x
Breaking News
More () »

Taxpayer dollars will not be used for Port of Corpus Christi former CEO's separation payment

No city, county or state tax dollars fund port operations. While the port is owned by the federal government, it operates like an independent business.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Once details were released of a $1.6 million separation agreement between the Port of Corpus Christi and their former CEO, Sean Strawbridge, many questions arose as to whether the port will use taxpayer money for the payment.

The answer is no. No city, county or state tax dollars fund port operations. How, you might ask? While the port is owned by the federal government, it operates like an independent business, with oil and gas companies paying the port to use it. 

The port does get money in the form of grants for infrastructure projects, like dredging, and what the port doesn't save, it spends on similar capital improvement projects.

Since Strawbridge arrived in 2015, the port has more than doubled in size, from operating revenues of $80 million in 2014 to $180 million in 2022. Nearly $70 million of that was profit. 

When 3NEWS spoke to Port of Corpus Christi Chairman Charlie Zahn, he said that the separation agreement is a way of tangibly recognizing Strawbridge's contributions to the growth of the port over his eight years.

He also said that most of the commissioners who serve the port agree.

"I’ll tell you this, that the agreement itself was approved by a majority of commissioners, who did what they thought was in the best interest of Sean Strawbridge and the Port of Corpus Christi," he said. 

However, one commissioner does not think the agreement is in the port's best interest.

Diane Gonzalez, who began her term in January of the year. She voted against it, and told 3NEWS that rather than negotiate a new way out for Strawbridge, they should have stuck with what she said was in his original contract -- an agreement to pay his salary for one year.

“The employee resigned, and in the event of a resignation, the employee would receive one year of salary, which is $575,000. This is three times what the contract called for. It’s like a $1 million gift from the Port of Corpus Christi," she said. 

Before You Leave, Check This Out