Port Commissioner Zita will not run for re-election

E.J. Zita says she is not running for re-election this year.

She mentioned the fact at Monday’s port meeting, but made the announcement Jan. 11.

“Commissioner Zita is not running for election,” she said that night in the context of a discussion about rotating commissioner duties and who would be the next president of the commission.

The president of the commission typically leads the commission meetings.

“While commissioners theoretically can elect any officers, in practice we ordinarily follow the officer rotation attached,” she said in an email to The Olympian, which showed that she served as vice president of the commission in 2020. “If the Port of Olympia followed usual practice, it would be Commissioner Zita’s turn to serve as president.”

Instead, commissioner Joe Downing was retained as president of the commission for 2021.

“In fact, Commissioner Downing’s two-year presidency is a break with longstanding port practice, and another illustration of problems at the Port of Olympia,” Zita said in her email.

Port Commissioners are elected to four-year terms in odd-year elections.

Zita was elected to the port commission twice, representing District 3 of the county. In 2015, she defeated radio personality Jerry Farmer for a partial term, after Sue Gunn stepped down, and in 2017, she defeated Army veteran Gigi McClure.

Zita frequently has many times questioned port operations and programs and voted in the minority on the three-member commission with Downing and McGregor.