Fishburn gets my vote for Port

Let’s be frank about the upcoming election for Port Commissioner. A vote for McGregor is status quo. So whoever is happy with his leadership at the Port, then you get more lost revenue, your taxes raised, more logs, more fracking sands, more promised military shipments, and all costing the taxpayers for sweetheart deals.

Why? Because the marine terminal in Olympia is not a desirable port of call for shipping much of anything. The channel is shallow, so ships must wait for high tide, making their schedules frazzled. And they must hire a local pilot for the treacherous trip all the way to the bottom of Puget Sound. Then they hire tugs to help with the tricky moves once they are near harbor.

The logs that get acres of prime real estate bring no big sums for storage, but require state-of-the-art wastewater treatment because they pollute the sound. The whole arrangement is fraught, yet somehow we are supposed to imagine this Port Commissioner is worthy to be re-elected?

I’d like to see a fresh set of eyes, someone who has management experience, can read a balance sheet and understands business. That man is Bill Fishburn. Along with re-electing E.J. Zita, we’ll have two Port Commissioners who can turn the page, bring transparency in planning and accountability to the bottom line.

This story was originally published October 31, 2017 at 2:52 PM with the headline "Fishburn gets my vote for Port."