PORT ANGELES — Former Mayor James Hallett was appointed to the Harbor-Works Development Authority board by the City Council on Tuesday night.
Hallett was mayor in 1992 and 1993 and served on the City Council from 1985 to 1993.
He is owner of the financial consulting firm, Hallett Advisors, and is vice president of the Port Angeles Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Former member retired
Hallett will replace departing Harbor-Works board member Karen McCormick on Oct. 31.
McCormick retired from her position as CEO of First Federal on Sept. 28, and is leaving the public development authority as part of her retirement.
Hallett will finish McCormick’s term, which expires May 20, 2011.
Harbor-Works Chairman Orville Campbell, himself a former council member and deputy mayor, said the board is pleased with the City Council’s choice, and its members are ready to welcome Hallett.
“I am certain that the board will be very grateful with him joining us,” he said.
The city created Harbor-Works, with support from the Port of Port Angeles, to acquire Rayonier Inc.’s former pulp mill site on the Port Angeles waterfront, direct its redevelopment and assist in its environmental cleanup.
The mill operated for 68 years before closing in 1997 and is contaminated with PCBs, dioxin, arsenic and other toxins.
Rayonier still owns the acreage.
It has been a state Department of Ecology cleanup site since 2000 and is also the former site of a Klallam village, Y’Innis, and the Puget Sound Cooperative Colony.
The board has the responsibly of overseeing, the public development authority’s budget and executive director, acquisition of the property, which if occurs is expected to happen around August 2010, and how the 75-acre property will be redeveloped.
Hallett was one of five candidates that the council interviewed for the position on Oct. 6.
The others were former Mayor Larry Doyle, The Landing mall owner Paul Cronauer, former lawyer and ex-managing director of Bank of America Securities Kaj Ahlburg and Camaraderie Cellars owner Donald Corson.
Hallett received five votes from the seven-member council. The other two went to Ahlburg, who along with Corson, were the two candidates that reside outside the Port Angeles city limit.
Unpaid position
During his interview, Hallett said he applied for the unpaid position because he thinks Harbor-Works is needed to bring the property back to productive use, and he also thinks his expertise on city sewage issues would particularly be useful.
The city in part created Harbor-Works to acquire a large above-ground tank on the Rayonier property to keep sewage from overflowing into the harbor.
“I think the creation of the [public development authority] is the right solution, was the right decision to be made, and is the approach needed to work this process to a conclusion,” Hallett said.
The council members who voted for him agreed that his knowledge of sewage issues would be useful for the board.
Deputy Mayor Betsy Wharton also said that Hallett would be a good replacement for McCormick because of his financial background.
“We’re losing someone with a financial background. That’s a skill set that I think is important,” she said.
Chamber of Commerce
Hallett was asked if he will become the president of the Chamber of Commerce next year and whether that would create a potential conflict of interest.
He said he is the one candidate for the position, which he would take if elected by the chamber board.
Hallett suggested that the issue would be addressed if a conflict became apparent.
“If that becomes an issue, hit me on the head literally,” he said.
Council member Larry Williams and Karen Rogers voted for Ahlburg.
“Certainly all of the candidates are excellent, they are qualified,” Williams said, “but in my humble opinion, the single individual that comes into this process, with the freshest [set of eyes] and still has the qualifications, would be Kaj Ahlburg.”
All of the council members also said each of the candidates was qualified.
“It was a real tough decision to make,” said City Council member Don Perry.
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Staff Writer Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.