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As I begin my second year as Seattle Port Commission President, I am looking beyond recent headlines and considering all that is happening at the Port of Seattle. Much of what I see is encouraging.
The 2008 Commission has two new members—Bill Bryant and Gael Tarleton—who bring great perspective and enthusiasm for pushing needed, positive change at the Port. Together with my returning colleagues—Pat Davis and Lloyd Hara— who also bring important experience, this Commission represents the public's best opportunity to see improved transparency and accountability at the Port.
Combine the dedication and creativity of this Commission with Tay Yoshitani, the new CEO we brought in last spring. He has experience at three other major ports and a reputation for integrity. He is building his team, reorganizing staff functions and bringing heightened visibility to such important initiatives as the new Office of Social Responsibility, which will focus and strengthen the Port's small business and community outreach efforts.
We have a lot to accomplish this year. The recent State Auditor's Performance Audit found that Port contracting policies and procedures were not being fully implemented in certain areas and, in other areas, are susceptible to fraud and abuse. The audit also found that Commission oversight authority had been too narrowly construed over the years and, in many instances, circumvented by staff. The audit cited irregularities in our small works program, a program that my fellow commissioners and I view as central to the Port’s mission as a public agency. As a former securities lawyer who has advised boards of directors on implementing good governance reforms, I was deeply troubled by these findings. At the same time, I view the audit as a roadmap to help us make the Port a better, more accountable public agency.
We all—the Commission, the CEO, and the Port staff—take the Performance Audit very seriously and are pulling in a single harness to make the significant changes necessary to meet the audit recommendations and more. The Commission’s Accountability Agenda is thorough: We are revising the Commission's oversight protocols, tightening the Port's systems and procedures and investigating the potential for fraudulent activities, while giving our CEO the space to make needed management changes, including creating a centralized Chief Procurement Office as recommended in the audit.
We have made several key appointments, bringing respected members of the public aboard to serve on our Ethics and Audit committees. The Commission’s Special Investigatory Committee has retained former US Attorney Michael McKay to lead an investigation into areas identified in the audit as susceptible to fraud. We are strengthening Commission oversight of major construction projects, and have directed staff to report to us on a quarterly basis in public on all aspects of these projects. We have revised the Port Ethics Policy and have moved the internal audit function to report to both the CEO and the Commission’s Audit Committee. Every two weeks in our public Commission meetings we are receiving updates on the Action Plan that our CEO has put in place. The updates check off recommendations made in the Performance Audit as they are implemented by Port staff. The Plan and updates are available on the Port website.
Through all this, we cannot lose sight of the importance of the Port to the economic vitality of our region. The Port was established in 1911 as part of the Progressive Era movement to take back the waterfront for the public. We use public money to help finance the building of cargo terminals for international trade, and the public receives full return on those investments over time. In the meantime, over 200,000 statewide jobs are created.
But these jobs are not an entitlement. The seaport faces real threats from Canada and the new port at Prince Rupert, as well as California and new ports being developed in Mexico. By 2014, the widened Panama Canal may be the biggest threat of all.
At Sea-Tac Airport, we welcomed a record 31 million passengers in 2007 and we will bring the Third Runway on line this fall. We have five new direct international air routes, a number of new domestic routes, and a burgeoning tourism industry.
But the Port's reach extends beyond cargo terminals and the airport to other waterborne activities that are tremendous assets to the region's economy-the cruise industry and commercial fishing. Each time a cruise ship calls at the Port it generates $1.4 million for the local economy. And we remain committed to our oldest line of operation – fishing. While other west coast fishing ports are struggling, our upgraded docks at Fisherman's Terminal have seen growth in the number of fishing vessels. The Port's significant investments help keep this industry vital.
The Port also is an essential partner in funding for state routes and local interchanges that lead to and from the seaport and airport, in a time when state funding is constrained. We are in final negotiations with BNSF Railroad to bring their 42-mile Eastside rail corridor into public ownership, preserving it for potential new rail transportation in the future, and use now as a public trail. Yet another essential area where the Port makes contributions every day is in the environmental sustainability of our air and water – with no financial return expected, but of great benefit to our region. We have set ambitious new goals for reducing air emissions at both the seaport and the airport, ahead of most ports in the US and the world.
But let there be no mistake: This Commission is taking swift, aggressive action and we are pushing a change in the culture of the Port from the top down. We welcome your oversight; you can track our progress on the State Performance Audit recommendations and also view our meetings real-time or archived.
I ran for Port Commissioner because I didn't think everything was right with the Port and I wanted to make a positive difference. Since then, I've discovered that much is right at the Port, and this Commission and the CEO are aggressively working to correct what's wrong. The stakes are high as we move forward, and I am committed to leading a port that fulfills its mission to continue bringing economic vitality to King County and the State.
Commissioner John Creighton was elected to the Commission in 2006.