tampa bay business journal

Tampa Bay Business Journal by Mark Holan, Staff Writer

Date: Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 2:15pm EDT

Mark Holan

Staff Writer – Tampa Bay Business Journal

The Tampa Port Authority The Tampa Port Authority Latest from The Business Journals Tampa Port Authority updates cruise terminal Texas firm eyes Channelside, other distressed properties CSX, Kinder Morgan team up for ethanol hub at Port of Tampa Follow this company board of commissioners wants the maritime agency to consider developing a joint lobbying contract with Tampa International Airport Tampa International Airport Latest from The Business Journals ABC Charters to launch service to Holguin, Cuba Connections of the Week Tampa International Airport director Lopano declines K raise Follow this company and the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority.

Commissioner William A. “Ho” Brown proposed the “sea, air and land group” as a way to secure more federal funding for Tampa Bay transportation agencies.

“Other areas in the state are doing that and they are whipping us pretty good,” Brown said.

He raised the idea while casting the lone vote against renewing the lobbying contract of Alcalde & Fay Alcalde & Fay Latest from The Business Journals SeaView engages lobbying support Follow this company , a Washington, D.C.-based law firm that has represented the port for three decades.

Brown said he is concerned the firm has as conflicts of interest, since it also represents the Miami, Jacksonville and Manatee ports.

Firm partner Lois Moore denied those contracts conflict with representing Tampa. She emphasized the firm’s experience and business connections in the cruise ship and maritime industry.

The firm helped secure $6 million in federal dredging funds for fiscal 2011 and $9.3 million for fiscal 2012, according to port data.

Hillsborough County Commissioner and port board member Sandra Murman said dropping the firm at a time when federal money is tight “would be very injurious” to the port.

She backed Brown’s proposal to explore joint lobbying efforts.

The port’s one-year contract with the law firm is worth $90,000.

Date: Tuesday, September 20, 2011, 1:32pm EDT

Mark Holan

Staff Writer – Tampa Bay Business Journal

The Tampa Port Authority Tampa Port Authority Latest from The Business Journals CSX, Kinder Morgan team up for ethanol hub at Port of Tampa CSX, Kinder Morgan team up for ethanol hub at Port of Tampa Tampa Port Authority to discuss director’s contract Follow this company board has extended the tenure of port director Richard Wainio until March 2014, despite criticism from some port tenants and concerns the agency lacks an adequate executive evaluation process.

Hillsborough County Commissioner Sandra Murman and new board member Patrick H. Allman, general manager of Odyssey Manufacturing Co., voted against the extension. They favored a one-year deal.

Wainio was hired in 2005 and is paid $251,000 annually. Compensation for the extension remains to be negotiated.

Allman pointed to the change of leadership at Tampa International Airport Tampa International Airport Latest from The Business Journals VSPC begins ‘Dolphin Tale’ marketing blitz Zink to head communications at Tampa International Airport Airfares slated to rise this fall Follow this company as an example of what he would like to see at the port. He called Wainio “an able leader and a good steward” of the port, but said there should more vision and better communication with port tenants.

Murman called for a more detailed and substantial evaluation form to measure the director’s performance, which the board agreed it would update by the end of the year.

Still unclear is whether the board will hire an outside firm to create the new form, or use human resource officials at the county and city of Tampa to do the work at no expense to the port.

Wainio’s contract was set to expire in March and would have renewed automatically for one year without board action.

Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn and commissioners Lawrence Shipp, Stephen W. Swindal and William A. Brown supported the two-year extension. Commissioner Carl Lindell, who gave Wainio a strong written evaluation, was absent from the meeting.

Sandy Murman

Wainio contract at Port of Tampa extended until 2014