Dominic Moreo writes in with this report on Seattle's ports:

Of late, corporate CEOs have enjoyed the perks of high salaries, corporate jets, golden parachutes and back-dated options even when profits plunged and stock prices headed south. And the public sector isn't far behind.

Consider Mic Dinsmore, who after 15 years as the executive director of the Port of Seattle brings in $323,435, making him the highest paid port director in the country.

Last week, a three-to-two vote of the port commissioners awarded him a six per cent pay raise —less than six months before he intends to retire. In effect, he's recieving a $3,000 pay jump in his post-retirement public pay.

Yet the Port of Seattle has lost tonnage to nearby Tacoma and southern California. A cruise ship terminal built under Dinsmore's watch in 2003 will be torn down in favor of a new cargo terminal. Dissenting commissioners have expressed concern about the port's financial performance and a proposal to raise port taxes.

Southwest Airlines tried to bolt from the port-run Sea-Tac Airport because of high landing fees in favor of King County-operated King's Field, staying only because the County vetoed the move. The day after Dinsmore's raise, King County Executive Ron Sims and the Port of Seattle announced continuing negotiations to swap Boeing Field for a 47-mile train corridor from Renton to Snohomish County on the eastside of Lake Washington that the county would convert to recreational use, while the port gained control of another airport.

In the public as in the private sector, failure is sometimes rewarded.