PORT ANGELES — The port’s role as an economic driver for Clallam County was top of mind for both candidates running for the District 3 seat of the Port of Port Angeles Commission, who laid out similar but divergent priorities for their campaigns.
Speaking to a meeting of the Port Angeles Kiwanis Club on Thursday, incumbent District 3 Port Commissioner Connie Beauvais said she and her fellow port commissioners were prioritizing the creation of what she called “prosperity-wage”jobs, that is, jobs that provide more than just a living wage.
“The port right now provides 4,000 jobs that provide those kinds of high-paying jobs through the businesses that we have and the services we provide down at the log yard,” Beauvais said.
“All of the jobs associated with that are really high-paying jobs, so it’s really important for the port to be that center cog in that wheel,” she added.
Lee Whetham, former Port Angeles City Council member, said continued support of the timber industry was important for him but that restoring fishing on the Elwha River was a central theme of his campaign.
“I’m running on the Elwha,” Whetham said.
“This is 13 years past construction and we’re still not allowed to fish or harvest,” he said, referring to the removal of the Elwha River dams. “I think there’s room to maneuver with state and federal regulations.”
Whetham also said many of the port’s leases do not include cost-of-living allowances, which is something he’d like to see.
“I’d actually start with looking over all of the leases and making sure that they do cover what the federal government does for everyone else here and that’s that they have built-in costs that increase.”
Whetham is a plumber by trade and served on the Port Angeles City Council from 2014-2017. He also has served as president of the Olympic Peninsula Building and Construction Trades Council; as an executive board member of the Washington State Building and Construction Council on two different advisory boards at Peninsula College and was the superintendent for the mechanical contractor when the college built its new library.
Beauvais has served on the port commission since 2016 and is the manager and operator at the Crescent Water Association. She has also served as vice chair of the Clallam County Planning Commission, on the Clallam County Charter Review Commission, the Crescent Community Advisory Council and as the Government Affairs Committee of the Port Angeles Business Association.
Questions from the audience included such topics as expanding recreational boating access in port facilities, cleaning up toxic sediment in the harbor and visions for the William R. Fairchild International Airport, which the port oversees.
A question was raised from the audience about the progress of the proposed Maritime Trade Center on Marine Drive port officials have been working to stand up for several years. The site is in its last year of environmental monitoring, Beauvais said, and the port has been negotiating with several businesses to find one willing to become the center’s first tenant.
Whetham suggested the port install utilities at the site to make it easier for businesses to get started, but said the port was lacking the grant funding to install that kind of infrastructure.
Beauvais said the utilities would be installed after businesses had agreed to move to the site and decided where they wanted their buildings to be.
Both candidates pointed to their past leadership experience as reasons why they were well suited to for the job of port commissioner.
Whetham said his priority was restoring fisheries on the Elwha River because having a strong local fishing industry would help support other area maritime industries.
“I have a track record of working with all of the players here, federally and at the state level, I think we can work something out,” Whetham said. “I’ve got a track record of working with people and coming to a mutual agreement.”
Beauvais pointed to her experience across the public, private and nonprofit sectors as well as her tenure as port commissioner.
“My eight years as port commissioner have shown my dedication, competence and commitment to the port and its mission in the decisions that I’ve made,” Beauvais said.
“I have been a strong advocate for and continue to work to diversify and strengthen the port’s lines of business.”
Election Day is Nov. 7, and ballots will be mailed out Oct. 18. Voter registration is available until 8 p.m. on Election Day but online voter registration ends Oct. 30.
Online voter registration and additional election information is available at Washington’s election website, votewa.gov.
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Reporter Peter Segall can be reached at peter.segall@peninsuladailynews.com.
