PORT ANGELES — Twelve Sequim-area residents, including Paul McHugh and Sterling Epps, have applied to fill Jim McEntire’s soon-to-be-vacant District 1 Port of Port Angeles commissioner position.
McEntire will be sworn in as a new Clallam County commissioner Dec. 30, and his successor will fill out the remaining two years of his term on the port’s commission.
Port officials last week would not reveal the identities of those aspiring for the position.
Epps, a former interim Port Angeles deputy police chief, said he wants the job.
“I have spoken to a couple of friends and told them I was interested,” said Epps, 74.
McHugh, 53, of Sequim also said he has applied for the post.
“I have mentioned it to people around me,” said McHugh, a retired Realtor and former member of the Sequim City Council and county Planning Commission.
Commissioner John Calhoun said he and newly elected Commissioner Jim Hallett will select from two to four finalists at a special meeting Jan. 4.
Hallett was elected unopposed in the Nov. 8 general election to the position being vacated by George Schoenfeldt.
Schoenfeldt, like McEntire, is not taking part in the selection process.
The finalists will be invited to the regular port commission meeting Jan. 9, where Calhoun and Hallett will meet in executive session before returning to open session to further discuss the candidates and make their decision.
The meetings will be at 9:30 a.m. at the port office meeting room at 338 W. First St. in Port Angeles.
Calhoun has met with each applicant separately for about 45 minutes, he said.
His questions included what they want to accomplish, their opinions on cutting trees in Lincoln Park to increase flight visibility for pilots flying into Port Angeles’ William R. Fairchild International Airport and what should be done at the long-dormant Rayonier pulp mill site two miles east of the city’s downtown.
Calhoun also asked them what they would do differently than the port is doing now, he said.
“I asked about their philosophical approach to those issues,” Calhoun said.
“Those issues are ongoing, and they will likely be dealing with them one way or another over the next couple of years.”
Port commissioners will oversee a 2012 budget of $8.7 million budget.
They are paid $100 a day for each day they conduct official port duties up to 96 days, or $9,600; receive the same health care benefits as port employees; and are reimbursed for their expenses.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
