From Florida Politics, here's a fluffy, feel-good, PR-generated story that lacks depth and fails to address the level of depravity brandished by Our Nation's Oldest Port.
("Nation's Oldest Port" is registered trademark, not of the Port District, but of the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum, Inc., which has twelve trademarks on the term. It evidently euchred three Congress-critters into introducing legislation to create a "Nation's Oldest Port National Heritage Area," whose sole purpose is to dole out federal grants without any federal land ownership or stewardship of our threatened lands).
Whoever wrote this Florida Port resiliency tudy has never studied the moribund St. Augustine Port, Waterway and Beach District.
Despite two of the members having been elected on platforms to address ocean level rise, the Port District won't discuss ocean level rise issues. That's because the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the supposedly nonpartisan Board ignore requests to consider the seven-generation test and discuss ocean level rise.
The Chairman and Vice Chairman are both dull Republican cognitive misers only interested in feathering their own nests and avoiding and evading accountability.
Chairman BARRY MARK BENJAMIN falsely claims residency at a marina, when he, is wife and mother live in Jacksonville,
Vice Chairman THOMAS RIVERS is a nasty man whose purpose in life is being a cognitive miser, showing hatred towards reformers, insulting reform board member Sandy Flowers and me as "a couple of nutcases," raising his voice.
Together, the Chair and Vice Chair arrogate to themselves decision making.
When Jerry Dixon was defeated for re-election by Matt Brown, BENJAMIN just assumed he would be chair, not even wanting to put it to a vote.
- The Port District has no staff.
- It has a part-time "independent contractor" Secretary-Treasurer ELYSE KEMPER, serving illegally, not voted in by the Board as required. Ms. KEMPER's conflict of interest is noted repeatedly for years in audit reports -- she writes checks for a government agency of which she is not an actual employee, with no checks and balances or accountability. Ms. KEMPER is abusive and abrasive and sees herself as a self-appointed defender of the indefensible while ignoring direction and requests from the Board and citizens. She tries to charge peoole $50/hour to watch them read documents, which is illegal. She emitted snooty hostility and curses at citizens for asking questions at its abortive budget hearings, stating that no one had ever attended a budget meeting before. (Is there martyrdom involved?)
- It has an abusive, evasive, incurious, incompetent attorney, JAMES BEDSOLE, who worked ten years without a contract or engagement letter, who likewise emits curses and effrontery at citizens wanting to hold the board accountable.
- It denied public comment at its October 15, 2019 meeting before rubber-stamping BEDSOLE's contract.
- It has had the same engineering company for some 29 years, TAYLOR ENGINEERING, only recently voting to seek bids for a new engineering firm.
From Florida Politics:
Report: Florida ports lead the nation in resiliency
Florida’s seaports are equipped to handle what nature throws at them
Florida’s seaports are among the best prepared for sea level rise and natural disasters, according to a new study released by the Florida Ports Council.
The study says Florida’s 15 seaports are already equipped to handle 2.5 feet of tidal fluctuations, which is “within the range of anticipated sea level increases in 2050.”
The report also asserts that the state’s ports “are already making significant efforts to minimize the extent and duration of impacts from natural disasters.”
The Seaports Resiliency Report, released Tuesday, also provides recommendations for all ports across the state to be prepared for future environmental changes and disruptive events.
“Our state’s seaports have a tremendous economic impact on the state of Florida, and we must ensure our port infrastructure is resilient in the face of these disruptions,” said Doug Wheeler, President and CEO of the Florida Ports Council. “We are pleased to see Florida’s ports are already committed to innovative practices to protect our ports and support recovery from hurricanes and other disasters.”
Florida’s ports support more than 900,000 jobs across the state, and have a total economic impact of more than $117 billion. Port Tampa Bay alone generates an annual economic impact of $17.2 billion and supports 85,000 direct, indirect and related jobs
Additionally, more than 37 percent of manufactured goods head out through a Florida port, including products produced by more than 61,000 Florida-based companies.
That might means any disruption to port operations can have a major economic implications, and port resiliency — which allows continued freight movement after a crisis — is a top priority.
Resiliency, per the Florida Ports Council, “includes planning for damage to infrastructure, a lack of fuel, a shortage of workforce and a lack of communication and technology.”
Ports are required to address resiliency issues such as sea level rise through their master planning process. Florida’s seaports also have an innovative Memorandum of Understanding to assist impacted ports with resources after an event and have invested in a single information reporting software, ARES CommandBridge, to connect and share information together, as well as with state and federal agencies, before, during and after a critical incident.
Port Everglades, for example, is working to identify the most impacted infrastructure that could be disrupted due to water intrusion and is surveying elevations of connection boxes. These connections will then be waterproofed to prevent disruption due to encroaching water.
Port Everglades, for example, is working to identify the most impacted infrastructure that could be disrupted due to water intrusion and is surveying elevations of connection boxes. These connections will then be waterproofed to prevent disruption due to encroaching water.
“I am proud to support infrastructure investments at Port Everglades and at ports across our state,” state Rep. Chip LaMarca said. “Florida’s ports provide protection to our state, along with critical economic impacts from commerce and travel. Resilient ports will continue to ensure the success of Florida in the global economy.”
Ports are also crucial in helping others recover after a disaster due to their role in importing fuel and other necessities.
To maximize uptime, “Florida ports have worked with state and local governments and utility providers to harden electrical infrastructure, to build power redundancy, and to receive priority power restoration.”
Ports have also teamed up with the U.S. Coast Guard and and private businesses to build out fuel supply and distribution infrastructure.
“Florida’s 15 public seaports are a key component of trade and commerce across our state, and our infrastructure investments at each port are critical to resiliency,” said Amy Miller, Port Director at the Port of Pensacola, and chair of the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development (FSTED) Council.
“The state’s partnership with our ports at the local level provides the support necessary to be prepared for future events.”
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