PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Harbor-Works Public Development Authority will consider approval of a contract for its first permanent executive director Monday.
The board of directors of the nearly one-year-old public development authority — which is funded by the city of Port Angeles and Port of Port Angeles — will consider the contract with its top choice for the post at 3:30 p.m. in the Port of Port Angeles Commissioners Room, 338 W. First St., Port Angeles.
The identity of the man, referred to as Candidate A, and details of the contract remain confidential.
“We just don’t want to reveal his identity until we have a signed contract,” said Orville Campbell, board chairman, Saturday.
The position is budgeted at $144,000 a year.
The candidate met with city staff and the three port commissioners last Monday.
Port Commissioner Jim McEntire said the commissioners spoke with him in executive session.
“The reason behind the executive session was to evaluate the fellow’s qualifications,” he said.
Candidate A met with City Manager Kent Myers and city Economic and Community Development Director Nathan West that day, Campbell said.
Campbell said Candidate A also met with Harbor-Works board members Howie Ruddell and Karen McCormick, who were responsible for negotiating the employment contract.
Negotiations were completed Friday, he said.
The five board members selected Candidate A on April 10 and declined to identify him publicly.
The people who know the candidate’s identity are city and port staff, City Council members and the port commissioners.
Former Port of Port Angeles Executive Director Clyde Boddy has been serving as Harbor-Works’ second interim executive director since Feb. 9. Jim Haguewood, Clallam County Business Incubator executive director, was the interim director from July to January.
Serves public
When asked how the decision to keep Candidate A’s identity confidential serves the public, Campbell said:
“It serves the public in that we make sure that we have done all of the things that need to be done before we make the announcement. The whole board’s approval is a necessary element to that . . . It’s our view that this is the appropriate thing to do.”
Harbor-Works was created by the City Council and port commission last May to assist in the slow-moving environmental cleanup of the former mill site owned by Rayonier Inc. on the east side of Port Angeles Harbor and direct its redevelopment.
The city and port created Harbor-Works without taking public comment, an action that has drawn criticism from some members of the community and an investigation by the state Auditor’s Office.
The report from the Auditor’s Office on whether the city and port complied with state open government law has been completed but is awaiting review by the state Attorney General’s Office and has not been released, said Mindy Chambers, Auditor’s Office spokeswoman.
Deputy Mayor Betsy Wharton, who has said publicly that the city should have been more open when creating Harbor-Works, stopped short of criticizing or fully supporting the Harbor-Works board’s decision not to reveal the identity of Candidate A.
‘Tiny piece’
The candidate’s identity “is one little tiny piece of information,” she said Saturday. “I don’t have a problem with it.”
Wharton, who helped the board interview the candidates, said Candidate A has been involved in cleanup and redevelopment of contaminated sites.
“I think he has great credentials,” she said. “I think it’s a fabulous opportunity for us.”
One of the executive director’s first tasks will be to negotiate a purchase and sale agreement with Rayonier for the property, which has been a state Department of Ecology cleanup site since 2000.
A draft purchase and sale agreement presented to the city by Rayonier in June won’t become the final document, Campbell said.
“One of the things the board is to do on Monday is to review that document and determine what our proposal will be in respect to some of those provisions that are in it,” he said.
“There is quite a bit of work to do in getting to a point where we have a signed agreement.”
Acquiring the property, which could take a year after the agreement is signed, will make Harbor-Works liable for cleanup of the property.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
