Port of Tacoma needs mix of change, stability. Here are our 2021 primary election picks
The Port of Tacoma has top billing at the front of your voters pamphlet for good reason. The Port’s five commissioners set the course for an economic dynamo that supports over 42,000 living-wage jobs in the heart of America’s most trade-dependent state. They must balance that against the ticking time bomb of climate change and a global shipping industry that remains tethered to fossil fuels.
Every Pierce County voter has a say in two Port commission seats up for grabs in the August primary election; a third seat goes straight to the November runoff.
Though not an easy call, the TNT Editorial Board endorses both incumbents on the Aug. 3 ballot — Dick Marzano and Don Meyer — to help steer the Port for four more years.
They have a combined 37 years as commissioners, which can be viewed through two lenses:
Either they should stay on account of their strong customer relations and expertise on things like cargo logistics and freight terminal development. Or they should give way to bold new thinkers less consumed with short-term needs, like preserving market share, and more attuned to long-term imperatives, like preserving natural resources and keeping Port property above sea level.
We’re sticking with the incumbents because we don’t think the two lenses are mutually exclusive and because voters elected two new commissioners in 2019. Reelecting Marzano and Meyer would maintain a healthy tension between change and stability.
But we also believe they should pledge to retire after one final term. Good leaders help groom potential successors and know when to step aside.
For Position 2, Marzano, 73, offers the knowledge of a career longshoreman and union leader whose life has revolved around Tacoma’s working waterfront. First elected in 1995, the University Place resident serves as Port Commission president and co-chair of the Northwest Seaport Alliance, a six-year partnership with the Port of Seattle.
That latter role is key to staying on an even keel with Seattle while preventing what Marzano calls “a race to the bottom,” forfeiting Northwest maritime business to outside competitors. When it comes to protecting Tacoma turf, nobody knows it better.
When it comes to the rising chorus of progressive expectations, however, Marzano has a mixed record. Last year, port commissioners adopted a statement of diversity and inclusion. This month, the Port released a draft clean air plan. It’s fair to ask: What took so long?
His opponents seek to expose him in these areas. Both have solid professional and civic resumes to draw from.
Elizabeth Pew, 40, is a JBLM employment transition specialist and West End resident; she moved from Seattle to Tacoma four years ago but has worked in Pierce County since 2009. Pew cites her workforce development background and says the need for incumbents is overblown because of Port staff’s professional expertise.
Jeannette Twitty, 60, co-owns a commercial cleaning business and helps lead a housing nonprofit for those at risk of homelessness. A 35-year Tacoma resident, Twitty has extra credibility on the local push for equity, diversity and inclusion. If elected, she’d be the first Black commissioner in the Port’s 103-year history.
But Marzano brings a steady hand to Port leadership and has earned one last term.
The same is true for Position 4 incumbent Meyer, 77, first elected in 2010. The Spanaway resident has a high-level view of Commencement Bay’s many assets, due to his former work as Foss Waterway Development Authority executive director and Port of Tacoma deputy executive director.
Fending off growing competition from Canadian ports is a top priority for Meyer, along with transitioning refinery and tank farm operations to renewable fuels. His environmental bonafides are backed up by his Sierra Club endorsement.
Of the eight people who filed to run against Meyer, one stands out from the crowd: Mary Bacon, a 43-year-old environmental scientist married to a longshoreman. Her focus is averting climate catastrophe and sea level rise — a goal echoed by the two other challengers we interviewed.
Brian Duthie, 38, a firefighter and twice-defeated East Pierce legislative candidate, wants a cleaner planet for his six-year-old daughter. C.J. Dylina, 57, a hospital MRI technologist, wants to eliminate Port truck traffic and bring a cruise line to Tacoma.
Two other candidates — c bey el and Scott Lewis — declined our interview request, saying they’d suspended their campaigns. Three others — Mario Rivera, Nirav Sheth and Christopher Pierce — couldn’t be reached.
Meantime, only one challenger filed for Position 1 , so the contest between Laura Gilbert and incumbent John McCarthy will wait until this fall.
News Tribune election endorsements reflect the views of our Editorial Board and are written by opinion editor Matt Misterek. Other board members are: Stephanie Pedersen, News Tribune president and editor; Matt Driscoll, local columnist; Jim Walton, community representative; and Pamela Transue, a community representative who serves during election season. The Editorial Board operates independently from the newsroom and does not influence the work of news reporting and editing staffs. Endorsements are merely recommendations based on candidate interviews, research and discussions among the board. We do not endorse any candidates who do not interview with us. For questions, email matt.misterek@thenewstribune.com