Port of Seattle Commissioner 5 race

Port of Seattle Commissioner Position Number 5 has nine candidates running in the primary. KING 5 asked each candidate to submit responses to the following questions:

1. What do you see as the biggest challenge facing the Port of Seattle?
2. How do you envision the Port's future?
3. What is your first and top priority if elected.

UPDATED: Saturday, August 1

Darrell Bryan-Partner and former President of Victoria Clipper

• The challenge is balancing the need to increasing the competitiveness of the seaport with the booming expansion of the airport. The first priority will be hammered out in the implementation of the recently approved Northwest Seaport Alliance. The second needs to be addressed immediately with key decisions around a new international arrivals and customs facility coming before the Port Commission shortly. Managing these decisions will take the type of leadership that I displayed during my 30 years of experience with the Victoria Clipper.
• I envision a Seattle where the seaport is the premier choice for shipping companies world wide, the airport is capable of handling the increased traffic and technological upgrades it requires, and relationships between governments are strengthened through the Seaport Alliance.
• The immediate problem facing our Port is updating and modernizing terminal 5 so we can put it back into regular service with the next generation of larger ships docking here. This will not only improve our competitiveness with other regional ports, but will help create good, high paying jobs for generations to come. We also need to make key decisions about how we expand our airport facilities to accommodate the increased traffic and projected growth.

Fred Felleman-Marine Environmental Consultant

• For the Port to grow responsibly and stay competitive in the face of climate change the Commission must advance clean energy jobs in a transparent and equitable fashion that will support our families now and into the future. Increasing public support for the port's operations is critical to fulfilling its goals of being a key economic engine for the region's economy.
• I envision the Port better engaging the public to advance sustainable, living wage jobs at the seaport and airport and to advance the economic benefits it brings to the region in an equitable, transparent and environmentally responsible fashion. As new competitive challenges face the port in light of significant impacts associated with climate change, I will always put our community first.
• My first priority if elected is to hold a series of public outreach sessions throughout King County detailing how the CEO intends to operationalize its Century Agenda in 10 years instead of the 25 years originally envisioned. This ambitious goal will require significant public support and opportunities for engagement to determine how or if it can be achieved in sustainable manner that underlies all of my goals as a Port Commissioner.

Mark Hennon--Author and Computer Consultant

• The port commissioners partnered with three companies with long histories of environmental destruction, predatory business activity, and betrayal of their former partners. The port is on track to spend a billion dollars of King County money this year, and taxpayers will suffer from the port's deals.
• The commissioners have steered a risky financial and environmental course that needs drastic correction. They have given control of our waterfront to the Port of Tacoma, control of our skies and airport to Delta Airlines, and control of Terminal 5 to Shell Oil for Arctic drilling.
• I would cut costs and reduce risks from deals with untrustworthy companies, but I don't have the money to win this campaign, and so I throw my support to Fred Felleman so an environmentalist can advance to the general election.​

Herb Krohn-Rail Safety and Worker Advocate, Union Pacific Conductor

• The Port is one of the most opaque, least accountable independent public agencies in our region. It is desperately in need of greater transparency, an end to back-room deals, and other good governance reforms. The Port's auditor should report to the commission, not the Executive Director. Department heads appointed by the Executive Director should be subject to commission approval, and the commission should be able to review their performance evaluations.
• There are important public issues in the coming years for the Port that will impact our community for many years to come. These include the protection of the Port's public facilities, especially at the waterfront, from the pressures of downtown development, and the preservation and expansion of the middle class jobs these facilities enable. There is also are environmental challenges that will impact the Ports future that we must be prepared to address. The Port of Seattle has had a good environmental record, but we must do better.
• The Port of Seattle, especially its waterfront, is one of the few places left in our region which attracts and supports blue collar, family wage jobs. By maximizing the Port's efficiency, increasing freight mobility, and becoming a leader in promoting jobs that are environmentally sustainable into the future, the Port should not just preserve but must expand this vital part of our regional economy. I've fought and will continue to fight to preserve and expand these jobs.

Daniel E. Reandeau-Retired from manufacturing processing facility

• Restoring confidence with the Sea Port Customers who were financially ruined last fall and winter during the Dock Workers "Slow Down".
• The Sea Port revitalized with a renovated superstructure to safely handle containers off the larger cargo ships. A new and efficient International Arrival Satellite at Sea Tac that is financed fairly by the primary users.
• Working with the other Port Commissioners, Sea Port Management and the Labor Unions to form a plan that will guarantee our Sea Port Customers that their products will get shipped in the timely manner that they expect.

Ken Rogers-Pilot, labor leader

• After the Terminal 5 controversy, the Port must rebuild the public's trust, or similar conflicts will continue to disrupt Port operations and jeopardize the Port's ability to generate jobs and economic benefits for our region. Port policy must respect and reflect our community values by developing fair and open public processes that give all citizens an opportunity to provide input on decisions that impact our quality of life.
• If the Port capitalizes on the Puget Sound Maritime alliance between Seattle and Tacoma seaports, it can be a dominant competitor in the increasingly competitive shipping industry, preserve the working waterfront and build career opportunities in the marine industry for young people. The Port can make SeaTac a world class airport that feeds regional economic growth, while doing a better job of protecting the environment and collaborating with communities around the airport.
• My first priority is to improve community outreach and public input processes so people have a voice on Port decisions before decisions are made, starting with updating the Port's strategic plan for environmental protection, job creation, and economic growth. The Port of Seattle is a public entity belonging to the people of King County and the Commission's conduct should always reflect that.

Norman Sigler-Diversity Recruiter, founder of CLEAR-consulting

• The Port must gain the public's trust and confidence that it can be an equitable place at which to work and do business, transparent in its financial operations, and great stewards of our environment and tax levy support.
• I envision the Port's future as a catalyst in building a Clean Energy economy in the Northwest including:

a. All Division Heads must go through a confirmation process by the Commission and have Chief Audit Officer report directly to the Commission;

b. Public review process for Shell Lease/Terminal 5 alternatives,

c. Complete an Environmental Impact Statement for the Renovation of Terminal 5

(response shortened due to length requirement)

• My first actions as a Commissioner will be to listen and understand the Port's CEO, my fellow Commissioners, and Port staff in support of resolving the Shell Lease (if it is still an issue at the time) and supporting the Century Agenda of creating more than 100,000 new jobs directly related to Port activities.

Marion Yoshino-Economic Development Consultant

• The Port's biggest challenge will be coping with the public's demand that it adapt to climate change. How will the Port continue to bring in the merchandise and food that we depend on, and employ people (48,000 indirectly) without being our heaviest contributor to carbon pollution?
• As our Puget Sound area continues to grow and thrive, demand for our Port services will continue to increase. Although there are some investments required, the overall economic outlook for the Port of Seattle is excellent.
• My first priority is water quality, followed by air quality. We all want our Puget Sound to be healthy, and we have major pollution problems to tackle with the Port.

KING 5 is still awaiting a response from Richard Pope.