Port votes to investigate conflict of interest claims against Evans with outside help
The three-member Port of Olympia commission voted 2-0 on Monday to retain an outside investigator to look into conflict of interest claims against new Commissioner Amy Evans.
Why was it only a 2-0 vote? Because Evans recused herself from the discussion, then logged out of the online Zoom meeting while commissioners Joe Downing and Bob Iyall discussed the matter.
But before Evans temporarily disappeared, she teed up the topic and defended herself.
She said she is a commercial real estate broker and that before she became a commissioner she helped bring a warehouse developer called Panattoni to Tumwater, which may result in development.
That’s the source of the conflict of interest claims because the port and Panattoni have struck an option agreement that allows Panattoni to explore development of a 200-acre, port-owned parcel in Tumwater. The land is part of the port’s New Market Industrial Campus, which falls between I-5 and Olympia Regional Airport.
“I’ve never received a dollar for the work I’ve done on the port’s property and I’ve given up any future possible pay, and if further investigation is necessary to prove it, I welcome it,” she said.
Before she logged out of the meeting, she added: “I entrust my fellow commissioners to determine the best way to provide a public, thorough investigation and ample evidence of our ability to move forward together and get to work.”
Then the ball was in Downing and Iyall’s court. The first motion: That legal counsel and the executive director retain an outside investigator to investigate this matter expeditiously.
That fell by the wayside because Downing didn’t feel it was detailed enough.
Downing countered with one of his own: To retain an independent investigator to research any conflict of interest regarding Commissioner Evans, how to identify potential conflicts, and to identify the steps the commission should take when an individual commissioner has a conflict of interest regarding an upcoming port issue.
Commissioner Iyall agreed to the change with one minor suggestion and then they voted to approve it.
Downing said Evans was involved and instrumental in bringing the Panattoni deal to the port, and there might be more steps with Panattoni, or other real estate matters.
“We just need guidance,” Downing said.
This isn’t the first time a port commissioner has faced conflict of interest charges. When the commission was comprised of Downing, Bill McGregor and E.J. Zita, all three weathered conflict of interest claims and all were cleared of wrongdoing.
This story was originally published January 25, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
