THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, October 26, 2005, Wednesday

Copyright 2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER

October 26, 2005, Wednesday FINAL

SECTION: NEWS, Pg. B1

HEADLINE: MONEY'S THE ISSUE IN PORT RACE TO SUCCEED MILLER

BYLINE: GORDY HOLT P-I reporter

BODY: Ask Richard C. "Rich" Berkowitz what he'd do as a Port of Seattle commissioner and you'll wish you hadn't. He won't shut up.
Lloyd Hara isn't much better. He goes on and on.
And for what?
These two unabashed Democrats are thumping their campaign tubs in a non-partisan contest for a post that will pay the winner no more than $6,000 a year, and neither say they need the money.
Then why would their names appear opposite Port Commission Position 3 on the Nov. 8 ballot?
The short answer is easy: They don't like how the port has been handling things, and they saw their opening when Paige Miller abandoned the post to seek a seat on the Seattle City Council.
The Port of Seattle is an independent taxing district that includes all of King County, and it is supported in part by taxes collected on property, whether it is in Seattle, Bellevue, Enumclaw or an unincorporated rural area.
On this matter of taxes, Hara says enough is enough.
"This port shouldn't be taxing property to support itself," he said.
"It should be making money. It isn't."
In fact, the Port of Seattle this year is counting on receiving about $62 million from port-district taxpayers, thanks to an assessment that ranges just slightly more than 25 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. For the owner of a $400,000 home, that's just over $100.
"I want to see a performance audit, and one that's independently done," Hara said.
Berkowitz says he wants the port job "because I don't see anyone out there who understands (the marine) industry as I do."
Berkowitz is Pacific Coast director of the Transportation Institute, a consortium of U.S.-flag vessel operators.
"My interest professionally," he said, "is in expanding the marine industry and seeing that there are more jobs. That's also the port's job."
But time, he said, is of the essence because Long Beach, Calif., San Francisco, Portland and Vancouver, B.C., also have ports that are looking for business, "and these carriers are going to be making their port decisions in the next four to five years.
"These will be million-dollar investments, and once they're done, they're done. That's why I'm running."
One of his visions won't endear him to the long-haul trucking lobby. Berkowitz wants to see "short-sea" shipping activity along the coast increased "to get more trucks off our freeways, clean up the environment and save fuel.
"The ton-mile cost of shipping by boat is 8 to 10 percent of what it is by truck," he said.
While Berkowitz, 45, is new to the vote-getting game, Hara, 65, is an old hand.
He is a former four-term city of Seattle treasurer and a one-time King County auditor who believes his bean-counting experience would be of value to the port.
And while Berkowitz stresses an interest in the port's marine side, Hara, of late, has been fussing over Southwest Airlines' push to move to King County's Boeing Field in a flap over fees associated with expansion costs at Sea-Tac Airport.
County Executive Ron Sims pulled the plug on that idea two weeks ago, but gave Hara an opening.
"If Southwest Airlines wants cheaper landing fees and was willing to put $130 million down to get them at Boeing Field, why wouldn't they do it for lower fees at Sea-Tac?"
Hara said public-private partnerships between the port and the airlines "might offer some public-financing mechanisms that could work for both sides. We need to look at it."
Both candidates would get the port more involved in road transportation issues.
Berkowitz would seek to use money from the federal government's $1.8 billion Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund to replace the Alaskan Way sea wall, a structure intimately tied to the present Alaskan Way Viaduct, as it will be to any future roadway.
A tax averaging $100 per imported container goes into the fund, "mostly to pay for dredging in other harbors," Berkowitz said.
"This is a deep-water port. We don't dredge. So the money collected here is always going to fund someone else's dredging.
"We should be able to use it for improving our own harbor. The port should be seeing to it. But I don't see anyone else with a clue."
Berkowitz and Hara together do have a clue about the present use of freight-friendly Pier 30 as the newest cruise terminal. Neither likes it, and they would prefer that all cruise business be transferred to Pier 91 at Elliott Bay's traffic-friendly north end.
Both also want the port out of the real estate business.
And both would seek to negate Alaska Way Viaduct plans that would impede the port's ability to move marine cargo from dock to rail yard.
P-I reporter Gordy Holt can be reached at 206-448-8356 or gordyholt§ seattlepi.com.
CANDIDATES AT A GLANCE
These two candidates are running against each other for the Position 3 seat on the Seattle Port Commission:
RICHARD C. BERKOWITZ
Age: 45
Experience: Pacific Coast director, Transportation Institute
Education: Bachelor's degree, industrial and labor relations, Cornell University; master's degree in business administration, University of Washington
Web site: http://berkowitzforport.com
LLOYD F. HARA
Age: 65
Experience: Financial consultant; former King County auditor; city of Seattle treasurer from 1979-91 (four terms)
Education: Bachelor's degree, University of Washington; master's degree in public administration, University of Washington
Web site: www.lloydhara.com
ON THE WEB
Read P-I election stories and candidate profiles: seattlepi.com /election2005
Check the P-I's online voter's guide: seattlepi.com /votersguide
Coming tomorrow: A closer look at the race between Lawrence Molloy and John Creighton for the Position 1 seat on the Seattle Port Commission.

NOTES:
ELECTION 2005

GRAPHIC: Photos
(1) Berkowitz(2) Hara