Working World

The Port of Los Angeles, the number one container port in the country, encompasses 43 miles of waterfront and 7,500 acres of land and water combined. Eighty shipping lines and 15 cruise lines call there, the amount of cargo handled in 2007 was valued at $240.4 billion, and it employs more than 1,000 people as an independent, self-supporting department of the City of Los Angeles. 
   
In charge of this whole operation is Executive Director Geraldine Knatz, Ph.D. She began her career with the Port of L.A. in the ’70s as an environmental scientist. She said the water quality at that time was “truly terrible,” but her department’s findings helped convince the Regional Water Quality Control Board to start cracking down on pollution in the harbor. Before being appointed to her current position Geraldine was managing director of the rival Port of Long Beach, so she has come full circle, accruing more than 30 years’ experience in port management between the two harbors.  

Her appointment to the top position at the Port of Los Angeles, confirmed by the five-person commission that controls the Harbor Department, made her its first female executive director. She admits that, although her own hard work and preparation made her success possible, her gender did give her opportunities in situations where diversity was valued. And these opportunities enabled her to develop skills and talents she might not have had otherwise.

As impressive as her resume is, the challenges her job presents are substantial, as are some of her accomplishments.    

Geraldine has provided environmental leadership, making it a priority to reduce unhealthy levels of pollution caused by port operations. This was not achievable without the cooperation of the adjacent Port of Long Beach, so she facilitated the two ports’ first meeting since the 1920s. As a result of their joint effort, the San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan was set up to reduce emissions from trucks, trains and ships in berth by 50 percent over five years.

“We are a nation of importers, and as long as imports grow like they have been, all ports have to expand,” she told the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2006. Although that was before the current recession, growth and the improvements to make it happen are still necessary in order to maintain the department’s revenues since no taxpayer money is used. Therefore, Geraldine must manage the department through a significant downturn in cargo business — a decline of 33 percent between February 2008 and February 2009 — while still preparing for new business in the future. Improvements that have been done during her tenure include better coordination with rail lines; the implementation of systems for more efficient loading and unloading of cargo; and enhancements to the infrastructure, such as deepening channels to allow access by newer, larger vessels.  

There’s also the Bridge to Breakwater waterfront redevelopment project in San Pedro, which has been debated, designed, planned and replanned for most of the past decade. Geraldine has managed the concerns and expectations of numerous stakeholders, giving everyone their say, while trying to move the very complex and glacially slow process forward. Initial phases have been completed — adding a portside promenade in San Pedro — and additional developments will occur to incorporate public parks and plazas; new cruise ship facilities; and recreational, retail and commercial facilities in San Pedro and Wilmington. 

While directing all these efforts, Geraldine manages to be active in several professional associations, including the International Association of Ports and Harbors. She has received various leadership awards and was named one of the “100 Most Influential People in Southern California” by the Los Angeles Times in 2006.

Originally from New Jersey, Geraldine lives with her husband and two children in Long Beach.   

Suzanne Ridgway is a freelance writer and regular columnist for Working World and Working Nurse magazines. She also writes grant proposals for nonprofit organizations.