No executive session held this
morning. Please note this
meeting is being recorded. My
name is Don orange and I am the
Commission President for the
Port of Vancouver. Joining me
are Temple Lentz and
Commissioner Eric LaBrant, who
is joining us virtually.
Commissioner LaBrant, can you
hear me? Can you hear me?
>> Bye bye. Five. Good morning.
>> Excellent morning. We will
see if we can't make this work.
Well. We're conducting a hybrid
meeting along with our
in-person meeting we're having
here. We're also set up for
those who are not physically
able to provide oral testimony.
Can do so virtually. Please
join me in the Pledge of
Allegiance. Pledge allegiance
to the flag of the United
States of America, and.
>> To the Republic for which it
stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
>> First item is approval of
the minutes from the last
meeting.
>> Chair, I have reviewed the
minutes and find them to be in
order and move approval.
>> I'll second the motion.
>> Such a deal. Moved. Seconded.
All those in favor?
>> Aye.
>> Aye. A unanimous. Next on
the agenda is open forum.
>> Yes. Good morning.
Commissioners. We did not have
anyone sign up virtually. And
we do not have anyone signed up
in the audience that's wanting
to speak this morning.
>> Such a deal. Let's see. Next
up. Action items.
>> We have one action item this
morning and I would like to
welcome Ahmed Mohammed, our
engineering project manager, to
the podium. Good morning.
>> Thank you Juliana. Good
morning everyone. I'm here to
talk about 26 bit. 2636 2026
priority Paving Project. This
paving. This project supports
the port's strategic plan goal
to develop a rolling 20 year,
comprehensive scheduled
maintenance plan to maximize
operational capacity,
efficiency and life expectancy
of port assets. The 2026
Priority Paving project
includes rehabilitating asphalt
pavements at terminal two,
Saint Francis Lane and a
section of Harborside Drive,
all of which are part of port's
interconnected access network,
supporting cargo transfer from
rail and ship for stakeholders.
This paving project is
anticipated to be completed by
the end of October 2026. On
July 9th, 2026, Port of
Vancouver issued an invitation
to bid 2636 2026 Priority
Paving Project and on July 23rd,
2026, two bids were received.
Western United's Civil of
Yacolt, Washington submitted
their total bid of $721,027,
including a bid alternate of
$54,690. The second bidder was
another corporation of
Vancouver, Washington, with
their total weight of $768,542,
including a bid alternate of
$59,400. The low bidders base
bid resulted in sufficient
funding to proceed with
awarding both the base bid and
additive alternate
determination of the low bidder
was made on the basis of the
base bid, not inclusive of
Washington State sales tax or
the additive alternate. Staff
reviewed the Western United
Civil Group responsive bid and
concluded that the organization
is a responsible contractor
capable of performing the work.
The engineer's estimate for
both the base bid and additive
alternate ranges from $721,100
to $975,600. The project is
included in the approved 2026
capital budget. The
recommendation for the Board of
Commissioners is to authorize
the CEO to execute a public
works contract with Western
United Civil Group, the lowest
responsive and responsible
bidder for bid. 2636 2026
priority paving for the base
bid and additive alternate in
the amount of $721,027 plus
applicable sales tax. Thank you.
That concludes my agenda item.
Any questions?
>> Thank you. Do you have any
questions? Eric? Did you.
>> I have none and would move
that we adopt the
recommendation as presented.
>> Second.
>> All those in favor.
>> Aye.
>> Aye.
>> Thank you.
>> Approved unanimously. Thank
you sir.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
>> Going to unfinished business.
>> Yes. So, commissioners,
every month in your packet you
will see the port contract logs.
And this is a list of all the
public works contracts as well
as the service contracts that
the port currently has active.
The highlighted sections are
the most current activity, and
these contract logs are also
posted on the port's website.
So everyone has the ability to
see our active contracts. Any
questions on the port contract
logs?
>> We hear none.
>> All right.
>> New business.
>> No new business today.
>> Accounts payable.
>> Maybe we do. And I would
like to welcome Nick McIntyre,
accounting manager, to present
the payables. Good morning.
>> Good morning. Thank you.
Good morning commissioners. We
did not receive any questions
prior to this meeting. So I'll
start by reading the
recommendation then open the
floor for questions. The
recommendation is that the Port
of Vancouver, USA, Board of
Commissioners by motion
ratifies and approves the
payment of July 2026 vouchers
128778 through 129187 and the
amount of $5,394,425.87,
including electronic payments
generated between July 1st,
2026 and July 31st, 2026, and
the amount of $901,066.57 and
July 2026 payroll check
52281097 and direct deposits
280001 through 280143 and
300001 through 300141, and the
amount of $860,007.96.
