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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (June 14, 2019)
Port: Difficult decision looms Continued from Page 1 time tenant Bergerson Con- struction and the loss of state grant money for repair work because of a failure to follow through on requirements of the grant. “There’s been one unac- ceptable shortcoming after another,” Rohne said. “In or- der to move the port forward, it is imperative we have a good relationship with grant- ing authorities… It seems Jim Knight has neither local nor state support to manage the Port of Astoria.” June 14, 2019 T he C olumbia P ress 4 Commissioner Bill Hunsin- ger criticized Knight’s unwill- ingness to hold a boat com- pany financially responsible after a ship damaged a dock. His list of 16 failures in- cluded botched contracts, the state’s closure of Pier 2 be- cause of infrastructure prob- lems, lack of maintenance and loss of East End Mooring Basin use, the unadvertised decision to sell Tongue Point and loss of tenants like Berg- erson, Oregon State Police, and McAmis Construction. “Jim Knight doesn’t follow Port commis- sioners prepare to make their case against or in support of Exec- utive Director Jim Knight. Cindy Yingst The Columbia Press the commission’s advice,” Hunsinger said. Chairman Frank Spence said the turning point for him was the advice of an ad- hoc finance committee, made up of bankers and indepen- dent financial experts. “The port’s current financial condition is the result of many years of mismanagement and neglect,” Spence said. Two commissioners, Robert Stevens and Jim Campbell, expressed support for Knight. “Not everything Mr. Knight undertook came to fruition, but he just keeps trying,” Ste- vens said. “One of the ques- tions I have is, what is the rush? We clearly have a panic move to remove the director before a new commissioner” replaces Hunsinger. Stevens called the pan- el’s actions a vendetta that should only be done for seri- ous crimes and omissions. “If we go about this half- baked and rush through it, … we’re going to see an inevita- ble lawsuit.” Knight, whose salary is $168,375, was hired on a three-year contract in Octo- ber 2014 and is in the second year of a five-year contract extension. He chose to have his employment review held in public, but didn’t respond to the accusations at Tues- day’s meeting. He will likely respond during the port’s next meet- ing at 6 p.m. June 18, when a decision on his employment is expected to be made. Dinner to benefit child with leukemia A dinner and silent auction to benefit Jackson Hump- al, 7, the son of a local Coast Guard couple, is set for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 19, at Camp Rilea. It’s hosted by Fort Stevens VFW 10580 post and auxiliary. Admission is $12, which in- cludes spaghetti, bread, sal- ad, dessert and beverage. For tickets, contact the post at its website, vfwfortste- vens10580.com/contact or call Debbie Little at 503-739- 0661.
