PORT ANGELES — The Port of Port Angeles serves an important role in Clallam County, but its connection with the community is “fragile,” according to an assessment based on 34 interviews with government leaders, staff, residents and tenants.

Port commissioners discussed the report by Seattle-based Jones Strategic at their work session Monday as they begin searching for the port’s sixth executive director in the past 16 years.

“We heard from the public that there was a lot of frustration, we heard from tenants a lot of frustration, we also heard from staff that they feel we are trying to do too much, that there is too much expected of them,” port commission President Colleen McAleer said after the meeting.

“It’s not surprising.”

The executive director’s position “will not be an easy job,” McAleer added.

“I’m very hopeful that someone will be up for the challenge and will find it inspiring to have an opportunity to have such a big impact on so many people and just the community in general.”

The report was put together by Larry Boone and Pat Jones of Jones Strategic.

The company is under a $39,600 port contract, including up to $3,600 in expenses, to find a replacement for Ken O’Hollaren, who resigned effective Dec. 31.

Jones Strategic will have 10-15 candidates for the commissioners’ review by mid-May, Jones told commissioners.

The identities of finalists will likely be divulged by the end of May, Jones and McAleer said.

O’Hollaren, who became interim director in August 2013 and permanent executive director in April 2014, succeeded Jeff Robb.

Boone is a former director of the state Public Ports Association and former executive director of the Port of Moses Lake.

He said the Port of Port Angeles has stable revenue and expenditures, adequate reserves and strong debt coverage.

But organizational changes have created stress among staff members, including the brief tenures of port commissioners Colleen McAleer, Connie Beauvais and Steve Burke, none of whom have served full four-year terms. Burke was named to the position March 11 after Jim Hallett’s sudden resignation.

“You are a port that’s going through a lot of change, but there’s an awful lot of opportunity facing you,” Boone told commissioners at their meeting.

Port staff said they wanted an executive director with an understanding of high-performing port districts.

Staff also wanted to be treated with “more respectful behavior,” he said.

Criticisms

Tenants and port stakeholders also displayed a “critical and rancorous tone toward the port, general feeling that the port is missing out on new business opportunities, and a perception of special treatment and favoritism for certain tenants, people and groups,” according to the assessment.

The port’s connection to the community is “fragile” and attendance is low at commission meetings while the port must tackle the Port Angeles Harbor cleanup, restoration of commercial passenger airline service and development of marine trades, according to the assessment.

“I did encounter a number of individuals who were almost coarse in their criticism,” Boone added.

“When I asked them for specifics, there were none.

“They were kind of broad labeling and almost ad-hominem things versus specific examples of what problems were or what they saw as problems.”

That was true, too, about the criticism that some of the port’s 70 tenants receive special treatment.

“It is a perception out there,” Jones said.

Boone said the rancorous tone he discovered among residents was not necessarily directed only at the port.

‘Free swinging’

In Clallam County, Boone discovered “more people doing free swinging with their opinions than I’m used to,” he said.

At the same time, the new port commission is perceived as doing business differently, with many residents “hopeful that stability and community partnerships will return,” he added.

The new executive director needs to engage personally in better outreach and communication, according to the assessment.

A salary for the new executive director could be $140,123, based on the average of salaries for port directors in Anacortes, Olympia, Kalama, Pasco, Edmonds and Skagit, according to Boone.

That compares to the $145,000 that O’Hollaren received.

The new executive director will manage a budget that in 2015 is $9.2 million and that supports a staff of 34 employees.

As part of Jones’ and Boone’s report, they described a key commission challenge in hiring a new executive director.

The commission “needs to understand/clarify what they want the [executive director] to do, and clearly prioritize deliverables,” according to their written report.

After attending Monday’s meeting, interim Executive Director Karen Goschen, who has been the finance director, said she might submit an application for the position.

“I’ve been waiting for them to kind of decide what they are looking for,” Goschen said.

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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.