The Seattle Times, September 11, 2005, Sunday

Copyright 2005 The Seattle Times Company
The Seattle Times

September 11, 2005 Sunday
Fourth Edition

SECTION: ROP ZONE; Local News; Pg. B1

HEADLINE: Races pack uncommon sizzle;
Election 2005 - Port of Seattle commissioner

BYLINE: Alwyn Scott, Seattle Times business reporter

BODY:
What's at stake: Control of the five-member board could shift, putting an end to business as usual at the Port of Seattle, which oversees Sea-Tac airport, Seattle's waterfront economy and a budget of more than $600 million.
It's normally a sleepy backwater, an afterthought far down the ballot.
But several flames have set the Port of Seattle commission race simmering this year. The 12 candidates vying for three seats have created primary-election contests in each race a first in many years.
The lack of campaign-contribution limits has allowed half a million dollars to pour into these races and spawned at least one political-action committee made up of real-estate developers and business leaders, which has raised $100,000 more.
The stakes are high. First, with two incumbents seeking re-election and an open seat up for grabs, upstart candidates could take control of the five-member board and put an end to business as usual at the Port, which oversees $2 billion in net assets and an annual budget of more than $600 million.
Many contenders vow radical change everything from overhauling the Port's accounting and spending, to making it profitable and weaning it from the $60 million it receives annually from King County taxpayers. Those moves could have huge consequences for the cruise lines, airlines, concessionaires, cargo handlers and contractors who do business with the Port and build its facilities.
Second, normally cozy relations between Port management and unions are frayed. A series of conflicts over the past decade have left union workers feeling the Port has turned a deaf ear to their needs, and have prompted the King County Labor Council to seek more influence. It is backing candidates in two races; their victories, combined with sitting Commissioner Alec Fisken, would give labor influence a commission majority.
Third, the Port's move into commercial real-estate development over the past decade is viewed by some as taking the Port away from its historic mission of developing and running a maritime industry and the airport. While the shift is ostensibly to make money for money-losing seaport operations, so far it hasn't paid off financially, either. Labor and maritime-industry candidates want the Port to stop redeveloping the waterfront and return to its roots of helping move passengers and cargo.
Finally, the new commission may have the opportunity to pick a successor to Chief Executive Mic Dinsmore, who has said he isn't sure if he'll renew his contract when it expires in 2007.
Here are summaries of the key contenders in each of the three races:
POSITION 4
Incumbent Patricia Davis joined the commission in 1986, when the Port's levy amounted to 40 cents per $1,000 of assessed value for King County property owners.
During her 18-year watch, she points out, the commission has cut the levy by a third. That's often lost on those only looking at the increase in 2003, when the levy was raised to 25 cents from 18 cents, to offset the weak economy.
Davis says she has taken far-sighted decisions to build up the Port's cargo and airport capacity to ride the wave of Asian imports and an expected rise in air passengers and cargo at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Far from being a "status-quo" candidate, as many see her, Davis says she has sought constant change at the Port to keep pace with a fast-moving global economy and respond to challenges such as the drop in air and sea traffic after the 9/11 attacks.
"The reason we're booming now is because we made decisions 10 years ago that put us in a position to capture growth," she said. "I consider myself a change agent who has continued to move us forward."
Renegotiating leases with cruise lines and cargo handlers, as some candidates propose, could open the door for those businesses to leave for other West Coast ports in the U.S. or Canada. That would be a disaster for jobs and for the Port's finances, Davis says.
"If we don't retain our customer base, we don't make the revenues we need to move forward with our investment and create jobs," she said.
The Labor Council didn't back her this year because some unions, such as the large group of electrical workers, disliked her voting for the Port to turn maintenance of cargo cranes over to the private terminal operators. Davis still has broad labor support, however.
Davis has backed the North Bay project, a Port plan to redevelop 57 acres of industrial land near Magnolia into an industrial, office and manufacturing center, while still retaining maritime industry there. She said she'd stop supporting it if the new uses don't attract enough private investment and provide sufficient return to the Port.
Davis' chief challenger, Jack Jolley, doesn't have Labor Council backing, either, though several unions have endorsed him. He's a former assistant treasurer at Microsoft who oversaw the department that invested the company's fast-growing cash pile during the 1990s.
He says the Port's financial statements paint a rosy picture and create an "opaque-on-purpose communications style" that leaves even commissioners in the dark.
"If you've got a degree in accounting, two weeks of free time, and access to the chief financial officer, you can figure out the financial statements," he said.
Most importantly, Jolley says, the financial summaries obscure problems such as declining market share, slow cargo handling and loss-making operations.
"The business is not being managed wisely," he said. "I would be trying to apply world-class business skills to an organization whose goals are not bottom-line profit but bottom-line creation of good, family-wage jobs."
He said the Port could do away with the tax revenue by more prudent management, particularly since most of its land was purchased decades ago and no longer carries a mortgage.
He also says that despite its rising volume of container cargo which jumped 20 percent last year Seattle has lost market share to other West Coast ports, in part because it is among the least efficient.
He says he would restructure lease agreements to give Port users incentives to use the facilities more efficiently. Jolley says he'd like to move cruise-ship docks to North Bay from Terminal 30, to maximize the use of working cargo area south of downtown. He also says he would want to verify the financial viability of any plan to put nonmaritime industry at North Bay.
