The Port - The Final Scene

A serious man

The final scene of this absurd comedy of the port will play out today and will be staged at the Virginia Port Authority’s headquarters in downtown Norfolk.

The VPA 11-member board of commissioners, a regular group of independent thinkers each and every one, will announce if the operations will be delivered to APM Terminals, JP Morgan Chase or will remain under the guidance of Virginia International Terminals Inc., the port’s manager for 30 years.

If anything, this final scene will be anti-climatic, possibly ending in a twist, but absurdist productions always have something tantalizing for the audience.

If you recall, this production started, really, with the entrance of Governor Bob McDonnell, one of the major characters, and his sidekick, Secretary of Transportation, Sean Connaughton more than three years ago. Soon, they will be gone, off kicking another can down the political highway, full of potholes and higher taxes disguised as neutral revenue policy.

This comedy has its cast of heroes and villains, some larger than life and others just part of the scenery.

Villains

Governor Bob McDonnell, for listening, perhaps, to advisors who have a Machiavellian agenda to tear down and rip part an operation that has existed successfully for 30-years because of give and take between state politics and the business of the port.

The leading man

Sean Connaughton, for spending too much time, energy and tax dollars on denigrating the port and its people and not enough time on getting the potholes fixed, his real job.

 The VPA board, for thinking inside the box, where most of the members belong, and for neglecting their responsibility as stewards of state assets.

The consultants – Koch, Chmura, Drewey Shipping – for their studies, reports and forecasts, none of which mean naught, except to bolster a refutable position taken by Connaughton, and for taking tax dollars to embolden the barbarians at the gate – APM Terminals and JP Morgan Chase.

APM Terminals, for backtracking on their original intent to lease their glitzy, state subsidized terminal in Portsmouth to VIT for 20-years, after deciding, I assume, that someone made a mistake in the first place.

Not exactly Han Solo

Heroes

Maybe one, Dorto, since the rest are gone and far removed from the public eye. For retiring and taking the heat off VIT.

Unsung heroes, for keeping the port operating, despite the calamity and the comical feud between state and VIT officials.

Missing in Action

The VIT board, for not saying a word and for not taking a stance.

Jeff Keever, who has disappeared from the media and who, as senior deputy director of the VPA, should be running the VPA. But instead Rodney Oliver, the VPA’s director of finance, is running the show temporarily.

The Coalition for Virginia’s Ports, for fading from the public after a challenging the decision to have the port operated by APM Terminals or JP Morgan Chase.

The Virginia Maritime Association, for also fading from the scene after aggressively (which surprised me) challenging the state’s agenda to undo 30-years of success.