Pier Holdout Unfazed By Pressure

By Bill Nemitz staff columnist

He’s been vilified by his peers on the Portland City Council. He’s had his head handed to him on local talk radio. He has the two developers that are vying to overhaul the Maine State Pier wondering whether this $100 million deal will ever get done.

But Councilor Ed “The Monkey Wrench” Suslovic, who arguably holds the future of Portland’s waterfront in the palm of his voting hand, is apologizing to no one.

Nor should he.

“I’m astounded at the positive feedback I’m getting out in the community,” Suslovic said Tuesday. “I’m hearing every day from people who are saying, ‘We’ve got to get this right.’”

Suslovic brought the waterfront deliberations to a grinding halt last week when he used his vote to create a 4-4 council deadlock over which developer, Ocean Properties Ltd. or Olympia Cos., should get the contract to turn the aging Maine State Pier into the crown jewel of the Portland peninsula.

His contention: Rather than squeeze the procession of ever- growing cruise ships visiting Portland into the Maine State Pier project, why not divert them next door – with private money, no less – to the yet-to-be-built “mega-berth” at the city’s Ocean Gateway terminal?

It was enough to make some people scream. Literally.

“I hope you get voted out of office the first opportunity, Ed!” fumed Ken Altshuler, morning co-host on WGAN radio, during a 14- minute skewering of Suslovic last Wednesday.

Back at City Hall, it was no easier. Councilor Donna Carr accused Suslovic of “grandstanding,” while an angry Councilor Jill Duson called his parliamentary maneuvering “unseemly” and “completely out of order.” Bob Baldacci, vice president of Ocean Properties, called the vote “absurd.”

But was it? Suslovic says all he wants, at this admittedly late hour in the deliberations, is for everyone to slow down long enough to look at the big picture.

That would include the 1,020-foot Explorer of the Seas, which could be seen last week jutting out from the Maine State Pier well into Portland Harbor. As the cruise ships inevitably get bigger, so will the pier feel smaller.

Suslovic’s point: The “mega-berth,” which already has all necessary permits and approvals, could easily handle anything the booming cruise ship industry sends Portland’s way. All it needs is funding.

“I’m not trying to delay just for the sake of delaying,” Suslovic said. “It just became clearer and clearer to me that we are about to make a huge mistake.”

Some, including Suslovic, would say that this entire selection process has been one mistake after another since the city first put out its request for proposals last fall.

Some would say that the whole “mega-berth” concept is flawed because it wouldn’t be accessible to delivery and emergency vehicles.

Some might even whisper that Suslovic is secretly trying to stop the selection of a developer until the pro-Ocean Properties bloc can be voted off the City Council on Nov. 6.

But the simple truth is that both developers, thanks to The Monkey Wrench, are scrambling to add a $6 million enhancement to their plans – one which the city long ago decided it couldn’t afford on its own.

What, pray tell, is wrong with that?

Columnist Bill Nemitz can be contacted at 791-6323 or at:

bnemitz@pressherald.com

(c) 2007 Portland Press Herald. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.