Richard Pope, who ran unsuccessfully in 1999 and 2001, also is challenging Davis. He wants to eliminate the tax, and said the Port shouldn't be in the real-estate business. "It's ridiculous that we own billions of dollars worth of property and we lose money renting it," he said. With North Bay, the problem would only increase. "The Port is going to take more valuable land and lose money on it. They'd be better off selling it."
Also running: Robert Walker, a Microsoft worker who opposes "runaway costs" and "runaway customers" at the Port facilities.
POSITION 1
Incumbent Lawrence Molloy won his seat in 2001 by combining environmental support with backing from labor unions dissatisfied with longtime incumbent Jack Block, a former longshoreman. The margin was just more than 1 percent.
Molloy, an engineer at EBARA Corp., a Japanese environmental-technology company, is backed by the so-called blue-green coalition again this time endorsed by the Washington Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club as well as the King County Labor Council.
His challenger, John Creighton, is a securities lawyer who left Preston Gates & Ellis to campaign, and whose father is the former chief executive of Weyerhaeuser and United Airlines.
Creighton's endorsers include former mayors and organizations such as the Alki Foundation, an affiliate of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. He wants to avoid being labeled a "business" candidate facing a labor-environment incumbent, and is stressing his family's humble roots and good relations with labor. "The unions had good things to say about my father," he said.
Both candidates say they would curb Port spending but keep the levy. They would make commissioners more accountable and lessen the use of closed-door meetings. They differ on the Port's mission and strategy.
Molloy says he would cut 10 of the 20 Port staffers who work in public relations and use the savings to fund staff for environmental issues and to open a representative office in Anchorage. He also would focus on trade with Asia, mainly China, Japan and South Korea, and eliminate pricey trade missions to Europe. "The days of the European junket are over for a Port commissioner," he said.
He would halt the North Bay project and instead grant long-term leases to the land, rather than the three-year leases offered now.
Creighton, by contrast, would press ahead with North Bay as long as it pencils out financially. "We need economic diversity," he said.
Molloy would try to make seaport operations self-sustaining by renegotiating leases with tenant businesses. That would allow the levy to fund future development, rather than upgrading old facilities.
Creighton faults the current commission for overspending on the airport and for failing to vet a warehouse sale to Charlie's Produce. The food distributor never used the warehouses, and resold them a year later at a $10 million profit. Creighton said his legal background would help him protect the Port by adding repurchase options to such sales.
At the same time, Creighton says the Port has underinvested in the waterfront, particularly the cargo terminals. He takes Molloy to task for opposing a plan to upgrade the conveyor belts at the grain terminal along Western Avenue. Molloy says the tenant should cover the cost.
Also running is Wen Wu Lee, a flight attendant who wants to cut waste and inefficiency.
POSITION 3
The hottest primary contest is over the seat left by Paige Miller. It has drawn five challengers: a union council leader, a maritime industry advocate, an environmentalist, a former city treasurer and an activist out to end waste at the Port.
Among the top fund-raisers, Peter Coates, executive secretary of the Seattle/King County Building and Construction Trades Council, is the only one touting security as a top issue. A former King County police officer, he says the Port needs to do more to ensure cargo is carefully tracked and its origin known. Others say the commission should leave that to the federal government and shippers.
Coates supports the levy, as long as it isn't subsidizing seaport businesses. He isn't sure if it is or not. "It should be used to create development and family-wage jobs," he said. While labor is his base, he says he isn't beholden, despite having the Labor Council's endorsement. The commission, he says, "needs to fairly balance the interests of the business, environmental and labor communities."
Coates said it would be a mistake to convert the North Bay area to nonmaritime uses. But he wouldn't cancel the current plan, just review it. "We should not just leave it as vacant property," he said.
Richard Berkowitz, Pacific Coast director for the Transportation Institute, is a former union worker with backing from unions who now works with U.S. shipping lines. He says the Port has strayed too far from what should be its core mission: helping move passengers and cargo. With cargo increasing and new projects opening in Alaska, he said he would stop the North Bay plan and keep the land available for sea-based businesses.
"The Port seems to be focused more on real estate than on all these opportunities in maritime," he said. He also supports slowly weaning the Port off tax money by raising fees to cargo operators, saying the seaport should cover its costs.
Lloyd Hara, a former Seattle treasurer, also says he would like to see the Port make money, noting the Port owns $4 billion worth of assets. "Are we getting any return? No," he said. He would keep spending on infrastructure and development, but like Berkowitz, he said he would take a second look at North Bay to ensure it won't shut out opportunities for keeping Seattle a working seaport.
John Kane, an environmental consultant who specializes in cleaning contaminated property, says the Port should focus on getting its airport and seaport operations on track, rather than dabbling in real-estate ventures like North Bay. Better marketing of that property would probably bring in good tenants, he says. Through better fiscal management at the seaport and cost controls at the airport, the Port could spend less levy money, freeing funds to be used elsewhere in the county.
"Some of that money could go to our schools," he said. "That's one way the Port can pay back to the community."
Christopher Cain, who helped organize a rally in 2000 "celebrating" the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle, said he wants to fight waste at the Port, faulting its glitzy headquarters among other things, and stop using the levy to subsidize business.
He figures the Port's losses on its seaport operations amount to subsidies to businesses, because the terminal operators and other leasees wouldn't stay if they weren't making money. He opposes North Bay, since it would take land away from the maritime industry. Instead, Cain says, the Port should focus on using money for freight mobility and environmental cleanup.
Alwyn Scott: 206-464-3329
FACTS

