Port of Olympia commission talks next steps in the executive director hiring process
.JPG "The Port of Olympia’s marine terminal warehouse.")
The Port of Olympia commission gathered for a special meeting on Monday to gain insight and provide feedback into the process to recruit a new executive director.
The former executive director Sam Gibboney recently agreed to part ways with the port.
The port is working with Prothman, an Issaquah-based recruiting firm to fill the vacant position. Longtime port employee Rudy Rudolph is the interim executive director.
Prothman’s representative to the port is Cliff Moore, a former Thurston County manager. Moore was on hand for Monday’s meeting, as were commissioners Amy Evans Harding, Joe Downing, Maggie Sanders, Sarah Tonge and commissioner-elect Jasmine Vasavada, who will fill Downing’s seat in January.
Although Downing’s last regular commission meeting was last week, he is still a commissioner through the end of the year. Commissioner Bob Iyall did not attend Monday’s meeting.
Moore laid out the recruitment schedule for the commissioners. Around 30 people have applied for the job.
He expects to do screening interviews with 10-14 candidates during the second week of January. He will then write up notes on all of those candidates and pass them on to the commission for a work session around Jan. 22. From there, the commission will pick finalists and schedule finalist interviews for early February.
The commissioners also expressed interest in a possible second interview of candidates, plus they also voiced support for a forum in which the public could meet the candidates and a similar event where the port staff could meet them.
“We’re really trying to listen and turn the page at the port as far as being responsive to our community and staff and this perception of being behind the curtain,” Commissioner Amy Evans Harding said.
Moore also asked these questions of the commission.
Should the executive director finalists make a presentation on port issues?
Although Commissioner Sanders praised the idea, it got a lukewarm response from the others at the meeting.
Downing didn’t think it was necessary.
“There are four or five things more important than giving a Power Point presentation,” he said.
Commissioner Tonge questioned whether it was the best use of their time as did Evans Harding.
“It’s something we could add later, but it’s not the highest priority as far as time is concerned,” she said.
Will the port cover the cost of spouse or significant other to attend interviews with finalists?
Moore said that in his experience about 30 percent of public agencies cover the traveling costs of a spouse or significant other.
“I think it shows respect for the candidates,” he said, adding that the spouse or significant other plays an important decision-making role.
Commissioner Tonge acknowledged that spending public funds on the spouse or significant other is tricky business. Evans Harding agreed, but added that having a committed spouse is important, too.
Commissioner-elect Vasavada, Downing and Sanders leaned toward covering those costs for only the top finalists.
Although the special meeting was held Monday, all the commissioners appeared remotely and that resulted in some technical difficulties. Due to those challenges, the meeting started about 30 minutes later than scheduled.
