How Richard Lazer’s time leading the PPA prepared him for an ambitious vision as PhilaPort’s new executive director

Richard Lazer’s grandfather worked as a union longshoreman at the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia, unloading cargo from ships at the trade hub on the Delaware River.

Now Lazer, the outgoing executive director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority, is set to be the next leader of the state agency that owns the Packer Avenue terminal and Philadelphia’s other seaport facilities.

“I’ve been around that my whole life,” said Lazer, 41, who’s climbed the ranks of local government over the past two decades, serving as deputy to former Mayor Jim Kenney. He added that he understands “how important the port is to Philadelphia and the region, and the family-sustaining jobs that it creates.”

The Philadelphia Regional Port Authority’s board on Tuesday took a step toward tapping Lazer to serve as executive director, succeeding former maritime industry executive Jeff Theobald. The port authority, known as PhilaPort, is a developer and landlord that leases terminals and warehouses to private operators.

A search committee unanimously recommended Lazer for the top job. PhilaPort board chairman Michael Pearson, an appointee of Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, described the search process as “above board.” PhilaPort did not reveal any other applicants, citing confidentiality.

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“Let’s continue the march forward with what is a lot of momentum, and we have a lot of opportunity,” Pearson said. “I think it will be in great hands with Richie carrying the strategic plan to the next level of implementation.”

Lazer, a PhilaPort board member, was recused from the vote. He will leave the parking authority effective May 31.

Lazer’s deputy at the parking authority, Gabe Roberts, will serve as interim PPA executive director starting in June while the agency searches for a new leader. In that role, Lazer adopted an expansive vision for the job, moving aggressively to tow abandoned cars and crack down on sidewalk parking.

PPA board chair Lynette Brown-Sow said Lazer and agency staff have “stabilized our operations, strengthened our organization and restored our credibility.”

Lazer steps into his new job at a port that has historically lagged East Coast competitors, in part because its inland location means ships have to travel 100 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to reach it.

But following the yearslong deepening of the Delaware River and hundreds of millions of dollars in public and private investment, Philadelphia’s port has been growing in recent years — and Lazer thinks it can beat the competition.

“I think then we can overtake a Baltimore on the East Coast and continue to grow that way,” he said, citing the port authority’s recent acquisition of 150 acres from Norfolk Southern Corp. The port authority plans to use that land adjacent to its Southport site in South Philly to build a new container terminal, he said.

PhilaPort still needs to negotiate Lazer’s compensation. Outgoing CEO Theobald makes an annual salary of $420,716. Lazer currently makes $315,000 at the PPA.

Lazer sat down with The Inquirer to discuss his tenure at PPA and his vision for Philly’s port. This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

We want more of everything, right? We want more vehicles. We want more containers. Now we have the Mustin site — the commonwealth, thanks to the governor, invested in that.

We’re at about 900,000 TEUs [container units] — a record year for PhilaPort. If we do this right, and we create another 110-acre container terminal, we can create up to 3 million total containers coming through Philadelphia, plus 250,000 vehicles come through now. And the thought is we can grow that number as well with the partnership with Hyundai Kia. … We can create up to 9,000 new jobs with that increase in cargo.

The goal is to sit down with the operators and figure out: How do we get everybody what they need? That’s how I look at things. You want to bring them all together — Hyundai Glovis, the terminal operator, the Holts are right next door. So it’s like, how do we all sit down and figure out the best way to maximize cargo?

When I was in the Mayor’s Office, I was always the point to deal with SEPTA, the port, PPA, the airport. So I’ve had those relationships that I’ve built, trusted relationships, over the years. I’ve been involved down at the port since I started with the city in my 20s.

You got to take what you know — complex agencies, working with other partners, relationships with Harrisburg, because the funding is coming from either the federal government or Harrisburg to do the construction and the development we need.

And then it’s up to me, to grow into that role, to go out to MSC and Maersk [for example] and create those relationships.

We built a good team. Our focus really shifted from the way it used to look on revenue and more about quality of life. I think it’s taking the lead from the mayor on the clean and green work that we’ve been doing with her and her team.

When I came in, it was like building morale with the current workforce, looking at what we do well. We’re very efficient, and it’s like, how do we expand and do more of that?

So the goal was to talk more about public safety, public service and that piece of it, and that’s where we did the [Americans with Disabilities Act] mobility enforcement. And then when the Greyhound terminal operation was kind of all over the place, it was like, why can’t we just take that and create a facility?

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We definitely have a better image. We’re tapping into kind of neighborhood work where maybe we weren’t there before, or we weren’t loved because they’re only thinking, we’re getting them for a meter ticket or a red light camera. But now we’re taking that car that was sitting on their street for three months, with trash under it, and taking it away.

You focus on those types of issues that matter to people. We’re an enforcement agency, so you’re never going to be fully 100% loved. But at the end of the day, it’s about being efficient and doing your job well.