A job recruitment announcement for the new CEO of the Port of Vancouver that included a responsibility to attract more crude oil shipments has raised hackles with opponents of the proposed Vancouver Energy terminal. The language has since been removed from the port’s online job posting.
At Tuesday’s port commission meeting, the group Taxpayers for a Responsible Public Port took issue with the language, and discussed their version that would focus the new chief executive’s attention on attracting renewable energy projects and putting a greater emphasis on transparency.
“We understand this is your application. We’re only bringing forward these areas so we might improve it,” group spokesman Ron Morrison told port commissioners.
Morrison said some of the group had already met with port staff to discuss their proposals and learned the language about promoting crude oil shipments had already been addressed by Commissioner Eric LaBrant, who opposes the plan to build the nation’s largest crude oil terminal on vacant land at the port.
In an interview, LaBrant said he spoke about it with port staff last week.
“I called to clarify we’re not out looking for oil projects at this point,” he said. “I think it was an oversight.”
Port officials said the language originally used in the job recruitment announcement was based off stock language used in most port job descriptions.
LaBrant also said the port has a strong process in place for hiring a new CEO, and transparency and community input will be important factors.
“If we stick to the plan, we’re going to avoid questions,” he said.
The CEO job announcement posted on the port’s website no longer mentions crude oil. However, the original language can still be found on other websites where the job is posted.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Jonathan Eder, the port’s human resources director, said the job posting included stock language that included a reference to crude oil, but he took it out after LaBrant brought it to his attention.
“That first paragraph was some boilerplate language we use for our job postings,” he said. The rest of the announcement was already reviewed by the commission in a report he put out earlier this year.
The issue over the language in the job posting appeared to irritate the other two port commissioners, both of whom supported the plan by Tesoro Corp. and Savage Cos. to build the terminal. The application remains under review by the state.
Commissioner Brian Wolfe said he was troubled by members of the community presenting a modified job description.
“In my 40-some-odd years in this community … I’ve never had a citizen’s committee edit a job description and I’m a little concerned about that,” he said.
Commissioner Jerry Oliver said he would “offer a reminder to Commissioner LaBrant it’s not the intent or purpose of this commission to get involved in the — at least privately — in the minutia of the management of the port and we give direction in public.”
