Port authority
I am writing to you from Tokyo, Japan, where I’m traveling with our team from the Port of Long Beach to meet with trading partners, secure future port business and learn about emerging technologies that will ensure sustainable growth at the harbor.
Thanks to our ambitious trade agenda, the Port of Long Beach just had the strongest quarter in its history and is on pace to have a record year. This year will go down in history as one of the best years ever for our port. In just three months, we’ve seen more container volume than many major ports see in an entire year.
This is great news for the Long Beach economy, as one in every eight jobs in our community is linked to trade and goods movement.
Middle Harbor, the world’s first zero-emissions terminal, will open in a few months and be ready to receive the biggest ships in the world. Ships that are too large for the expanded Panama Canal are now looking to Long Beach. Our capacity is continuing to expand, as we invest more in capital improvements than any port in the western hemisphere. Over the course of the next year, expect great news from our port as we continue to grow and lead the nation in environmental stewardship.
Maintaining and strengthening our relationships with global partners is critical to the economy of the region. Other ports are working hard to attract our customers, so we need to work twice as hard to keep them in Long Beach. I am incredibly proud of Port CEO Jon Slangerup, the Board of Harbor Commissioners and the entire port team.
Robert Garcia
Mayor
Long Beach
No such thing
Last week, federal authorities in partnership with local law enforcement conducted a nationwide anti-child sex trafficking crackdown. In 135 cities stretching from Atlanta to Seattle, officials conducted stings in places frequented by the men who buy and sell young girls for profit, ultimately rescuing 149 children and arresting 150 pimps and traffickers.
Here in Los Angeles County, the taskforce, working in collaboration with the Sheriff’s Department, Long Beach Police Department, County Probation, Children and Family Services and nonprofits, rescued three juvenile victims and arrested three pimps. Thanks to the work of our law-enforcement heroes, three children who were brutally manipulated into a life of exploitation and abuse are now on the path to a better life, and three scumbags are off the streets and sitting in jail.
A few years ago, those three girls would have been arrested and charged with prostitution and treated like criminals. Now, as our understanding of this horrific crime has evolved, we are treating them as victims and providing them with the services they need to escape their life on the streets. There’s simply no such thing as a child prostitute!
This Wednesday, the No Such Thing campaign [came] to Los Angeles County. I [joined] Rights 4 Girls, the California Endowment, L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell and other local leaders at the Hall of Justice as we [took] a united stand against stigmatizing victims of child abuse and rape as prostitutes. We stand for the 149 children who were rescued this week by the FBI and for all the victims of this horrific crime in Los Angeles County. Their lives depend on it.
Don Knabe
LA County Supervisor
Fourth District
