1 woman and 2 men are finalists for top job at the Port of Olympia

One woman and two men are the finalists to be the next executive director of the Port of Olympia, the port announced Tuesday.

All three have experience working for port districts in Washington state, and two either work or have worked for the Port of Longview.

The finalists are Sam Gibboney, Geir-Eilif Kalhagen and Dan Stahl. One of them will replace former executive director Ed Galligan, who resigned toward the end of May after being put on paid leave by the port commission in April.

Gibboney was the executive director of the Port of Port Townsend for two years. Before that, she wore several hats for San Juan County as director of community development, director of environmental resources and deputy director of public works. Her background also includes working as a civil engineer for the city of Port Townsend. She has an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from San Diego State University and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington.

Kalhagen was the director of Northern California and Pacific Northwest for Metro Ports in Long Beach, California for two years. Before that, he was the chief executive of the Port of Longview for four years. He also has experience working as an operations manager for Star Shipping and Stevedoring Services of America. He has an undergraduate degree in philosophy and political science from the University of South Alabama and an MBA from the University of Oregon.

Stahl is the chief operating officer of the Port of Longview. Before that, he was the director of maritime for the Port of Bellingham for 11 years, and previous to that job, the executive director of the Port of Anacortes for 12 years. He has an undergraduate degree in marine transportation from the Maine Maritime Academy and a master’s degree in ocean systems management from MIT.

The three finalists are set to appear at a public forum from 3-5 p.m. Dec. 20 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Olympia. The new executive director is expected to be announced Dec. 21 after final interviews in executive session.

Thirty-seven people applied for the job, according to port data. Twenty-two of the applicants had port-related experience. Twenty-five were in-state applicants and 12 were out-of-state applicants, the data show.

This story was originally published December 11, 2018 at 12:01 PM.