PORT ANGELES — Jeff Robb is the new executive director of the Port of Port Angeles.
Robb’s appointment — which was effective immediately — was announced at the port commissioners’ meeting today.
Robb, 55, had been the port’s director of aviation and marinas since 1999.
He will earn $115,000 in the new job plus a monthly car allowance of $400.
“I’m excited to do it,” Robb said in an interview with the Peninsula Daily News. His wife, Laura, was in the audience when his appointment was announced.
He said one of his first priorities will be to help the public understand more about the Harbor-Works Development Authority.
Harbor-Works was created by the city of Port Angeles, with financial assistance by the port, to acquire the former Rayonier mill site on the Port Angeles waterfront, direct its redevelopment and its level of environmental cleanup.
John Calhoun, the port commissioners’ president, said in an interview with the PDN that Robb was picked because of “his experience and knowledge of the community and his knowledge of the issues.”
Robb was chosen by the three port commissioners from two finalists Aug. 10. The commissioners authorized their attorney to enter into contract negotiations but refused to identify the person until today’s meeting, calling the person only “Candidate A.”
Robert McChesney resigned last spring as the port’s executive director to take a similar position at the Port of Edmonds.
He had been the executive director in Port Angeles since 2004. He earned $123,000 per year.
The port’s finance director, Bill James, had been interim executive director since May.
In addition to his annual salary of $98,286 he received an additional $1,500 per month plus a monthly car allowance of $400.
A native of Sequim, Robb is a 1972 graduate of Sequim High School and has an AA degree in civil engineering from Peninsula College.
Robb first joined the port in 1984, working as a project engineer and public works manager, then serving as the port’s airport and marina manager from November 1996 until November 1998.
He left at the end of 1998 to become director of airport operations and real estate for the Port of Bremerton but returned to the Port of Port Angeles in October 1999.
In 2008 Robb was hired to become public works director for the city of Sequim. He then declined to take the job, deciding instead to stay with the port.
