Port exec leaves for teachers union job

John Okamoto is leaving his post as the Port of Seattle's chief administrative officer to become executive director of the statewide teachers union.

The 81,000-member Washington Education Association represents K-12 teachers, education-support professionals and higher-education faculty members.

Okamoto, 54, of Seattle, will replace Armand Tiberio, who resigned Jan. 1 for a regional position with the National Education Association.

Okamoto's last day at the Port is May 9. His Port salary is $171,982.

Okamoto oversaw public affairs, human resources and government and labor relations for the Port, where he has worked since 2003.

In a recent reorganization, Port CEO Tay Yoshitani shifted public affairs and government relations from Okamoto to Kurt Beckett, the Port's new director of external affairs. Yoshitani handed Okamoto responsibility for negotiating the Port's purchase of a 42-mile Eastside rail corridor from BNSF Railway.

Okamoto was not named or directly implicated in a scathing audit of the Port's construction practices released in December. He was criticized by a Port of Seattle Commission report last year on sexually explicit and racist e-mails sent by Port police.

That report said top Port executives, including Okamoto, showed poor judgment in allowing the Port Police Department to investigate its own members in the e-mail scandal.

Okamoto could not be reached for comment. In a written statement, Yoshitani said he was sad to see Okamoto leave the Port but was "pleased to know that teachers and educators in our state will be in such capable hands."

Staff reporter Emily Heffter contributed to this report.

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com.