3 in race offer voters a new perspective

This is first of two stories this week profiling races for Port of Seattle Commission.

Besides improving the Port's competitive position and oversight of its spending, the candidates for Position 3 on the Port of Seattle Commission want to bring diversity to the panel of Port overseers.

David Doud, a real-estate broker from Medina, would be the only commissioner from outside Seattle if elected.

Rob Holland, a diesel-fuel salesman from Seattle, wants to be the first African American on the commission.

Al Yuen, a semiretired investment manager from Bellevue, is trying to become the only Asian-American, and the only Eastsider, on the countywide Port commission.

The top two vote-getters in the Aug. 18 primary advance to the Nov. 3 general election.

Lloyd Hara, the current Position 3 commissioner, decided not to run again and is seeking election as King County assessor.

The Port of Seattle is a countywide agency that runs Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and owns the cargo terminals on Elliott Bay. The five Port commissioners serve four-year terms and are paid $6,000 a year to oversee policy and hire a chief executive.

David Doud

Pointing to the Port's vast holdings at the airport and near Seattle's waterfront, Doud calls the Port the "people's property manager." He says the commission would benefit from his real-estate experience. So would tenants like Alaska Airlines that "need some love from their landlord," Doud says.

"I've sold many shopping centers and retail and office buildings. The name of the game is keeping tenants profitable and strong. Whether it's Trident Seafoods or Holland America cruise lines, we ... need to make sure the Port is investing in the right infrastructure, make sure they've got the right facilities."

Doud notes that many King County residents don't know what the Port does and don't appreciate its relevance outside Seattle. Fruit and vegetables for cruise ships comes from Enumclaw, he said, and Port officials need to get out of Seattle and "sell the Port" to Eastsiders.

Doud has been criticized by a labor-backed group, King County Citizens for Port Reform, for receiving campaign contributions from business donors who were friendly with former Port CEO Mic Dinsmore and who helped elect Commissioner Pat Davis in 2005. Those donors include Doud's employer, Bellevue developer Bob Wallace.

The labor group has raised $100,000 from unions, led by the Teamsters and International Longshore and Warehouse Union to elect Holland as well as Max Vekich, a candidate for Position 4.

Doud says he would not represent any interest group and that electing a Port reform slate would "upset" the reforms already started by CEO Tay Yoshitani.

Rob Holland

Holland says the waterfront is in his blood. His grandfather worked at a Navy shipyard and his father worked on local ferries. It's also in his résumé: He's worked for a shipping company and a trucking firm and has sold industrial real estate, in addition to his current job selling diesel and biofuels.

His top priority is creating green, good-paying jobs, and a good start, he says, would be to make the Port's many properties more energy-efficient. That would help the environment, he says, and provide training and new skills for local workers.

Holland, a former chairman of the 37th Legislative District Democrats in Seattle, said becoming the first African-American Port commissioner would say "something about our values here in King County and to the world."

While the Port reform group is taking shots at Doud, his political consultant, Cathy Allen, is knocking Holland for supporting I-200, the 1998 statewide initiative that outlawed preferential hiring based on race and gender.

Holland says he was a Republican more than a decade ago and as a policy analyst for a think tank, wrote papers "that might have been supportive of the implementation of I-200." But Holland says he doesn't agree with I-200 now and would do his best as a commissioner to promote minority businesses.

"At the time I was young and impressionable. As an adult I'm pretty clear in what I believe," he says.

Al Yuen

Yuen is running a lower-budget campaign than his competitors, with $9,360 in campaign contributions compared with $89,062 for Doud and $47,216 for Holland.

A former manager for Hilton Hotels, and now semiretired, Yuen says he could afford to work almost full time as a commissioner. That would allow him to be more thorough in his oversight of the Port and to be a more effective overseas ambassador for the Port.

Yuen ran twice for the Port commission years ago. He was encouraged to try again by Hara, who has endorsed him.

Yuen, who speaks Chinese, says he understands foreign cultures and customs critical to improving Port business with China, its top trade partner.

"I'm climbing an uphill battle," Yuen says of his better-funded opponents.

But, he says, he would be more independent because he's not backed by any interest groups, and he also would have more time to do his own research, making him less reliant on Port staff. And, he adds, "I can help develop new shipping business" because of extensive travel to Pacific Rim countries.

The Municipal League of King County rated Holland as "very good" and Doud and Yuen as "good."

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