it has to do with how the longshoremen feel. it has to do with what kind of resources you want to use. several of the families i have been talking to the last few months decided to divert or change the times of operation. keeping it open or not means a lot of different things. it is not a simple thing. nobody should doubt we are firmly committed to keeping the port of oakland competitive, and to do what we have to do for the protection of the port in the port companies, and the poor leadership. -- port leadership. >> to move to the 1%, in terms of yacht racing, america's cup has been a big story in san francisco, and so far a success story. it seems negotiations and fund- raising have hit significant sticking points. what is needed to get the process back on track? what are you doing about it? >> america's cup -- we are very fortunate to have landed in the city of san francisco. that was one of the first things i talked with mayor jean quan about. we are engaged in discussions in three sides of the bay, to talk about adequate se

he is a second-generation longshoremen. he has handled every type of cargo, including passengers. he is the newly elected president of the local union. please welcome him. [applause] >> hello. i just wanted to thank mayor lee, the port commission, for directors, and board of supervisors. it is an honor to stand here today with you to honor our second international president, jimmy herman. we thank you for your leadership and the hard work that has moved us at last to start the construction. i just wanted to thank you for that. we waited 20 years to get this going. i also wanted to think staff, and behind-the-scenes people who have helped to progress this. everybody has moved this. jimmy was a seaman and a cook on cruise ships. he came a short and became a local 34 clerk. when the legendary harry bridges retired in 1977, jimmy became the second international president of our association. he served 14 years. then he became a court commissioner for 15 years. i heard a comment earlier about ladies on the port commission. maybe you could have a member on the port commission again. jimm

i am a local 10 longshoremen. we have been in talks with the racing management to assure our work on the waterfront and the spears. we are excited about this venue. we are excited about the work that could be coming. we traditionally provide labor for the spears -- these piers. we just want to go on record with that. chairperson chu: thank you. >> good evening. my name is jason santana. i am president of local 75. our unit is next to a supervisor kim's district. i work security on the docks, including the cruise ship terminal. unfortunately, i am not working there today. my members demanded we get new job, because we continue to be replaced by renta cops on marine terminals. we appreciate the assurances that we will guard the peers of america's cup racing. the last thing i want to do is stand in front of my members and say i did not come through. >> good afternoon. paul oliva. i am "the san francisco chronicle" waterfront columnist and and part of san francisco yacht club. i can also say we have increased our memb

for years, the longshoremen workers said, "how are we going to revitalize?" we are using this fantastic opportunity that the america's cup is providing us, thinking them and all their opportunities, and saying, let us revitalize our port. let us give the foundation it deserves. let us honor james harmon and what he did with the union leadership for many decades. but as honor the current people by doing this with them. i want to thank them. i also want to thank the existing tenants, helping with our economy. i want to thank our intelligent and transport. we have personal opportunities to work together with the port staff, to help relocate them in a comfortable way. they have been invaluable business partners with the city, exciting assets to our travel and tourism. they are going to be part of the port on an ongoing, long-term basis, increasing our tourism. when cruise ships come over here on international status, they will start making this a really active port again. you'll see a lot of happy faces. there will be neighborhoods that will benefit -- the war, c

one was 19 chinese in a container that was discovered by the longshoremen in los angeles. in terms of cost, you know, the cost that would impact our economy if something were to happen at one of the major ports is significant. we were spending, you know, a lot of money on our wars per month. $12 billion per month for both of our w afghanistan. we believe that was worth it. we believed it was worth it for the national security. i really think this is at that level and i feel like we are fu vulnerable. you answered where we are with the screening. you heard from a lot of the members from the committee that we really are interested in seeing you get a higher percentage of scanning. let's talk about not if something happens, but let's talk about when something happens. it was touched on terms of recovering. i know i will introduce legislation that talks about all of our ports in the country having a recovery plan because i think that would make our ports less attractive to an attack if we knew they could get up and running. in the port caucus, we will talk about a recovery pla