Mayor seeking ouster of port official amid probes.

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn is moving toward replacing Port of Los Angeles Executive Director Larry Keller, according to Hahn's sister, Councilwoman Janice Hahn, and other sources within the port community and at City Hall.

Hahn's decision to dispatch the embattled Keller, who has run the facility for seven years, comes amid criticism of the port's business practices and a joint probe into city contracting by county and federal investigators.

Earlier this year, Troy Edwards, Hahn's deputy mayor and liaison to the port, resigned under pressure.

Under the City Charter, the mayor doesn't have direct control over hiring and firing at the port. That responsibility lies with the Board of Harbor Commissioners. However, the five-member board is appointed by Hahn, and it would be unlikely for the board to go against his will, said Raphael Sonenshein, a political science professor at California State University, Fullerton, who helped revise the City Charter in 1999.

"In practice, it would be surprising for commissioners to go completely against the wishes of the mayor because they are appointed and removed by the mayor," he said.

Through a port spokeswoman, Keller declined comment. Board of Commissioners President Nicholas Tonsich did not return calls. Commissioner Thomas Warren said he has not "heard anything officially" regarding the mayor's decision.

The mayor had resisted making a move with Keller until earlier this month, when the Business Journal reported that Keller was a finalist for the top post at the Port of Oakland, Janice Hahn said. Keller had denied publicly that he was seeking the Oakland position.

"The decision to make a change is inevitable," said Janice Hahn, whose district includes the port and who first called for Keller's resignation last summer.

In conversations with her brother, she said it was clear he has made up his mind, although she added that he will take action "in his own time," giving Keller the chance to resign before taking the more drastic measure of firing him.

As of last week, Hahn hadn't explicitly asked Keller to resign, although sources at the port, in the mayor's office and within the maritime trade community widely assumed Keller's departure was imminent.

"When your employer finds out you're leaving the office to do interviews for another job, it changes the dynamics in that you know that person no longer wants to remain where he is," Janice Hahn said.

Keller met with his staff on June 4, two days after the Oakland port announced that it would hire from within, according to L.A. port sources. According to these sources, Keller finally acknowledged having applied for the Oakland job but told the staff that he still loved the L.A. job and wanted to stay.

Sources said Keller later went to the mayor's office and asked for a vote of confidence, but left empty-handed.

Yusef Robb, a spokesman for the mayor, said Keller did not meet with Hahn or his chief of staff, Tim McOsker. Robb wasn't sure whether Keller met with someone else on the mayor's staff.

Asked if he could deny that Hahn intended to replace Keller, Robb replied, "Larry Keller is currently the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. That's all I have on that."

Doane Liu, Hahn's deputy mayor in charge of port operations, also denied he met with Keller on this issue.

Keller, appointed by former Mayor Richard Riordan in 1997, has seen his authority diminish since the Hahn administration took office in 2001. Edwards and others close to Hahn have asserted much more influence over day-to-day port activities than did Riordan's staff.

Keller has a reputation as a maritime diplomat, someone who is adept at pleasing all sides of port operations. His accomplishments include a major expansion of port facilities and bringing back the Red Car trolley system that connects the cruise line terminal to the Ports O' Call shopping area.

But the past two years have been marred by investigations of port business practices, infighting among port staff and widespread criticism about pollution from community groups. While Keller was at odds with some of his staff, he is also being viewed as something of a scapegoat.

"It was beyond my capacity to even describe it," said one port source, describing what was considered meddling by Edwards and Leland Wong, a former port commissioner who, even after moving on to two other commissions, kept a hand in port activities until his resignation from the Board of Water and Power Commissioners in January. "There are so many negative things that have happened that they really need to find a fall guy nearer to the institution."

Keller, like several other port officials, has testified in the grand jury probe, and the district attorney has obtained records from his office. His departure has been rumored for much of the past year.

Port spokeswoman Theresa Adams Lopez acknowledged that rumors have been circling for months. She later called back to say that Keller declined comment.

Hahn has been slow in asking for the resignations of other officials who were seen as political liabilities. Former Airport Commission President Ted Stein, for instance, lasted until April, despite an avalanche of negative publicity that started in December. Hahn appointed Stein to the post.

Janice Hahn, along with sources at City Hall and the port, said the mayor was unlikely to do anything until after the June 21 grand opening of the port's China Shipping Container Lines terminal, billed as the nation's first "green" port facility.

"I do know he respects Larry Keller very much. I think (Hahn) was hoping he would find another job," Janice Hahn said. She called on the Board of Harbor Commissioners to begin looking for a replacement.

Last week, the jockeying to replace Keller was already in full swing. According to sources with ties to City Hall and the port, Hahn would prefer to appoint an outsider to help shed the image of cronyism that has afflicted the port. However, Tonsich has been pushing for Keller's No. 2, port Chief Operating Officer Bruce Seaton, to get the position.

Under the City Charter, Keller could seek to block his removal with a two-thirds vote of the City Council, but he is unlikely to receive that level of support.