Rudy Rudolph, now Port of Olympia’s interim executive director, said that he would work to maintain the continuity of operations after the Port Commission placed Executive Director Sam Gibboney on paid administrative leave last week.
Rudolph gave this statement on Tuesday, August 15, as he was updating the Port of Olympia Citizens Advisory Committee about the status of Gibboney’s leaveThe executive director had been on an extended medical leave when the Port Commission placed her on administrative leave during an executive session on August 7.
The Port Commission appointed Rudolph as the interim executive director during the same meeting. He has previously served the Port in this capacity, according to staff.
Airport Senior Manager Warren Hendrickson taking over Rudolph’s responsibilities as acting operations director.
“I'm working hard to be responsive to the Port Commission to keep communicating effectively with the staff and the board [and] to continue with our continuity of operations,” Rudolph told the committee.
“I've also made it very important that when we're in a challenging time like this: self-care is very important and provided the resources for staff if they need to talk to somebody whether it's internal or external to help them do that,” Rudolph added.
As the decision to place Gibboney on leave was made during an executive session, only the commissioners are privy to how the decision was made. The content of executive sessions is protected under the Revised Code of Washington (RCW).
“As far as what the future looks like, for some future, I don't have any information,” Rudolph told the committee. “Certainly, when we have information, we'll share it.”
The Port’s communication team did not give more information but provided The JOLT with a statement from Commissioner Amy Evans Harding last week.
"Like any organization, the Port has its ups and downs, but I have seen firsthand the strength of the Port staff,” Evans Harding stated. “I’m so impressed by the departmental pride of our employees and the quality of work being done every day. Our team will lead us into the future, and I’m committed to being a part of that.”
The length of Gibboney’s administrative leave is unclear as of now.
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jimlazar
Things are really fishy at the Port.
The Port Commission cannot "take action" in an executive session. They can discuss personnel matters, but they must come into open session to actually take action. RCW 42.30.060 explicitly prohibits secret voting. The law is set forth at the end of this comment.
Perhaps they actually did take that action in open session, and the JOLT article is incorrect. I hope so. If they failed to convene in open session to make this collective decision or directive, it is null and void.
Which is messy, meaning more lawyers billing more hours paid for with our property taxes. Remember: The Port loses millions of dollars every year on the Marine Terminal, and also loses money nearly every year on its other activities as well. They make this up with over $7 million/year in property taxes paid by owners, and through our rent, by renters.
Now, I think it's a fine thing to relieve Sam Gibboney of her duties. She has been disrespective to Commissioners, disrespectful to the public, and clearly does not understand that her role as staff is to implement the policies of the Commissioners, in conformance with the law.
It's time for the Port to make her dismissal permanent, and I hope that Rudy Rudolph is willing to serve in the interim position to the end of the year. A new five-member Commission will take office in January, including three members who are not currently on the Port Commission. The new Commission should hire a new General Manager (I hate the term Executive Director or CEO for a public agency) after they are in office.
Here's the core piece of the Open Public Meetings Act.
RCW 42.30.060
Ordinances, rules, resolutions, regulations, etc., adopted at public meetings—Notice—Secret voting prohibited.
(1) No governing body of a public agency shall adopt any ordinance, resolution, rule, regulation, order, or directive, except in a meeting open to the public and then only at a meeting, the date of which is fixed by law or rule, or at a meeting of which notice has been given according to the provisions of this chapter. Any action taken at meetings failing to comply with the provisions of this subsection shall be null and void.
(2) No governing body of a public agency at any meeting required to be open to the public shall vote by secret ballot. Any vote taken in violation of this subsection shall be null and void, and shall be considered an "action" under this chapter.
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HarveysMom
Clearly, this is a personnel matter. Looks OK to me.
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BobJacobs
What I don't understand is how Gibboney has lasted this long. Her tenure has featured one management disaster after another.
Bob Jacobs
Thursday, August 17, 2023 Report this
Lehman
Thanks JOLT, but mostly Jim. Now can someone please make an argument why we have a separate government to just do economic development? And to those who say" yea, it has not been good, but it COULD be so much more", I ask: really? When can we expect that?
Thursday, August 17, 2023 Report this