She told KING-5's Robert Mak in April 2007 that it's "common in companies, other places" for people to be "let go with a year's salary." She again emphatically denied acting alone. "I wouldn't do anything unilaterally," Davis says. "I've been here for 20 years. Honesty and integrity have guided me. I'd never do anything illegal."
Meanwhile, the Justice Department continues its criminal investigation of the Port following the state audit that found Port staff got too cozy with contractors, violated competitive-bidding laws, and wasted nearly $100 million of taxpayer dollars during Dinsmore's tenure. The audit, released late last year, charges the commission with complacency, saying that it provided "insufficient oversight over contracting practices," and recommends the commission "reassert its responsibility for Port management...and take back much of the decision making responsibility that has been delegated."
Harley Soltes
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Clifford says his recall effort is as much about kicking Davis off the commission as it is a pre-emptive strike on her legacy.
"She's hoping for the Pat Davis Pier," he says. "But when your name gets put up and there's a whole lot of signatures collected for your recall, there's not going to be a whole lot of statues that go up in your honor."
Indeed the Port has a tradition of naming things to honor former commission members. There's a park in West Seattle named after Jack Block, who at 28 years was the panel's longest-serving member; a pier at Shilshole Bay Marina named after the late Henry Kotkins; and a fountain and children's pool at Bell Street Pier named for Paige Miller.
She may not get the "Pat Davis Pier," but the 23-year commissioner, like it or not, will have left a legacy of another sort: audio taping of all Port executive sessions, and efforts by state legislators to mandate audio taping at municipalities statewide— insurance to guard against future closed-door shenanigans like the Dinsmore parachute.
Davis' tenure has also spawned a whole new crop of so-called reformers, eager to put their stamp on a new era of improved Port accountability.
Port commissioner Gael Tarleton, for one, is leading the review of Resolution 3181. "It created a culture where the staff was accountable to the CEO and not to the commission," she says. "Changing the language is one step in the process. Changing the culture is going to take a little more time."
Tarleton won't talk specifics about Davis, saying only that she'd rather "leave it up to the voters to decide her culpability."
Early supporter Kludt, for one, thinks Davis isn't conniving. "I had a feeling that she was being pressured by other people and just [rolled] over," she says. "I think she basically probably was a nice person, but I don't think she was a person who knew how to stand up on her own."
Former commissioner Fisken says that he still can't tell "whether she's naive or scheming" even after four years of sparring with Davis. "She's a mystery."
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