>> Thank you.
>> I have no questions, but I
would move approval of the
recommendation as presented.
>> Eric, you got anything?
>> No. I will second the motion.
>> Moved and seconded. All
those in favor? Aye aye aye.
Unanimously. Thank you. Nick.
>> Thank you. Thank you.
>> Okay. My goodness. Are we to
the CEO report?
>> We are. We're clicking right
along today. So we have a
couple of presentations under
CEO report. Report. I'd like to
welcome Mark Newell, our
project delivery manager, who's
going to give us an update on
some projects. Good morning.
>> Good morning Juliana. Good
morning commissioners. Okay. A
few updates that we have for
the Port of Vancouver here. So
we'll start with the terminal
one dock replacement project.
Project progress has really
been clicking along down there.
It's really starting to look
like a dock. And so you can
really see that we're getting a
lot of coverage over most of
the areas of the dock. The
project is around 65% complete
right now. The contractors also
working on installing
stormwater pipe and other
elements underneath the dock,
kind of trailing behind as they
continue to march downstream
towards the Vancouver landing.
Concrete work has been the
primary focus for the last, you
know, 4 or 5 months. And and,
and a lot of that work is, is
in, in progress. There's a lot
of different construction
concrete placements here just
because of the nature of the,
of the design, where the design
has a couple of different
stages of concrete. And it also
has some wall sections that are
there as part of the future
public marketplace. Crawl space
there. So in the photograph
here, you can see a lot of the
precast panels have been
installed. And, and you can
kind of see the far end, the,
the, the eastern end there is
kind of staggered up a little
bit in that direction. So crews
are really working in all, all
different aspects here. The
project. Next slide. So this
slide shows a little bit of
kind of the progress and kind
of the connection point to the
Vancouver landing. And on the
left hand side, you can clearly
see the precast panels prior to
their closure, poor placements.
So again those panels are
placed over over the pile caps.
And then they are welded
connections together in the
center pieces. And, and then
and then those areas to the far
right there. That's a kind of
steps back up. And that will be
part of the future kind of
plaza area that will be in
front of the public market and
then tie into the Vancouver
landing. So those crews are
working on the pile caps
themselves there. And that's
kind of the last section of
pile caps for the project.
Underneath in different areas,
we also have catwalks. And that
construction is is also going
on where some structural steel
work underneath. Next slide.
Just kind of a little bit of a
of a oblique angle here. Just
looking back, just kind of how
they have their, their
supporting pieces, their beams
and structures that they've
been leapfrogging forward. And
so, so we'll continue to see
that progress through the rest
of the summer here and into the
fall. We expect concrete to
continue. And then eventually,
later in the fall, we'll see
Fender pile installation. Once
all the concrete facing is done
on the water, the water side.
So great progress here. A lot,
a lot of activity. Next project
wanted to shift to is building
2001 improvements. And again
this this project is is really
to extend the life of a pretty
important asset for the port,
which is that building 2001
with our current tenant
underneath it. So this system
here, you can see we're about
65% complete with the roof work.
And, and really this project is
addressing not only the roof,
but it's also addressing areas
where moisture is kind of got
into the, into the structure
below. So it kind of has a
couple of different phases, one,
one on top, and then the other
one down in some of those other
areas below. Next slide here.
This kind of shows a little bit.
This is the roof membrane
induction welding. So this is
kind of the methodology that
that has been chosen for this.
So here you can see in the
photograph they kind of they
have some different layers of
this roofing membrane material.
And they use kind of a magnetic,
a magnetic piece there to, to
help seal those things down.
And, and they have a couple of
different devices that they use
to, to bring that. But pretty
interesting technology that's a
part of that. And so those
crews are roofing crews are
continuing to work through.
They're making good progress.
Next slide is kind of more on
the interior. We do have
interior work. The the building
drains has some interior drains
on this. And so there's some
work that needs to be done in
there. There's also some fire
sprinkler work that crews are
doing on the interior and
accessing underneath. And then
next slide we have some
interior remediation. So this
shows just areas that are
sealed off just to make sure
that they're they're safe and
they have to be contained
within those areas while they
remove drywall and sheetrock
and other areas that need to be
patched for moisture and also
replace certain ceiling panels
where there has been leaking
and other elements. So lots of
work going on down here, a lot
of coordination going on with
our tenant to keep them active
and operating and moving at all
times. Next project. This one's
right next door here. So small
project, but has it has its own
little unique twist. So
building 3103 Canopy project.
And this is kind of between our
buildings here. So really the
canopy structure starts with
the foundation. A foundation
work starts with excavation.
And so we had a little bit of
utility relocation to to do
that. And then and really the
project is to install pier
footings. Next slide kind of
shows the basics of, of pier
construction. So reinforcing
got to have reinforcing down
there. And then you have to
install it down inside the area
where the structures are. So
there's only three pairs on
this project. Pretty
straightforward. Next slide
here kind of shows the
contractor placing concrete and
anchor bolts for the structure
above it. Interesting thing
about this project is just a
tight, tight area right next to
some existing infrastructure.
And so really the trick was
kind of of how to excavate this
without undermining. And so the
contractor used a hydro
excavation strategy to, to
basically do this and, and then
install what they call sonic
tubes inside to support the
concrete and then place these
bar in. So it worked pretty
well, pretty good idea by the
contractor to address some risk
here. And, and they're making
good progress on that. So we'll
see them probably wrap this
project up. And we're working
on fabrication of the structure
in the next probably month and
a half or so. Next project to
give an update on is the trail
segment four and five and
projects around 40% complete.
Here you can see the
contractors installing the
leveling pads installed for the
Gabion wall. So this is kind of
the far end of the project to
the to the west end there. And
so they're, they're moving
pretty, pretty good on that.
The next slide here shows a
little bit about reinforced
soil slopes. So reinforce soil
slope is kind of a, of, of a
way of kind of doing layers of
different slopes and layers and
wrapping those with
geosynthetic. And so you can
see, see some of that material
here. It kind of gets wrapped
over itself like a number of
layers. And that's another,
another method of wall
construction that we have on
this project. And then final
final slide here that I have is
just this is wall three. And in
this type of wall circumstance
here, you can see it's more
vertical walls and they're
doing block stacking in this
space. So they're kind of
working in a number of
different areas and, and kind
of maintaining that slope
adjacent to, to lower River
road. And with that, that's all
the updates that I have right
now on projects. Any questions?
>> All right Eric.
>> Sorry. I was trying to get
to my my mute button there. No,
it's it's just really
fascinating. The, the technical
angle as far as these trail
segments there, I mean, it, it
becomes really obvious that
there how much more technical
they are than the other, you
know, the other segments that
we've had. So thank you for.
Thank you for sharing that,
Mark, and I appreciate your
work on that.
>> Thanks, Commissioner.
>> Eric, did you ever hear of
induction welding before this
morning?
>> No, I haven't heard of that.
I had not heard of the the geo.
What was it? The the layering
the soil layer. Yeah. The
geosynthetic soil layering
thing. So yeah, I, I always
learn something new. And when
Mark is presenting sorry.
>> Yeah.
>> I learned as well. So thank
you commissioners.
>> Thank you. Thank you Mark.
>> Okay. So next is a federal
affairs update. And I'd like to
welcome Reinhart, who's going
to our chief external affairs
officer, who is going to
introduce our special guest
today.
>> Great. Thank you, Juliana,
and good morning, commissioners.
It's my pleasure to introduce
Dale learned this morning. Dale
is our federal lobbyist located
in Washington, DC, and he's
joining us in person this
morning to give an update on
what's happening in Washington,
DC. We make a few trips back to
Washington, DC every year, but
we're fortunate to have Dale
there for us year round,
advocating on behalf of the
port, serving as our eyes, ears
and voice. Back in the other
Washington, Dale is the
managing partner of the
Washington, DC branch of the
law and government relations
firm of Gordon Thomas Honeywell
Geith Dale has worked for GTH
since 2005, successfully
representing several public and
private sector clients on a
variety of issues, including
the Port of Vancouver. Since
2006. As I was reading that, I
realized that this is the 20th
anniversary of us working with
Dale, so I. I think we may have
missed an opportunity this
morning to have cake, but
that's okay. Prior to joining
GTH, Dale spent over six years
as the chief counsel to U.S.
Senator Patty Murray and two
years as senior advisor to U.S.
Representative Adam Smith. Dale
is a native of the Pacific
Northwest, and with that, it is
my pleasure to turn it over to
Dale Earnhardt Dale.
>> Thanks, Ryan.
>> Well, thank you again, Ryan.
Thank you. Giuliana. Thank you,
commissioners. As Ryan alluded,
I haven't been here in person
for a few years. I had
circumstance and timing, but
I'm here and I'm glad to be
here. I timed my my
conversation about 15 minutes.
Hopefully I won't go much
beyond that. And then I'll take
any questions that anyone may
have. Try to go big picture at
the federal level. Discuss our
major issues, where they are
now, where they could go, and
then I'll give my much heralded
midterm election prediction. So
big picture, the appropriations
federal process. It's the one
thing we do every year.
