Changes ahead for Port of Olympia leadership. Here’s what to know about meetings
The Port of Olympia commission, which welcomed three new commissioners and gathered for the first time on Monday, voted to move up its meeting times to accommodate their different schedules.
The five-member commission voted unanimously to make that change, despite concerns about transparency that were raised during public comment.
Regular commission meetings will now begin at 4 p.m. during the second and fourth Mondays of the month, while the work session will start at the same time on the third Mondays of the month. They previously met at 5:30 p.m.
Before the commission voted, Tumwater resident Carla Wulfsberg took issue with the proposed change during public comment at the meeting.
“I think changing the meeting time to an earlier time will basically decrease that transparency and decrease the opportunity for working people to engage with you,” she said. “So I would just hope that you consider the working public in this decision, and particularly young people, because we really do want them to be involved in the port. It’s so important to all of us and to the entire county, so I would actually ask that you keep the meeting time at 5:30 p.m. to accommodate the public.”
Following public comment, Commissioner Jasmine Vasavada said the commission is not an “old-fashioned commission who are all in retirement and very flexible.”
“We have some very interesting family and professional needs that we are grappling with as elected commissioners, and presumably the diversity you’re seeing was actually desired by the community when they elected commissioners with sort of, I would say, non-traditional backgrounds for commissioners,” she said. “So I would like to prioritize what commissioners are saying they need, especially commissioners with very, very young children.”
Although the commission voted in favor of the new meeting time, Commissioner Krag Unsoeld, the new District 3 commissioner, suggested, in response to public comment, that they have two public comment times: one at the beginning of the meeting and one at the end for those who can’t attend at 4 p.m.
The next port meeting, a work session, will begin at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, because of the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday on Monday.
The other new faces on the commission are District 2 Commissioner Jerry Toompas and District 4 Commissioner Joel Hansen. Hansen ran unopposed to fill the seat left vacant by Maggie Sanders, who chose not to run for re-election, while Toompas defeated incumbent Bob Iyall after a machine recount.
Unsoeld defeated Anthony Hemstad. Both ran to fill the seat left behind by Amy Evans Harding. She, too, chose not to run for re-election.
Commissioner officers selected
The commissioners also voted to pick those who will serve as president, vice president and secretary on the commission.
The president presides over the meetings, the vice president fills in when the president is unavailable and the secretary ensures that meeting minutes are recorded, said port Executive Director Alex Smith.
Commissioner Hansen started things off with a motion that named Commissioner Vasavada president, Commissioner Sarah Montano as vice president and himself as secretary.
Commissioner Unsoeld called for more discussion.
“I mean, there has been no discussion at all among the current commissioners about who we would like to have as officers, and so I’m a little thrown for a loop,” he said.
Unsoeld then countered with an amended motion that named himself secretary over Hansen, but his motion failed from lack of support.
The commission then voted 4-0 on Hansen’s motion to name Vasavada president, Montano vice president and Hansen secretary. Unsoeld abstained from voting.
