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Letter to the editor

Visitor pans service at port

The Tampa Port Authority demands an investigation.

By STEVE HUETTEL, Times Staff Writer
Published August 22, 2007

TAMPA - As president of the Shipbuilders Council of America, Allen Walker has passed though the gates of dozens of shipyards, ports and Navy installations.

Nowhere was it more time-consuming or chaotic to get through security than at the Port of Tampa, he wrote after a visit last week.

"The pandemonium ... was aggravated by the apparent lack of interest on the part of several port employees, who appeared uninterested in providing quick service," he wrote.

His letter, read at the Tampa Port Authority's monthly meeting Tuesday, angered board members of the public agency. They called for port director Richard Wainio to report back next month.

The allegations rang true to board member Carl Lindell, who recalled dealing with lax local government employees.

Wainio said he's concerned whenever someone questions the attitudes or performance of his employees.

But he was perturbed that the complaints came out in public and insisted they didn't reflect the experience of most visitors: "We do not get that many complaints at all."

In an interview Tuesday, Walker said he encountered long lines and no clear directions where to go for a day pass at the security building on Hooker's Point.

Employees were standing around, not trying to help people, he said. After 45 minutes, an executive assistant from Tampa Bay Shipbuilding & Repair Co. came out to escort him through the gate.

"I never ran into anything like it at a port," said Walker, whose organization represents companies that operate more than 100 U.S. shipyards.

Maria Davis, the executive assistant who read Walker's letter and one from another visitor to board members, said port business leaders often complain about the hassle of getting through security.

In other business Tuesday, the board:

- Approved a six-month extension for Port Sutton EnviroFuels to hold a lease option on 22 acres for construction of an ethanol plant off U.S. 41 in Port Sutton.

- Approved a 40-year lease with Rinker Materials to build a $40-million terminal for importing lime at Eastport.

Steve Huettel can be reached at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.

[Last modified August 21, 2007, 23:45:21]