Bruce Seaton served as chief operating officer of the Port of Los Angeles for six years before being named interim director following the departure of Larry Keller as executive director. The Long Beach native has made no secret about his desire to fill the $278,000-per-year post on a permanent basis, and has already been taking steps to reach out to the Board of Harbor Commissioners, as well as environmental and community groups. As part of that process, Seaton, who essentially serves as the property manager of the massive city-owned port, has set out to do the things that Keller did not. Among them: staying in closer touch with the surrounding communities to keep them abreast of port programs, including a greater emphasis on using alternative power sources to replace pollution-causing diesel fuel. But the potential hazards don’t stop there. The port continues to be seriously under-funded for homeland security programs while Los Angeles County and federal grand juries are investigating the veil of secrecy and pay-to-play allegations that shrouded the way the port did business under Keller’s tenure.

Question: Are the federal grand juries investigating port business practices a distraction?

Answer: I have no idea what the D.A. is going to do with indictments. But my knowledge of the port’s business is no matter what processes through the legal system, we will have a port open and operating.

Q: Have you felt any pressure from either the commissioners or the mayor’s office?

A: As COO, I worked for the executive director and took my directions from him. The mayor or the board members talked to Larry, not me. As the interim executive director, I report to the board. They want this port run effectively and efficiently. They want all (stakeholders) to have participation in the decision-making.

Q: What’s the update in finding a permanent replacement for Keller, a job you are seeking?

A: I think the harbor commissioners are trying to hire a search firm, but I am not involved in that process at all.

Q: How will you approach your candidacy with your experience being on the engineering side, not the marketing and business development side?

A: In my experience working for the port since 1974, I have traveled to Europe and the Far East several times to meet with customers. I know what the issues are. All the staff on the negotiating team that brought over Maersk Sealand (from Long Beach) worked for me and reported to me.

Q: How would you placate the concerns of the environmentalists and community leaders who said they want an outsider to run the port?

A: Since I’ve been interim executive director, I’ve met with Gail Ruderman Feuer (senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council) a couple of times. She’s seen my style. I’m a firm believer that it’s not the words you say, but it’s the actions that you do. I hope over the next several months I can convince her that under my leadership, working with the Port of Los Angeles will be a lot easier.

Q: Keller’s consulting contract was sent back by the City Council and is being renegotiated. What’s your feeling about having him on board?

A: I recommended it to the council. They sent it back. Nothing has changed. We’re still renegotiating. He certainly was a leader in the industry. He is still an extremely valuable individual who has unique talents to represent the Port of Los Angeles in a very narrowly focused effort to help reduce congestion and reduce cargo diversions and implement environmental initiatives.

Q: Does your daily routine differ from Keller’s?

A: My style and my personality is to be very activist. Larry had a different style. I’m also doing the same thing Larry was doing meeting with our customers and the people who ship through the port. They all want to know about the vision: Where are we going in the future? We need to figure out how we can increase efficiencies and maximize the facilities we have.

Q: What have you been able to accomplish in the month and a half since you were named interim director?

A: I’ve been trying to develop a business plan for the port that will take us past 2010. Strengthening our community relations has been high on my list. I have met with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and our customers, pushing the 24/7 (extended gates) plan. There are some external priorities that I have working with our stakeholders to achieve no-net-increase (in pollution).

Q: What does the reorganization portion entail?

A: We’ve had (Business Development Director) Al Fierstine retire. We’ve had Larry Keller leave. If you look at filling holes, that leaves an opportune time to look at that structure and see if we can handle it more efficiently.

Q: Why are you focused on creating a long-term vision for the port if you are only an interim executive director?

A: Independent of me being interim, I am the individual who the commission and mayor has entrusted to run this vital city operation. The timing is right for a long-term vision. That strategic vision will be approved by the Board of Harbor Commissioners. The stakeholders will weigh in on what that should be. My job is to keep the process moving forward. Just because you are interim doesn’t mean you are a caretaker.

Q: Why had the environmental side been on the back burner?

A: I’m not so sure I would agree. There are folks in the community who feel we have not done enough for the environment, but when you look at the initiatives that we do have, you’re going to see that we were the first one to do Alternative Maritime Power. You can argue that we were forced to do so by a court suit. But over 30 percent of our rolling stock, like dump trucks and street sweepers, run on alternative fuels either electric or compressed natural gas. We’ve shown leadership there. I grant you, we’ve got a long way to go.

Q: Do you feel your hands are tied by the way the federal government doles out funds for security improvements?

A: We have a huge influence on the direction that security goes. We’re right now installing X-ray devices at each terminal so we can look at boxes before they leave each terminal. Yes, the federal government is involved with it, but that’s something our staff is designing, working with our customers to figure out where to put them. We are just as concerned as the ILWU that the boxes coming into this port are safe and the boxes leaving this port are safe.

Q: But large ports are considered prime terrorist targets and the federal government has been slow is appropriating funds for security.

A: It’s true the primary responsibility is the federal government. We have been starved for our fair share of revenues in the security area.

Q: This year’s peak shipping season started in May as opposed to August. Will this be the norm from now on?

A: You used to be able to call it a peak season. Now, we don’t have those big peaks and valleys. It will be a little lower at the beginning of the year and a little higher during the summer and fall. Generally, our box counts are very, very high.

Q: How will you deal with congestion expected from the rise in cargo when Chinese garment quotas are lifted at the end of the year?

A: You’re making the assumption that there will be congestion. The Port of Los Angeles is not at capacity or near capacity. The labor shortage was a short-term problem that looks like it is sorting itself out. Labor and management did not hire enough into the union and when they did, it took time to train them. They should have started a little earlier.

Q: Is there anything that can be done to keep from seeing a repeat of this year’s backlog at the port?

A: There was a lack of hiring on the part of the owners, so we’re going to meet with them on a quarterly basis to pass on our information about our (cargo) projections. The owners will have better information about the amount of labor they should hire so hopefully they can avoid this situation in the future.