All Things Port Require Public Scrutiny

Skip Houser, Attorney for Port of Shelton

Why Is Port's Legal Counsel Pre$ent at Every Meeting?

Submitted to Shelton Blog by Tom Davis Mason County Progressive

I’ve been out of town on business these past few days, enjoying immensely an opportunity to discuss with intelligent, well-informed people, proposals that have nothing to do with Mason County politics or policies. I look on such opportunities as a welcome respite from having to stand by and watch our local officials engage in never-ending, petty, personal escapades that pass for business, especially at the Port of Shelton.

In the fifteen months I have been attending Port meetings, researching Port decisions and observing the personal behavior of those charged with managing Port property, I have come to one, inescapable conclusion; and that is that some folks charged with managing Port assets appear unable or unwilling to perform their duties in a fair and equitable manner, or even to comply with the spirit of the statutes by which they are governed.

The recent lease agreement between the Port of Shelton and Northwest Event Organizers, Inc., as sponsors of the Mason Area Fair may or may not be beneficial to the Port’s bottom line. But one thing is certain, and that is events leading up to the signing of the lease were atypical in that the opportunity to run the fair was not offered to a larger pool of entrepreneurs, and that the lease itself failed to follow standard Port procedures or to enact standard conditions.

Also worthy of inclusion is the fact that Northwest Event Organizers, Inc. is a profit driven company, not a non-profit, charitable organization. So why has the Port been so accommodating, and why are event organizers asking the public to donate their time, money and energy?

The fact that the proprietors of Northwest Event Organizers, Inc. are personal friends of the Port Executive Director, John Dobson, may be entirely coincidental, but if I have learned anything about Port business over these past few months, it is that personal friends enjoy a level of access not extended to the public at large.

It would appear, also, as was the case of Port employee and whistle-blower, Teresa Rebo, that if you witness what you believe to be questionable behavior on the part of Port management and bring those concerns to Commissioners, you may very likely find yourself fired, which is exactly what happened.

When the Commissioners were questioned as to why they let director Dobson fire Teresa Rebo, Commissioner Tom Wallitner went on record saying that it was not his job to interfere with the methods employed by Port Director John Dobson.

Had the above events occurred in the private sector, total reaction may have been to raise a few eyebrows. But when they involve the governing body of a public municipality, the consequences of those actions will be borne by the public. And it is for that reason the public needs to remain vigilant, and to oversee all questionable business dealings involving the Port, as they occur.

There is a reason the Port’s legal counsel is a fixture at every public meeting, but it is not a good reason.

Photo by Christine