Port of Seattle
In an unusual format, seven candidates for Port Commission and 33rd district legislative seats appeared all at the same time in a candidate forum sponsored by the SeaTac Airport Community Coalition for Justice (STACC4J) . We wrote about the forum in an earlier post, including a link to the forum information page. The forum was live streamed via Zoom, and when the recording is available we will link to it.
The forum included on stage two current candidates for Port Commission (Ryan Calkins, Toshiko Hasegawa, both unopposed),one remote (Hamdi Mohammed, current commission president), State Senator Tina Orwall, unopposed in her race, and 33rd House candidates Kevin Schilling and Edwin Obras. We profiled a previous debate of the latter two candidates held last week in Des Moines.
I asked the event organizers “why this forum? Why have people from two different branches of government asked the same questions at the same time?” Event organizer Lynda Wong replied:
We wanted everyone on the same stage to emphasize that airport impacted community issues are complex and require multi-jurisdictional, multi-level solutions. All levels of government AND our communities need to buy in for progress. There is just as much pluralism--or diversity if you prefer--among the 21 organizing partners that produced the questions. We vary widely in our core missions, but we all found alignment and shared focus on common issues. I think we need more of these intersectional conversations for durable solutions.
The broad nature of the 21 organizations that collaborated on this Forum drove the first hour of questions focused on social justice and jobs. Topics included the Port’s job training and employment opportunities, influence over employers at the airport, and other community concerns.
After a break, the moderators took questions from the floor. The questions were submitted in writing, and in some cases it was hard to make sense of the question. For example, I wrote a question about the lease-hold excise tax. Was this fair to counties and cities? I will not name who responded, but just note that no one who was asked stated that the excise tax is paid by the Port on property it owns and then leases out to private parties.And none of the people who were not asked said anything either. According to the state Department of Revenue, the rate is 12.84% of the lease amount. 57% of the proceeds remain with the state, while 43% are remitted to the county, who in turn is supposed to remit it to the appropriate city. Is this happening? Should some of the proceeds also go to other entities that rely on property taxes, such as school districts, fire districts, the flood control district and others? Even organizers promised to include this in a follow up set of questions they are submitting to the candidates.
Other questions related to the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP), the need for another regional airport, air pollution, and overall port mission. A few notable comments:
- Commission President Mohammed stated she lives just a few blocks away from the airport and is wondering what the impact of air quality will be on her young child. Will it lead to asthma or health risks? To my knowledge, this is the only time ever that any Port leader has to deal with the consequences of airport pollution and noise.
- Several commissioners stated how the Port mission needs to include quality of life, not just economic development.
- The commissioners stated they get surprisingly little email. Any time you want to contact them, just go to this contact page.
- Regarding the airport master plan, some commissioners stated they were looking forward to the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) review of the expansion plan because there are safeguards built in it that are no longer a part of the national review (NEPA) that the FAA just blessed.
- However, no one seemed willing to say “maybe we need to scale back the expansion because it will make air, noise and other pollution worse. Maybe we don’t need to meet every “demand” for warehouse space.”
Of the 60 attendees, I recognized just a few. Burien Councilmember Sarah Moore, Burien Airport Commission head Brian Davis, and Des Moines Councilmember and Seatac Noise Information founder J C Harris were among the attendees. This was definitely a regional forum: there were people from Capitol Hill, Beacon Hill, and South Park as well as the Highline area. STACC4J is currently: 350Seattle Aviation, Beacon Hill Council, El Centro de la Raza, and King County International Airport Community Coalition. The 21 orgs shown as organizing partners at the bottom of the Forum page came together specifically to produce this event.
Members Discussion