PORT ANGELES — Port of Port Angeles commissioners will get an update on the search for former Executive Director Jeff Robb’s interim replacement at their meeting Monday two weeks after Robb resigned — and on the same day he is scheduled to return to work as the port’s new environmental affairs director.
“I expect to ask some questions about the process,” commission President Jim Hallett said last week.
The meeting, which has early and late public comment sessions, begins at 9:30 a.m. in the meeting room of the port administrative offices, 338 W. First St.
Hallett was the lone dissenting vote in a 2-1 commission decision June 24 that awarded Robb a new contract.
“I want to raise some questions about the process, contracts and how we will go about doing this,” Hallett said.
Commissioners have contracted with the Seattle-based executive search firm Waldron to find an interim director from an existing list of candidates and will pay the firm up to $50,000 to find candidates to fill the permanent-director position.
What Commissioner Paul McHugh referred to in a previous interview as a whistle-blower complaint also will be discussed at Monday’s meeting, port attorney Dave Neupert of Port Angeles said.
McHugh, who voted with Commissioner John Calhoun in approving Robb’s new contract, said a port employee’s whistle-blower complaint was investigated and a report released that was not related to issues surrounding Robb’s new contract.
Neupert last week denied a Peninsula Daily News public records request for the complaint and the report.
“I anticipate that the port’s position regarding release of the records [the PDN] requested will be clarified on Monday, 7-8-13, the date of the commission’s next regular meeting,” Neupert said last week in an email.
McHugh said the findings in the report were that “it did not warrant any action on behalf of the commissioners” but refused to discuss it further.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5060, or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
