Lack of quorum forces Dewatto to cancel meeting

Kirk Boxleitner | Aug 24, 20230

The Port of Dewatto canceled its scheduled Aug. 9 commissioners meeting because a personal emergency arose that would have left the board without a quorum, according to Port Manager Jeana Crosby.

The port did have a special meeting Aug. 11, both remotely and in-person at the port office building in Tahuya, to sign vouchers that would allow the port to pay its bills and salaries. However, according to Crosby, the rest of the business that had been scheduled for the port’s August meeting will likely have to wait until its Sept. 13 meeting, unless another special meeting occurs before that date.

Crosby said the absence of a quorum also affected the port’s public record-keeping. In order for the port to publish the minutes from its July 12 meeting at portofdewatto.com, those minutes must be approved by both of the port’s remaining commissioners.

Crosby promised to provide minutes from the Aug. 11 meeting at that same time as well.

By the time the port’s September meeting takes place, Crosby said the ongoing search to fill the vacant seat on its board will be close to being escalated to the next level, this time from Mason County to the Governor’s Office.

The port had 90 days from the start of the position’s vacancy, caused by the death of then-commissioner Ray Mow in April, but because no one was appointed during that period, the county was then tasked with appointing a commissioner for District 2, which encompasses the areas surrounding Haven and Wooten lakes.

“After the additional 90 days allotted to the county, we will have to ask the governor to appoint someone to the position,” Crosby said. “At this point, even if we do finally get someone who is interested, they will no longer be able to be appointed by our commission, but will instead be appointed by the county, or by the governor if it’s after the county’s 90-day window has expired.”

Crosby urged any registered voters who live in District 2 and are interested in the position to call her at the Port of Dewatto office at 360-372-2695.

In other port news, cybersecurity matters have been a matter of some interest for the commissioners this summer. Dave Haugen, Mow’s successor as commission chair, deemed its handling to be “quite serious” in the wake of a recent spate of “scams and ransomware.”

Crosby confirmed for Haugen that the port already maintains backups of its data. He suggested the port conduct such data backups daily via thumb drives, a suggestion Crosby pledged to explore, although she suggested using external drives.

Crosby and Haugen agreed that would help safeguard the port against hackers and computer crashes.