CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Millions of federal stimulus dollars poured into competing Great Lakes ports over the last year, but the financially troubled Port of Cleveland missed the boat.

The reason: Officials at the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority asked for only one stimulus grant -- $45 million to buy and retrofit a container cargo ship -- and received not a dime. And they applied for no grants for another round of funding this year.

John Baker, local head of the International Longshoremen's Association and president of the Great Lakes Maritime Task Force places the brunt of the blame on the port's previous leadership.

"These people left the port in the lurch," Baker said. "The whole past half year, the port has done nothing."

Former President and CEO Adam Wasserman resigned his $282,000 job in November and pocketed a $330,000 buyout. The port's maritime director and government liaison also quit.

Peter Raskind, who assumed temporary leadership of the troubled authority in December, said the port's top priority is to find money to help pay for a containment dike to store muck dredged from Cleveland's harbor.

But that project, Raskind said in an email, is not eligible for stimulus money.

"Attracting additional tenants at the docks, moving more cargo and the possible pursuit of container ships are irrelevant if the harbor is not adequately dredged and ships can't navigate the river," Raskind wrote.

Yet other ports across the country found projects eligible for stimulus financing and collectively received billions of dollars. At least three of Cleveland's competitors -- ports in Detroit, Lorain and Toledo -- figured out ways to cash in on the opportunity.

Toledo snagged $21 million. Detroit received $7.1 million and Lorain, $3.4 million. Great Lakes Towing Co., a Cleveland-based commercial tugboat service, successfully applied for $845,000.

While competitors counted their stimulus cash last year, the Cleveland authority disclosed financial problems so severe that the board laid off workers and indefinitely postponed a $500 million relocation of operations from downtown to East 55th Street.

So why didn't they apply for more stimulus money?

Even staffers for Congressman Steven LaTourette, a Bainbridge Township Republican who serves on a committee overseeing federal stimulus spending, wonder why they haven't heard from the Cleveland port.

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"Typically, a public entity will determine what its needs are and submit them to us by January or February," said Dino DiSanto, LaTourette's deputy chief of staff. "We haven't seen any requests from the Port of Cleveland."

In Toledo, port officials in search of stimulus money contacted their congresswoman, Democrat Marcy Kaptur. She then went to work, successfully lobbying Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood for enough dollars to finance two projects, her spokesman said.

Toledo's port will receive $15 million to modernize and expand its shipyard, and $6.8 million to buy two mobile harbor cranes.

"This stimulus money wasn't luck, it was from good planning, hard work and communication," said Paul Toth, president of the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority. "We hold bi-annual meetings with our elected officials to brief them on port projects and our funding requirements, and they're very responsive to our needs."

DiSanto said LaTourette's office has not heard from anyone at the Cleveland port since November, when authority board members bought out the contract of CEO Adam Wasserman in a move they have yet to explain.

The Cleveland port's last request for federal money came more than a year ago, when officials sought $350 million from the Water Resource Development Act for a dredge containment facility and the port's proposed move to East 55th Street.

But that request is stalled, DiSanto said.

So, for now, LaTourette is working on a $50 million stimulus request from another Cleveland competitor, the port in Conneaut, to create a regional logistics hub to prepare for the possible arrival of international container ships through the St. Lawrence Seaway.

"If that possibility ever arises we'll be ready for it," said Joe Raisian, a member of the Conneaut Port Authority's board of directors. "We're probably the most ready and available port on the Great Lakes and the most accessible from the St. Lawrence Seaway."

Raskind, who is serving as interim chief executive at the Cleveland port, said the agency's most critical concerns lie in keeping open Cleveland's harbor and hiring a new CEO. Everything else is on the backburner.

"Pursuit of any new projects, funds and initiatives will be based on the priorities of the board and the new CEO," he said.