Coalition-builder represents Great Lakes ports

Steve Fisher works out of a one-man
office for 12 bosses and five Great Lakes.

Mr. Fisher's office is many miles removed from those Great Lakes, but much of his work as executive director of the American Great Lakes Port Association most often centers on dealings with members of Congress, their staffers and government-agency employees. So it's only logical that you'll find his office in Washington, D.C.

The American Great Lakes Ports Association represents the 12 public port authorities on the U.S. shores of the Great Lakes. Its member ports are in each of the eight Great Lakes states and each is a division of state or local government or an independent agency established by state statute (such as the Duluth Seaway Port Authority).

Mr. Fisher is a native of Munster, Ind., near the Hoosier state's steelmaking region in the northwest corner of the state. He is a graduate of Ball State University in Muncie, Ind., with degrees in architecture and urban planning.

One of his favorite professors at Ball State had worked as a lobbyist and encouraged Mr. Fisher, when he was a young graduate looking for work, to consider involvement in politics and public policy.

Soon he had a job on the staff of then-Sen. Dan Quayle (R-Ind.) and not long after discovered that, "I had caught the bug."

He worked for four years on Mr. Quayle's staff and then moved to the staff of Richard Lugar, another Republican senator from Indiana. He worked for Sen. Lugar for six years.

In his work as a legislative aide for both senators, Mr. Fisher recalls working closely with the Great Lakes maritime industry, particularly with Indiana's port at Burns Harbor, on issues such as reform of U.S. cargo-preference laws and the replacement of the U.S. Coast Guard's heavy icebreaker, the Mackinaw.

In 1994, upon the retirement of Lew Gulick as executive director, Mr. Fisher took over the reins of AGLP.

Given the fact that the Great Lakes have existed even longer than U.S. government policy-makers, you might logically assume that AGLP is an organization of many years' standing. But in fact, AGLP has existed for only a few years.

Its origin can be traced to the winter of 1977-78 and the formation of the Western Great Lakes Maritime Association, which hired a Washington lobbyist to work on Food for Peace matters. This was perhaps the first time that a Great Lakes maritime organization had a full-time Washington representative working on Lakes issues. The WGLMA members were primarily from the private sector.

The original WGLMA broke up in 1981, and in the following year a new WGLMA was established. Following the disastrous 1985 Farm Bill — the legislative death blow for Great Lakes participation in Food for Peace participation — the association's private members began drifting away.

Soon, though, public-sector members began replacing them and they formed the Western Great Lakes Ports Association. In the late 1980s the WGLPA expanded to include all U.S. Great Lakes ports and thus was born the AGLP, which took on the responsibility for looking out for the big-picture political objectives of its members.

Certainly Mr. Fisher has worked in and with government long enough to have known its frustrations, but he still takes to work with him every day the belief that "the system can work."

"It's big. It's got its inefficiencies," he said. "And administering it is a big job. But I believe in finding common ground, and in making the system work."

His job is made somewhat easier, he said, by having a supportive Congressional delegation, particularly in the persons of Congressmen James Oberstar (D-Minn.) and Dave Obey (D-Wis.).

"They and their staffs were here long before I took this job," Mr. Fisher said. "We can count on their support. And they are a pleasure to work with."

The association and its director focus on a variety of issues including operation of the St. Lawrence Seaway, management of the Great Lakes pilotage system, funding for Great Lakes maritime infrastructure, implementation of ballast water management protocols and the shipment of U.S. government cargoes.

One of Mr. Fisher's highest priorities in recent months has been building support for the Great Lakes Navigation Study [North Star Port, Summer 2002].

He is hopeful that the Study will eventually be approved. Toward that end he will work in his usual fashion — the fashion of all successful Washington lobbyists. "There are formal aspects to the process," he said, "and informal aspects. It's all about coalition-building."

Because the Great Lakes is a binational waterway, AGLP also works closely with the Canadian government and
private sector to coordinate its policy
advocacy.

As Mr. Fisher might say, it's all about coalition-building.