Port People: Long Beach, Los Angeles, Port Manatee

Austin Yang

Photo/Port of Hueneme

Austin Yang is the new controller at the Port of Hueneme. Mr. Yang is a graduate of Han Yang University in South Korea, a South Korean military veteran, and holds a BS in Accounting from Cal State Long Beach. He has been actively involved in finance and accounting for more than 12 years. Most recently, he was controller for The Elements Financial Group, a solutions based management group with nearly $1 billion in various investment platforms for financial professionals, advisers and institutions. Earlier he served six years as the financial controller for Global Auto Procession Services. Mr. Yang is an active CPA and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accounts (AICPA).

Long Beach: Harbor Commission Selects Director of Master Planning

Matt Plezia

Port of Long Beach

The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners recently approved the promotion of veteran employee Matt Plezia to director of master planning at the Port of Long Beach.

Mr. Plezia has been serving as acting director of master planning since September, following the retirement earlier this year of Director Larry Cottrill. Mr. Plezia joined the port in 1997 as a trade analyst, and moved to planning in 2002. He was promoted to manager of master planning in April 2013. His promotion to director is effective immediately.

Mr. Plezia attended the University of Toledo, in Ohio, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics.

The Master Planning Division, which is part of the port’s Bureau of Planning and Environmental Compliance, evaluates port land use, maintains the port master plan, prepares long-range cargo forecasts, and evaluates the economic impacts of port operations. The division also leads the port’s coordination with the Long Beach Gas & Oil Department regarding oil operations in the harbor district. The division works closely with other city departments, Coastal Commission staff, and local and regional planning agencies.

Los Angeles Names Tom Gazsi New Deputy Port Police Chief

Tom Gazsi

Photo/Costa Mesa Police Department

The Port of Los Angeles has appointed veteran law enforcement official Tom Gazsi deputy chief of the Los Angeles Port Police. Mr. Gazsi will oversee the Emergency Management and Field Operations Group for the port police.

"We’re very fortunate to have Tom as part of our Port Police executive command team," said Los Angeles Port Police Chief Ronald Boyd. "Someone of his caliber and depth of emergency services experience will be a great asset as we look to further develop our emergency preparedness and disaster planning efforts."

Reporting to Chief Boyd, Mr. Gazsi joins two other chiefs on the port police executive command team – Assistant Chief Michael Hillman, who handles day-to-day port police operations, and Deputy Chief Paul Lipscomb, who oversees the port’s Maritime Law Enforcement Training Center (MLETC) training and development activities.

Mr. Gazsi’s emergency management responsibilities include planning and managing resources for emergency events and disasters, whether natural or man-made. He will also oversee emergency preparedness.

Mr. Gazsi served as chief of the Costa Mesa Police Department for three years. Prior to that, he was with the Newport Beach Police Department for 32 years, where he began as a cadet in 1979 and rose to the rank of captain.

The Los Angeles Port Police enforces all federal, state, and local laws applicable to port responsibilities, including cargo protection, pollution investigation, vessel traffic control, and narcotics interdiction. The jurisdiction encompasses the 43 linear miles of waterfront and 7,500 acres that make up the port complex.

Manatee County Port Authority Elects Officers, Welcomes New Member

Carol Whitmore has been elected to a third one-year term as chairwoman of the Manatee County Port Authority, the governing board of Port Manatee.

The authority board consists of the seven members of the elected Manatee County Commission, but with distinctively separate officers and financial accountability. The authority sets policy and oversees major expenditures for the port.

Members of the authority board serve four-year staggered terms, with an annual election of officers.

Ms. Whitmore is a registered nurse who formerly served as a city commissioner and mayor of Holmes Beach (FL).

Carol Whitmore

Photo/Port Manatee

Also elected to one-year terms as port authority officers at the December 2 meeting of the Manatee County Board of County Commissioners were: Vanessa Baugh, first vice chairwoman; John Chappie, second vice chairman; and Betsy Benac, third vice chairwoman.

At the same meeting, the board welcomed its newest member, Charles B. Smith, a marketing consultant from Palmetto (FL) who won election to the county commission on November 4. Other port authority board members are Larry Bustle and Robin DiSabatino.

Charles B. Smith

Photo/Port Manatee