Editorial: Don’t change Port Authority structure now

Amending the Red Wing Port Authority's enabling resolution at this time would be a mistake.

The City Council has done the right thing by effectively tabling the matter twice. We believe it should stay tabled until the Mayor's Blue Ribbon Panel on Economic Development completes its task.

The panel is well on its way, as citizens can learn for themselves by reading the chairmen's commentary printed below. The community can expect a report early this summer.

The Port Authority Board has suggested several revisions to the document, which effectively is both the agency's bylaws and the director's job description. Some of the proposed changes are seemingly minor in nature, but a few are potentially substantive. They can and should wait.

The Port Board had an April deadline to meet, as outlined in the enabling resolution. The new leadership met it. Good for them. They are taking their responsibilities seriously.

We also applaud what these revisions symbolize. In our view, they indicate the board realizes the economic development agency cannot continue conducting business as usual. The city certainly can't afford it.

The council, however, had no April deadline … nor a May, June or July one.

Adopting any, all or none of the Port Authority Board's recommendations would undermine the Blue Ribbon Panel's work and could render its recommendations moot. You don’t ask people to evaluate something as important as economic development and then change the rules midway through the process.

The Port Authority’s enabling resolution has read the way it does for 10 years. The community can wait another 10 weeks.

The council is right. This isn't the time to amend anything. Bigger and broader changes loom on the horizon.

Tags: port authority, red wing city council, opinion, editorials