A beggar who is dressed as a CEO is still a beggar.
The
Port of Virginia – or is it the Port of Hampton Roads? – is the
beggar. And the tax payers are the rubes, gullible and giving.
Here's
the spin: “Port operations in Hampton Roads are nearing capacity.”
The
Virginian-Pilot headline is dramatic without a column inch of serious
drama. In fact, the headline is a burlesque of drama. And the article
following the headline is a public relations piece masquerading as an
editorial.
The
Pilot writes an editorial that reads as an advertisement supplement
pandering to the port's plea for more money. To justify wasting $350
million, the advertorial incites the Public to consider the abundant,
yet disputable, economic impact of the port on the region.
The
Pilot: THE PORT OF Virginia is one of the region's biggest
economic engines, supporting 375,000 jobs and generating an annual
impact of $60 billion.
Economic
impact studies hew to the adage “garbage in, garbage out.” Most
are nonsense, if not misleading, and
most are thinly
disguised propaganda
thinly
disguised
as scholarly research.
The
Pilot: It is the third-busiest port on the East Coast behind
Savannah, Ga., and New York and is poised to leverage its deep drafts
and rail connection to the Midwest for continued growth.
Virginia
may be the third busiest port on the East Coast. But one should ask
how much market share Virginia gained or lost over the past five
years.
Critics
should also question if man hours are up or down. Man hours are the
number of hours dockworkers work to load and unload cargo.
And
why isn't Virginia number two instead of three? Virginia's position
in the ranking hasn't moved in five years or more. No cause for
celebration – or a reason for more money.
The
Pilot: As The Pilot's Robert McCabe recently reported, port officials
and Gov. Terry McAuliffe's administration are working on a plan to
expand Norfolk International Terminals. That terminal and Virginia
International Gateway, the former APM Terminal in Portsmouth, have
hit 90 percent of capacity for handling containers.
This
misleads and confuses.
It's
one thing to say that the APM Terminal and Norfolk International
Terminal have hit 90 percent capacity for handling containers.
It's
quite another thing to say the APM Terminal is under capacity and NIT
is over capacity.
But
the editorial doesn't say that. In fact, it says nothing of sort and
in doing so misleads and confuses.
For
we do know that a high number and a low number combined result, more
than likely, in the average that we desire.
Perhaps
the well-paid port officials ought to hire a pro to teach them how to
utilize existing land and operations rather than pleading the
governor and the taxpayer for more money.
Perhaps
the same well-paid port officials could fill up Portsmouth Marine
Terminal first rather than begging for more money.
Perhaps
Governor McAuliffe ought to hire another adept to teach port
officials how to attract business rather than waste time and money on
pretty yet frivolous marketing campaigns.
Perhaps
the governor should ask – no, demand – that Virginia take the
number two spot on the East Coast before the state hands over money.
Perhaps
the Virginia Maritime Association, the industry's lobbying group and
formerly named the Hampton Roads Maritime Association, should act as
a real voice for the maritime industry in this port instead of the
VPA's toady.
Perhaps
it's time to get government out of the port and get the port out of
the hands of well-paid autocrats.
Editor's
Note: This is an old ploy port officials have played for decades. Every time
port officials want money, they wail about waning capacity at the
terminals.