Port Commission

Curt Weldon
Member of Congress 1987 – 2007
P.O. Box 300 Glen Mills, PA 19342

March 8, 2010
To: Dennis Beal
From: Curt Weldon
Subject: Response to your memo of February 4

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Note the Beal and Kem Bennett Letters are under galleries - port on the top menu bar

Ordered Staff to Stop Negotiating until A&M Deal Done, McKinney Suggests Symphony for Economic Development

At a special Port of Corpus Christi Commissioners meeting on Friday afternoon, Mike Carrell refused to discuss items put on the agenda by Commissioners Ken Berry and Bobby Gonzalez authorizing the staff to pursue all proposals related to Naval Station Ingleside (NSI) and re-examine A&M’s memorandum of understanding. Carrell, Hawley and Bourchard had ordered the staff to stop negotiating with a private equity company Apex Group that wants to buy the NSI property for a reported $330 million and bring Swiftships, a ship building defense contractor as the anchor tenant. The Caller-Times for whatever reason, wrongly reported the negotiations as stalled.

by Solomon Ortiz, Jr. State Representative for District 33

Over the last few years, many concerns have arisen regarding governance at the Port of Corpus Christi. Two years ago, a prior city council rushed the re-appointment of a port commissioner right before a city election, depriving the newly elected city council members of an appointment that should have happened under their watch. Then the appointee was quickly sworn in at a private, impromptu ceremony that happened months before port commissioners normally take their oath. More recently, the Port of Corpus Christi questioned the qualifications of another city appointee, and even hired a lawyer to review the legality of the city’s appointment. These divisive and unnecessary disputes undermine the public's faith in the Port of Corpus Christi and interfere with its focus on generating economic development for the entire region.

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When Texas A&M Chancellor Mike McKinney takes the stage at the Ortiz Center, the Corpus Christi Business community will be waiting with baited breath in anticipation of the great things that A&M will supposedly bring. That position is being questioned however by those who wonder if A&M will put its own ambitions over the future of the area. To some folks there is an inherent conflict of interest when it seeks to be seller, broker and buyer of the Port’s new Naval Station Ingleside property. McKinney will speak on Thursday at a Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce luncheon event.