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Cindy Miscikowski Leads L.A. Harbor Commissioners Through Tough Economy

A former city councilmember and long time public servant, Cindy Miscikowski was recently appointed by L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to replace green pioneer S. David Freeman as the president of the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners. As detailed in the following TPR/MIR interview, Ms. Miscikowski hopes to use her substantial experience brokering compromises between business interests and community groups in furthering the port’s efforts to grow green and improve the trust of the surrounding community. On the table at the port are significant challenges due to the economy, increased competition from abroad, and legal challenges to employment mandates in the Port of Los Angeles’ Clean Truck Program.

Published Friday March 5, 2010

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Cindy Miscikowski

This article originally appeared in the November 2009 issue of TPR/MIR

In June you were appointed by Mayor Villaraigosa to replace David Freeman as President of the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners. What enticed you to take this responsibility? What on the port’s agenda interests the most?

The Port of Los Angeles is very much at a crossroads. It has been number one in the United States, combined with Long Beach, in terms of market share of import and export, and it is particularly well positioned on the Pacific Rim. But economic forces and other forces are aligning against the ports of L.A. and Long Beach. Other ports throughout the country and region are indicating that they want to grow their market share—that means taking it from us.

I knew a little about the port, from my years in the Los Angeles City Council. What I remembered about the port was something called the “hundred year war”—the battle between this huge economic engine and its location in the formerly sleepy little communities of San Pedro and Wilmington. Given my years at City Hall forging compromises with neighborhood groups and homeowner groups, I felt I could help cement that relationship in a positive way.