Steve Clark

Lloyd Hara wants to become a Seattle Port Commissioner. He's running for the open seat, position 3, against Richard Berkowitz. Unlike his opponent, he doesn't have any experience in the maritime industry, but Hara isn't interested in swimming in the blue water of port politics. He's staying close to the shores of Pier 69. To Hara, the simple message is that Port of Seattle leadership has failed, and he'll fix it. How he'll do that is a little fuzzier, but there's no doubt it needs fixing.

"Who the hell runs the damn thing anyway," Hara says of the Port, holding his hands palm up for emphasis, and sending a shudder through the little coffee table where he sits. He doesn't look his 65 years or like a retired Seattle City Treasurer. With his broad shoulders and declarative barks, he comes off more like a former football player. One that could still grab a pig skin and charge the goal line, and make you think twice about being in his way.

He's had a distinguished career. A veteran and retired lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, a King County Auditor, a City Treasurer, a consultant, an appointed Federal Emergency Management Association Regional Director for a year; he even worked summers in a salmon cannery in Alaska, back in the 1950s. He's got a wife and three grown children, a print consulting business and a nice semi-retirement.

So why run for port commission? What do you want to accomplish?

"The Port should be profitable. Why can other ports make money? [The ports of] LA & Long Beach return $100 million to their community. We have $4billion in assets. Even 5% would return $100 million."

How do you make the port profitable?

"Tax payers in this county are subsiding cruise[line] leases. You have profit making companies [the cruise lines] doing quite well. The port should be doing what gets it a fair economic return."

The Northbay redevelopment plan at Terminal 91 in Interbay has been controversial. The port hopes to redevelop some 57 acres of land that, as of now, are generating a small return relative to their size and attractive location. You've said you do not support redeveloping that land. Would you vote to kill the Northbay project as commissioner?

"I would do that. If the Port is going to be in the business of container terminals and bulk cargo, you need the land. If you need access to water, there are so few places you can do that. If you give it up...it's gone forever. "

Is there an application for other maritime uses there?

"It makes more sense to relocate the cruise [ship] business there and take Pier 30 and use it for containers."

There's an argument that Fisherman's Terminal is an unprofitable business. Should we seek more profitable tenants there? Or should we subsidize the fishing industry?

"I think fisherman's Terminal is a little different case. The Port received this land ... to support the fishing industry. Yes, I'd be willing to subsidize [fishing] to a point. We can't just drive those people out."

There have been noises recently about B.J. Bullert's documentary about Fishermen's Terminal. Have you seen the film? What do you think of it?

"There's quite a bit of truth to what the film portrayed. You don't have angry people for nothing."

There's a scene in it where fisherman Pete Knutson confronts commissioners with a contract between Port staff and a development consultant, Heartland LLC, seeking to research options for redevelopment of the terminal. Port Commissioners Paige Miller and Bob Edwards are emphatic about the fact that they were not aware of this contractual agreement. As a commissioner, how would you handle that scenario?

"I'd be angry and upset with the staff. This is a policy matter. That's not a staff initiated thing where [they say] 'we'll decide what happens and then try to sell it to the commission.' This tells me about the leadership at the Port. Who is in charge here? The commission should be setting policy and the staff works for the commission."

How do you govern a staff of 1600 people as a part time commissioner?

"With a lot of difficulty. The commission doesn't have a staff. They have one person they hire and fire - the Chief Executive Officer. The commission should have employees...You can't make good decisions if you have filtered information."

Do you think Mic Dinsmore's been an effective CEO for the port of Seattle?

"Up to a point he's been quite effective. But you see issues down at the seaport. It's a pretty closed loop. There are some, basically, that have made a good deal with the port for their business that may not necessarily have been a good deal for the tax payer. Others feel like they've been abused by the power of the port. You see the uproar around SeaTac, the litigation. You don't see all those people go to court because they are happy campers."

As a commissioner, if you create objectives, and they aren't met, do you fire your only employee, Dinsmore?

"That's a clear option. If you get three votes, then he hits the road. I give everybody a fair chance to succeed or fail on their own merits. Part of [assessing an employee] is, do you have sufficient benchmarks."

Wouldn't those benchmarks be developed by the port staff? How could the commission expect the staff to develop objective benchmarks to measure its own success?

"Look, I don't want to get into the nitty gritty as to how to."

Given a year on the port commission will you know whether you need to make a change at CEO?

"It's my understanding [Dinsmore is] the longest standing executive the Port has ever had in its history. I was always of the opinion...a changing role is good for people. We don't have too many lifetime jobs."