Position 3 Port candidates couldn't be more different

In the race for two open seats on the Port of Seattle Commission, the contest between Rob Holland and David Doud for Position 3 provides some of the sharpest contrasts.

Doud, a commercial real-estate broker at Wallace Properties, says he would use his real-estate and international experience to help the Port improve its return on investments and better serve business tenants.

"The Port is the second-largest landowner of the entire county," said Doud, the only candidate from the Eastside. "I think I could provide some smart oversight of that land for the taxpayer."

Rob Holland, a biofuel salesman at SeaPort Petroleum, says he thinks the Port should stop acquiring real estate and focus on preserving maritime jobs. It should sell off its nonindustrial properties and work to improve its infrastructure, he said.

Holland, who would be the commission's first African American, said he would push to expand the Port's economic-development role, creating more "green-collar" jobs. He wants to improve road and rail connections to the docks to expedite loading and unloading of freight.

The two distinct approaches, with Doud backed primarily by business and Holland by labor, characterize a campaign that has stirred unusual controversy for a nonpartisan race.

While Seattle prides itself as a conduit for vibrant global trade, the Port has faced withering criticism for lax management of construction projects, lack of transparency and other failings that led to waste and abuse, according to state auditors. A federal criminal investigation into possible fraud is ongoing. The Port now has a new CEO and strategic plan.

Holland has the backing of the King County Citizens for Port Reform, an independent-expenditure campaign that has collected $250,000 from unions, led by the Teamsters and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union.

Doud, who calls himself the "business consensus" candidate, is backed by the Alki Foundation (the political arm of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce), Seattle-King County Association of Realtors and SSA Marine, the Port's largest terminal operator.

The two differ on what to do with a 42-mile Eastside railway corridor, which the Port has agreed to purchase for $107 million. Holland said the Port should not own the land, while Doud favors keeping it for potential users, such as Cascade Water Alliance or Sound Transit.

Unionizing the numerous independent truckers serving the Port is another contentious issue.

Holland said he supports the idea, calling the trucking system "the backbone of movement of goods and services" that would benefit from "reliable, clean drivers who are paid decently and really invested in what they're doing."

"The Port is a public enterprise," Holland said. "There are other things one has to take into account, such as the environment, not simply the ledger. We want people to feel good about the work they're doing and have the kinds of jobs that allow them to pay their mortgage."

Unionizing the truckers would increase cost and make the Port less competitive, Doud said.

"I don't think it's a good idea," he said. "Under the auspices of making the Port greener and cleaner, they're trying to say these trucks are not meeting emissions standards.

"But the Port now has come up with a solution within industry to invest in and modernize these trucks and keep the truckers independent, without having to further increase the costs to shippers," Doud said.

Kristi Heim: 206-464-2718 or kheim@seattletimes.com