The Los Angeles City Council unanimously confirmed Mayor Karen Bass’s three appointees to the harbor commission on Tuesday, May 2.
The new commissioners, who will be seated at the board’s May 11 meeting, are former U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard, Michael Muñoz and Lee Williams.
They will replace Commissioners Jaime Lee, Lucia Moreno-Linares and Anthony Pirozzi.
The appointments will also put Bass’s imprint on the five-member Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, a panel that oversees the management and operation of the mammoth Port of Los Angeles.
Remaining on the board currently are Commissioners Diane Middleton, who is expected to stay, and Ed Renwick.
Commissioners, who are considered volunteers, serve five-year terms.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, 15th District representative Tim McOsker praised the nominations for reflecting a “diverse, expert and talented, local and regional set of appointments.”
McOsker early on made it clear he wanted to see local residents reflected in the mix and, in the end, the panel now has two — Middleton and Williams, both San Pedro residents.
With With Moreno-Linares being replaced, however, Wilmington lost its commission representative.
The three new appointees, meanwhile, appeared at the council meeting and made brief statements.
Muñoz, the research director for the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, spoke about his upbringing in an immigrant family in East Los Angeles.
He was born in the U.S., but his older brothers and sisters were born in Mexico before the family came north.
His early years were spent living the Aliso Village housing project, which was demolished in 1999.
Muñoz recalled watching his father work until a disability made that impossible; Muñoz was still in middle school.
“That had a deep impact on my life,” Muñoz said. “It made me want to work for justice, especially for the poor and working class people. Every position in my life was to try to make lives…
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