Sometimes we bleed into the the
the preceding first quarter to
finish it. But we do do finish
it. And the House has completed
all 12 federal appropriations
bills out of committee. The
Senate has now tried twice to
mark up a kind of a four
package bill deal that has been
pulled down both times. The
Senate Appropriations Committee
is having a pretty vibrant
debate on how much to spend on
defense. The president has
requested $1.5 trillion with a
T, and that's significantly
beyond what we've spent on our
Defense Department ever. So
that and some other social
program cuts the president
wants is kind of gumming up the
Senate process the Senate did
on Saturday morning pass a
continuing resolution through
December 11th, and the House
had passed one through December
4th. So when they come back
after the Labor Day holiday,
they will kind of hammer out
the differences on those CRS.
With the CR, you're simply
allowing the members to
campaign and to avoid a
shutdown, which is very
damaging. One issue important
to us and a lot of other local
governments is OMB has has
sought to take more control
over the federal grant process.
They have a rule proposed which
would give a lot more power to
the administration and the
political appointees within it,
even over things like federal
formula funds that a lot of
local and state governments
rely on. Senator, our Senator
Murray has been successful,
including a temporary pause on
the implementation of that rule.
There's not one in the House
version, the CR. We think the
one in the Senate will stick.
And December, I think the
Senator will try to nix that
rule altogether. It's gonna be
a big debate. The
reauthorization of the Surface
Transportation bill, which is
the programs and funding levels
for all of our surface
transportation programs at the
federal level is up for debate.
The current law expires at the
end of September. We will
likely have an extension just
because of how deep and long
that debate is. But I think
that will be a big part of our
agenda come 2027. There are
several members of the Pacific
Northwest delegation who are on
important committees. As far as
that piece of legislation,
Congressman Rick Larsen is the
ranking Democrat in the full
House on that committee. He
will likely be the new chair
come next Congress. Senator
Cantwell is the ranking member
on the Commerce Committee,
which has jurisdiction over the
the freight title of that bill.
Senator Wyden is the ranking
member on the Finance Committee,
with Idaho's Mike Crapo as the
chair, which comes up with the.
The funding part of that of
that bill, the House has
unveiled their version in May.
It passed the committee 62 to 2.
So a bipartisan effort, pretty
good for freight. A lot of
programs we've we've learned to
love like infra build, mega.
Some of the bridge programs,
all in the bill. The House did
strike some of the
authorizations, but they're
very popular while in committee.
They struck some of those
authorizations, but they're
very popular. And we think in
the end, a lot of those
programs will remain. They did
create some new programs in
that bill, like the Surface
Transportation Accelerator
program would would definitely
benefit freight, the freight
formula program. Again, I
mentioned the bridge program,
all retained in that House bill.
One thing the Iija, the
previous authorization or the
one we're under currently did,
did authorize the Port
Infrastructure Development
program. This bill did not. But
we think through the process.
It's also a very popular
program. In other ways, it will
be authorized and appropriated
for. Senate has yet to release
a bill. We do anticipate one
could come in September. Draft,
and then probably the latest by
the end of the year to kind of
sort of build that debate in
2027 on the on the
reauthorization, the
administration released a bill,
not a great bill, but typically
the executive branch is kind of
in the, you know, sort of in
the in the shadows when it
comes to the reauthorization.
It's really a creature of
Congress. So I don't anticipate
them having a lot of impact
unless, I mean, I have yet to
see threats of vetoing the
surface transportation bill in
the many years I've been back
there. But who knows? Again, we
anticipate an extension after
the for the September after the
September 30th deadline, and
that this will be a robust
debate come 2027. And as always,
we will be very, very involved.
The Water Resources Development
Act has been on track of being
approved every two years. So
this year is up at 2026. This
is the bill that provides the
policy and programs for the
Army Corps of Engineers, very
critical to the river and the
management of the river. The
House and Senate have both
released their versions of the
bill and passed them out of
their respective committees,
both bills, for the most part,
respects the previous
frameworks for the Harbor
Maintenance Trust Fund and and
several authorized projects on
the Columbia. We have been
lobbying very hard on this
water to deal with issues
related to the Corps 20 year
dredged material management
plan, and I'll talk more about
that a little later. So those
major issues on the water side,
energy and water pumps operate
operation and maintenance for
the Columbia, the Harbor
Maintenance Trust Fund report
language. Good numbers.
Typically, the administrations,
all administrations have asked
for some cuts. And the Congress
has fought back. And they're
doing that currently as well.
On that word of 2026, that push
on on the dredge material
management plan, the Corps
wants the confined aquatic
structures they're proposing to
be to be paid like new
construction. We want it to be
paid like O and M, which is the
difference between significant
or 100%, potentially federal
funding or a $100 million bill
for the Columbia River ports.
So that's a significant amount.
