50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 583 The Bureau Committee Member is a Good Thing

Commissioner Miles still had that deadpan expression, and everything he said was out of opposition.

"After all, LaGuardia Airport is the closest airport to Manhattan, handling more than 2000 million passengers annually."

“If we entrust the wrong person, our committee will also bear a great responsibility, and the governor will hold us accountable.”

Unfortunately, Sun Zhiwei had already seen through his trump card; otherwise, he would have been led astray by his rhetoric and paid an even greater price.

Sun Zhiwei knew that with an old fox like him, if you tried to play along, he could easily outmaneuver you. He, Sun Zhiwei, knew he didn't have that ability, and he couldn't verbally gain the upper hand over the old fox.

So he decided to just lay out the situation and see what the other party's plan was.

“Commissioner Miles, this time oil-producing countries have suffered a severe blow, and it is estimated that local crude oil production will be cut in half. It is unlikely that oil prices will decrease in the short term.”

"This is a huge blow to all the units under the Administration. I wonder what measures the Committee has in store for this?"

Committee member Miles did not expect that Sun Zhiwei would ask this question directly.

The committee was well aware that there would be big problems this time, and yesterday's emergency meeting was the very thing they were discussing.

But they don't have any good solutions right now. After discussing it yesterday, they could only come up with one feasible measure.

That is to get rid of non-performing assets as soon as possible in order to obtain sufficient funds to alleviate the pressure on core assets.

The so-called non-performing assets naturally refer to old airports like LaGuardia Airport, which were already struggling before oil prices soared, and now it is impossible to keep them.

The so-called core assets refer to entities such as John F. Kennedy International Airport and the Port of New York and New Jersey.

As the air and sea transportation hub of New York, a cosmopolitan metropolis, they are extremely profitable, maintaining profitability even when oil prices soar.

They all know that this approach is merely a short-sighted solution, a robbing Peter to pay Paul approach. If international oil prices don't drop, they will eventually be unable to continue.

In fact, there is another way: the state government can directly allocate funds to keep the New York and New Jersey Port Authority running.

However, the reason why the state governments of the two states established this agency and made it self-sufficient was because its burden was too heavy, and the state governments could not support such a bottomless pit in the long term.

Now we've naturally come back to the source of this issue: whether the state government will intervene or not.

However, judging from the attitude of the two state envoys yesterday, the governors of New York and New Jersey emphasized that they should actively help themselves, but showed no sign of allocating funds for relief.

Because once the state government starts managing the situation, it's impossible for them to abandon it halfway through.

Otherwise, if subsequent state government funding can't plug the hole, leading to agency bankruptcies and worker layoffs, the unemployed population could overthrow the governor.

If we leave it alone, there are many benefits.

No matter what big problems the committee causes, it's a business matter. The incompetence of the management committee is its responsibility, not the governor's.

The governor can also allocate funds or provide porridge afterward.

This would not only win the gratitude of the residents and increase support, but might even solve the problem of his re-election.

In a few years, when oil prices come down, the two state governments can pick up the pieces and reorganize the committee, then sell the mess again, generating another source of income. Wouldn't that be great? Therefore, the current six-member committee is backed into a corner; they can't back out even if they wanted to, and at the very least, they must bear the responsibility for their dereliction of duty.

"What suggestions does Mr. James have?" Committee member Maurice Miles sensed the hidden meaning in Sun Zhiwei's words, and after thinking for a moment, he took the initiative to ask.

Because, no matter what they do now, it's a matter of self-preservation for the six-person committee; otherwise, their political future would be ruined.

"I do have a good suggestion, but I need to be in the right position to bring it up."

Sun Zhiwei wasn't just making things up. After understanding the true nature of the "New York and New Jersey Port Authority," he thought of a term: big government versus small government.

In his view, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is just a large government agency that mixes regulatory and operational powers, leaving no one to blame if something goes wrong.

In fact, all the contradictions can be resolved simply by completely separating the power of supervision from the power of operation.

But this idea couldn't be given for nothing; he needed to secure enough benefits for himself, and the members of this management committee were a good thing.

"So, Mr. James, you want to become a commissioner of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey?" Miles asked, somewhat incredulously.

Because the six committee members are already too busy to even resign, they never expected that someone would be so eager to take the position.

"Yes, I am very interested in this position. I wonder if Commissioner Myers could introduce me to the Governor."

Although the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is a self-financing independent agency, its current head is appointed by the governor.

This is strange, and it reminded Sun Zhiwei of a term: temporary worker.

However, he stopped worrying when he thought that government employees in the United States are not called 'civil servants' but 'employees', since everyone is in the same boat and doesn't have a formal government job.

Commissioner Miles was quite interested in this, because it would be great if the governor could replace him with this Mr. James, since nobody wants to be a scapegoat.

"If Mr. James is interested, I can make the introductions, but LaGuardia Airport..."

"LaGuardia Airport is a small matter. I can promise to take over the airport, as long as the price is reasonable."

"Then there's no problem. I'll contact the governor right away and see when he'll have time."

His task today is to sell LaGuardia Airport. Now that it's confirmed that it can be sold, the subsequent negotiations on price and other details are no longer his responsibility; his employees will naturally take over.

Three days later, Sun Zhiwei followed Maurice Miles to Albany, a small town more than 200 kilometers north of New York.

Albany is a small city, and because of the typical Westerners' capriciousness, there isn't even a single city name; there are at least three relatively well-known Albany cities in the United States.

Albany, New York, is the most famous of them all. Although the city has a population of only 8, it is the capital of New York State.

This made Sun Zhiwei feel very awkward, because in his mind, a prefecture capital was equivalent to a provincial capital in China. A provincial capital only has 8 people. How could he imagine that?

In his mind, 8 people should be a small county town, and in the 21st century, some towns in China even have a population of more than 8.

(End of this chapter)