Pressure Mounts On Ports Authority
IT’S NOT JUST US, PEOPLE
FITSNews – August 12, 2008 – The movement to shake some sense into the socialist S.C. State Ports Authority is gaining momentum.
And this time it’s not just Sic Willie bashing the commie bastards who have succeeded in running one of our state’s few competitive assets into the ground.
With two key lawmakers – Sen. Glenn McConnell and House Majority Leader Jim Merrill – stepping up their criticism of the beleaguered agency, we’re getting strong signals that Ports Authority’s failure to keep up with the competition has the potential to not only finish off longtime Port Commissar Bernie Groseclose, but to open the door to long-awaited private investment for long-overdue infrastructure enhancements.
One legislative aide we spoke with this week said the Ports Authority had “intentionally misled” lawmakers, referring specifically to the escalating taxpayer cost of an access road to a new terminal that should have been built years ago.
Additionally, the Ports Authority has “dramatically misrepresented the union component” associated with the implementation of public-private partnerships, and “neglected to inform lawmakers that private investment does not preclude continued state ownership of our port infrastructure.”
What a shock …
The Ports Authority already employs some 1,500 unionized employees, a fact which is conveniently ignored by supporters of the status quo who argue that public-private partnerships would “pave the way to further unionization” in our state.
Additionally, lawmakers have reportedly been told that the state would have to relinquish ownership of its port facilities in order to enter into public-private agreements, which is not true. The state would simply lease these facilities out to private companies, who would take over their management for the duration of the lease.
At no point would the state surrender ownership of either the property or the infrastructure.
South Carolina and Georgia are the only two states in the nation that forbid public-private partnerships, although both states finally decided to permit them in the construction of a bi-state terminal on the South Carolina side of the Savannah River.
Georgia – which is facing a $1.6 billion budget shortfall this year – may also be forced to look at public-private partnerships for future expansions at the Port of Savannah.
Comments
By Reform the SPA NOW on August 12th, 2008 at 9:13 am
Groseclose has misled the public for years. He hired Al Parish to con the taxpayers into supporting the latest state financed boondoggle -the Navy Base terminal .
Groseclose has continually hired lobbyists and PR companies to mislead the public.
Groseclose will not even tell Rep. Merrill what the 1200 acres of state owned land on Daniel Island is worth and Merrill represents Daniel Island!! Talk about arrogance.
Of course we could lease out our terminals in Charleston to private companies and deposit the checks into our state treasury each year.
Why should a state agency run a business at considerable taxpayer expense when private companies will do it all for free ?
Let’s have a complete overhaul of the SPA ASAP.
By I just look at the pictures sometimes on August 12th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
‘Hey Man, Nice Shot’ of El Willbo. Too heady-a-post to read, though,
– what with Hillary making a come-back and all…….. :)
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