The AFA Alaska Master Executive Council (MEC) would like to share some very interesting information with you about the upcoming Port of Seattle Commission race, in which there is one open seat up for election. Why are we writing to the entire group about a local election? The outcome of this particular election could have fairly significant consequences for Alaska Air Group. Why?
Nine candidates are currently announced as running. One of the candidates–Ken Rogers—is a pilot for Delta Air Lines. Not only that but he also just stepped down from Delta’s board of directors. What is even crazier is that according to publicly available funding reports, almost all of Captain Rogers’ campaign contributions have arguably come more or less directly from Delta Air Lines—via contributions from board members, executives and other Delta employees.
Alaska Air Group management is very concerned about the outcome of this election because there are several very significant Sea-Tac Airport issues that the Port Commission sets policy on that have a big impact on whether the competitive playing field is level.
Alaska is tracking the Port of Seattle race closely and believes there are two candidates who are worthy of the consideration and support of King County (Seattle) residents:
- Herb Krohn, the Washington state legislative director for the United Transportation Union, which represents railroad and other transit workers.
- Darrell Bryan, the recently retired president of Clipper Navigation, which operates the Victoria Clipper boats.
The top two candidates in the August 4 primary election will advance to the general election in November. Ballots for the primary will be mailed to King County residents on July 15th.
More information can be found on Alaska’s World at http://alaskasworld.com/News/2015/07/15_port_race.asp.
In Solidarity,
Your MEC – Jeffrey Peterson, Brian Palmer, Yvette Gesch, Becky Strachan, Laura Masserant, Cathy Gwynn, Sandra Morrow, Stephen Couckuyt and MEC Government Affairs Chairperson Bev Bullock
