Candidates for Port of Port Angeles interview for vacant position

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, June 17, 2026

PORT ANGELES — Port of Port Angeles commissioners interviewed five candidates for the District 2 vacancy during a special meeting Tuesday, but they postponed making a decision after convening for an executive session that lasted for an hour and 20 minutes.

Commissioners Connie Beauvais and Colleen McAleer could call another special meeting with an executive session for further discussion and then return to open session to vote. If not, they will likely take up the matter on June 23.

The appointee will need to pass a background check before they are sworn in.

Pamela Swartz, Tom Swanson, Kelly Kidwell, Johanna Bartee and Marc Abshire applied for the seat that became open when former commissioner Steve Burke resigned May 1.

Each candidate began with a short introduction and answered the same 19 questions, ranging from the skills they would bring to the role to policy issues specific to the port.

While the candidates came from different professional backgrounds, they largely agreed on core themes — the port’s economic mission and the distinction between governance and day-to-day management.

Swartz, who holds a forestry degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and has operated her own business for more than 35 years, said she sees the port as a model for regional economic development. Her top three priorities are to create jobs, steward public assets with fiscal responsibility and transparency, and environmental stewardship. She said she would not sell waterfront property, calling it a finite resource whose value will only grow.

Swanson, who earned a forestry degree from the University of Washington and an MBA from the University of Oregon, moved to Port Angeles in 1985 and worked in forest management for 31 years before retiring from Green Crow in 2019. His top priorities are to complete projects already underway, including the log yard project and harbor cleanup, recruit businesses to existing industrial properties, and hold the Legislature and the state Department of Natural Resources accountable on timber harvest levels.

Kidwell, who founded a financial services and wealth management firm, said that, since he moved to Port Angeles, he has already invested in the community — building 38 townhomes and establishing Citizen Air at William R. Fairchild International Airport. His top priorities are to develop commercial air service between Port Angeles and Seattle, and to purse a waterfront asset strategy focused on attracting innovative industries suited to the port’s deep-water harbor and maritime ecosystem.

Kidwell acknowledged a potential conflict of interest as CEO of Citizen Air, which is based at the port-operated airport. He said he would recuse himself from any related votes.

Bartee, a Port Angeles native, studied political science at the University of Washington, worked in intelligence and communications for the U.S. Department of Defense, earned an MBA from Columbia University and worked in banking in New York and Southern California. She returned home to renovate the historic HarborTowne Building in downtown Port Angeles and founded a community development financial institution to support small businesses for the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe. Her top priorities are to create sustainable economic opportunity, responsibly manage public assets and maintain community trust.

Abshire, the executive director of the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce, served in the U.S. Air Force in operational leadership roles, including as an operations officer at a launch range, before he moved into corporate communications and economic and chamber development work. His top priorities are to address long-term infrastructure challenges, develop air service between Port Angeles and Seattle, and to raise public awareness of the port.

The District 2 vacancy stems from former commissioner Burke’s resignation, the same day Beauvais and McAleer voted to censure him after he declined to resign over his alleged conduct as executive director at Shore Aquatic Center. The aquatic center’s board had placed Burke on administrative in October and terminated him on May 12.

Burke was re-elected to a four-year term in 2025 and would have been up for re-election in 2029. Under state law, however, his replacement must run in the next general election — in this case, 2027 — in order to serve out the remainder of his term.

That person could then choose to run again in 2029 for a full four-year term.

All five candidates said, if appointed, they would run in both 2027 and 2029.

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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.