Oakland – (Special to Zennie62Media’s ZennieReport.com) Mike Jacob, the The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) lawyer emerging from three years of court battles against the Oakland A’s Howard Terminal Ballpark Project and on behalf of maritime businesses at the Port of Oakland, is the new President of the PMSA.
Mike Jacob has served as General Counsel and Vice President of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association. Mr. Jacob replaces John McLaurin, who is retiring after 28 years in the same position of PMSA President.
PMSA Issues Statement On The Elevation Of Mike Jacob To PMSA President
The Board of Directors of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) have adopted a plan to ensure continuity and stability in its senior management in 2024. After 28 years as PMSA President, John McLaurin has informed the PMSA Board of his intent to step down early next year. The Board has selected Mike Jacob, current PMSA Vice President and General Counsel as its next President. Jacob will assume this PMSA leadership role upon the retirement of McLaurin.
“The Board thanks John McLaurin for his dedication, commitment, and unwavering representation of PMSA, including a successful consolidation of US West Coast maritime organizations,” stated Mark Johnson, Vice President of Government Affairs for SSA Marine and longstanding member of the PMSA Board.
Mark Johnson continued “To continue these efforts, the PMSA Board has determined that Mike Jacob is the best person to succeed John and serve as the organization’s next president. Mike’s intellect, dedication to the maritime industry, and his extraordinary efforts on behalf of PMSA made it clear that he is the ideal candidate to lead our organization into the future. Mike will lead an exceptionally talented team of dedicated professionals as they provide effective representation and advocacy for the industry.”
Mike Jacob Continues PMSA’s Work In Protecting West Coast Maritime Jobs And Businesses
PMSA leads efforts to protect the jobs and businesses that support the West Coast goods movement sector, including the export of agricultural and technology products and the import of critical products that supply the regional economy. “I look forward to my new role with PMSA and working closely with John and the Board over these upcoming months to ensure a smooth transition,” stated Mike Jacob. “I will continue to pursue and build on PMSA’s successes and efforts under John’s leadership to enact policies that encourage economic and investment growth, market share protection, and a feasible, sustainable transition to a cleaner environment.”
“Mike is ideally positioned to lead PMSA into the future during a time of profound change in the
industry,” added McLaurin. “He has been a trusted partner and friend for almost 20 years. His strategic vision is relied upon by PMSA member companies, decision-makers at multiple levels of government, supply chain partners and PMSA staff. “
Mr. Jacob Advised PMSA On Legal And Regulatory Matters
Mike Jacob adviseed The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA) on legal, statutory and regulatory matters, and regularly testifies on behalf of industry at administrative and legislative hearings. Mr. Jacob is also the association’s liaison with outside counsel and advocates.
Mike Jacob is a regular lecturer and presenter at industry conferences and events, including for the Pacific Admiralty Seminar, California Maritime Leadership Symposium, the International Bar Association, and the US State Department.
Prior to joining PMSA Mike Jacob worked in various capacities in the California state legislature as well as providing strategic consulting to local transportation agencies in the Bay Area, including the Port of Oakland and the Bay Area Rapid Transit District.
Mike Jacob earned a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law and holds a BA in Economics from UC Berkeley. Mr. Jacob is a member of the State Bar of California and the US Supreme Court Bar as well as the Maritime Law Association of the United States. Mike Jacob is the current Chair of the Advisory Council to the CSU – Cal Maritime School of Letters & Sciences.
In addition, Mr. Jacob is also active in regional land use and housing affordability issues, having served on the Alameda County Planning Commission for 12 years and as current Chairman of a large non-profit affordable housing development company.
New PMSA President Represented East Oakland Stadium Alliance Against Howard Terminal Ballpark
Mike Jacob is best known as the person leading the charge against the Oakland A’s Howard Terminal Ballpark Project on behalf of The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association (PMSA). PMSA’s primary objection to the Oakland A’s new ballpark being located at Howard Terminal was that it was key land for maritime use that was owned by the Port of Oakland. To that end, Jacob created the East Oakland Stadium Alliance.
The PMSA, through the East Oakland Stadium Alliance, held that the Oakland A’s Howard Terminal Ballpark Project would disrupt the flow of traffic in and out of the Port of Oakland, and create a security risk.
East Oakland Stadium Alliance’s secondary objection to the Oakland A’s Howard Terminal Ballpark Project was that it should have been the “ Oakland A’s Coliseum Ballpark Project”, in other words, located at the Oakland Coliseum, where there’s land to build a new sports facility next to or replacing the existing Coliseum stadium.
To the end of stopping Howard Terminal, the East Oakland Stadium Alliance filed a number of lawsuits, all of them failing in court. But the end result was to extend the predevelopment work task time the Oakland A’s needed to get Howard Terminal on the road to eventual groundbreaking.
The EOSA’s last lawsuit regarded its EIR or environmental impact report. Upon losing in appelate court, Jacob remarked “We are disappointed with this ruling’s conclusions regarding numerous additional failures by the A’s and the City of Oakland,” said Mike Jacob, vice president and general counsel with the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, which is part of the alliance.
“The project proponents have consistently ignored concerns raised by environmental justice groups, business groups, labor groups, and local advocacy groups about the impacts of the proposed stadium project,” Jacobs said.
Zennie62Media’s Zennie Abraham Congratulates Mike Jacob On New Role As President
Zennie62Media CEO Zennie Abraham, who had Mike Jacob on the Zennie62 YouTube Live Show to talk about various aspects of Howard Terminal 13 times, said this: “Major congratulations to my friend and fellow Cal Berkeley grad (me, MCP 1987) Mike Jacob on his promotion to President of PMSA. They have a great lawyer and a great leader. I am sorry the City of Oakland did not handle Howard Terminal properly by inviting the East Oakland Stadium Alliance to the negotiating table to iron out differences (the normal way big economic development projects get done). If the City had done so, it would have learned that Mike Jacob had a lot of great ideas to help both the Oakland A’s and the City of Oakland. He will make an outstanding PMSA President.”
Here’s the Zennie62 YouTube Video Playlist Of Talks Between Mike Jacob and Zennie Abraham On Howard Terminal Ballpark And EOSA
