THE PORT GIVES GOOD NEIGHBOR AWARDS
Meanwhile, back at the port. On March 7th, a month prior to the April 7th demonstration at the docks, port officials put out a press release, announcing their first annual Good Neighbor Awards program. The intention, according to their press release, was "to honor those individuals, groups and businesses that mirror the Port's mission of improving our surrounding communities by making positive, sustainable contributions."
That press release was issued just as the war was expected to begin. The timing is intriguing. Something had inspired the port officials to institute this program, and it's not hard to guess what it may have been. They were probably hoping to improve their image by deflecting criticism of the fact that munitions for the Iraqi war would be shipped through the port, and they were probably anticipating unfavorable responses by the ILWU.
They had already invoked the ire of the ILWU during the summer and fall of 2002, when the dock workers had been locked out by the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), as well as threatened with an injunction of the Taft-Hartley anti-labor act, and an intervention by Tom Ridge of Homeland Security. Although the lockout had been aimed at the longshoremen's union, it had also hurt the local economy.
So port officials had good reason to do some PR.
The awards ceremony was scheduled to be held on April 23rd at the Jack London Aquatic Center in Oakland. $1,000 checks would be given to about four award winners, and Oakland Police Chief Richard Word was to be the keynote speaker. At that time Chief Word was much more trusted and respected than he has been since. In fact, he probably looked like an excellent choice.
Even if the port officials had second thoughts about their keynote speaker after the events of April 7th, it was probably too late to remove him. And so when the ceremony was held, exactly two weeks and two days after the shootings, it went as scheduled, with Chief Word the keynote speaker.
The Tribune (4-24-03) reported that Chief Word "called the gathering a 'leadership forum' and [he] added, 'it isn't easy to make a difference ... it takes courage.' Word said all the nominees 'give strength to our social fabric and you motivate others ... and you are often under appreciated and overlooked.'"
The incredible irony of the whole thing was certainly underappreciated and overlooked by the Tribune. However, columnist Gary Turchin of the Montclarion, writing a few days before the event, remarked, "Hopefully [Chief Word] won't be showing off any of his neighborly 'non-lethal' weaponry there."