The Olympian endorses these candidates for Port Commission and Tumwater City Council

The Port of Olympia’s Commission has been internally contentious and externally controversial for too long. This election, which will replace two of the three commissioners, should produce a more functional team and a more productive public dialogue about its role in regional economic development and environmental stewardship.

One race is between Amy Evans and Joel Hansen.

Evans is an attorney who is a commercial real estate broker and small business owner with local nonprofit experience. She describes her campaign as “bipartisan and inclusive.” She is intelligent and well-qualified but she comes with an immediate conflict of interest: She is the broker for Panattoni, the company that may lease Port land for a large warehouse development near the airport. She acknowledges that she will need to recuse herself from decisions about that matter.

Joel Hansen is a business development specialist, Tumwater Planning Commission member, and member of the Port’s Citizen Advisory Committee. He currently works for CapStone Solar. He wants to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, broader economic development, and environmental restoration.

Both candidates support the marine terminal and the Port’s participation in the county’s Climate Mitigation Plan.

While both Evans and Hansen are smart and well qualified, it’s wrong to start this job with a conflict of interest, as Evans would. We endorse Joel Hansen. He will bring a long view of environmental protection in a time of climate change, be a champion for local farmers, and help improve the culture of the Commission.

The other Port Commission contest is between Jessie Simmons and Bob Iyall.

Simmons is a veteran and union activist. He works for a nonprofit that helps get low-income and people of color into the trades. He is now a college graduate and has worked as a local political campaign manager. He believes his military experience, which included port logistics work, has prepared him for service on the Port Commission.

Bob Iyall is the CEO of the Medicine Creek Enterprise Corporation, which manages the businesses owned by the Nisqually Tribe. It employs 800 people. For the past seven years, Iyall has led efforts to diversify the Tribe’s economy; in addition to the casino, the Medicine Creek now owns convenience stores, two construction companies, and a café. He grew up on his parents’ dairy farm south of Tumwater, and worked as a union bricklayer before earning a master’s degree in business. He notes the similarity between a tribal government corporation, and the Port, which is a municipal corporation. He advocates for more collaboration, transparency and thoughtful decision-making, and cleaning up Budd Bay to help restore salmon runs.

We endorse Iyall. The Port would be extremely fortunate to have him as a Commissioner.

The city of Tumwater

Debbie Sullivan will be a capable mayor of Tumwater. She has served on its city council for eight years and understands the city’s strengths and challenges. Pamela Hansen, her opponent, has no qualifying experience and did not respond to a request for an interview. Sullivan will be the city’s first female mayor in its 150-plus years.

The other city council race in Tumwater is between Alex Rossiter and Peter Agabi.

Rossiter is a sixth-generation Tumwater resident who serves on its Historic Commission and advocates for a skate park. He is bright, likable and committed to deepening the city’s identity as “the historic city,” but lacks a grasp of the breadth of the council’s policy-making role.

We endorse Peter Agabi, a respected state Health Department professional who has won the support of soon-to-be mayor Sullivan and several other city council members. Agabi has a deep appreciation of Tumwater’s strengths and the challenges of housing, business development, and the need for regional collaboration to reduce homelessness. He is an immigrant from Lagos, Nigeria who says he “loves my village” of Tumwater. His fresh perspective will strengthen the council’s effectiveness.