From Delaware Online

Too many people only think they know who Malcolm X was. They only know the Malcolm X when he was a member of The Nation Of Islam. This was his last speech, and after he had broken from The Nation Of Islam. What you hear is a man who is confident and willing to stand up for himself.

I am sorry I didn’t get this up sooner. I wonder how many people have actually heard the entire speech? Take the time it is well worth it.

When I sat down and started to research this post, I thought it was going to be just another, “what ails Jack Markell?”, post. But in digging a little deeper, I see that the problem with Delaware goes a lot deeper than one governor, or even one party. The problem with Delaware has become a systemic problem, it has become a way of doing “BUSINESS”, that goes against the principles of a free market, that has forsaken the normal checks and balances of a capitalistic ideology for the market place, and the checks and balances of good governance.

What first caught my eye was the story of Dole Fresh Fruit Co. possibly leaving the Port of Wilmington, where it has been a large part of the Port’s trade for nearly thirty years. It seems that a brand new port in New Jersey was attempting to lure Dole away, with of all things, favorable tax-incentive credits.

So, how has Delaware chosen to convince Dole to remain in the Port of Wilmington? By matching the tax credits offered by New Jersey? No of course not. By working to lower energy cost? No never. Delaware has chosen to do what Delaware always seems to do now to attract and keep large corporations here, they throw tax payer dollars at them. In this case the state of Delaware will spend anywhere from thirty-one million to thirty-four million dollars to make capital improvements at the port, including new cranes and road improvements.

Okay, so some may say, why shouldn’t the state spend this money to keep jobs here?

To understand my issue with this tactic, one has to know a little history of The Port of Wilmington. The port was officially opened in 1923, and was owned and run by the City of Wilmington.  The Port of Wilmington was owned and operated by Wilmington until 1995 when the state of Delaware bought The Port of Wilmington from the City of Wilmington, and created the “Diamond State Port Corporation”, or DSPC, to operate the port.

Don’t let the name fool you, the DSPC is a state created, state owned, and state run entity.  Here is the legislation that created the DSPC, http://delcode.delaware.gov/title29/c087/sc02/index.shtml .

If we look at this legislation we can see that it is intended to make it seem as if the state has some sort of hands off arrangement with DSPC, and that the state of Delaware, or more accurately, the Delaware General Assembly, holds the purse strings. But is there really any separation of the two?

I can’t see any daylight between the DSPC and the state in my view.  Start by looking at who is mandated to be on the board. This board is populated by appointees of the sitting governor, and or other political cronies and elected officials.

The current board has as its chairman Alan Levin, you know, the same Alan Levin who is the Director of Delaware’s Economic Development Office (DEDO). The same Alan Levin who was instrumental in the Fisker deal that wasted over twenty million dollars of tax payer’s money. The same Alan Levin who in 2010, along with Gov. Markell, announced that DSPC and the state of Delaware had come to an agreement with Dole to keep them here until 2025, here is the press release.

http://www.portofwilmington.com/HTML/our_port/PR/news_dole_extends_its_lease_with_the_port_of_wilmington_delaware.htm

The same Alan Levin who on August 13th, 2013, said once again in a press release, “We are pleased that Dole has agreed to stay in Delaware and remain an important part of the Port of Wilmington,” said Alan Levin, Chairperson of the Diamond State Port Corporation.”

The co-chair of the board is Secretary of State, Jeffrey Bullock.

Some of the other board members include the Secretary of the Department of Transportation, Shailen Bhatt.

Michael L. Morton who is the Delaware State Controller General. The office of Controller General is the fiscal oversight arm of the General Assembly.

Then there is Lewis D. Schiliro, who is the Secretary of Delaware’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security.

Rep. S. Quinton Johnson of the 8th Dist. and Senator Robert L. Venables. Sen. Venables is co-chair of Delaware’s Bond Bill Committee, and in the past eight years the BBC has appropriated more than $161 million dollars towards capital improvements at the port.

