WTF are they even doing in China, and why no concern about carbon footprints?
"$1.5m, free hand for Massport envoy; Agency defends China consultant" by Noah Bierman, Globe Staff | February 2, 2009
When the Massachusetts Port Authority needed help drumming up business in China, officials signed a relatively small $15,000 contract with consultant Jiansheng Li that was supposed to end after a couple of months work.
That was eight years ago. Since then, Massport has paid Li more than $1.5 million in compensation and expenses, all without competitive bids, including $11,000 airfares to Beijing, rooms at luxurious hotels, even a night of karaoke.
Meanwhile, Governor Guts State Services
On one seven-week trip to China, which he combined with a family visit, Li spent $25,000 of the agency's money. During a separate three-night stay at the Intercontinental in Hong Kong, he racked up $1,629 in expenses, including telephone, movie, and limousine service charges, according to his bill, among thousands of pages of documents reviewed by the Globe.
Li operates with no performance reviews and no requirement that he work a set number of hours. And though he is now paid $18,000 a month, plus generous expenses, Li maintains the freedom to take on other clients. Li has had mixed results in meeting the goals laid out in his Massport contract....
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But despite these concerns, Li's connections have been critical to the agency's port business.
"Overall, it's been a success for the Port of Boston, the city, the state and the New England region," said Matthew Brelis, a Massport spokesman.
In March 2002, Li made his single greatest contribution to Massport, paving the way for a contract with COSCO - the Chinese Ocean Shipping (Group) Company - one of China's two national shipping companies.
So that's why all the merch in there is from China (and why it's crap).
Since then, the port has collected $89 million in fees from the company and its subcontractors. The effect on the region has been more than ten times that, Brelis said, pointing to a Massport-commissioned study that calculated the effect of trade on private companies.
But it is possible some of that trade would have occurred without Li's help. Overall, the shipping trade with China has, more than doubled at US ports between 2002 and 2007. Massport officials, in interviews and internal memorandums, appear convinced that Li is uniquely qualified to build the agency's shipping and airline business with China, and that dropping the services of his firm, China Market Solutions, would jeopardize millions of dollars in docking and unloading fees....
A November 2000 memorandum, obtained by the Globe through a public records request, said Li was "recommended by Harvard," but does not name a university contact. The document, written so the agency could bypass rules requiring competitive bids for the initial $15,000 contract, said Li helped several international firms, including
Russ Aims, the former Massport employee who approved the memo, said he does not remember signing it, but is not surprised Massport would have sought help in its China dealings.
Leslie A. Kirwan, the former Massport chief financial officer who serves as Governor Deval Patrick's budget chief, also signed off on the document and on three subsequent approvals that boosted the value of the contract to $138,900. Her spokesman, Cyndi Roy, said Kirwan followed the recommendations of Massport's maritime staff.
It is not uncommon for US port authorities to maintain foreign offices or employees. "They work on bringing that business in or maintaining the business we have throughout the world," said J.B. Hanson, a spokesman for the Maryland Port Administration.
Massport once had several such offices worldwide, but after criticism for their high cost, the agency shut them down in 2001. Li's one-man contract became a quiet replacement. His monthly payments grew from $7,500, with no extra money for expenses, to $18,000, plus more than $100,000 in expenses in the final year of the latest deal, which expires June 30....
Brelis said the agency conducts no formal written reviews of Li's work, nor does it keep track of his hours. And though his annual payments from the agency topped $300,000 once and $200,000 twice....
"We don't conduct written evaluations as one would for an employee," Brelis said. "But we do receive his reports and maintain regular phone and face-to-face meeting contacts with him to stay current on his activities and stay current on his progress."
(Blog author so outraged he can't comment)
The only written proof of Li's value lies in his self-evaluations, monthly reports that describe how essential he is to the authority. In some reports, he claims credit for arranging media coverage of Chinese officials visiting America. In some of his memos, port business with China appears near collapse, only to be revitalized by Li's diligent contacts with Chinese officials....
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