Political appointments by Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s administration have resulted in "a complete deterioration in service and professionalism" at the Port of Baltimore, according to the head of a shipping contractor at the port.
E. Lorenzo Di Casagrande, vice president of Mediterranean Shipping Co., wrote in a Feb. 17 letter to Baltimore Orioles owner Peter G. Angelos that Ehrlich aides have replaced "seasoned and experienced personnel with political appointees who have [not] the slightest idea of the shipping industry."
In a telephone interview yesterday, Di Casagrande said he wrote to Angelos because "we don't know who to talk to." If the situation does not improve, he said, his firm -- the world's second-largest container shipping company -- could consider "alternative ports."
Ehrlich spokesman Paul E. Schurick referred calls to another spokesman, who did not return several messages last night.
Di Casagrande, who professed no interested in Maryland politics, stepped into a roiling debate in Annapolis into the extent and propriety of the Republican administration's efforts to remake state government after decades of Democratic rule. Legislative leaders have vowed to launch inquiries into the hiring and firing practices.
In an interview, Di Casagrande said that at least eight important positions at the Maryland Port Administration have been filled in the past two years by political appointees who "know nothing about shipping."
"The replacements are outrageous," Di Casagrande said. "They are only political. They have no idea how to run a port."
He did not provide specifics. Among the most recent hires at the port was Greg Maddalone, 29, a former Ehrlich congressional staff member who has no college degree and whose only work prior to jobs with Ehrlich was as a professional ice dancer. He is being paid $74,000 a year to work on legislative matters.
The port administration, part of the state's Department of Transportation, has a 10-year contract with Mediterranean Shipping that began in 2000. The shipping company had a contract with the port the previous decade, as well.
Di Casagrande said in the letter that "proper respect among all parties involved" had been "destroyed by political incompetence."
The Senate's four standing committee chairmen met yesterday to determine how to investigate firings at agencies throughout the state. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Thomas M. Middleton (D-Charles) said there is an interest in conducting an investigation, or hearings, immediately after the legislature adjourns in April.
Staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.
