They’re back.
After more than two years juggling Zoom proceedings during the coronavirus pandemic, the LA and Long Beach harbor commissions have announced they will head back to their public meeting rooms beginning with their next sessions.
Long Beach commissioners will gather at 1:30 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24, for their next regular meeting at the Bob Foster Civic Chambers, 411 W. Ocean Blvd.
The Los Angeles harbor commission, which had a meeting on Thursday, Oct. 20, will meet again at 9 a.m. Nov. 3 at the Port of Los Angeles headquarters, 425 S. Palos Verdes St., in San Pedro.
Along with resuming in-person meetings, with the public invited to attend, both bodies will also continue offering live webcasts and videos of the meetings, which had become a staple even before the pandemic.
The meeting places were closed to the public following the COVID-19 outbreak in early 2020, with most government meetings moving remote, online gatherings. Public speakers had to call in to make comments on agenda items, a process that was often cumbersome and confusing as folks learned to navigate mute settings.
The remote meetings came about with California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s declaration on March 4, 2020, of a state of emergency related to the pandemic. The governor recently said he intends to lift that order in February.
The Los Angeles commission last met in person in March 2020 and held its first remote meeting on April 2, 2020. Commissioners agreed to go back to the public forums during their Thursday meeting.
Meeting agendas and information can be found at the two ports’ websites: portoflosangeles.org and polb.com.