DISQUS

The real truth of the matter - that a State law would have to be changed in order for the Port to funnel more funds to the City - is treated as an aside in this and earlier reporting. No one in the City has asked Port staff to prepare any information supporting or rejecting Schipske's idea, which, without legislation, is a non-starter.

You can trust that most employees here at the Port, which is a City Department, would like to see revenues at the City increase. Instead, under Mayor Foster's direction, our salaries have been increasingly chipped away in the form of increased contributions to our pension and health care premiums, lower benefits, and postponed contract negotiations. Civil Service salaries in Long Beach are among the lowest in the area and staff retention is a serious problem.

Because the "news" is all about negative reporting, Port staff have become practically demonized in this community. How 'bout we all take jobs in Torrance or Seal Beach and just fold up the Port? Huell Howser can have his maritime museum and the hundreds of thousands of commerce-related jobs in the area can go to Ensenada.