Groseclose On The Ropes At Ports Authority
After over a decade of missed opportunities and a refusal to adapt to modern business practices, State Ports Authority President and Executive Director Bernard Groseclose could be on his way out as leader of the troubled, antiquated agency – a move that may come within the week.
According to a key legislative aide who spoke with FITS yesterday on condition of anonymity, Groseclose’s status was discussed at length by several top lawmakers this week while S.C. General Assembly reconvened in Columbia, with the embattled executive receiving what was termed as a “unanimous vote of no confidence.”
Ports officials did not immediately respond to our request for comment.
While lawmakers do not directly appoint the SPA president, several of them have been increasingly vocal lately in their disapproval of the agency’s record of incompetence.
In fact, last month’s decision by Maersk Sealand – the SPA’s biggest customer – to pull its business from the Port of Charleston may have been the straw that finally broke the camel’s back.
Of course, the Port of Charleston’s competitive position was already dropping like a rock long before the Maersk fiasco due to the SPA’s failure to expand capacity through public-private partnerships, such as those employed by practically every other major port in the world.
But despite numerous industry warnings on this subject that were sent to Groseclose, Gov. Mark Sanford and House Speaker Bobby Harrell, our Ports Authority did not act – and South Carolina’s economy has paid the price.
New container traffic figures set to be released later this month are rumored to show another decline in Charleston’s port ranking, which could be another factor contributing to the pressure on Groseclose, who first joined the SPA in 1985 and has run the agency since 1997.
Since becoming South Carolina’s Ports Czar, Groseclose has fought tooth and nail against public-private partnerships, and as a result our ports system has not substantially added capacity during his tenure.
In fact, the only new port project to move forward during Groseclose’s twelve years at the helm of the agency took place over his objections, not as a result of his leadership.
The bi-state partnership between South Carolina and Georgia to create a port facility in Jasper County was spearheaded by former Sanford Chief of Staff and current S.C. Senator Tom Davis, who had to work around the notoriously turf-protective SPA to get the billion-dollar deal finalized.
Stay tuned to FITS next week as we continue to follow this developing story.
Comments
By Reform the SPA on January 16th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Well let’s look at a few facts-today we have 3 container terminals in Charleston operating at less than 50% of capacity. None of these have direct rail access like our competitors in Savannah or Maersk’s terminal in Norfolk.
Groseclose and our legislature are full steam ahead on building a 4th spec container terminal in Charleston which will have no direct rail access – and it will be the most expensive container terminal ever built in the U.S.
If you had 3 apartment buildings that were 50% vacant and went to a bank for a loan to build a 4th apartment building, the bankers would laugh you out of their office. Yet that is exactly what Groseclose , our governor, and our legislature are planning to do.
Groseclose should have been fired several years ago as well as their PR staff. They do not have the taxpayer’s best interest at heart.
I just do not understand why Gov. Sanford is totally absent from driving the reform train on this issue.
By mijeel on January 16th, 2009 at 10:28 am
“I just do not understand why Gov. Sanford is totally absent from driving the reform train on this issue.”
Notwithstanding Gov. Sanford’s interpersonal skills and political challenges, the arcane structure of SC state government effectively undermines any power of the state’s chief executive. Because intelligence, facts and common sense mean nothing to the good ‘ol boy legislature and the leadership of the vast majority of SC’s state agencies, simply proffering a cogent argument for reform is tantamount to trying to explain to liberals the inverse relationship between tax cuts and tax revenue.
In SC, the Governor’s ability to promote reform rests solely on the strength of the incumbent’s ability to influence (e.g. communications skills) and their power of persuasion (e.g. in SC, “political capital”).
Did I mention Gov. Sanford’s interpersonal skills and political challenges?
By Reform the SPA on January 16th, 2009 at 11:37 am
Mijeel,
The Governor has the power to appoint SPA board members and he has used this power ineffectively to say the least. Governor Sanford has stacked the board with people who helped him raise money to get elected or are socialists like Tumpy Campbell .
He could have and still could appoint reformers who would lease out the Charleston terminals and allow private companies to build a terminal in Jasper, and pull the plug on the navy base terminal.
Let’s face it – the Governor has no effective port strategy(if he has one please tell us what it is) and has not used the power given to him to reform this agency.