Elect a progressive majority to the Seattle Port Commission
The Seattle Port Commission needs new leadership.
Three members of the current five person commission are taking the Port of Seattle in the wrong direction. They're giving the Port's valuable land away to developers and investing in development schemes that don't have anything to do with the Port's mission. (1)
They're wasting taxpayer dollars, spending public monkey on junkets to Europe, and forcing you to shell out more money to the Port by increasing the Port tax. (2)
They're voting against taking action to decrease maritime air pollution and they're voting against forcing cruise ship companies to follow strict reporting standards for wastewater dumping in Puget Sound. (3)
It's time to elect a progressive majority to the Seattle Port Commission to end the waste and the sellout to business interests.
Three of the Port's five offices are on the ballot this year: Position 1, Position 3, and Position 4. Any voter who resides in King County can vote in the Port Commission races. (The Port of Seattle is a municipal corporation created September 5, 1911, by the voters of King County.)
Today, the Northwest Progressive Institute is endorsing the following three candidates to bring accountability and responsibility back to the Port Commission:
They've created a phony group called "Citizens for a Healthy Economy" to bankroll their slate of handpicked candidates in the hopes of preventing a progressive majority from taking over the Port Commission.
Last August, progressive Port Commissioner Alec Fisken (who does not face reelection this year) warned about "Citizens for Healthy Economy":
Just a few days ago, NPI received a mailer from this phony group, urging voters to vote for the business interests' slate of candidates: John Creighton, Rich Berkowitz, and Pat Davis. (You can see the mailer to the left, click on it to see the expanded view)
Of the 3 candidates, Jack Jolley and Lawrence Molloy need your help the most.
Lloyd Hara led Rich Berkowitz in the primary and his chances are better than the other two candidates. But Molloy, who is an incumbent, and Jolley, who is not, both trailed their business-backed opponents in the primary.
Commissioner Alec Fisken has more information on "Citizens for a Healthy Economy" on his blog, Port Watch. Here's a summary of contributions made to "Citizens for a Healthy Economy" so far, that have been publicly reported.
Follow this link to our endorsements page for the Commission. There, you can access the links to the campaigns for Lawrence Molloy, Lloyd Hara, and Jack Jolley. You can also read what we have to say about each candidate and a summary of their other endorsements.
Footnotes:
(1) - Vote: North Bay Project "preferred alternative" June 28, 2005
(2) - Vote: Port of Seattle Resolution No. 3497, November 26, 2002
(3) - Votes: Port of Seattle Resolution No. 3534, February 4, 2005, Memorandum of Understanding, April 13, 2004
Three members of the current five person commission are taking the Port of Seattle in the wrong direction. They're giving the Port's valuable land away to developers and investing in development schemes that don't have anything to do with the Port's mission. (1)
They're wasting taxpayer dollars, spending public monkey on junkets to Europe, and forcing you to shell out more money to the Port by increasing the Port tax. (2)
They're voting against taking action to decrease maritime air pollution and they're voting against forcing cruise ship companies to follow strict reporting standards for wastewater dumping in Puget Sound. (3)
It's time to elect a progressive majority to the Seattle Port Commission to end the waste and the sellout to business interests.
Three of the Port's five offices are on the ballot this year: Position 1, Position 3, and Position 4. Any voter who resides in King County can vote in the Port Commission races. (The Port of Seattle is a municipal corporation created September 5, 1911, by the voters of King County.)
Today, the Northwest Progressive Institute is endorsing the following three candidates to bring accountability and responsibility back to the Port Commission:
- Position #1: Reelect LAWRENCE MOLLOY
- Position #3: Elect LLOYD HARA
- Position #4: Elect JACK JOLLEY
They've created a phony group called "Citizens for a Healthy Economy" to bankroll their slate of handpicked candidates in the hopes of preventing a progressive majority from taking over the Port Commission.
Last August, progressive Port Commissioner Alec Fisken (who does not face reelection this year) warned about "Citizens for Healthy Economy":
Seattle Port Commissioner Alec Fisken is sounding the alarm about Citizens for a Healthy Economy, a new political action committee (PAC) that has raised more than $100,000 for voter "education" in this year's Port races. "It's the status quo versus reform," claims Fisken.And Citizens for a Healthy Economy is spending money to make sure its candidates win.
[...]
Reports filed with the state Public Disclosure Commission show that the PAC has raised money at a torrid rate since April, mostly tapping companies that do business with the Port, including $10,000 from SSA Terminals, which operates shipping container terminals, and $10,000 from Holland America, whose cruise ships dock in Seattle.
[...]
