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No doubt there are some who will label James J. White's imminent return as head of the Maryland Port Administration as typical partisan politics. After all, he was pushed out by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican, two years ago. Now the man who was first appointed to the post by Democratic Gov. Parris N. Glendening is headed back thanks to another Democrat, Gov. Martin O'Malley.But that would misrepresent what has happened. If anything, Mr. White's hiring is a rejection of politics (and, to some degree, pride) over performance.Mr. White, who was first appointed port director in 1999, is the best the MPA has ever had.

No less an authority than Helen Delich Bentley, the former Republican congresswoman and stalwart supporter of the port that bears her name, pointed this out at the time of his ouster. His reputation in the rather insular world of port operations is golden, and his restoration merely closes what had been an unfortunate chapter in the MPA's recent history.

After all, it was interference in port operations by then-Maryland Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan that caused Mr. White to resign - and created an uproar within the port community. His return rights that wrong. (The wrongness of it was made clear by a consultant's report that came out a few months later recommending the port have greater autonomy and less meddling from transportation secretaries.)F. Brooks Royster III, an experienced executive at Gulf Coast ports, was a well-qualified choice as Mr. White's successor.

The chief criticism of his two-year tenure is that while the port has gotten busier, its growth has been fueled chiefly by existing contracts. Baltimore needs to find new business opportunities; Mr. White has proved that he can close such deals. Unfortunately, it will also mean compensating Mr. Royster for the final three years of his five-year contract (an amount likely to be less than the $675,000 that's been widely reported). Mr. Royster was the first port leader to be given an employment contract; the uproar of two years ago likely required it.

Mr. White will not be given such a guarantee, and that's as it should be.Still, the money will be well spent if Mr. White produces as many believe he will. The port provides thousands of well-paying blue-collar jobs for the Baltimore area at a time when such employment opportunities are few and far between. The new director must now be given the free hand he should have had years ago to get that economic engine running at full throttle.
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