Fisken and Hara think that e-mail shows that Dinsmore was not only actively recruiting candidates for the Port election but was using Port facilities to do so. "It's against the law," says Fisken. "It's horrendous to have someone in his position [who is] that active in the political campaigns." Hara says: "You cannot do that. Any political campaigning has to be done on your own private computer or cell phone outside the office."
Dinsmore claims he was not breaking any laws or recruiting any candidates. "That's not how I interpret [the e-mail]. Several people including Jim Dwyer are interested. I never mince words."
Both: Port of Seattle
Pier 69, the spectacular headquarters of the Port of Seattle (top), and CEO Mic Dinsmore.
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Previously
The Port in a Storm
The races for Seattle Port Commission might change the direction of King County's billion-dollar, economic-development government. (Oct. 5, 2005)
Big Bucks for Port Races
A new PAC raises $100,000. (Aug. 24, 2005)
So Long, Sodo
The grand ambitions of a developer clash with an impassioned politician's hope to save Seattle's working waterfront. (April 28, 2004)
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The Public Disclosure Commission's Anderson says her agency is responsible for enforcing the law against the use of public facilities for political campaigns. When the commission finds someone guilty of violating the law, it can impose a fine of $1,700 for a single violation and $4,200 for multiple violations. If the commission does not feel the fines are sufficient, it can ask the state attorney general to file a civil lawsuit against the person.
While Dinsmore says he didn't recruit candidates for the open seat, he certainly let anyone who asked know that Molloy should not be re-elected. "Molloy, in four years, I believe, added zero value," he says now. Davis shares Dinsmore's contempt for Molloy. "Molloy was doing a lot of damage with our customers and our employees," she says, and she actively worked to defeat him.
On March 30, 2005, Davis met Jack Jolley, the former treasurer at Microsoft, at a Capitol Hill coffee shop to discuss the upcoming campaign. Jolley had decided to run for Port Commission but he hadn't yet decided whether to run against an incumbent or seek the open seat. Davis urged him to run against Molloy. As a means of encouraging him, she revealed that Molloy had a "sexual-harassment issue," according to Jolley. He recalls her telling him, "We'd like to see you run against Molloy. Molloy has been involved in sexual harassment, and we can make it public at the right time." Jolley was horrified. "I didn't want to run this type of campaign," he says. "I am a private citizen. I'm not entitled to know what goes on in an executive committee of the Port."
Davis admits that she offered the dirt to Jolley. "I said there was information that was disclosable," she says. "If somebody is out to stab you in the back, you don't want to see him there anymore."
Later during the 2005 campaign, a 2004 letter from then–Port Commission President Paige Miller, a close ally of Davis and Dinsmore, to Molloy about his personal conduct was circulating in political circles. The Port says there was never a sexual harassment complaint filed against Molloy. The letter does not charge actual sexual harassment but rebukes him for "inappropriate statements and actions." Molloy says he followed the letter's recommendation that he "undertake training in appropriate workplace behavior and diversity."
Davis' offer of dirt backfired. Jolley decided to run against her and became one of the candidates promising to change business as usual at the Port. But he lost. So did Molloy. And Fisken says that business as usual continues—with terrible results.
Fisken claims that the businesses that funded Wallace's PAC and Davis' campaign are getting huge public subsidies, in the amount of $120 million. Last month, the Port Commission gave the first go-ahead to Dinsmore's proposal to renovate two waterfront facilities. Terminal 30, on SoDo's industrial waterfront, would be converted from current use as a cruise ship terminal and leased to SSA, formerly known as Stevedoring Services of America, the biggest privately owned marine-freight handler in the world. Interbay's Pier 91, where fishing trawlers dock in the winter, would be renovated to become a new cruise terminal for the spring and summer months. According to Fisken, the main beneficiary of Pier 91's changes are Cruise Terminals of America, a private firm that is owned by SSA, Columbia Hospitality, and General Steamship Agencies. "It kills me that we voted $120 million for these projects. It seems like a huge scandal on the face of it." SSA, the cruise lines, and their executives gave Wallace's PAC, Davis, and Creighton $65,000 during the 2005 election cycle.
Davis dismisses the notion that her political allies are getting special treatment. "This has nothing to do with the campaign," she says of the commission's decision making. She claims that, in fact, the cruise industry is unhappy about the move to Interbay.
Dinsmore feels this is just one more example of Fisken's destructive tendencies. "Alec continues to make comments that are unsubstantiated, but they are lightning rods."
ghowland@seattleweekly.com