Fisken says the motives of Wallace and Frank Stagen, the CEO of real-estate development firm Nitze-Stagen who is the other co-founder of Citizens for a Healthy Economy, are transparent. Wallace led an unsuccessful effort to have the Port of Seattle invest in Bellevue's troubled convention center, while Stagen lost his battle to have the Port convert Terminal 46 on Seattle's waterfront into a neighborhood of condos, parks, offices, and even a basketball arena.
Fisken says the two developers are enlisting the support of other businesses that depend on Port pork to make sure status-quo candidates like Davis win and reform-minded candidates like incumbent Port Commissioner Lawrence Molloy lose.
Just a few days ago, NPI received a mailer from this phony group, urging voters to vote for the business interests' slate of candidates: John Creighton, Rich Berkowitz, and Pat Davis. (You can see the mailer to the left, click on it to see the expanded view)Of the 3 candidates, Jack Jolley and Lawrence Molloy need your help the most.
Lloyd Hara led Rich Berkowitz in the primary and his chances are better than the other two candidates. But Molloy, who is an incumbent, and Jolley, who is not, both trailed their business-backed opponents in the primary.
Commissioner Alec Fisken has more information on "Citizens for a Healthy Economy" on his blog, Port Watch. Here's a summary of contributions made to "Citizens for a Healthy Economy" so far, that have been publicly reported.
[Based on PDC filings] all of the contributors to the PAC are listed below. Where we’ve been able to identify their financial tie to the port, that is noted. And other contributions that they have made directly to the Davis campaign are also noted.We need to do all we can to stop "Citizens for a Healthy Economy" from keeping its hold on the Port of Seattle Commission.
Frank Stagen is listed as the chair. Bellevue real estate developer Bob Wallace is the treasurer. Michele Radosevich, an attorney at Davis, Wright, Tremaine, is listed as his assistant.
George Rowley, Rowley Properties $5,000. Skip Rowley also gave $1,000 directly to the Davis campaign.
Herbert Gould III, president, Anthony’s Restaurants (a port tenant) $5,000
Sabey Corporation (real estate) $10,000 - Sabey also gave $1,000 directly to the Davis campaign
Nitze-Stagen (Frank Stagen is reported to be still interested in redeveloping Terminal 46) $5,000
Wallace Properties (Bob Wallace lobbied hard for a port contribution to the Meydenbauer Conventions Center expansion) $5,000 – Bob Wallace also gave $500 directly to the Davis campaign. The campaign also collected $1,000 from the Bellevue-based Affordable Housing Council, which may also be connected with Mr. Wallace
McBee Strategic Consulting (the firm hired by the port to do its Wash. DC lobbying) $5,000
Columbia Hospitality (the firm managing the port's Bell Harbor Conference Center and the World Trade Center, and partner in CTA, the cruise ship stevedore). $5,000
Premera Blue Cross $5,000 – Premera also gave $250 directly to the campaign
Kinzer Real Estate Services (Craig Kinzer has been running the consulting services on the consultant-heavy North Bay project, $5,000 – Kinzer also contributed $500 directly to the campaign
Savi Technologies, based in Sunnyvale Calif. kicked in $5,000. According to the Seattle Times, Savi has been contributing to a number of campaigns as part of its effort to promote its container security business.
Dunham Group LLC, an airport consulting firm - $5,000
The firm also gave $500 directly to the campaign
Holland America, Port of Seattle tenant - $10,000
Foster Pepper, the firm that also gets a lot of that endless Northbay money, forked over. Nine lawyers gave $500 each (Tom Walsh, Roger Pearce, Stephen Dijulio, Bradley Berg, Beth Clark, Allen Israel, Michael Kuntz, Deborah Winter, and Judith Runstad) for a total of $4,500.
Jim Blackmore, (Alaska Maritime Agencies - another principal in CTA) $5,000. Jim Blackmore is also listed as contributing $1,725 directly to the campaign. And Kathi Blackmore gave $500.
MAS Resources (apparently Mark Segale, a contractor on several port projects) $10,000. Mario Segale contributed $1,000 directly to the Davis campaign.
SSA Terminals – over the decades the largest single tenant of the port - $10,000
SSA also gave $5,400 directly to the campaign.
Follow this link to our endorsements page for the Commission. There, you can access the links to the campaigns for Lawrence Molloy, Lloyd Hara, and Jack Jolley. You can also read what we have to say about each candidate and a summary of their other endorsements.
Footnotes:
(1) - Vote: North Bay Project "preferred alternative" June 28, 2005
(2) - Vote: Port of Seattle Resolution No. 3497, November 26, 2002
(3) - Votes: Port of Seattle Resolution No. 3534, February 4, 2005, Memorandum of Understanding, April 13, 2004
