A local Los Angeles news story talks about how the Port of Los Angeles owns a “million dollar yacht” paid for with taxpayer money. In this story, port employees are trying to prevent the news cameras from filming the yacht, and even the mayor says it’s a “boat”, not a yacht. Um, why don’t they just tell the truth here?
It looks way worse to lie or exaggerate or play down facts, so why not tell the truth? The “boat” is what’s known as a business expense to drum up business for the Port of Los Angeles and the city, creating jobs and revenue, and as such it is a great investment that probably pays off many times what it costs to run and maintain. If they just said that, then it would completely deflect and defuse the news story as a “scandal”, like they’re trying to portray it. But doing what they’re doing here is good business, and it’s good for the city, and as such it should be something to be proud of, like a promotion for the City of Los Angeles, not a scandal.
This yacht is obviously used to tour foreign dignitaries and corporate bigwigs around the L.A. Basin area and to get a good look at the Port of Los Angeles. This is how business deals generally work. You wine and dine them, show them a good time, throw them a party on a yacht, and show them your business; then, hopefully they will award you a nice lucrative contract. And the Port of Los Angeles is a huge business enterprise that’s great for our city, employing oodles of union workers who then spend all that money they earn on products and services and taxes into the city’s coffers. (So maybe the government takes the yacht out for a joy ride once in awhile: who cares?)
Businesses do this kind of thing all the time: it’s no news that it happens. And while the Port of Los Angeles may be part of the city, it’s also a business, and businesses need things like public relations and promotions to keep business going at a brisk pace. This is all they’re doing here, and any sense of impropriety is really manufactured outrage that’s damaging to the city, in my opinion. Whether the yacht costs the city or not, it’s a legitimate and a good business expense for all of us here in Los Angeles. Maybe if people in government knew anything about running a business, they’d know about this, and then they wouldn’t try to hide from the facts. And after all, a good explanation is better than an excuse or obfuscation any day, so the government should just say it’s a promotion for drumming up business for the Port, and leave it at that. Because after all, that’s what it is! (Maybe they’re just so used to lying in the government, they don’t even know how to tell the truth anymore! So whenever anyone asks about anything, regardless of how prosaic, they might just automatically try to orchestrate a cover-up, assuming they must be in trouble for something because someone is asking questions.)
I think anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I’m not shy about bashing the government for corruption, incompetence, and lack of transparency, but I don’t see anything wrong here. I’m glad they have the yacht, and I hope it helps bring lots more business to the Port of Los Angeles for all our union brethren: it’s good for the city!
Here’s the story:
