Friday, February 28, 2014

Port of Port Angeles Picks New Top Exec

By Mark Edward Nero

Former Port of Longview Executive Director Ken O’Hollaren has been chosen to fill the same role at the Port of Port Angeles. During its Feb. 25 business meeting, the Port of Port Angeles Commission publicly confirmed that it wishes to hire O’Hollaren to permanently take the place of previous executive director Jeff Robb, who resigned under odd circumstances last June, but remained on the payroll in a newly-created position.

O’Hollaren, who retired at the Port of Longview at the end of 2012 after a 32-year career, was brought on to be the Port of Port Angeles’ interim executive director in July 2013. His hiring came about after the sudden resignation of Robb in June 2013, with him citing “health issues” as the reason.

However, immediately after the resignation, the three-member commission appointed Robb to the newly-created position of director of environmental affairs, a job paying the same salary as when he held the executive director post.

Port Commissioner John Calhoun later revealed that Robb was given the job because the port feared the potential of a lawsuit over a dysfunctional relationship between Robb and senior staff members.

A formal vote on O’Hollaren’s hiring is expected to come during the board’s March 11 meeting. If hired, he would be paid $145,000 annually, which is $7,000 more than Robb made in the job, and nearly $10,000 more than O’Hollaren made during his last year at the Port of Longview.