If the city of Los Angeles is casting about for vacancies to reduce the impact of 1,000 anticipated layoffs, it won't get much mileage from the Harbor Department. The Port of Los Angeles has only 35 vacancies - barely enough to make a dent in what could now be a loss of 1,000 city jobs. And, of those 35 positions, six or seven are "port-specific," meaning that there will likely be only 29 slots that could be filled by people laid off by the city.

Proprietary departments that generate their own revenues - the port, the airport and the Department of Water and Power - will not be directly affected by the layoffs. However, there could be a secondary impact if someone in a city position targeted for a layoff previously worked at one the port, the airport, or the DWP, and bumping rights come into play, said port spokesman Arley Baker.

Although the port has a total of 35 vacancies, only eight are actually funded in the port's current budget. The lack of funding in the budget was to comply with a previous mayoral mandate for each department to reduce salary and benefits by 10 percent.
The 35 openings do not reflect any additional positions that may become available due to 63 port workers who have applied for the city's retirement program. Whether all will participate and which positions will be filled remains to be seen.

 - The Cunningham Report