CAMPIRANO COMPARES APPLES AND ORANGES AT THE PORT

By Juan Montoya
Port of Brownsville director and CEO Eddie Campirano probably heard the term "lies, lies, and damned statistics" in some college class in the past.
The former Texas Southmost College trustee, assistant executive director at the PUB, Time-Warner administrator and South Padre Island City Manager saw an opportunity to lend a patina of success to the navigation district and show that progress is being made that he stretched the truth just a wee bit.
His claim to fame was made in a press release announcing the new harbor master hiring at the port.

Included in the statement announcing thet Michael Davis was the new hire, Campirano couldn't help himself by adding that the port "is enjoying a good year," that total vessel traffic is up over 24 percent and that total and total cargo 12 percent to the same time a year ago. Also operating revenues have increased over 17 percent during the same period."

Sounds good, doesnt' it?

But what if we knew that its own audit of operations indicates that noty only was business down last year making any gain seem formidable economic development success, but that as a matter of fact, the port has not even been very successful in acquiring grant funds in the last two years.

The audit for 2010 compared to 2009 reveals that grant income was down from $1.8 million in 2009 compared to $1.0 million last year.

During the first round of Tiger Grant Applications, the Brownsville Navigation District in 2009 submitted a $73.5 million wish list. Despite making friendly noises, the government turned the Port of Brownsville down flat for any of the $1.5 billion available in 2009.

During the second round, for TIGER II, Brownsville submitted a joint application with Port Manatee (Fla.)for only $25 million out of $600 million in available funds. The BND even sweetened the bid. Since the feds required a a local match, the port pledged to kick in $6 million.

The $31 million ($25 million plus the $6 from the port) would have gone for a mini version of the upgrades envisioned in the TIGER I application. The port gut snubbed again, even though its partner in the application, Port Manatee, got $9 million.

As a sop to the border port, the U.S. Dept of Transportation threw in $3.3 million (not even half the local match the port was willing to pitch in) for the so-called America’s Marine Highway Program. It's still looking for someone to match the $3.3 million the feds kicked in.

Now in 2011, the administration and the Port of Brownsville have scaled their "gimme" even lower and asking for $20 million in TIGER III funds for a new cargo dock, Dock 16, as part of a larger project that will belatedly move to prepare the port to move shipping containers. Currently, around the world, container cargo makes up for more than 95 percent of the cargoes handled at ports. Brownsville was a mite late getting the idea.

The total cost of the project, ($20 million plus the $6.7 million local match) would also include improvements to the port’s rail system, is estimated at $26.7 million. BND officials are hoping that the government will reward their persistence (if not lowered expectations) and give them a piece of the $500 million available nationwide.

During the last audit, accountants stated that ooperating revenues took a fall during that time dropping from $11.7 million in 2009 to $11.0 in 2010.

Add that to the $1.1 million in yearly payments for the missing $21 million "Bridge to Nowhere," and the picture gets even muddier.

That bridge, according to the auditor's lingo, was found to be "impaired."

In fact, cargo income during that same time span plummeted some 17 percent from $5.5 million to $4.5

Now when Campirano tells the newspaper that cargo is up 12 percent this year compared to the same period last year, it is obvious that the gain cannot overcome the loss of that lean year. In fact, it leaves this year some 5 percentage points under compared to the last audit.
When I served in the military, a drill instructor would tell us that if you hadn't spit polished your boots very well, to look for some other recruit who had done a worse job and stand next to them. You can't help but look good in a comparison.