Study: Put more power in hands of MPA port director

Study: Put more power in hands of MPA port director    A Maryland state government-commissioned report advises that port executives should have more authority to make operational and hiring decisions.
   As reported in the Baltimore Sun Wednesday, the state hired New York-based Mercer Management Consulting for $300,000 to conduct the study. The report did not, however, recommend separating the port management from the Maryland Department of Transportation, as some state lawmakers suggested.
   The report follows the messy departure of Maryland Port Administration head James White, who resigned from his post earlier this year after complaining that Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s office was interfering with hiring. White was recently replaced by F. Brooks Royster III, a former Miami port official.
   The Sun said both the Ehrlich administration and Maryland state lawmakers are reviewing the Mercer report’s findings.