Braude Urges the City to Take Over Queen Mary : Government: The City Council could reclaim the ship from the independent Harbor Department to keep it from being sold and moved from Long Beach.

LONG BEACH — Councilman Evan Anderson Braude, concerned that the sale of the Queen Mary is near, has suggested reclaiming the ship from the Harbor Department to keep it in Long Beach.

A majority of the City Council members have said they would like to see the Long Beach icon remain in the city. But Braude’s suggestion marks the first time a council member has proposed taking over the ship from the independently governed Long Beach Harbor Department, which appears to be on the verge of selling the vessel.

“The ship needs to remain here,” said Braude, after suggesting the action at a recent meeting of the council’s Harbor Liaison Committee. “I think the public will look at it as a defeat if we let the ship go.”

Councilman Alan S. Lowenthal, another member of the Harbor Liaison Committee, said Braude’s suggestion may be the only recourse to keep the ship in Long Beach.

“Many people feel the harbor commissioners have already made their decision,” Lowenthal said.

But Braude and Lowenthal said the City Council would first have to determine if the city could afford to keep the money-losing tourist attraction. The issue could come up before the council as early as next week.

As it now stands, the Board of Harbor Commissioners has final say over the Queen Mary. The City Council transferred jurisdiction of the vessel in 1978 to the Harbor Department.

David L. Hauser, president of the Board of Harbor Commissioners, said the cash-rich body probably would be willing to turn the ship over to the city. Hauser said the commissioners might even be willing to pay for some repairs and maintenance on the ship.

“There would be no way in the world we would leave the city hanging out,” Hauser said.

But Mayor Ernie Kell, a proponent of selling the ship, said he would oppose such a move. The Queen Mary has lost money in nine of the past 10 years, according to a recent consultant’s report.

“It would be a mistake . . . to saddle the Long Beach taxpayers,” Kell said.

A decision on the future of the Queen Mary is drawing near.

The Walt Disney Co., which operates the ocean liner under a lease with the city, is scheduled to close the ship’s hotel and banquet facilities next Wednesday and lay off about 400 of ship’s 1,200 full-time and part-time employees.

The entertainment company will keep open the ship’s tours, restaurants and shops until the end of the year, when it will pull out of the tourist attraction.

Long Beach harbor officials have been negotiating with five prospective buyers who would move the ship out of Long Beach, and one potential operator of the ship in the city.

The port’s executive director, S. R. Dillenbeck, is expected to make a recommendation on the proposals on Monday, Hauser said.

A majority of the harbor commissioners have said they favor selling the ship because it is too costly to run. But Hauser said negotiations are aimed at keeping the Queen Mary, and the hundreds of jobs it provides, in Long Beach for at least another two years.

The highest purchase offer is from a Hong Kong investment group that is reportedly willing to pay about $20 million for the ship. The lone operating proposal is from Joseph F. Prevratil, who once oversaw the operation of the ship for the Wrather Corp., which was purchased by Disney.

Prevratil maintains he can run the ship at a profit with some improvements, competitive pricing and good promotion. Prevratil has suggested that he run the ship for three to five years until city leaders determine whether ship fits into their future development plans.

But Kell, Hauser and other officials doubt that claim, noting the ship’s history of losing money. Disney lost as much as $10.8 million a year, according to a consultant’s report.

Braude said Tuesday he was concerned that harbor officials were too eager to see the ship leave the city.

He asked City Manager James C. Hankla to explore a “mechanism to take the ship back.” But Hankla recommended that it would be best to wait until the port had concluded its negotiations, which will probably be next week.

In a related development, City Auditor Robert E. Fronke reported Tuesday that Disney has done its part to maintain the Queen Mary, which is badly rusted and needs as much as $27 million in repairs and maintenance.

Fronke said his findings were based on a review of information dating back to 1989.

The city auditor echoed the findings of a previous report that said the ship had deteriorated because of inadequate maintenance, but Fronke said most of the problems were there when Disney began operating the ship in 1988.

Councilman Warren Harwood, who requested the review, said he will ask the City Council to approve a more thorough audit.