Port of Vancouver Executive Director Larry Paulson will step down in April 2012 and his deputy, Todd Coleman, will succeed him as the port’s new chief, the port announced Tuesday.
Paulson, 64, said he told the board about a year ago that he planned to retire. It’s time to “move on to find something else to do,” Paulson said.
The port’s Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to appoint Coleman as the port’s new executive director, effective May 1, 2012. Coleman was a partner in an engineering firm before he joined the port in 2001.
The announcement of Paulson’s retirement and the resulting change in leadership comes at a busy time for the port, which is building up its rail operations, preparing for Farwest Steel to build a new facility, and negotiating with Australian mining giant BHP Billiton to build an export operation to handle potash.
Commission President Brian Wolfe said Paulson has amassed a great team of administrators and that the port has a number of important “projects in the dirt right now.”
The port’s decision to name Coleman as its next executive director, made Tuesday during one of the board’s regular public meetings, was the first time port officials publicly discussed Paulson’s plan to retire and who would succeed him. The elected board had previously discussed the transition privately in executive sessions. Closed to the public, executive sessions are allowed under state open meetings law only in certain cases, including issues concerning real estate, personnel and litigation.
Port officials said they took care not to violate the open meetings law. Paulson agreed to pay an independent contractor about $9,400 to review the port’s succession plan, which he is allowed to do without board approval with small contracts. The consultant concluded that Coleman was a top candidate, and would have likely been among the top three even in a broad search for executive director, Paulson said.
Commission President Wolfe said that no decisions were made in executive session meetings.
Tuesday’s vote to appoint Coleman, then, appears to have been the port’s first formal decision not to conduct a regional or global search for candidates.
Wolfe said port leaders felt it was better to have a consultant interview key stakeholders and port staff to gauge who would be the best person for the port’s top job rather than opening up the process to a broader public engagement.
He added that Coleman, unlike any potential outside candidates, is well-known and well-versed in the port’s challenges and commitments.
“I don’t want to mess with that chemistry,” Wolfe said.
Paulson said naming Coleman to the port’s top position is “a logical step” to maintain continuity and “to have a good person in place who is intimately involved” with the port’s business. “It’s not upsetting to the staff,” Paulson added.
Retirement compensation
Paulson said Coleman’s pay as executive director will be decided later. Even though he’s retiring, Paulson will still be in charge of the port’s day-to-day operations for the next 13 months. However, when he does step down next April, Paulson, who draws an annual salary of $170,568, will have served 20 years at the port.
Upon retiring, Paulson will have access to compensation set up for his retirement, including through the state’s public employee retirement system, which is offered to local government employees. He will receive an estimated $48,800 annually from PERS.
Paulson, who also has 31 years of experience in the Air Force and Air National Guard, said he’s not sure what he wants to do after he leaves the port. Nevertheless, he said he plans to stay involved in some way. He noted that he’s still licensed to practice law in both Washington and Oregon.
Commissioners praised Paulson for his performance over the years. Addressing Paulson during Tuesday’s hearing, Commissioner Jerry Oliver said he’s got a “hunch you’re not going to be like an old soldier and just fade away.”
Commissioners spoke highly of Coleman. “He has all of those personal characteristics of being potentially a very great leader,” Wolfe said. Coleman joined the port in 2001, serving as director of facilities before being promoted to deputy executive director in 2005.
Before joining the port, Coleman was a partner in an engineering consulting firm, Coleman & Davido Engineering Consultants, in Estacada, Ore. He also held positions in Oregon companies URS Inc. and Parametrix Inc.
On Tuesday, Coleman said he was humbled by the decision and thanked the port for its “vote of confidence.” He said the port has a lot to do in the months and years ahead. It will be important to keep up the port’s momentum, Coleman said. “We’ll have a lot of fun.”
