Wednesday, January 23, 2008
$350,000 for tugs for the Superferry--where did that money come from?
I wrote about the state subsidy of this commercial operation in a post on Monday. It's kind of corporate welfare, don't you think? Today there is a front-page story in the Advertiser.
Just for fun, I went back to the list of grants-in-aid that have been withheld by Governor Lingle that Ian Lind discovered in the legal notices.
I just picked a few that added up to $350,000. There's no particular reason why I chose these except that they add up to the same $350,000 she is not withholding from the Superferry.
| Aloha Medical Mission | $75,000 | |
| Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Association | $50,000 | |
| Assisted Living Options Hawaii | $25,000 | |
| Hawaii Cord Blood Bank | $100,000 | |
| Hawaii Primary Care Association | $50,000 | |
| National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii, Inc. | $50,000 |
Of course, there is no real connection between these organizations not getting their money and the Superferry getting this service from the State. I just think it's illustrative of what's been going on throughout this governor's tenure in office.
And for what is this $350,000 being spent?
Today's passenger count
Thanks again to the Maui volunteer counting corps:
37 cars got off the boat.
2 motorcycles got off the boat.
1 truck with crane on back got off the boat.
3 delivery trucks got off the boat.
10-15 people walked off the boat.
31 cars got on the boat.
1 motorcycle got on the boat.
2 Roberts Hawaii buses got on the boat.
2 flat bed trucks got on the boat.
1 truck with bobcat on trailer got on the boat.
10 people got on the boat.
It's continuing to look as though the State is subsidizing a sinking venture.
Yes, Larry,
HSF competes directly with Young Brothers. YB doesn't have its use of the tug paid for by the state. This is a subsidy.
: January 23, 2008 at 11:05:00 PM HST If the state hadn't let the barge break free back when the judge shut down superferry, then the state wouldn't have to be on the hook for tug rental.
if you want to blame someone, blame cordoza for voiding the operating agreement btw the ferry and the state:
http://starbulletin.com/2007/10/10/news/story01.html
if he hadn't done that, then the ferry would have been responsible for the barge and the state would be off the hook.
: January 24, 2008 at 10:18:00 AM HST I'm not sure about that. Does anyone have information on how the state became responsible for the tugboat cost? I thought that was done early on. Tugs also assist cruise ships, don't they?
The cruise ships pay for their use of the tug boat.
The state will have to pay for this because the design of the barge was called into question with damage before the Superferry started using it regularly. And now the Superferry doesn't have the money to pay for the tug. This will only last until the Superferry fails because it can't even cover its own daily operations with revenue.
: January 25, 2008 at 6:03:00 PM HST << Home
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