PORT ANGELES — Four Washington state residents, including Karen Goschen of Sequim and David Walter of Port Angeles, have been selected as finalists for the Port of Port Angeles’ executive director position vacated Dec. 31 by Ken O’Hollaren.
Port commissioners will interview Goschen, Walter, James Kuntz of Walla Walla and Robert Uptagrafft of Everett during a public meeting from noon to 5 p.m. June 16 at the port administrative building, 338 W. First St., Port Angeles.
Questions from the public may be emailed to CandidateQuestions@portofpa.com.
A public reception to meet the candidates is set from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Olympic Board Room of the Red Lion Hotel, 221 N. Lincoln St., Port Angeles.
Jones Strategic of Seattle, under a $39,600 contract with the port, selected five finalists — one dropped out — based on rankings made by commissioners during a May 31 executive session, Port Commissioner Steve Burke said Tuesday.
Commissioners chose a pool of about 15 applicants from 41 who applied for the position.
The salary could be about $140,000 based on the average of executive director salaries for the ports of Anacortes, Olympia, Kalama, Pasco, Edmonds and Skagit, according to Jones Strategic.
O’Hollaren’s annual salary was $145,000.
Here are brief descriptions of the executive director candidates:
■ Goschen, the city of Sequim’s former administrative services director, is the port’s interim executive director and its former finance director-deputy executive director.
The port hired her as finance director in August 2012.
■ Walter is board chairman of the Composite Recycling Technology Center and a partner in Kingsway Consulting Group of Port Angeles, and a former DuPont Corp. executive.
■ Kuntz is the former executive director of the Port of Walla Walla, said Holly Hairell, Port of Port Angeles administrative manager, Tuesday in a press release on the finalists.
He left in January, according to news reports.
■ Robert Uptagrafft of Everett is CEO and executive director of Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance (PNAA).
He was named to the position in July 2014 after spending five years as a PNAA board member and 10 years as a project manager and aerospace industry specialist with Impact Washington, according to The Herald newspaper of Everett.
The nonprofit Mukilteo-based organization supports manufacturing in Washington.
Burke said he approved of the process of interviewing the candidates in executive session and in public, which was used when commissioners Colleen McAleer and Connie Beauvais named Burke port commissioner to replace Jim Hallett on March 11.
“We basically decided that process worked pretty well, so we are just deciding to do it again,” Burke said.
“I would hope [the public] would gain some confidence in the person we select or the people we selected as finalists.”
Important issues for Burke in terms of the candidates’ strengths include “how well do you know and understand our community and how would you best integrate into our community,” he said.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
