Ethics board to probe ex-Port CEO Dinsmore pay dispute

Port of Seattle commissioners Tuesday voted to refer the dispute over former CEO Mic Dinsmore's retirement pay to the Port's Board of Ethics, an independent three-member panel.

The panel will investigate whether any "laws, procedures or ethical standards were breached" when Commissioner Pat Davis signed a memo authorizing Dinsmore to receive his annual salary of $339,841 for one year past his retirement date, according to the commission's motion.

The board will report back to the commission within 60 days at a closed-door session before the findings are made public.

Commissioners also unanimously voted not to authorize Dinsmore's extra salary, though the motion also said it "in no way reflects on Mr. Dinsmore's performance as the Port's CEO."

While commissioners have disagreed publicly on whether any discussions took place before Davis wrote the memo, they presented a united front at the regularly scheduled commission meeting, their first public session since the memo was leaked to the media last week.

The five unanimously approved the motion to turn the investigation over to the ethics committee and also agreed to begin audiotaping closed-door sessions.

That will help avoid any similar disputes in the future, said CEO Tay Yoshitani.

The commissioners shed no more light on their disagreement over whether the extra pay for Dinsmore was discussed at executive sessions in 2006, as Davis has claimed.

Commissioner Bob Edwards has said there were some discussions, but Commissioners John Creighton, Alec Fisken and Lloyd Hara say they don't remember talking about it.

Davis maintains she did not act alone in authorizing the extended pay.

She supported the call for an independent investigation.

"I have nothing to hide," she said in the meeting. Afterward, she declined to elaborate on her actions.

Commissioners said the issue was brought to their attention after Dinsmore requested the first payment and Yoshitani decided something was amiss.

Creighton, who serves as president of the commission, acknowledged commissioners are trying to restore public trust, especially regarding closed-door meetings.

In an interview, he was unable to answer why Dinsmore would have attempted to collect the pay, knowing that the commission had to approve the additional funds in a public session before writing a check.

Kirsten Orsini-Meinhard: 206-464-2391 or kmeinhard@seattletimes.com