Over the last year, we put
together a pretty impressive
coalition of impacted ports,
business businesses, tenants,
customers to launch a strategy
to, to get our way on, on this
piece of legislation. The
campaign has taken us into
congressional offices. We don't
normally lobby ones from the
plain states in the Midwest.
Essentially, anyone that could
be impacted by a large
financial burden that affects
our costs and, and, and
efficiencies. And it's been
very wildly successful to date.
You know, people from outside
the PNW have sponsored, like
Wyoming and others. Our board
of Language, Ryan, has been the
lead amongst the Columbia River
port representatives for
identifying who's affected, who
are impacted and, and going
into these offices and making
the push that the products and
states and businesses in those
states are impacted, and
therefore they should support
us. The result has been very
favorable language in the House
bill and language in the Senate,
and we are now aggressively
pushing that. The final bill
will include more like the
House language than the Senate,
and kind of a side benefit when
you do these types of efforts
where you're getting mass
support outside of your typical
region, is that if we ever have
a, you know, a large scale
effort in the future, we've
kind of built the framework for
that. And Ryan deserves a lot
of praise for being the chief
strategist on this, not only
here, but also amongst all
these different organizations.
We continue to pursue federal
funding for our birth date
improvement project. In the Pip
program, we've again had to
adapt to ever changing
requirements and conditions,
but it remains kind of like
hitting a moving target target
on horseback. Nicole and Mike
and, and Casey and, and Ryan
have done a good job trying to
navigate that. We will fight
for that money. It's definitely
a good project. Our our
government relations efforts
and supporting getting more
labor at the port has helped
the administration. We've had
administration officials here.
We fought very hard to get the.
Curtis moved before the variety
of deadlines, and now we're
looking forward to get some
additional permanent laborers.
And we have a good group of
allies and who are helping us
persuade the administration to
do that. On the surface side, I
discussed the Igia
reauthorization and potential
new programs again in 2027 will
be a part of that, as we always
been in fighting for
significant freight title and a
good one for us, some near-term
projects. Obviously, the bridge
continues to be important.
Trying to get some federal
funding for the. The
marketplace at terminal one has
has been part of our effort.
Senator Cantwell, ranking on
Commerce has been trying to
help us in in using her power
there. There are a significant
number of people who don't like
to open up some of these
programs. As far as eligibility
criteria, certainly on the
conservative side, they see
kind of these broad economic
development programs that have
sort of matured in HUD and the
Department of Commerce as
something that just too much,
too much money, too many types
of projects. But we're still
fighting there. And, and
hopefully we will find some
potential for federal funding.
I will mention a potential one
later on. The earmark process
remains available. We have two
appropriators in this region.
Senator Murray is the ranking
member on the Senate Committee,
and then Marie Gluesenkamp
Perez, there were 21 earmarks
in the House bill, ranging from
250 zero zero 0 to 11 million
and for projects for Washington,
one at Bellingham and three at
the Port of Seattle. Senate
bill hasn't moved yet, but the
Senate bill had six projects
last year. Our effort to inform
DC about our our our issues
surrounding competitive access
did not go unnoticed, and our
congressional allies were not
shy about bringing up the issue
to our friends at the class one
railroads. We also met with the
class one DC reps on a few
occasions and shout out to Kent
Cash for leading that effort
overall and it. It worked,
which is most important on
other issues the Columbia River
treaty. We had a tentative deal.
Now we don't. Who knows.
Hopefully taxes and trade. The
reconciliation package made
some some changes to some of
the programs we support some
good, some bad, but kind of an
overall decent picture. And
then tariffs very exhausting
process one way or the other.
And and and we'll just have to
continue to, to fight. We got
to obviously a supportive
Supreme Court ruling. But it's
just such an odd issue. And the
administration is hell bent on
on extracting money in tariffs
as much as they can. And we'll
continue to fight on that too.
So there's, you know, new stuff
comes up all the time. The
administration recently has
been pushing for this maritime
action plan, and it contains
this idea of maritime
prosperity zones. The governor
is involved. Some Puget Sound
ports have been involved. And
recently, a group of folks who
works who work with Columbia
River ports has started to to
try to influence that
initiative. The drafts that
floated are mostly focused on
shipbuilding, but we're trying
to push it towards other
broader aspects, which could
include something like the
marketplace. And before I give
my election prediction, I want
to and open up for some Q and A,
I would be remiss not to
compliment the staff and the
electeds here on your efforts
in in the nation's capital on
on behalf of the Port of
Vancouver and other like ports,
we have a great team. Julian
has been heavily involved in
all that I've discussed. Ryan
is the. The leader on this has
been is very much respected and
listened to others like Alex
and Mike Bomer and Casey Kent,
Jim Nicole all have been very
involved. I know the
commissioners LaBrant Nortz
have come back several times
and done advocacy directly at
DC. Hopefully Commissioner
Lentz will come in. I'm sure
she's experienced in other
aspects of her life, but as far
as for the port and experience
that, it's good to get out
there and be an advocate for
the region and for the port.
