for which port staff have issued initial studies — studies whose adequacy has been broadly questioned. A fourth project, on waterfront development, has also been unveiled. “They are not giving a sufficient analysis to these projects,” retired port attorney Pat Nave told Random Lengths News. They were also released “with inadequate notice,” said Peter Warren, a member of San Pedro & Peninsula Homeowners Coalition. Both said that 30day comment periods are inadequate for a meaningful public comment process. And last-minute extensions are
no substitute for adequate time in the first place. As the mayoral primary election looms, there’s an eerie sense of déjà vu. On March 28, 2001, in the closing days of the Riordan administration, the Board of Harbor Commissioners approved a 30-year lease with the China Shipping Company without doing any environmental review. Now, 21 years later — as the resulting lawsuit’s consequences are still being litigated — the port could be poised to make similar mistakes. “It is obvious that the environmental department at the Port of Los Angeles is trying to get projects released and approved before a new group of commissioners and likely some top port officials are removed under the incoming new administration,” said Janet Gunter, one of three initial plaintiffs in the China Shipping lawsuit. “This push to get projects approved with deficient environmental review could be extremely devastating for Harbor communities. I highly recommend that all environmental project reviews halt until after a new [See Haste, p. 6] 1
April 28 - May 11, 2022
A rendering of the proposed amphitheater at the new West Harbor project at the former Ports O’ Call Village site.
Real People, Real News, Really Effective
ne would have thought that the entire power structure of San Pedro insiders had shown up on Saturday April 9 to inaugurate Tim McOsker’s campaign office on Gaffey and Seventh streets. This included Supervisor Janice Hahn, former councilman Rudy Svorinich Jr., two San Pedro Chamber of Commerce presidents and one from the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce and a list of Democratic electeds, LA Fire Department (some with the last name McOsker) and the current president of the LA City Council Nury Martinez. All there to sing the praises for McOsker, the former chief of staff of Mayor James Hahn. Sergio Carrillo, vice-chair of the LA Democratic Party — well known for his campaign consulting, emceed the affair with great exuberance introducing the long list of notables. The McOsker family filled up nearly a quarter of the small corner office; the Irish are the second largest European nationality in San Pedro. The primary