Jim Hallett, who was removed as president of the Port of
Port Angeles Board of Commissioners last August in the wake of controversy
surrounding the resignation of former port Executive Director Jeff Robb, has
reassumed his previous role.
On Jan. 13, commissioner John Calhoun, who had been serving
as president, joined with newly sworn in commissioner Colleen McAleer and voted
to elect Hallett president of the three-person board.
Hallett had been removed as president by unanimous vote last
August after a rift between board members that opened as a result of the
situation surrounding Robb who, citing what he called “serious health issues,”
resigned as executive director of the Port of Port Angeles last June.
Robb was immediately hired by the port commission at the
same salary to fill a newly created job – environmental affairs director – but
the vote was 2-1, with Hallett against. Hallett later said he was unhappy with
the way the situation was handled and that other candidates should have been
interviewed for the previously unannounced position.
At the Aug. 26 meeting, Hallett’s board colleagues said his
stance on the controversy had compromised his effectiveness. Ultimately, both
Hallett and commissioner Paul McHugh agreed with the assessment and Hallett
yielded his seat as president to Calhoun.
McHugh, who was up for re-election, did not pass the primary
stage and his seat was eventually won in November by McAleer, the first female
board member in the port’s 90-year history.
McAleer, who won with better than 64 percent of the more
than 13,300 votes cast, already worked for the Port of Port Angeles as its
director of business development, a position she resigned when taking her seat
on the board.
In July, she identified herself as the whistleblower who
filed the complaint that launched an investigation into Robb’s resignation and
immediate rehiring. Robb now says he intends to retire in July.