And of course, we'd love to
host you. We aggressively
engage with our associations,
with our fellow ports impacted
businesses. And as, as Ryan
mentioned, we're there 24 over
seven, except for when we come
out and see you every once in a
while and Ryan comes back quite
a bit and others to do
important meetings with our
federal stakeholders and is in
charge of making sure our
federal stakeholders here are
involved in a part of what
we're trying to do. So that
election prediction is strap in.
The Congress will come back in
September, and as I mentioned,
get that CR done, and then
they'll be literally off to the
races and and the House.
Typically, the president's
party loses several House seats
in the midterms with the
current three seat majority for
GOP history, one could argue
history would almost guarantee
they lose the House. The wild
card here is the political
gerrymandering fights in which
I think my analysis, the GOP
came out slightly ahead. That
said, with the economy, the war,
it would be a shocker. Shocker.
It would, it would. It would
rumble the foundation of DC if
the Dems didn't take back the
House. In all indications,
that's probably where it'll go.
Some are predicting as much as
the Dems getting 245 seats. But
I'll be conservative. I mean,
there's obviously some time
between now and the election,
the Iran war, something
hopefully successful can happen
there. As far as our interests
and our people's interests.
Campaign finance, finance
differentials are pretty
heavily favoring the GOP. So I
will predict the Dems end up
with 230 seats and the
Republicans with 205. So that's
a 13 seat majority. On the
Senate side, the map didn't
look great for the Dems of
having a possibility of
recapturing the majority, but
it looks potentially winnable
now. I see pickups for them in
the state of Maine, North
Carolina, Ohio and Alaska. So
if the retain Georgia and
Michigan, they will get the
majority. That said, Michigan
has a controversial Democratic
candidate, Sue Collins of Maine
always escapes defeat somehow
actually a very good person.
But she's just is very crafty.
And Alaska is notoriously hard
to poll. I mean, Texas is a
total wild card, but it's hard
to bet against the GOP there.
They've been in power for 30
years. No one gives up power
easily. And you know, someone
like, you know, Senator
Fetterman of Pennsylvania could
switch parties at any moment.
So there's a lot of unknowns.
So I'm going to gut my gut
tells me a 5050 Senate with the
VP breaking the tie and the GOP
retaining the majority. With
that, I will attempt to answer
any questions. I was probably
beyond 15 minutes. I'm really
sorry.
>> Actually wasn't I?
>> Nailed it.
>> Nailed on.
>> I think this may be more of
a question and discussion for
port staff at a future time,
but Dale, first, thank you.
Yeah. You're welcome. That's
actually for you, not for port
staff, but but no thanks for
that presentation. And thanks
everybody for all the work. I
know it's a lot to go back and
advocate for our for our ports
interests. I'm really curious
about and concerned about the
OMB proposed rule. Yeah. My
question potentially for the
future is should that move
forward even in a slightly
different version than we see
it now, what the potential
impact for the port would be so
that we can have an
understanding of that as early
as possible. But, you know, I'm
grateful that Senator Murray is
is working on holding it back,
but wonder if you have any
additional thoughts or insight
into the future of that rule.
>> Well, I mean, the positive
thing is a very wide and
diverse group of those who who
depend on, on federal funding
for including local government,
state governments, nonprofits,
a lot of different people,
those who get discretionary
funding and even more alarming,
get formula funding, which is a
lot of that goes to the states
and counties and things like
that are well organized. They
got 5000 comments. That's a lot,
but they are very hell bent. I
mean, the administration is
hell bent on giving more power
over the grant process. And I
think the GOP majorities want
to give them that, at least
right now. And there are a few.
Senator Collins, as I mentioned,
has sided with Patty Murray in
that KR fight to to ensure that
there's a moratorium, at least
until the end of the CR. But I
I'm not some version of it. If
I had to predict predict
Commissioner in December when
we have this final fight, some
version of it will probably
stay. Now, if the House changes
hands and certainly if the
Senate changes hands, the
Democrats will attempt mostly
using the power of the Senate
to to to stall the final budget
process. Any process like that,
until they have the new members
are sworn in, it might
successfully do that, and
that'll change the dynamic. So
there's a lot of that going on
as well. So there's a lot of
different things. I'm not I'm
not trying to evade the answer.
