Allee resigning as director of State Port as scrutiny continues

GULFPORT — The longtime director of Mississippi’s state-owned port is resigning after increasing scrutiny over how the Gulf Coast facility is spending $570 million in federal money it was given after Hurricane Katrina.

Gulfport Port director Don Allee will resign Nov. 2, according to a news release distributed today at a port commission meeting

After Katrina, then-Gov. Haley Barbour pitched a “port of the future” with a 50-foot-deep channel to lure ships sailing through the Panama Canal. To chase that vision, he led a disputed transfer of federal housing money to the port. But the plan has been slow to materialize and critics say efforts won’t generate enough jobs for the money.

Allee has said dredging to 50 feet isn’t practical because other port facilities are too small for the largest ships.