Five of six candidates and two incumbents running for three Port Commission positions tackled the subject of North Bay development at a Magnolia Community Club meeting last week.
The race is significant because the Port's approach to redeveloping North Bay could change if all three seats are filled with newcomers, noted MCC president Victor Berry. "It could change the balance of power very easily," he said.
Community activist Dan Becraft was clearly skeptical of the Port's intentions for the largely vacant area north of Terminals 90 and 91. "They're not even going to commit to how much money they're going to commit to this project," he said.
Property taxes earmarked for the Port have been going up steadily in the past several years, and the Port hasn't done anything with the money, complained Becraft, who described himself as a fiscal conservative.
Richard Berkowitz, who has worked in the maritime industry for the past decade, said the Port has a great opportunity to finally earn some money on the North Bay property. But he cautioned that would happen only if the Port focuses on maritime uses.
The uses don't include shipping containers, Berkowitz stressed. "But there is a great opportunity to bring in tug and barge cargo," he said of supplies for an Alaskan oil pipeline.
The Port has touted the possibility of drawing so-called emerging industries such as biotech to North Bay. That made sense six years ago but not now, according to Berkowitz. "Giving up maritime property for non-maritime uses is not the way to go at this time," he said.
Pat Davis, a 19-year incumbent on the commission, said the Port's mission is to increase trade flow, which in turn creates jobs and enhances revenue for the city. She touted increased cruiseship traffic at the Port and the work at Sea-Tac International Airport as examples of the approach.
But Davis also said the Port is looking for public input to determine the best course of action for North Bay, "or whether we should do anything at all."
Jack Jolley, who works in finance, said he favors preserving and creating maritime-industrial jobs in the area, but Jolley also said the demand for such jobs simply isn't there at the moment. However, he predicted that will change because of "a trade tsunami coming at us from China."
Incumbent Lawrence Molloy, a self-described policy wonk, said he was interested in keeping maritime and industrial uses in North Bay. But Malloy added that it will take innovative solutions to integrate North Bay development into a dynamic city undergoing change.
However, he conceded that the maritime-industrial sector is floundering a bit right now. "I'm not adverse to leaving the property fallow for a couple of years," said Malloy, who also pooh-poohed the idea of hi-tech being a good fit for North Bay.
"There are plenty of places we can do hi-tech," he said, mentioning Ren-ton, Tukwila, Belltown, Pioneer Square and South Lake Union as examples.
Peter Coates, a former King County cop and a current labor-union activist, said the Port has to be prepared for a coming onslaught of international trade.
Port property such as North Bay is a valuable asset, he said, likening it to Boeing factories in Renton that have been bulldozed into parking lots. "So we have to be very careful when we do away with a valuable asset."
Lloyd Hara, a Queen Anne resident, echoed Coates' comment. "Once it's gone, it's gone forever," he said. "I think we need to think hard about what could happen."
Hara said the marketing of Seattle as a seaport is very important because the city has lost market share to other West Coast ports, but he stressed that improvements to infrastructure are needed to compete successfully.
Do we want an active port, "or do we want to turn ourselves into another San Francisco?" he asked. "Sometimes the highest and best use isn't always what you want."
Barry from the MCC asked a question some have wondered about: whether the Port would consider selling the North Bay property to private developers.
Not everyone answered, but Hara said the Port needs to look at the bottom line, adding that the agency has lost money on all of its real-estate deals.
"Why hasn't a developer come forward and said they wanted to buy this?" he also wondered.
Actually, developers have asked about that possibility, Davis said before the meeting began, but she added later that the Port has turned down the offers because the agency has a long-term policy of not selling its assets. Davis also said the Port had not taken a loss on most of its projects.
Besides, she added, selling off North Bay would be getting rid of property that belongs to all of the people in Seattle.
Jolley didn't directly answer the question about selling North Bay. "To let it sit there collecting dust with just school buses parked there is no good," he said.
Doing something there could bring in hundreds of million of dollars in tax revenue and create almost 20,000 jobs, Jolley added. "I want to see that property move forward."
Becraft also dodged the question, saying North Bay has to give people a reasonable return without an enormous investment.
"You have to ask: what's reasonable?" he added.
Coates said the primary responsibility of the Port is the running the airport and seaport. "It is not, in my opinion, in the business of developing property," he said. Instead, the Port needs to aggressively market itself as a seaport, something he charged the Port hasn't done.
If the Port is unable to do that, Coates added, it should look at another option for North Bay.
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.
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