I just think there's a lot of
unknown in December what will
happen. And it could be very
damaging. And I know that
there's a pretty diverse and
strong group fighting. But I'm
not going to this one's not one
I can say. Oh yeah, I mean,
I've been there long enough and
know that these folks will win.
Yeah yeah. Thank you. You're
welcome.
>> Eric, you got anything?
>> Yeah. I'll just I'll just
say, you know, as as we see a
lot of uncertainty on the
national and federal stage, I
think our our role as a port
tends to be to maintain some
stability for the, the local
and regional economy. And I
think the work that you're
doing in DC kind of exists at
the intersection of that. So I
appreciate the, the ongoing
efforts out there to help us
here. Do, you know, try and try
and accomplish that. So thank
you.
>> Well, thank you,
Commissioner. I mean, you and
Commissioner Orange have come
out and advocated for the port.
Certainly, Juliana has had
leadership roles on National
Association and comes out often
and advocates and of course,
Ryan and others that come with
him are constantly engaging in
the vast array of people that
are involved in in all the
efforts to ensure not only the
regional economy, but the
national economy. So all that
helps in getting in front of
decision makers at the national
level.
>> Like my fellow commissioners.
Thank you. Better you than me.
Two questions. The first one is.
The headlines keep saying that
the save act can't happen
because there's the wrong count
in the Senate, but the
president keeps pushing for it.
So he must think that there's
some sort of a window. Is there
a window?
>> I think realistically, no,
because he doesn't have the
votes to change. To change the
rules on the filibuster, you
need 60 votes. And he doesn't
even he may not even have 50
votes for it right now. There's
an argument you can do it in
reconciliation, which is a
budget process that where you
only need 50 votes. But that's
that is reserved for budgetary
issues. This is a policy issue.
So I think if I, I mean, it
seems I mean, he said it kind
of publicly, but the majority
leader in the in the Senate,
John Thune, has tried to
explain to the president that
they don't have the support for
it through any measure, whether
it's on appropriations or
attached to a CR or
reconciliation or certainly as
a standalone. And he doesn't
seem to want to accept that. So
I'm going to say I'm not going
to say 100% no, but I'm gonna
say 99.9.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah. The courts would have
to come in and say, we are
violating the separation of
powers. And this is so critical
to the national security of the
United States that we are going
to change by our interpretation
of constitutional power. What
roles you have, you know, via
our Constitution. And that
that's the point. 1%.
>> Thank you. You're welcome.
One more.
>> Yes, sir.
>> I got a question. Yeah. When
you talk about the defense
budget or the war budget, I
think they'll call it now.
Being increased by about a half
$1 trillion. Yeah. We used to
have regular discussion of what
is the deficit. And, and all
I've heard in the last in
reading reporting for the last
year or two is what's being
spent. Yeah. There's been no
reference to. Are we spending
our children, at what rate are
we spending our children's
country.
>> Well I mean Commissioner, as,
as a former philosophy history
major and as a lawyer, we can
have this conversation and very
in depth about fiscal policy.
>> And I was looking for a
mathematical answer.
>> I understood the parties,
the two major parties spend on
different things, and they
spend a lot in. The GOP argues
that a tax cut is not spending,
but it does have a fiscal
impact. And based on
anticipated revenue. And the
Democrats definitely want a
broader use of funding and a
variety of different areas, as
you know. And we've just not
there's people who are true,
quote unquote, fiscal
conservatives at the federal
level are drowned out by both.
And I agree with you, at some
point, the argument people make
is when you surpass GDP on debt,
that's when your country has
problems. And we see it all
over the world. We've seen it
historically. We're not there
yet, but we're getting closer.
I think we're probably ten
years out on that where our
where we're so by far passing
GDP because we're still a very
productive, productive
economically in the United
States. So once we get to a
certain point passed GDP where
our debt service is so high and
we're spending so much. Then
that's a problem. Now, what
does the world do? We we're one
of three nations that run the
economy in the world. And if we
falter, the whole the whole
world is, as you know, I mean,
I could use an expletive, but I
won't. But so there's a lot of
things that go into that. And
if we go down, the world goes
down. So I don't I'm not in
dire straits about this yet. I
think people should be warning
about it, but I think we're
about ten years out. If we
continue doing what they're
doing well, we could take
ourselves at least
significantly diminish. And I
don't want to get into like
dystopian movies or anything
like that, but but
significantly diminish our
economy and then the world's
economy. Is that a good answer,
sir?
>> Let's say yes. Okay.
>> Or one does that somewhat
answer your question? I know
there's a lot of unknown in
that one.
>> Yes it did. Okay.
>> Thank you. You're welcome.
>> You got any more?
>> It may have answered.
>> I did.
>> Have a good answer.
>> Sorry.
>> Great.
