For Port Commission: Davis, Creighton, Hara

Nov. 8, voters will choose three of the five directors who set policy for the Port of Seattle, which owns Sea-Tac Airport, the marine terminals on Elliott Bay, Fishermen's Terminal and Shilshole Marina. The Times endorses Patricia Davis, John Creighton and Lloyd Hara.

Our choice of Davis is based on her 20-year record of quiet support of investments to expand capacity at Sea-Tac and on the Seattle waterfront. Some of that spending was overdone.

But her opponent, Microsoft retiree Jack Jolley, exaggerates when he accuses the Port of "undisciplined, extravagant overspending at Sea-Tac" and flatly errs when he says it "abandoned maritime a decade ago." This former bond salesman speaks with real authority on matters of finance but on little else. Stick with Davis.

Our choice of Creighton is based on an unease with the incumbent, Lawrence Molloy, who seeks to bring a social agenda to the management of docks and airline terminals. He has suggested an extra-high minimum wage for private-sector workers on Port property and a toll of $1 per car to drop off people at the airport. He has suggested diverting the Port's property tax from subsidizing marine terminals to investing in clean energy, a business in which the Port has never dabbled.

Creighton wants the Port to stick with its mission of creating infrastructure that supports jobs, which is what the Port is about. Vote for Creighton.

Our choice of Hara is more difficult because his opponent, Rich Berkowitz, has a knowledge of maritime commerce better than anyone on the commission, and better than Hara's. But as a lobbyist for the U.S. flag carriers in Washington, D.C., Berkowitz is their representative. The Port belongs to the taxpayers of King County, and a $6,000-a-year commissioner needs to represent them without a conflict of allegiances.

Hara will do that. He comes out of political retirement — he's a former Seattle city treasurer — and at the beginning of the campaign his understanding of Port issues was fairly thin. He is improving — and worth supporting.