Meet the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners

The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners oversees the management and operation of the Port of Los Angeles, the number one port in the nation, ranked by container volume. The five-member board is appointed by the Mayor of Los Angeles and confirmed by the Los Angeles City Council. The commissioners serve five-year terms and elections are held every July for the offices of president and vice president.

President S. David Freeman

S. David Freeman was appointed to the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and confirmed by the Los Angeles City Council on September 9, 2005.
Mr. Freeman was the first person with an energy responsibility in the federal government, appointed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967.

Mr. Freeman was the Director of the Ford Foundation Energy Policy Project, which published “A Time To Choose” in 1974, documenting the major role energy efficiency could play in the future.

Mr. Freeman has a 30-year record as board member and manager of many of America's largest publicly owned businesses. President Jimmy Carter appointed him as chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority in 1977, where he cut sulfur oxide emissions in half, stopped construction of eight large nuclear power plants and pioneered a massive energy conservation program. Mr. Freeman then served as general manager of large public power agencies for the next two decades, including the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power from 1997 to 2001. Under his leadership, the DWP kept the rates level and lights on during California's power crisis.

As president of the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, Mr. Freeman and his fellow commissioners partnered with the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners and took unprecedented action by approving the landmark San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan at the first-ever joint public meeting of the two boards on November 20, 2006. The Clean Air Action Plan provides a comprehensive strategy for reducing air emissions from port operations by nearly 50 percent over a period of five years.

Mr. Freeman has won awards from the Los Angeles Coalition for Clean Air, National Wildlife Association, Global Green and many other organizations for his devotion to clean air, clean water, and renewable energy. He negotiated the settlement of the decades-long dispute over the dust pollution from the Owens (Dry) Lake, resulting in the restoration effort that has created a bird sanctuary and cleaner air for that pristine area.

Mr. Freeman holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech, and an L.L.B. from the University of Tennessee. Mr. Freeman served as a U.S. Merchant Marine in World War II, transporting gasoline across the North Atlantic. He authored Energy: the New Era in 1974, and Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How in 2007.

Vice President Jerilyn López Mendoza

Jerilyn López Mendoza was appointed to the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and confirmed by Los Angeles City Council on September 6, 2005.

As vice president of the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners, López Mendoza and her fellow commissioners partnered with the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners and took unprecedented action by approving the landmark San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan in November 2006. The Clean Air Action Plan provides a comprehensive strategy for reducing air emissions from port operations by nearly 50 percent over a period of five years. Their efforts yielded the first joint meeting of the leaders of the two ports since the 1920s and the first-ever public meeting of the two Boards on November 20, 2006, the day the Plan was approved.

López Mendoza is the policy director of the Environmental Justice Project Office of Environmental Defense in Los Angeles. López Mendoza focuses on creating innovative ways to reduce negative environmental impacts on low-income, minority populations. Her work has included negotiating community benefits agreements that secure specific mitigation and other commitments from large public and private development projects.

López Mendoza is the chair of the Steering Committee of the LAX Coalition for Economic, Environmental and Educational Justice, which negotiated a $500 million community benefits agreement related to Los Angeles International Airport expansion, finalized in December 2004. She also serves on the Steering Committee of the Figueroa Corridor Coalition for Economic Justice and has been a member of the Verde Coalition, which works to bring more parks and community gardens to the urban core and was instrumental in launching the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust.

A native of Montebello, Calif., López Mendoza earned her bachelor's degree in American Studies at Stanford University and her juris doctor at the UCLA School of Law, where she earned two American Jurisprudence Awards - the highest grade in the class. She was also an editor of the Journal of Environmental Law and Policy and editor-in-chief of the Chicano-Latino Law Review. Prior to joining Environmental Defense, López Mendoza worked in private practice as a litigator.

Commissioner Kaylynn L. Kim

Kaylynn L. Kim was appointed to the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and confirmed by Los Angeles City Council on September 9, 2005.

Kim and her fellow Los Angeles Harbor Commissioners partnered with the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners and took unprecedented action by approving the landmark San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan in November 2006. The Clean Air Action Plan provides a comprehensive strategy for reducing air emissions from port operations by nearly 50 percent over a period of five years. Their efforts yielded the first joint meeting of the leaders of the two ports since the 1920s and the first-ever public meeting of the two Boards on November 20, 2006, the day the Plan was approved.

A successful attorney, Kim currently serves as an associate at Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natis, LLP, where she concentrates on international trade and investment, real estate and land-use, and corporate law.  Previously, Kim served as president of Kaylynn L. Kim & Associates, where she specialized in business litigation and employment relations. Prior to that, she worked as an associate at the Law Offices of James Bang, where she handled foreign and domestic clients in a variety of corporate affairs.

Kim’s accomplishments are not limited to the practice of law. Before receiving her juris doctor from Southwestern University Law School, she was a partner at the Melrose Wellness Medical Center, where she focused on elder care, rehabilitation and sports medicine. She also holds a doctor of chiropractic degree from the Southern California University of Health Sciences.

Kim speaks fluent Korean and conversational Chinese. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Koreatown Youth Community Center and on the Advisory Board of the Lanterman Developmental Center.

Commissioner Douglas P. Krause

Douglas P. Krause was appointed to the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and confirmed by Los Angeles City Council on September 9, 2005.

Krause and his fellow Los Angeles Harbor Commissioners partnered with the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners and took unprecedented action by approving the landmark San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan in November 2006. The Clean Air Action Plan provides a comprehensive strategy for reducing air emissions from port operations by nearly 50 percent over a period of five years. Their efforts yielded the first joint meeting of the leaders of the two ports since the 1920s and the first-ever public meeting of the two Boards on November 20, 2006, the day the Plan was approved.

Krause serves as executive vice president, chief risk officer, and general counsel in the Los Angeles headquarters of East West Bank. In this role, he is closely involved with trade finance and export-import issues. His responsibilities also include oversight of risk management, corporate governance processes and code of ethics; Institutional Shareholder Services rates East West Bank’s governance processes in top 1 percent of companies.

Before joining East West Bank, Krause was corporate senior vice president and general counsel of Metrobank from 1991 to 1996. Prior to that, he worked for the law firms of Dewey Ballantine, and Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue, where he specialized in financial services.

Krause has lived in Los Angeles for the past 20 years. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Carleton College before receiving his juris doctor from Columbia Law School, where he was editor of the Law Review.

Commissioner Joseph R. Radisich

Joseph R. Radisich was appointed to the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and confirmed by Los Angeles City Council on September 6, 2005.

Radisich and his fellow Los Angeles Harbor Commissioners partnered with the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners and took unprecedented action by approving the landmark San Pedro Bay Ports Clean Air Action Plan in November 2006. The Clean Air Action Plan provides a comprehensive strategy for reducing air emissions from port operations by nearly 50 percent over a period of five years. Their efforts yielded the first joint meeting of the leaders of the two ports since the 1920s and the first-ever public meeting of the two Boards on November 20, 2006, the day the Plan was approved.

A lifelong resident of San Pedro, Calif., Radisich was elected as International Vice President, Mainland, of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) in September 2006. A longtime leader in the labor community, Radisich also served as president of the Southern California District Council of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and vice president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

Radisich has served as national strategic coordinator for recent ILWU negotiations. He has also served as vice president of Local 13 and as a member of the ILWU political action committee since its inception.

After graduating from Mary Star of the Sea High School in San Pedro, he attended Colorado State University on a football scholarship. Radisich graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a degree in history.