Pike Place Market chief to leave in June

As of June 30, Pike Place Market will be without one of its longtime fixtures: Carol Binder.

Involved with the Market since the early '90s, she's been executive director of the Pike Place Market Preservation Development Authority since 2005 and was interim director for two years before that.

In a statement Wednesday, Binder said, "The time has come for me to change my role at the Market from Executive Director to shopper and supporter. I have a grandchild I'd like to spend more time with and also plan to focus on a couple of real-estate development projects with my family."

I called Binder to get the specifics behind her departure.

Q: Why specifically are you quitting? Is it the fish throwers?

A: No. I have some personal business I want to take care of. I have a new grandson. It's just a good time for me to move on and do some other things in my life.

Q: You'll understand how some people might find that kind of a vague answer.

A: Sorry. I mean, talk to my kids and my husband, I don't know. I've done lots of different things in my life. This is just one of them, and it's time to do something else.

Q: When most people hear that someone is quitting to spend more time with their family it's typically from a politician who's been forced out of office for some reason.

A: I'm not a politician. It's just a job.

Q: What's the job been like for you?

A: It's been lots of fun. We've done a lot of things here. We passed a levy. We're in the middle of a renovation project. It's gone very successfully so far, and it's well set up to continue. We built a new building; we bought a new building. It's extremely fun to work at the Market. It's a crazy place.

Q: Apart from being jostled by strangers, what do you love most about working at the Market?

A: The tenants and the atmosphere. You described one of our fun tenants: the fish throwers. There's all the crafts people. I love the farmers market aspect of the Market, all the food businesses here. What's not to like about great food? The personalities, a lot of longtime business owners. Smart people. I mean they know how to run a good business and they know what they're doing. It's fun people to be around. Lots of variety.

Q: What's been the most frustrating aspect of the job?

A: That's a tough one.

Q: I'll help you out. The Market's known for a bit of bickering — which reportedly drove out your predecessor. What are the usual points of contention?

A: Oh, yeah, they're usually about space. "Somebody came over to my table" or "This busker's singing too loudly and it bothers me." I mean that part of the contention is part of the culture.

Q: That sounds like pretty run-of-the-mill stuff. Are there larger issues?

A: Our longterm capital issues were a big issue when I got here. The Market hadn't had a major renovation for more than 30 years, and a lot of foot traffic and a lot of use had kind of worn down a lot of our systems and properties, and so that was a pretty big issue. We worked with the city in order to get the Market levy on the ballot, and it passed by the voters who love the Market and want to continue to reinvest in it to keep it the way it is. That was a pretty big issue, and I think it's well on its way to being resolved.

Q: Is there a direction you've wanted the Market to go in? For instance, discouraging some types of businesses and encouraging others?

A: I would say not. This is a preservation and development authority, and so our role, our charter directs us to preserve the cultural aspects that are here. And so you'll see most of the tenants are the same. I mentioned many long-term businesses, multigenerational things. That's part of our role ... to preserve that look, to preserve that actuality of these family businesses continuing to do what they've done generation after generation. It's not like a normal mall or shopping centers you might think of where they change their look. ... We're very, very different than that. That's not our vision or our goal.

Q: What traits would a good successor possess?

A: I think that they should be fun-loving, have a good sense of humor, like people — there's always a lot of people here — like a lot of different personalities and the outdoors, I guess, since we're outside a lot of the time. Lots of variety. It's definitely not a high-rise office job.

Q: Are you going to be part of the process of picking the next person?

A: We're overseen by a 12-person council or board and it's really their — I may be a part of it. I'd be happy to assist in any way I can. I've given a long enough notice so that they have enough time to really do a good selection process and get the right person.

Mark Rahner: 206-464-8259 or mrahner@seattletimes.com