By Nathan Whalen

Dec 05 2007

The commissioners for the Port of Coupeville will soon be interviewing at least two candidates to fill a vacancy on the three-member board.

Bruce Bryson, who is four years into a six-year term, is resigning effective at the end of the year and his peers are working to find a replacement.

To date two people — Marshall Bronson and Rob Harbour — have expressed interest in filling Bryson’s position.

Bronson, who is finishing his third term on the Coupeville Town Council, thought serving as a port commissioner would be an interesting challenge. He recently lost his bid for a fourth term to Ann Dannhauer.

He said he has a lot of experience working with ports that he gained while in the Navy and that experience would serve him well working for the Port of Coupeville.

Harbour, former manager of Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve, has served on the port’s comprehensive plan advisory committee. He confirmed he is interested in Bryson’s position but he hasn’t yet applied. He is talking to former commissioners to better understand the commitment involved.

He said the port faces some interesting challenges as officials implement the new comprehensive plan while resolving revenue issues.

Jim Patton, executive director for the Port of Coupeville, said that both Harbour and Bronson are very knowledgeable about the port and the port-owned Greenbank Farm.

The application period for the vacancy ends at 6 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7.

The remaining commissioners will publicly interview candidates during the port’s Dec. 12 meeting in the Commissioners’ Hearing Room at the county annex building in Coupeville. The meeting begins at 10:30 a.m.

After the interviews, the commissioners will go into executive session to deliberate on which candidate to choose. Then, they will resume the open meeting to announce Bryson’s replacement.

To apply for Bryson’s spot, an applicant has to live in his district, which is basically the town of Coupeville along with the area east of town to Welcher Road.

For more information, call 678-5020.