Zita responds to ethics violation allegation, says ‘kangaroo courts’ familiar at port
Port of Olympia commissioner E.J. Zita, accused this week by a fellow commissioner of an ethics violation, has responded to that allegation on social media.
On Monday during a special port commission meeting — a meeting that had the port’s legal counsel questioning the adequacy of information about the main agenda item — Commissioner Joe Downing alleged that Zita had broken with the port’s ethics resolution when she sent an email last Friday to city of Tumwater leadership.
The email, he said, was sent before a planned work session of port staff and Tumwater City Council on Tuesday. Port staff were set to make a presentation on a controversial option-to-lease proposal for 200 acres of vacant, port-owned land in Tumwater known as the New Market Industrial Campus.
Sending that email, Downing said, plus including informational slides and asking to speak at the Tumwater work session, was unacceptable. Downing quoted from the ethics policy: “A commissioner may not falsely represent him or herself as performing acts or giving information on behalf of the port or engage in outside personal and private activities that could reasonably be construed to be official acts of the port.”
On Monday, Downing sought commission approval to send an email to Tumwater leadership, explaining that Zita does not necessarily represent the views of the port, and that the slide show was not prepared by port staff. He also planned to ask that the meeting between the port and Tumwater be postponed.
“It’s an egregious break with our own (ethics) resolution and we cannot function when we have a commissioner doing their own thing,” he said.
Zita was not at Monday’s meeting. She said on her Facebook page that the meeting was scheduled at a time when she was not available, “and such kangaroo courts are sadly familiar at the Port of Olympia.”
She also posted the full text of her email sent to Tumwater.
“Dear Mayor (Pete) Kmet, City Manager (John) Doan, and Tumwater City Councilmembers:
“I understand that the Port is to attend your work session next Tuesday, June 30. Thank you for providing this opportunity for the Port and the City to discuss the proposed Panattoni option. Working together, we may do even better at meeting our mutual goals for economic development of the New Market Industrial Campus.
“To that end, I respectfully submit the attached slideshow for Tuesday’s meeting. Thank you for sharing it with your materials. I hope to be able to speak for 10 minutes. Best, Zita.”
Commissioner Downing ultimately did not get commission approval to send his letter after Commissioner Bill McGregor voted against it.
“I prefer not to send it and let Tumwater regulate their own meeting,” McGregor said. “Port staff is to do the presentation and I’m in full support of that.”
All of this stems from what has been the hottest item before the commission in a while and whether the commission will approve an option agreement with a commercial developer called Panattoni to explore and possibly develop the 200-acre parcel.
A video of the Tuesday work session between Tumwater City Council and the port was not immediately available. Tumwater spokeswoman Ann Cook said input from the council will be sent to the port in a letter.
The ethics spat is also a reminder of the uneasy relationship the port commission has had over the years. Commissioners Zita and McGregor have previously accused each other of conflicts of interest, and more recently Commissioners Downing and McGregor denied an attempt by Zita to move the Tumwater land deal to a port work session for more discussion.
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
