After 10 years as the executive director of the Foss Waterway Development Authority, Don Meyer is resigning and taking on new challenges. He recently was elected to the Port of Tacoma Commission.

The News Tribune sat down with Meyer to discuss his time with the FWDA, his accomplishments and his plans as a port commissioner.

How has the Foss Waterway changed since you joined the FWDA?

When I became executive director, I remember walking along the shoreline where the Museum of Glass is today. If you weren’t a drug user or transient looking for a place to sleep, you weren’t down here. So from that context, I’m still smiling walking down the esplanade thinking about what has happened in 10 years. If I said anything it would be in the basis of being a part of a once-in-the-lifetime opportunity of figuring out how a marginalized downtown is reinventing itself and how the waterfront is key component of that.

So where is downtown in that process – it is still marginalized?

I think the mere fact that there are some key elements in place, and over the 10 years we’ve done remarkably well in terms of building a residential capacity and understanding our educational capability in this community, but just as quickly as we’ve moved forward the market has hit us hard.

What are some of your proudest accomplishments with the FWDA?

The biggest thing I get the most pleasure from is our ability to clean up this waterway and our upland sites. This is really an environmental effort. It’s a crucial statement that our city needed to make. The other piece is building a tax base. That’s really why the public development authority was created.

What was hard about your job?

I’m proud of the fact that we were able to work through controversial issues. When you are in a very visible seat, a visible place, there’s always going to be a diversity of opinions – that’s the biggest challenge I see here.

When we talk about redevelopment, we struggle with complications of doing redevelopment on contaminated property and often times we lose sight of that in the public discourse of is this good or bad. The environmental objectives were a huge part of why this city purchased contaminated property.

How has the development strategy changed?

What you are seeing is a process of evolution, what I visualize is that I hope we can get closer to the Vancouver model with taller, skinnier buildings and more of a people-place type of feeling. If you look at the master plan and the development sites, I’d like to see fewer development sites and more quality development and more green space.

So you are going to be a port commissioner. What are you going to do first?

I need to be brought up to speed in the first couple of months. I’m interested in looking at the whole budgeting process and how they set the tax levy, but I’m really concerned about making sure that I understand what the port is committed to financially.

What do you plan to focus on?

One piece is making sure we have a decision-making process that adjusts to economic changes, making sure the port stays within its core competencies to grow revenue. I’m interested in conserving cash and I’ll be keen on avoiding unnecessary expansion projects.

What kind of process would you like to see the commission use in selecting the new director?

I’m hoping we have an open process. What that looks like to me is being clear and asking for input before we go out and recruit, using a local recruiter and I guess it’s asking the broader-based community, what does that ideal candidate look like? And then going through a process that provides the ability for the community to see who the final candidates are.

Kelly Kearsley: 253-597-8573

Kelly.kearsley@thenewstribune.com