Then of course we have the organized labor representatives on the board, one being Marrietta Whalen, who is a UAW Corporate Communications Coordinator at the Wilmington GM plant since 1992.

Ah, but the best may be the last, Michael Bigatto, Executive Director  of Council 81 of the AFSME-AFL-CIO in Delaware. Mr. Bigatto is considered one of the most influential lobbyist in Delaware for the working men and women of the state. Under his leadership of the AFL-CIO, he has tripled the amount of money available for serving its members.

So I am sure many of you are still scratching your heads and asking, so what?

Well let us look at the little we know about the arrangement of DSPC, the state of Delaware and the deal reached with Dole Fresh Fruits Co.

The deal centers around $34 million dollars, tax payer dollars by the way, being appropriated by the General Assembly to make capital improvement at the port. It also includes concessions by two labor unions. One has agreed to pay cuts and freezes already, and a second is being lobbied to take the same deal. The deal also includes improvements to roads surrounding the port. And during all of this we here the word negotiations. Really, well who are they negotiating with?  Themselves?

Let’s break it down. Dole is going to leave the Port of Wilmington for a new port in New Jersey, where they will also receive tax credits. The so called Diamond State Port Corporation “negotiates” a deal with Dole to make $34 million dollars of capital improvements. But wait! DSPC has no money, it has to get its money from the state of Delaware, through the General Assembly. So the board of the DSPC goes to the General Assembly, but wait! They don’t have to, because they have Sen. Bob Venables on their board, who just happens to co-chair the Bond Bill Committee. I am sure he must have some small influence on that committee.

But what if this is not a fiscally sound investment that the board of DSPC is proposing? Well then the Delaware State Controller General will look it over and point out the flaws. But wait! No need, because the Controller General is also on the board of DSPC.

What about getting the unions to go along with this idea of pay cuts and freezes? Well how hard can that be? After all you have the most influential lobbyist for the working men and women of Delaware sitting on the board of DSPC. And you can bet your aunt Betty’s brazier that those capital improvements will be done by union workers.

Should be no problem getting those road improvements, considering the Secretary of the Department of Transportation is also on the board of DSPC.

Look it’s great to be keeping well paying jobs in Delaware. But this whole arrangement is incestuous, and stinks of back scratching. Can anyone say, “conflict of interest”?

The very people asking for the money are the very people who are charged with overseeing how the money is spent. Where is the checks and balances of good governance? While I am not crazy about the state owning the port, there should at least be a larger degree of separation between those spending the money, and those lending the money.

On a side note, it was rumored that Delaware was seeking a private entity to take over the port, but it fell through because of the fear of lost jobs. Translate that into, fewer union jobs and cutting the inherent waste that goes along with any government run entity.

The problem with Delaware is that the government has taken on far too large a role in the private sector, and even in the areas that government should be playing a role, Delaware’s government has no sense of proportion and appropriateness of its role. As with all things that grow without check, Delaware’s government is at risk, if not already at the point, of  toppling over from the top heavy weight of a government grown wild!

As we await news of the testing being done in Houston, Texas at the world-renowned cancer treatment hospital, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, concerning  Delaware’s Attorney General Beau Biden, we here at Delaware Right would like to send our heart-felt prayers and best wishes to Beau and his family.

It is at times like these when we must not allow our political agendas, and ideological differences to supersede our humanity.

We hope that the news will be positive, we will not even speculate on what may or may not be wrong with Mr. Biden.

We wish him a speedy recovery.

Wanted to remind you that my monthly coffee is in   Bridgeville this Saturday 8/24/13 from 8-10 at Jimmy’s Grille.

If you could distribute, I’d appreciate it.

 Hope all’s well.

 Brian   Pettyjohn

Delaware State Senator; 19th   District

 Georgetown Office:

PO Box 616

Georgetown, DE 19947

(302) 858-0694

 Legislative Hall Office:

PO Box 1401

Dover, DE 19903

(302) 744-4117

www.brianpettyjohn.com