The post you are reporting:
Good Lord this really is very painful; the endless parading of ignorance dressed up as sensible and or informed commentary.
It appears to me that there are only 2 options on the table and neither of these is the status quo; in other words the current Trust Port is not an ongoing option; despite the vociferousness of the supporters of that choice. So back to what are the options?
These are either
The Harbour Boards preferred choice of a straight forward trade sale to the highest bidder with the sweeteners of some shares for the workers pension fund and a community trust for the support of local initiatives; the latter being funded from the proceeds of the sale assuming the government are prepared to do this.
Now from where I stand this is the worst option for workers and townsfolk alike, the workers get a few shares given to their pension fund, but not enough to have any meaningful voice and no doubt at some cost to their contributions; the townsfolk get the promise of some form of community trust fund entirely reliant on the largesse of a government that is slashing budgets left, right and centre and needing to haul in as much cash as possible; so probably unlikely to happen. Oh and of course the port goes to the highest bidder, which may or not be the Calais Chamber of Commerce, or some Sovereign Wealth Fund o frankly whoever offers the best price to Bob and his merry men.
The other option is "The People's Port" proposal from Charlie, which I understand will be a Community Trust vehicle which will raise the money to acquire the port through the sale of some form of bond which is likely to be denominated at some reasonably affordable level so local people can participate (e.g. £10 each). The trust would then seek third parties to run the port on their behalf, in many ways much as DHB currently does with services such as stevedoring, security, repair work etc. The profits from port operations would then be used to fund community initiatives, via some form of sub committee, though the bulk would be reinvested in the port to maintain and enhance the infrastructure to keep the port competitive. This strikes me as a better option as the community fund bit is very much part and parcel of the proposal and therefore is essentially guaranteed so the town definitely gets something back.
What is currently unclear is the face price of the bond, its structure (debenture or term bond?, coupon rates if the latter? concessions if the former? multiple bond classes to appeal to different investors? etc.) the structure of the trust body, what the selection process is to sit on the trust board etc.
Whilst I favour the latter option I do think both parties need to rapidly start fleshing out their proposals so we can make informed choices, lobby Charlie, write to the Transport Minister etc.