People often ask me about how the Port of Seattle is doing in these tough times. This past year, the port commission worked very closely with port CEO Yoshitani and port staff to eliminate programs that had outlived usefulness, to cut payroll (6%), to increase employee medical contributions and to scrutinize expenditures. As we approach year-end, those …Continue Reading »
Port helps Finish Kent’s South 228th Street Overpass
Despite chilling drizzle, Kent Mayor Cooke and I cut the ribbon on the new overpass above the BN railroad tracks in Kent. The ports of Seattle and Tacoma generate over 100,000 jobs, and those jobs depend on an efficient traffic system and on our ability to move freight efficiently. That is why the Port of …Continue Reading »
First Time in Decades (maybe ever!) PORT CUTS TAXES
While some governments are talking about raising taxes and tapping reserves, the Port of Seattle has done the opposite. In our 2010 budget, we cut taxes and set up a new transportation/infrastructure reserve fund to start covering known, future liabilities. During 2009, the port commission emphasized the need for the port to maintain net operating …Continue Reading »
Reforming the Port
The recommendations in the state auditor’s report that was issued in December 2007 have been implemented. The recommendations and reforms resulting from the internal fraud investigation that I chaired and concluded in December 2008 have been implemented. In addition: The port commission reasserted its oversight authority and rewrote the division of responsibility between the CEO …Continue Reading »
Puget Sound Restoration
The Port of Seattle, as the largest property owner on Elliott Bay, has a special responsibility to ensure its activities contribute to the restoration of Puget Sound. While the ports of Seattle and Tacoma over the last decade have invested to increase their cargo capacity, and while increasing cargo capacity would create new jobs in …Continue Reading »
Maritime Jobs and Competitive Threats
Because of our port’s marine cargo facilities, its grain terminal, its bulk cargo facilities, industrial lands and Fisherman’s Terminal, King County has a vibrant maritime industrial cluster of companies. According to a March 2009 study by professors at Seattle University and the University of Washington, King County’s maritime industries employ almost 17,000 people, many of …Continue Reading »
Port’s 2009 Environmental Report to the Community
The port commission and port staff are committed to ensuring the Port of Seattle is the greenest port in North America, This attached report and very short intro video fro me provides additional details on the numerous programs being implemented at the port to ensure we preserve and protect our environment even as we are …Continue Reading »
Port Generates Tens of Thousands of Jobs
The Port of Seattle generates over 111,000 jobs in the King County area. Those jobs are in businesses that exist because passengers and cargo move through SeaTac and Elliot Bay. That makes the port one of our region’s largest job generators. Now, the port itself isn’t employing 111,000 people; it only has about 1,700 people …Continue Reading »
The Connection between Traffic, Freight and Jobs
About 70% of the cargo arriving in Puget Sound’s ports is destined for the American Mid-West and that cargo will move through whichever port (British Columbia, Puget Sound, California, Panama Canal) that will get it to Chicago or St. Louis the fastest. The ports of Seattle and Tacoma have spent hundreds of millions of dollars …Continue Reading »
Port Receives Salmon Safe Certification
The Port of Seattle is responsible for about 60 acres of parks, public access points and habitat restoration projects along Elliott Bay and the Duwamish River. The port maintains many of these sites in an environmental manner that exceeds legal requirements. That stewardship has been noticed, and the port has received the difficult to obtain …Continue Reading »