POSITION 1

John Creighton, 39
Residence: Seattle
Occupation: Attorney
Background: Left work as a securities lawyer at Preston Gates & Ellis to campaign; bachelor's and master's degrees, international relations, Johns Hopkins University; law degree, Columbia University.
Top three endorsements: Alki Foundation, Former Gov. Gary Locke, former Mayor Paul Schell
Campaign Web site: www.johncreighton.org

Wen Wu Lee, age n/a
Residence: Des Moines
Occupation: Flight attendant
Background: Board member, Wings Financial Credit Union; master's degree, business administration, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Top three endorsements: n/a
Campaign Web site: none

Lawrence Molloy, 41
Residence: Seattle
Occupation: Environmental engineer
Background: Current Port commissioner, elected 2001; bachelor's degree, Colgate College; master's degree, engineering, Stanford University.
Top three endorsements: King County Labor Council, Washington Conservation Voters, Sierra Club
Campaign Web site: www.AhoyMolloy.com

POSITION 3

Richard Berkowitz, 45
Residence: Seattle
Occupation: Maritime industry trade association director
Background: Bachelor's degree, industrial and labor relations, Cornell University; master's degree, business administration, University of Washington.
Top three endorsements: Alaska Airlines, Alki Foundation, ILWU (Longshore District Council)
Campaign Web site: berkowitzforport.com

Christopher Cain, 38
Residence: SeaTac
Occupation: Carpenter and public-interest advocate
Background: Publishes Port Observer newspaper; trade college, four years, union-apprenticeship training. Helped organize WTO protest commemoration in 2000.
Top three endorsements: n/a
Campaign Web site: www.cainforport.com

Peter Coates, 58
Residence: Bellevue
Occupation: Executive secretary, Seattle/King County Building & Construction Trades Council
Background: Former King County police officer; attended Bellevue Community College, Northwest College and the University of Washington, studying history and political science.
Top three endorsements: King County Executive Ron Sims, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, King County Central Labor Council
Campaign Web site: www.coatesforport.com

Lloyd Hara, 66
Residence: Seattle
Occupation: Principal, Print Solutions and Consulting Services; adjunct professor, Seattle University
Background: Former King County auditor and elected Seattle city treasurer four times; bachelor's degree, economics (foreign trade); master's degree, public administration, University of Washington.
Top three endorsements: King County Police Officers Guild, King County Democratic Central Committee; former Gov. Gary Locke
Campaign Web site: www.lloydhara.com

John Kane, 49
Residence: Seattle
Occupation: Geologist/environmental consultant; president, founder Kane Environmental Inc.
Background: Bachelor's degree, geoscience, Hobart College; master's, business administration, Western Washington University.
Top three endorsements: Pacific Fishermen, Salmon Bay Sand and Gravel, 36th District Democrats
Campaign Web site: www.kaneforport.com

POSITION 4

Patricia Davis, 60
Residence: Seattle
Occupation: Port commissioner since 1986
Background: Bachelor's degree, Stanford University; master's degree, University of Washington; member, Puget Sound Regional Council's Prosperity Partnership's Transportation Policy and Economic Development boards.
Top three endorsements: Alki Foundation, Firefighters Local 1257, Longshoreman's Local 19
Campaign Web site: www.patdavis.org

Jack Jolley, 47
Residence: Seattle
Occupation: Retired former Microsoft assistant treasurer
Background: Worked in financial markets for 10 years; bachelor's degree, accounting, University of Washington.
Top three endorsements: Washington Conservation Voters, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 46, Service Employees International Union Local 6
Campaign Web site: www.jackjolley.com

Richard Pope, 43
Residence: Bellevue
Occupation: Attorney
Background: Law degree, University of Washington; graduate study, international trade, University of Tennessee.
Top three endorsements: n/a
Campaign Web site: www.NoPortTax.com (under construction)

Robert Walker, 31
Residence: Renton
Occupation: Operations technical specialist at Microsoft
Background: Bachelor's degree, The Evergreen State College
Top three endorsements: n/a
Campaign Web site: www.porkland.org/robert