Port Authority donates over $475,000 to community groups

At its May 30 Annual General Meeting, the Prince Rupert Port Authority donated more than $475,000 to community groups as a result of a near-quadrupling of the Port Authority’s Community Investment Fund.

bclocalnews.com/bc_north/the … 38854.html

An excellent way to deflect attention from 8 bloated salaries over $140,000 to spread over a meager $20 million in revenues. Reporters fell for it hook, line and sinker…and don’t forget the “retention” bonuses paid out to the tune of $1.23 million to the top six.

Never mind what’s behind the curtain, look at the f#$ing birdie!
#2 rule of modern politics.
(#1 is say it over and over again and they’ll believe it)

What do the board members get paid ?

I am at a loss here. As a board member of the Lester Centre, I am pretty excited about what we will be able to do with the money we will be receiving.

If there is a problem with salaries at the Port Authority then that can certainly be discussed. However, I am not sure how it relates to the giving of grants to several community groups. What are the recipients supposed to say, “Thank you for the money, but you really should take a cut in pay so you could have given us more.”

I am going to go out on a limb here and thank the Port Authority. At the same time, perhaps in a different thread, I will be more than interested to read about the bloated salaries and what can or should be done about them.

Little old naive me wants to be happy about something rather than twisting it to find fault.

[quote=“DWhite”]I am at a loss here. As a board member of the Lester Centre, I am pretty excited about what we will be able to do with the money we will be receiving.

If there is a problem with salaries at the Port Authority then that can certainly be discussed. However, I am not sure how it relates to the giving of grants to several community groups. What are the recipients supposed to say, “Thank you for the money, but you really should take a cut in pay so you could have given us more.”

I am going to go out on a limb here and thank the Port Authority. At the same time, perhaps in a different thread, I will be more than interested to read about the bloated salaries and what can or should be done about them.

Little old naive me wants to be happy about something rather than twisting it to find fault.[/quote]

This was my thought as well.

Let’s asssume for a moment that there is gross mismanagement at the Port (disclaimer: I don’t know anything about the inner workings of their organization, I’m just using the accusation given earlier in this thread). They didn’t have to donate any money to community groups.

So, keeping that assumption about mismanagement, there were two possibilities here:

The Port Authority is bad, and do not donate any money.

The Port Authority is bad, and donate a bunch of money.

Sure it could be better, but it could also be a lot worse. Local organizations that are operated by volunteers can make a little money go a long way.

Now to play devil’s advocate: What is the average salary of a board member of a port authority? Factor in Isolation, because let’s face it Prince Rupert is isolated, the cost of being on the leading edge of trading :smile: If we look at how much trade goes through the port, and how much jobs are created, and the spinoffs.

I realize that the “spinoffs” aren’t what everyone was expecting; nevertheless there is money being brought into the community. Being a board member is not without risk, there are certain legal risks in being a board member.

Too many times we look for the negative, even when given a gift. I am reminded of a joke about two psychiatrists passing each other on the street, one says Good Morning to the other psychiatrist, and that psychiatrist says “I wonder what he meant by that?”

Donating to the community is very nice … however the thread about the salaries being bloated should be for another thread. Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth …

I do not understand why it is of anybody’s concern, what the board of directors or any employee makes off of port activities.