>> Eric, you got any more to
throw at him?
>> I did have one follow up
question that came to mind with
your prediction about Congress.
You know, potentially changing
hands and, you know, like, who
knows on the Senate. But, you
know, Congress has that, you
know, that oversight function.
If that were to take place,
what do you what do you see
happening with that in terms of
the ability to get things
through? Are they going to be
tied up in in oversight
activities? That kind of thing?
Does that does that balance
shift any? Are they able to get
stuff like, are they able to
get budgets pushed through more
effectively or less effectively
or. Yeah.
>> I mean, I think if if the
executive branch and the
legislative branch agree that
they can both walk and chew gum
at the same time, yes. If both
are like, okay, we'll, we'll,
we'll do some investigation on
things that probably need to be
investigated. You hopefully
comply with our subpoenas,
which they probably won't, and
we'll fight in the courts or
eventually you'll your people
will come or people won't come
to the Hill to testify, and
people will be in contempt. All
that will happen. That's
undoubtedly all that will
happen. And as long as both can
separate and say, well, let's
just do the regular business
over here, and those committees
don't. People don't often sit
on those committees. At the
same time, there's people that
are very attracted to the sort
of investigative people,
investigative, investigative,
investigative committees, and
those that are attracted to the
sort of meet, you know, the
sort of the meat of government
types of committees, then we'll
be fine. But who knows, maybe
temporarily, maybe initially
when the subpoenas fly and the
hearings are are decided upon,
it could gum up a lot of things
just out of spite between the
two, the two branches. But
they'll get back to it, I think,
hopefully.
>> Thank you.
>> You're welcome.
>> Thank you sir.
>> Okay.
>> Thank you. Dale, we're very
fortunate to have you in DC
representing us. And thank you
for a great report.
>> Well, I love representing
the port. And as 20 years now
it's wonderful. And you get
I've always had such great
relations with your team and
Ryan is such a great leader for
for government relations. And
we appreciate him very much.
>> Great. Thank you so much.
That's it.
>> You're done with.
>> I am done, okay.
>> It's time for commissioner
reports.
>> It's been a pretty quiet
couple of weeks for me, so I
don't have anything to report.
>> Eric, how about you?
>> Just briefly had the
opportunity to attend the Labor
Roundtable. On Friday the 31st.
And I think that actually kind
of captures that. That was. Of
course, running up to running
up to the primary election. So
a lot of I think that was
probably most of the focus of
of that particular meeting. But
yeah.
>> Okay. Thank you. I've had a
relatively sleepy couple of
weeks, met with the CEO of time
or two, met with sheet metal
workers representative. Also.
Just to kind of a point, the
commissioners were scheduled
last Tuesday evening to do
National Night Out, which I
think is kind of a take back
the night kind of a thing so
that people feel comfortable in
their communities in. Point
that I'm coming to is it got
canceled because the air was so
damn bad that people couldn't
get out and breathe it. And so
maybe besides avoiding crime or
things such as that, we need to
think about the climate and the
efforts that the port makes to
do things properly and not to
back off from, for economic or
other reasons. It was a
wonderful thing. There was
breathable air this morning and.
We talked a little bit about
what we're going to pass on as
a legacy to our kids with the
dollars, and to talk about what
we're going to pass on to the
next generation, whether they
have a I don't think we're
going to solve the problem of
wildfires with tariffs. I think
we got a whole lot of work to
do. So I run out of words,
which is a damn good thing. Yes,
ma'am. Project no, not project
updates. What's coming up?
>> We have some upcoming events.
So reminder our next commission
meeting is Tuesday, August 25th,
and the Clark County Fair is
happening right now. And just a
reminder that the port does
have an area. It's called a
parklet, where you can rest and
charge your devices. And then
we have a port video that is
streaming while people hang out
there. I think Ryan mentioned
he was there the other night,
and there was about 40 people
sitting in that space. So a
great opportunity for folks to
see what's happening at the
port while they're charging
their devices and, and resting.
And Commissioner Orange, you
mentioned National Night Out.
So it has been rescheduled and
it is actually happening this
evening. So it's great to have
a nice day for that. And then
we have our port tour number
seven coming up on Thursday,
August 13th.
>> Very cool. I think the next
thing I'm supposed to do.
>> Commissioner, if I could
just do a quick reminder on how
to communicate with the
commissioners so folks can join
us at Open Forum here. During
our meetings, you can email the
commissioners, call the office,
we'll get folks in touch with
you. And then also please visit
the port's website. There's a
lot of great information.
>> I think it's my time to say
we're not having a workshop.
>> Correct.
>> Which brings this meeting to
a close. We'll we will adjourn
it after we sign some paper.
But thank you all for being
here