Delaware senators reject 2 of Gov. Meyer’s port board nominees as unfit in latest fight for control

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Delaware Senate leaders have rejected two of Gov. Matt Meyer’s nominees to the Port of Wilmington’s board, in the latest twist in a monthslong fight to control the direction of the state’s port.

The Diamond State Port Corporation, a quasi-public entity that oversees the Port of Wilmington, has been seeking to build a $635 million container terminal at the Edgemoor property on the Delaware River. Supporters say the project will bring good-paying union jobs. But construction has been delayed by legal battles from the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority and ports affiliated with Holt Logistics Corp., whose affiliates operate terminals in Philadelphia and South Jersey.

Meyer and Senate Democrats have fought over whether Meyer could withdraw names submitted by Gov. Bethany Hall-Long during her two weeks as governor after Gov. John Carney resigned early to become mayor of Wilmington. Senators moved on her nominees while Meyer threatened legal action as the administration, nominees and lawmakers traded insults. Both sides ultimately turned to the courts to decide the issue.

The Delaware Supreme Court sided with Meyer in its advisory opinion, saying he could withdraw the names.

State Senate President Pro Tempore David Sokola, Majority Leader Bryan Townsend and Majority Whip Elizabeth “Tizzy” Lockman said in a statement late Monday night that “the Port of Wilmington is at a critical juncture” and “the Senate believes this moment calls for different voices on the board.”

Meyer declined to comment on their decision to reject the two names.

On Wednesday, the Senate is scheduled to hold a hearing for port union leader Ronald “Kimoko” Harris, former DuPont executive David Burt and Robert Jerry Medd, former chair of the Delaware Board of Pilot Commissioners. But Senate leadership told the Meyer administration they would not move forward with Jen Cohan, president of Associated Builders and Contractors of Delaware and former state transportation secretary, and former port Executive Director Eugene Bailey.

Lockman said that while they believe Cohan and Bailey have been good public servants, they are unsuited for the board. Lockman said there was a question about Cohan’s support of labor.

“There’s some concern that she is currently the leader of an organization that’s not typically aligned as a pro-union organization, and really that’s where our caucus concern stood,” she said.

Lockman also said that lawmakers were looking for some fresh faces on the board, which would preclude Bailey. Senators did agree to consider Hall-Long’s choice of former port board chairman and former Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock, who served on the board for many years.

Efforts to reach Cohan and Bailey for comment were unsuccessful.

The governor has not expressly said publicly he supports the Edgemoor project. He didn’t mention it by name when WHYY News asked him if he supported it earlier this year.

“For 15 years, we’ve been talking about building a container port. It still has not happened,” he said. “I have urgency about creating a modern port and making sure that with modernization, we don’t lose the core union workforce that we desperately need. There’s this idea that in order to create good union jobs, we need to take away public transparency and accountability. I think that’s wrong. It’s not a trade-off.”

In his State of the State speech last week, Meyer said he was committed to expanding the port, but did not specifically mention the Edgemoor project.

Lockman said Meyer has told lawmakers that he does support it.

The General Assembly has approved legislation to reconstitute the Port of Wilmington Expansion Taskforce, which will monitor the port expansion project and report monthly to lawmakers. Its makeup includes union leaders, Meyer cabinet members and Wilmington Mayor John Carney.

Meyer spokesperson Nick Merlino said in a statement the committee was unnecessary.

“Adding yet another task force is not how we efficiently expand the port or manage taxpayer money,” he stated.

U.S. District Judge Mark Kearney of the Western District of Pennsylvania struck down key permits for the project last fall and ordered a closer, more in-depth review of the project. The state of Delaware is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to get the permit issues fixed.