[StBernard] Boasso chosen as port director

[Westley Annis]

Boasso chosen as port director
Nungesser, council clash over selection Tuesday, August 05, 2008By Allen
Powell II
The Plaquemines Parish Council and Parish President William Nungesser are
engaged in another round of bickering after the council appointed former
state senator and gubernatorial candidate Walter Boasso as executive
director of the parish's port despite Nungesser's staunch opposition. 

The council appointed Boasso to the position on a 5-4 vote Aug. 1, the same
day it accepted the resignation of former port director Urban Treuil.
Council members Don Beshel, Jerry Hodnett, Irvin Juneau, John J. Friedman
and Lynda Banta voted for the ordinance. Council members Keith Hinkley,
Anthony L. Buras, Burghart Turner and Marla Cooper opposed it. 

Banta, who drafted the ordinance, said Boasso will be charged mainly with
helping the parish make the business and political connections needed to
expand its Port, Harbor and Terminal District, although his job will not be
limited to that. 

Boasso could not be reached for comment Monday. 

The parish has been under pressure from the state to expand and improve its
port operations, and in June the council helped quash a bill in the
Legislature that would have allowed the Port of New Orleans to do projects
in Plaquemines. The council argued that the bill would have allowed the New
Orleans port to "take over" Plaquemines land. 

Banta said no salary has been decided for the position, but Treuil was paid
$65,000 annually. Banta said the parish will hire a port manager to handle
the daily operation of the district. Although Boasso works as a consultant
for Boasso America, a shipping container-cleaning business he founded and
then sold in 2007, Banta said the state Board of Ethics said there is no
conflict of interest with him working for Plaquemines as executive director
of its port. 

"Mr. Boasso is ethical and moral, and I'm confident in him doing the job,"
Banta said. 

But Nungesser blasted the decision as yet another example of meddling and
micromanaging by the council, and accused the council of undermining the
parish's attempts to achieve economic growth. 

Nungesser said that because of the parish's home rule charter, the council
has sole control over the harbor district, and it has blocked his attempts
to improve the district in a professional and logical manner. He said that
if the council does not take some action on the port issue, such as
appointing a professional advisory board to oversee the project, he thinks a
state takeover is inevitable. 

"As long as the council is involved nothing will get done," Nungesser said.
"If we're going to get this thing off the ground in a short amount of time
it needs to be taken out of the hands of the council." 

First, Nungesser took issue with the council's decision to conduct an
investigation into Treuil and his job performance without notifying the
parish president of those plans. However, he was more disturbed that the
council would hire Boasso even though the businessman directed some pointed
campaign ads at Gov. Bobby Jindal during the governor's race. 

Nungesser said the parish will have to work with Jindal's office to get
state money and support for any port projects, and he doubted Boasso could
do that well. Finally, he said Boasso's connections to St. Bernard Parish
are problematic because Plaquemines Parish will likely be in competition
with St. Bernard Parish when it comes to port development. 

However, Banta said she is confident that Boasso will look after the
interests of Plaquemines first. She noted that even with Boasso on board
there is plenty of room for Nungesser to give input on the port, and she
said the council welcomes his suggestions. 

"I'm not trying to work against Mr. Nungesser at all," Banta said. "By no
means am I cutting him out." 

. . . . . . . 

Allen Powell II can be reached at apowell at timespicayune.com and
504.826.3793.