With appointment of cousin, Perdue's stamp on ports board to last years

By Dan Chapman

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Gov. Sonny Perdue recently appointed a cousin to the board of the powerful Georgia Ports Authority.

Perdue’s former chief operating officer also became the ports’ vice chairman. And the new GPA chairman, also a Perdue appointee, once served as the governor's campaign chairman.

Perdue, nearing the end of eight years in office, has appointed every GPA board member, most who will remain on the board after the governor leaves office in January. The GPA board sets policy and oversees management of the ports that generate $61.7 billion in revenue statewide, according to a recent study by the University of Georgia.

State law doesn’t prohibit the governor from selecting family members, friends or supporters for state boards or authorities. But ethics watchdogs question the propriety of appointing the politically connected instead of the most qualified.

Perdue is traveling in Europe this week and unavailable for comment. A spokesman said all the appointees are well-qualified, including the governor's cousin, David A. Perdue Jr., who has been a top-level executive and director for several corporations.

“This round of appointments confirms what most of us already know -- that well-connected individuals seem to end up with a great number of appointments independent of any knowledge they may have of the organization they are overseeing,” said Bill Bozarth, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, a nonprofit watchdog group. “Hopefully Governor Perdue understands that appearances do matter, so hopefully he takes that into consideration.”

A spokesman, Chris Schrimpf, said nepotism played no part in the governor’s selection of his cousin.

“What he looks for are qualified individuals,” Schrimpf said. “I don’t think anybody can argue that David Perdue is not a qualified businessman who brings knowledge and expertise to any board he would join.”

The Ports Authority, a quasi-state agency, runs the ports at Savannah and Brunswick and two little-used truck and train terminals at Bainbridge and Columbus. Its 13 board members serve four-year terms.

While the pay is minimal -- $40 per day plus travel expenses while deliberating on port business -- serving on the GPA board is considered a powerful job. The board sets authority policy and influences much of Georgia’s economy.

Global trade is the ports’ touchstone. Industries across Georgia, the Southeast and the Midwest ship containers full of manufactured products from Savannah. Imports, most from China, flow into Savannah and across Georgia. Cars, grain, timber and other agricultural products rely on Brunswick.

Board members may review finances, acquisition of property and construction of terminals, warehouses and other facilities. They can also take authority-paid trips overseas to boost the ports as gateways for imports and exports.

The governor announced his cousin’s appointment late Friday afternoon. David Perdue has served as CEO of Dollar General and Pillowtex and as a Reebok executive. He is a director for Jo-Ann Stores, Liquidity Services and Alliant Energy.

Perdue lives on Sea Island and runs the Aquila Group LLC, “a private investment firm involved with, among other investments, retail markets in India,” according to an Alliant biography. The Georgia Tech grad couldn’t be reached for comment.

“Our only concern is qualification, and David Perdue is extremely well-qualified,” said Curtis Foltz, the ports’ executive director.

The authority board also elected Alec Poitevint as its chairman last week. Poitevint, who was first appointed to the board two years ago, was chairman of Sonny Perdue's 2002 campaign for governor. The Bainbridge resident has also served as chairman of the state GOP.

Jim Lientz, who served as Perdue’s chief operating officer, was elected vice chairman. He was previously an ex officio member of the board.

“There’s great power in who you appoint to some of these boards because they do make a lot of critical decisions about how state agencies spend their money,” Bozarth said.

Most of Perdue’s appointees will continue serving after the governor, a millionaire who owns a handful of grain elevators across Middle Georgia, leaves office in January.

Perdue, according to his most recent financial disclosure form dated June 30, also owns a trucking company that offers “spotting” services whereby trucks haul empty containers between ports, rail yards, warehouses and distribution centers.

A summary of the Georgia Ports Authority:

• Has 13 board members; all appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue.

• Operates deep-water ports at Savannah and Brunswick.

• Savannah is the nation’s fourth-busiest port and the second-busiest on the East Coast behind New York/New Jersey.

• Container traffic jumped 25.3 percent in May, the sixth consecutive month of double-digit growth.

• The ports account for 129,000 full- and part-time jobs across Georgia.

• Contributes roughly $15.5 billion in personal income statewide.

Sources: The Georgia Ports Authority, the University of Georgia’s Selig Center