Joe Guillen

Detroit Free Press

The chairman of the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority has resigned effective Tuesday, according to a county official.

Thomas Orzechowski Jr., a county appointee to the port board, sent his resignation letter Tuesday to Wayne County Commission Chairman Gary Woronchak. The letter was dated Feb. 15.

"As my career physically takes me away from the Detroit metro area to Washington, D.C., please know that I will still be involved in maritime projects and shipping on the Great Lakes," Orzechowski wrote in his letter.

He is vice president of the Seafarers International Union's Lakes and Inland Waters District, according to the union's website. He had been working out of the union's Algonac office.

Port Executive Director John Loftus said Saturday that Orzechowski wanted to finish his term, which expires later this year, but his responsibilities were pulling him in too many different directions. "I know he wanted to stick it out as long as he could," Loftus said.

The five-member port board is made up of unpaid appointees from the City of Detroit, the county and the state. The port's mission is to grow and support the local maritime industry through advocacy and, when possible, public finance.

Woronchak, in a text message Saturday, said the County Commission will have to appoint someone to fill the rest of Orzechowski's term. There are no plans for a replacement yet, he texted.

Orzechowski lobbied in his letter to Woronchak that another maritime labor representative be appointed as his replacement. He suggested Ron Krochmalny, sitting president of the Michigan Maritime Trades Port Council.

The Port Authority has been hampered for years by a controversial contract with Manuel (Matty) Moroun’s Ambassador Port. The contract, known as a "master concession agreement," stems from a deal that began in 2005 under then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's administration. Moroun lent the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority $2.1 million to pay off debts tied to the Detroit Marine Terminals site, a 34-acre shipping dock on the Detroit River halfway between the Ambassador Bridge and Zug Island. In exchange, the Ambassador Port firm received sweeping control of the facility, favorable interest rates on the loan, tax exemptions, a new revenue stream and a right to buy any riverfront property the Port Authority might hope to sell. The Port Authority has been unable to pay off the loan.

To help generate revenue, the port leases out part of its riverfront headquarters downtown on East Atwater Street to Continental Catering and Events of Troy.

On Thursday, the city of Detroit terminated an under-the-table parking deal the recreation department director agreed to with Continental without the required approval of City Council.

Contact Joe Guillen: 313-222-6678 or jguillen@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @joeguillen.