Legal counsel and an ethics expert hired by two Port of
Seattle commissioners to investigate whether the port’s CEO committed a
conflict of interest when he accepted a position on the board of a for-profit
logistics company have found no wrongdoing.
In a report dated Oct. 22, investigator Gerry Alexander, a
retired state Supreme Court justice, wrote that Yoshitani serving on Expeditors
Internationals’ board doesn’t violate Washington state law or the port’s ethics
rules because the logistics company doesn’t compete with the port or conduct
business directly with the port.
“It is my conclusion that Mr. Yoshitani’s service on the
Board of Expeditors does not create a real, perceived or appearance of a
conflict of interest. Neither does his service on that corporation’s Board run
afoul of the statutory Code of Ethics for Municipal Officers or any Employee
Codes of the Port of Seattle,” he wrote.
The port had announced on Sept. 25 that commissioners Tom
Albro and Rob Holland, acting as a temporary subcommittee, would be hiring outside
legal counsel and an ethics expert to review the port’s position that CEO Tay
Yoshitani serving on the board of directors of Expeditors International did not
represent a conflict of interest.
Although the month-long investigation found no wrongdoing, Alexander
did present the port board with one recommendation in his report.
“Going forward, the Commission might consider providing in
future employment contracts with its CEO that before the CEO may accept a
position on the Board of Directors of a private entity, the Port Commission
must give its approval to this outside employment,” Alexander wrote. “There may
be instances in the future where the CEO’s service on a corporate board is not,
technically speaking, a conflict of interest but does, at the same time,
generate a response from members of the public that is damaging to the port’s
reputation and reduces public confidence in it. Requiring an evaluation of the
potential impact of such employee-employer relationships before the fact is, in
my judgment, far superior to making those determinations after the fact.”
The suggestion was a partial reference to the situation that
led to the review. In August 13 King County, Washington legislators urged the
port to look more closely into various issues raised by Yoshitani’s acceptance
of the second job. In an Aug. 24 letter, the lawmakers said Yoshitani serving
on the Expeditors board could result in the company’s clientele gaining a
competitive advantage over non-Expeditors port customers.
Yoshitani, who has been the port’s executive director since
March 2007, was announced as the newest member of Expeditors’ board Aug. 7. In
the role, he stands to earn more than $230,000 in annual compensation –
consisting of $30,000 in cash and up to $200,000 in restricted stock options –
on top of the nearly $367,000 a year he earns at the port.
