Port of Seattle candidates split on unions, tunnel, airport noise

Port of Seattle Commission candidates Max Vekich and Tom Albro may agree more than they disagree, but they've also sparred, mainly over their backers and a few key issues.

Competing for Position 4, Albro says Vekich is beholden to labor unions, while Vekich knocks Albro for having the same supporters as Port officials tainted by scandal such as Commissioner Pat Davis.

Vekich, who manages loading and unloading of cargo ships for Pacific Maritime Association, served four terms in the Legislature as a Democrat from Grays Harbor. He moved to Seattle in 2004.

His priority would be to retain Port jobs, and he would do that by maintaining and improving infrastructure and reducing its impact on the environment.

"In Washington state we've been hemorrhaging jobs," he said.

"We have to be sure we hold on to what we have right now."

Albro, who owns the company that operates the Seattle Monorail, is former chairman of the Municipal League of King County and a civil engineer by training. He said he is running to make the region's economic engine more globally competitive and better serve the broad interests of the community.

"I want to make sure we are producing as good a return as we are able to achieve in the marketplace, given all the other objectives we have," Albro said.

Whether the legions of short-haul truckers serving the Port should be unionized divides the candidates.

"The Port of Seattle is basically being subsidized by these workers, and they're sharecroppers on wheels," said Vekich, a third-generation longshoreman.

Vekich is backed by 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. The Teamsters want the drivers in their union.

The union issue is a "red herring," said Albro, whose backers include Port tenants such as CityIce Cold Storage and Holland America.

"The real question is how do we make sure we are a competitive Port, and how does it not come off the hide of any people," he said.

Both Albro and Vekich say the commission has failed in its role of public oversight, and they want to have staff that serves the commission independently of the Port. Port commissioners are paid $6,000 a year and work part time but oversee a budget of more than $600 million.

Vekich wants to have two or three research analysts dedicated to the commission. Albro wants the internal auditor who now serves both the CEO and the commission to serve only the commission.

Both support the Port tax levy but say it should be limited to investing in infrastructure and restoring damaged environments, not subsidizing Port operations.

Yet they disagree when it comes to the tunnel to replace the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Albro accused Vekich of waffling on the issue during a debate. Albro says he is "fully on board with a deep-bore tunnel" and said if the project doesn't get done, "every maritime industrial business north of downtown will go away over time."

The Port may have to contribute $300 million to the tunnel project. Albro said he supports that project under certain stipulations, such as making sure north and south openings work for freight.

"I am not going to commit $300 million of taxpayer dollars without having a hearing, without having briefings," Vekich shot back.

The candidates also had a different take on mitigating noise around the airport.

Vekich said he has long taken an interest in the problem as the only candidate who has lived close to the airport, in Des Moines.

While planes are getting quieter, he said, the commission should expand the area of noise-reduction mitigation and meet in nearby neighborhoods to openly discuss plans for using the third runway.

Albro said he supports air traffic-control technology that allows airplanes approaching Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to make a quieter, gliding descent.

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