Savannah Mayor talks harbor deepening with Obama

Savannah Morning News 

Savannah Mayor Otis Johnson rode alone with President Barack Obama in the back of a limousine, and he tried to make the most of it Tuesday.

"I'm sorry I did most of the talking," Johnson said, "but it was my one opportunity. I had a list in my head. I just unleashed it all."

The mayor accompanied the president from Savannah Technical College, south of DeRenne Avenue near Hunter Army Airfield, to an unannounced stop downtown for lunch at Mrs. Wilkes' Dining Room on West Jones Street.

The mayor stressed the need to deepen Savannah's harbor to 48 feet from 42 feet so the Georgia Ports Authority will be able to accept larger, deeper-draft vessels once the widening of the Panama Canal is completed. Without that deepening, the mayor explained, Savannah risks slipping as the fourth-busiest port in the nation, a standing that supports 286,000 jobs throughout the state.

The reaction from Robert Morris, the port's director of external affairs?

"That is fantastic," he said. "To have the mayor of your city speak directly to the president about the most important infrastructure project that we've had in many, many years is incredibly helpful. So, thank you, Mr. Mayor."

The mayor pressed on, explaining to Obama the ports are supporting shipments of wood pellets, an alternative energy fuel source, from a new German-owned plant in Waycross to coal plants across Europe. He also told the president how Savannah's Herty Advanced Materials Development Center is working with clients around the world to develop new fuel sources from pine trees and other materials.

"He was impressed by those things because this energy thing is on his agenda," Johnson said.

The mayor also used the drive to express interest in Savannah getting one of the Promise Neighborhood grants, which the president has said he wants to give to 20 cities across the nation. The money will allow cities to replicate the Harlem Children's Zone program in New York, an intensive school program that has shown tremendous improvement in elevating test scores for previously struggling students in low-income neighborhoods.

Because it was Obama's first visit to Savannah, the mayor also played tour guide for a few minutes. He explained some of the city's history, its founding as a colony and how in present day it has grown to have diversity in terms of its people and its economy, he said.

The president and the mayor parted company after lunch at Mrs. Wilkes', but not before the mayor also presented Obama with a letter he and 33 members of the small business community crafted Monday. It detailed suggestions for improving small business access to capital and requested the release of stimulus funds dedicated to city projects.

Posted via email from Jim Nichols for GA State House