Port of Centralia
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners will begin interviewing candidates next month to fill an empty seat at the Port of Centralia — a decision that was lobbed to the county after Port Commissioners Julie Shaffley and Peter Lahmann could not come to an agreement after six unproductive meetings.
On a county level, the prosecuting attorney’s office will evaluate any potential conflicts of interest that candidates may have. Concerns about possible conflicts of interest were largely what led to the port’s standstill. While Commissioner Lahmann expressed support for candidates Michael Mahoney and William Luond, Commissioner Shaffley insisted that their ties to businesses that benefit from the port could create inappropriate conflicts. Mahoney’s family still receives regular checks from the port, and Luond works for RailWorks, a company the port contracts with.
“There’s been discussion in the past on whether there’s a conflict of interest,” Fund said. “That’s been something in the press that’s very high level.”
Commissioner Shaffley said she was hopeful that the county would make a decision that would help the port “continue the great economic progress that the port has achieved.”
She said the port itself had a “very low threshold” for the qualifications of the candidate, with applicants vetted on things like criminal history, age, and place of residence.
“I don’t know if the prosecuting attorney will look at conflicts of interest, I’m not sure,” Shaffley said. “I would hope so.”
The five candidates originally considered by the Port — Mahoney, Luond, Kyle Markstrom, Richard Schnatterly, and Lindy Waring — are still in the running. County commissioners said Monday that one other person recently picked up an application. The seat has been empty since August, when Commissioner Dan Keahey left the Port.
Commissioners will interview candidates in public meetings. To preserve fairness, Commissioner Gary Stamper said he wants to disperse interview questions beforehand. In the past, he said the questions were shared outside public meetings, giving candidates interviewed at later dates a leg up.
“There were people that were in the room that were passing that information on, which, they can do that, it’s an open public meeting,” Stamper said. “My thoughts on that are to give the questions to everyone and go from there.”
Applications materials are available at lewiscountywa.gov/offices/commissioners/bocc-news/lewis-county-accepting-applications-for-port-of-centralias-district-1-vacancy/ and can be submitted by emailing copies to committees@lewiscountywa.gov. Applications are due at 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 30.
