Port of Seattle | Holdovers, newcomers

In the two primary contests for the Port of Seattle Commission, The Seattle Times endorses the two incumbents, Alec Fisken and Bob Edwards, and their two strongest challengers, Bill Bryant and Gael Tarleton, respectively.

Fisken has been the reformer on the five-person commission — or the troublemaker, depending on your view. He opposed the pay raise for retiring Port executive Mic Dinsmore, and raised the alarm over the proposal to give Dinsmore a retirement package designed for layoffs. Fisken has tended to take a harder financial line with corporate tenants, and argues that the Port could pros-per without taxing property owners in King County.

Bryant, who represents American farmers in world trade, has strong backing from civic and business leaders. He promises to be less of a gadfly than Fisken. He would approve a wider range of Port activities and would be less likely to attack the tax. His views on the Dinsmore retirement and making Port business more transparent are similar to Fisken's.

Bryant, who has been talking about cleaning up Puget Sound and dealing with traffic, needs to define his positions on the core business of the Port. Fisken, who works for the city of Seattle, needs to convince the public of his independence from Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, and that his way of dealing with colleagues produces results.

In the other race, Edwards, a stockbroker, is fighting to keep his seat after having supported Dinsmore. Recently, he broke with his fellow commissioners to support keeping the Lora Lake Apartments in Burien as public housing, which makes him appear to be a rebel. Really, he is a consensus-seeker who is uncomfortable taking stands alone. In that sense, he is the opposite of Fisken.

Several candidates are making a run at Edwards, the strongest being Tarleton, a former vice president of Science Applications International Corp., security consultants. Tarleton has global experience, a professional manner and plenty of cash, but on matters of Port detail, she inclines to haziness. She needs to define herself before Nov. 6.