Mayor Terry Caldwell of Victorville spoke before the Port of Long Beach (POLB) Board of Harbor Commissioners weekly meeting today and told the Commissioners an inland port is inevitable. “Victorville is the logical and ideal choice”, he said, and thanked them for unanimously voting today for a six-month feasibility study examining proposed sites in the Southland, including Victorville.
Mayor Caldwell was joined by: U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA, 46th); State Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-27th), Chair, Senate Transportation & Housing Committee; and Long Beach Councilmember Bonnie Lowenthal. Each expressed their strong support and indicated the absolute necessity for an inland port for the good of the port and the surrounding communities.
“You and your fellow commissioners have wisely chosen to look well beyond today’s severe economic challenges because you know the economic growth projections,” Caldwell said. “You all have experienced the frustrations, delays and controversies over new construction in and around the ports to also know that no build-out plans are ever on-time or a sure bet. I applaud you for acting now so we can plan for the waves of economic activity that will inevitably make an inland port an essential part of your operations.”
Mayor Caldwell reproposed his October 2006 offer to build “a place not only to store containers, but where we can develop a world class, state of the art, green, intermodal logistics and distribution center…akin to the Port of Rotterdam’s inland port in Duisburg, Germany, which, like Victorville, is similarly situated approximately 90 miles away.”
“A Victorville inland port is unique. It allows for the continued growth of Southern California’s most important job-producing, tax-generating economic engine and still protects neighborhoods and the environment. Now much of the new port growth would occur in its High Desert 100,000 acre redevelopment area in the Mojave AQMD bringing jobs to our area,” he said.
Mayor Caldwell did not discount the “monumental challenges” involved but said it required “leaders with vision” to act now to preserve the port’s premier status as the gateway to America.
