Up to a point, the political platforms of Port of Seattle Commissioner Jack Block and his challenger, David Ortman, are remarkably similar.
Both strongly opposed the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s controversial third runway. Both believe the Port should be self-supporting – that its tax levy on King County homeowners should be phased out. The two also have similar opinions when it comes to the public agency’s environmental responsibilities.
Beyond those issues, however, Block and Ortman are worlds apart. The incumbent believes commissioners have made significant improvements in managing Port finances and responding to community concerns; his opponent calls for drastic policy changes to make the Port more fiscally and socially responsible.
Of the three Port Commission races on Tuesday’s ballot, the Block-Ortman contest has been getting the most attention, probably due to Block’s relatively poor showing in the primary election (41 percent in a three-way race) and an aggressive campaign by Ortman.
In the other races, Commissioner Paige Miller, who won 62 percent of the September vote in a four-person race, faces Jim Bartlemay, and Dan Caldwell is challenging Commissioner Pat Davis.
The Port of Seattle is a public agency that develops and manages commerce through Sea-Tac airport, the Seattle Harbor, Fisherman’s Terminal and Shilshole Bay Marina. Its five commissioners are elected at-large, serve four years and make $6,000
a year plus annual per-diem expenses of up to $6,000.
As he sits in front of a picture window overlooking Elliott Bay, Block, 63, of Normandy Park can tell you what types of ships are passing by, what they’re carrying, where they’re going and how long it takes to load them.
He could even show you how to operate the equipment it takes to dock and unload the vessels. The longshore foreman often touts his insight of the waterfront and its workers as a perspective that’s greatly needed on the commission.
Block is endorsed by the King County Democrats, the King County Labor Council, AFL-CIO, the Firefighters’ Union and International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Locals 9, 19, 52 and 98. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington, is married and has four children and five grandchildren.
During his 24-year tenure as a Port commissioner, Block says, the number of international trade-related jobs in the region has doubled. The Port has better communication with neighborhoods, is more open to the public and is more environmentally conscious, he says.
“Elliott Bay is the cleanest it’s ever been,” Block says, referring mainly to Terminal 5, a rehabilitated Superfund site. The Port is also cleaning up Harbor Island and the Duwamish River, he says.
One of Block’s pet projects has been “Long Live the Kings,” a proposed salmon stream and fish hatchery at Pier 91 that’s being studied with a $300,000 Port matching grant. It’s a partnership between the Port, the Seattle School District and the University of Washington.
But according to Ortman, Block’s environmental concerns are trivial at best. He refers to the Long Live the Kings project as a “ridiculous little fish hatchery” that can’t bring back the fish and water quality destroyed by several Port projects.
Ortman, 44, of Ballard is the former director of Friends of the Earth’s regional office. He was nearly squeezed out of the primary race by Patrick McGuire of Renton, a Port of Seattle truck driver who did not campaign. Early results showed McGuire winning, but absentees boosted Ortman ahead by nearly 300 votes.
Ortman supports a ballot proposal that would change the agency’s name to the Port of King County, and if elected, he says, he would push for televised, evening meetings to increase community participation.
He believes the Port has a duty to become socially responsible. Since state Attorney General Christine Gregoire has been a leader in the 40-state lawsuit against the tobacco industry, the Port of Seattle shouldn’t be exporting cigarettes – even though they are one of its top 10 exports, Ortman says.
“We should be moving in the direction of responsible trade,” he says.
Commissioners need to create incentives for cleaner ships, possibly by giving them a discount on dockage fees, Ortman says. The Port should also help resolve human-rights issues with its trading partners by helping foreign workers organize unions, he added.
Ortman is endorsed by Washington Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, the Green Party; the 11th, 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 43rd, 46th and 47th District Democrats and the King County Young Democrats. He has a bachelor’s degree from Bethel College and is married with two children.
Here’s a look at the Port’s other races:
— District No. 3 incumbent Paige Miller believes that in addition to improving freight mobility, the Port needs to make sure more jobs are created for disadvantaged people – primarily women and people of color.
She supports Sea-Tac airport expansion and believes the Port needs to construct more parking, passenger gates and a third runway.
“I have spent eight of the 10 years I’ve been on the commission studying it and concluding that a new runway at Sea-Tac is the best solution for expanding capacity in the region,” she says.
Miller, 48, lives in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood and holds a law degree from Yale. She is married and has three children.
She is endorsed by the King County Women’s Political Caucus; King County Labor Council, AFL-CIO; King County Democrats; and 5th, 32nd, 36th and 43rd District Democrats. Miller will serve as commission president until January.
Her challenger is Jim Bartlemay of Des Moines, who says he is strongly opposed to a third runway because of the impact it would have on his neighborhood.
Bartlemay, 64, is a retired Boeing engineering manager. He is married, has four adult children and four grandchildren.
Although the Federal Aviation Administration has already approved Sea-Tac expansion, Bartlemay wants the project to be halted and evaluated for additional funding sources, such as the states of Washington and Oregon.
He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering from Montana State University. He believes the ports of Seattle and Tacoma should be integrated to make them more internationally competitive.
— District No. 4 incumbent Pat Davis of Seattle holds a special record: In 1986, she was the first woman ever to run for a Port of Seattle commission seat.
At a recent community forum in the Broadview neighborhood, Davis, 62, described her first election as “a blow to the old maritime industry.” But over the past 10 years, more women have become involved in the industry, she says.
President of the Washington Council on International Trade, Davis is endorsed by the King County Labor Council, AFL-CIO; the King County Women’s Political Caucus, the Teamsters union and the Sea-Tac Firefighters.
Davis says the Port can remain internationally competitive by creating more family-wage jobs and business revenues. Davis says she’ll work to clean up the environment by coordinating more public-private partnerships. She also wants to find solutions to transportation congestion and freight mobility.
Her opponent, Dan Caldwell, says the Port commission has been unresponsive to the community.
A resident of Des Moines, Caldwell, 67, wants the Sea-Tac expansion project stopped until schools and homes under the flight path are compensated or bought out. He also believes the Port of Seattle would be more competitive if it merged with the Port of Tacoma.
Caldwell is a retired business analyst and holds a master’s degree from the University of Puget Sound. He is married and has four children and five grandchildren.
If elected, Caldwell says, he would work to reduce the Port’s property tax.