It was the fear of a lawsuit being filed that led the Port of Port Angeles Commission to rehire executive director Jeff Robb to a different job at the same pay after he resigned June 24, according to one port commissioner.
In a June
27 interview with the Peninsula Daily
News, which covers Washington state’s North Olympic Peninsula, Port
Commissioner John Calhoun said Robb was awarded a one-year contract to become
the port’s environmental affairs director because the relationship between Robb
and senior members of port staff had become so dysfunctional that it had become
possible that either party could sue.
“To avoid that, we settled on this course of action,”
Calhoun told the newspaper.
Robb submitted his resignation as executive director on June
24 citing health problems.
“I have had a number of serious health issues for a number
of months that have not improved with time,” he told the commission during the
meeting.
Calhoun said Robb’s health problems were caused by stress.
Immediately after his resignation, Robb was hired by the
port commission at the same salary -- $138,000 annually --
to fill the newly-created, previously unadvertised environmental affairs
director position.
The vote was 2-1, with Commission President Jim Hallett
against. Robb’s one-year contract that is effective July 31. The hiring has
been characterized as “a sweetheart deal” because Robb is one year away from
retirement and from qualifying for state retirement benefits.
Robb, who has been with the Port of Port Angeles since 1984,
was promoted to executive director in August 2009. If he completes his upcoming
one-year contract, he’ll have 30 years of service with the port.
Port Angeles has retained executive-search firm Waldron & Co. to find candidates for the executive director position, and the commission says
it hopes to name an interim director at its July 8 meeting.
