Seattle Port Commissioners Hire CEO Investigation Team

The Port of Seattle Commission announced on Sept. 25 that Commissioners Tom Albro and Rob Holland have hired 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 does not represent a conflict of interest.

Those hired by Albro and Holland are: Gerry Alexander, a former chief justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Washington from 2001 to 2010, who’s now with the firm of Bean, Gentry, Wheeler & Peternell in Olympia; Russ Perisho, former partner at Perkins Coie from 1978 to 2008. He’s currently in sole practice in Poulsbo; and LeeAnn Pelham, former executive director of the City of Los Angeles Ethics Commission from 2001 to 2011.

On Sept. 11, the Commission unanimously passed a motion requesting a review and timeline of pertinent events from March 1, 2011 to Sept. 10, 2012 that led to Yoshitani’s acceptance of the board position with Expeditors, a Seattle-based for-profit logistics company.

Yoshitani, who has been the port’s executive director since March 2007, was announced Aug. 7 as the newest member of Expeditors’ board of directors. 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.

The Seattle Port Authority said in August it has found no apparent conflict of interest in the arrangement.

The outside counsel and ethics expert are expected present their reports and offer any recommendations for improvements or changes to the port’s and Commission’s ethics policies during the Commission’s Oct. 23 public meeting.

Seattle Port Head’s Side Job Raises Concerns

The Seattle Port Authority says it has found no apparent conflict of interest in Port of Seattle Executive Director Tay Yoshitani’s decision to accept a position as a director with logistics company Expeditors Intl.

The Aug. 27 confirmation by the port authority followed an investigation brought on by an Aug. 24 letter signed by 13 King County, Washington legislators asking the Port of Seattle Commission to look more closely into various issues raised by Yoshitani’s acceptance of the second job, including conflict of interest.

In the letter, the lawmakers said that Yoshitani being on the board of Expeditors could result in the company’s clientele gaining a competitive advantage over non-Expeditors port customers.

However the port has said that it has carefully looked at the agreement and found that Yoshitani would not be in violation of any port rules or regulations.

Yoshitani, who has been the port’s executive director since March 2007, was announced as the newest member of the company’s board of directors Aug. 9. In his new role, he stands to earn more than $230,000 in annual compensation, on top of the nearly $367,000 a year he makes with the port.

His current employment agreement with Seattle, which expires in June 2014, has language stating that he can serve on the board of a company or other private entity on his own time as long as the port deems that the board membership doesn’t create a conflict of interest or violate the port’s ethics code.