Unrest around the Diamond State Port Corporation (DSPC) Board and the Edgemoor Port expansion project resurfaces with nominee rejections and a revived oversight task force.
The saga around the DSPC Board nominations reached a lull in mid-March following the announcement of Gov. Matt Meyer's five nominees, along with his pick of Secretary of State Charuni Patibanda-Sanchez for chair of the board.
His nominations were announced following an advisory opinion from the Delaware Supreme Court that Gov. Meyer was within his right to withdraw nominations made by former Gov. Bethany Hall-Long just days before his inauguration.
The DSPC Board of Directors oversees the Port of Wilmington, as well as the development of a planned container port terminal at a site in Edgmoor. That expansion project has been put on hold due to legal permitting challenges, but various state officials have stated they expect the proper documents to be granted soon to allow for construction to begin.
The governor's picks for the DSPC Board include former Port of Wilmington and DSPC Executive Director Gene Bailey, former New Castle County Board of Adjustment Chair and corporate counsel to the DuPont Company David Burt, Associated Builders and Contractors of Delaware President and former Delaware Department of Transportation Secretary Jen Cohan, Business Agent for the International Longshoreman’s Association Local 1883 Ronald "Kimoko" Harris and former Delaware Board of Pilot Commissioners Chair Robert "Jerry" Medd.
Although Meyer submitted his nominations for consideration to the Senate on March 20, the Senate Executive Committee did not schedule a confirmation hearing for those nominees until April 16.
But Democratic Senate leadership, including Sen. President Pro Tempore Dave Sokola (D-Newark), Sen. Majority Leader Bryan Townsend (D-Newark) and Sen. Majority Whip Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman (D-West Wilmington), released a statement late Monday noting that Bailey and Cohan had been removed from the hearing agenda.
“Gene Bailey and Jen Cohan are exceptional public servants and should be applauded for their past and ongoing contributions to our State, including for their prior service at the Diamond State Port Corporation," the statement read. "The Port of Wilmington is at a critical juncture, and we must do all we can to ensure the Edgemoor expansion and its promise of thousands of high-paying union jobs comes to fruition. Over the last 24 hours, we shared with Gene, Jen, and the Meyer Administration that as the Port enters a new phase, the Senate believes this moment calls for different voices on the Board."
The Meyer administration declined to comment on the rejection of the two nominees.
Additionally, the General Assembly passed a resolution Tuesday reinstating the Port of Wilmington Expansion Task Force, sponsored by State Sen. Darius Brown (D-New Castle) who is a member of the DSPC Board and represents the district that includes the Port project.
The task force was initially established in 2015 with instructions to issue a report examining the feasibility of increasing the Port's capacity for expansion.
Sen. Brown's new version of the body will "monitor the ongoing efforts of the DSPC and Enstructure to meet the goal of beginning construction of the new port terminal as soon as possible."
Enstructure was selected in 2023 by the DSPC as the new operator at the Port of Wilmington and a collaborator on the Edgemoor expansion project.
The task force is instructed to provide monthly written updates on the progress of the port expansion to Sen. President Pro Tempore Dave Sokola and House Speaker Melissa Minor-Brown (D-New Castle). The task force must also make written recommendations, as needed, to the General Assembly on ways to "accomplish the port expansion and continued growth in Delaware’s maritime sector."
"The reestablishment of that — and I emphasize the reestablishment because we’re not creating anything new — we are reestablishing the Port Task Force as the state of Delaware continues through this expansion process that the task force would be there to monitor, to support and to make sure that the recommendations are implemented and executed. That is what’s most important and a priority for us," Sen. Brown said. “The reestablishment of our task force is all about port expansion because it's about the people and not about personal politics for us.”
Senate leadership has publicly questioned Gov. Meyer's intentions around the port expansion project, but Sen. Brown says based on the governor's remarks during his State of the State address, he's inclined to believe the chief executive is committed to the container terminal project.
"With the reestablishment of the task force, I look forward to the representation of the administration through cabinet secretaries to work with us around the execution and implementation of the expansion of the port. I can only go by and attest to what the governor said, and as of last Thursday in his State of the State address, he said that he supports the expansion of the Port of Wilmington," Sen. Brown said.
Although not a member of the Senate Executive Committee, Sen. Brown is a current member of the DPSC Board.
While he did not have direct comments on Bailey and Cohan's rejection, he says he looks forward to working with whoever is ultimately added to the body.
"The current members of the board have done an exemplary job for many, many years and helping us get to this point in place, and their continued leadership even now in the transition from one governor to another, our board has been consistent in its work around the permitting process and so much of the progress that has been made at Edgemoor already and just getting that site ready for port expansion. So I’m very, very confident in the existing port and look forward to those that would be confirmed," Sen Brown said.
In regards to the reinstatement of the task force, Gov. Matt Meyer's Deputy Chief of Staff Nick Merlino said in a statement: "Under Delaware law, there's only one port board. We’ve talked about getting this expansion done for over 10 years now. Adding yet another task force is not how we efficiently expand the port or manage taxpayer money. The Governor, as he said last week during his State of the State address, is committed to getting this done."
While the resolution establishing the task force passed unanimously among members present in the Senate, the resolution received bipartisan opposition from four members in the House, including State Rep. Madinah Wilson-Anton (D-Newark), State Rep. Sean Lynn (D-Dover), State Rep. Sherae’a Moore (D-Middletown) and State Rep. Jeff Hilovsky (R-Millsboro).
"I'm just disappointed that it seems the Senate and the governor's administration can't get on the same page, can't work with each other as equal partners and collaborate on a really important project that will help thousands of Delawareans, and instead it seems we're just stuck in this cycle of ping pong-ing," Rep. Wilson-Anton said. "At least this time we didn't go to the Supreme Court, but I'm generally not a fan of task forces. I think in a time like now, it's not the best use of the resources and time and capacity."
"I think that this has gone on long enough, and we have interfered with that process long enough, and so it's time to fish or cut bait. We have millions and millions and millions of dollars of commerce waiting for this new port, and yet, we can't get it done," Rep. Hilovsky said. "We don't need another task force."
The resolution still passed with a majority of representatives in favor and will hold its first meeting within the next 15 days.
