Port of New Orleans names ILA official as chairman

Port of New Orleans names ILA official as chairman The Port of New Orleans' Board of Commissioners has named James O. Campbell, president of International Longshoremen’s Association Local 3000, as its chairman.

Campbell

   Campbell, who has led the ILA local since 2000 and worked with it since 1985, succeeds Danny Hughes, whose term expired. Hughes will continue to serve as a commissioner. He is the first ILA president to serve on the board, and the port said he “has established a record of working with all port entities to bring stability to the maritime industry in New Orleans.”
   “I will work to prepare the Port of New Orleans to be the leading port in the Gulf region,” said Campbell, a graduate of Alcorn State University in Mississippi.
   Former Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco appointed Campbell to the board in November 2004 as one of four representatives from Orleans Parish to the seven-member board, which governs public port operations in Orleans, Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes.
   Capt. A.J. Gibbs, president of the Crescent River Port Pilots’ Association, who was appointed to the board in December 2005, was elected vice chairman; and Thomas Westfeldt, president of Westfeldt Brothers Inc., was elected secretary-treasurer.
   The Board’s commissioners serve five-year staggered terms. The unsalaried board members are appointed by Louisiana's governor from a list of three nominees submitted by 19 local civic, labor, education and maritime groups. The board reflects the three-parish jurisdiction, with four members from Orleans Parish, two from Jefferson Parish and one from St. Bernard Parish.
   Other board members are John Fay Jr., Wayne Mumphrey and Valerie Cahill.