Hello, I'm John Creighton and I have been serving in Position No. 1 on the Port of Seattle Commission since 2006.  I ran for commissioner because I believe that the Port of Seattle can and must do a better job in serving King County citizens.

I was raised in King County in a time when Northwest politicians still worked together to solve problems and get things done for our communities and our neighborhoods.  I am proud to be serving you as Seattle Port commissioner, and I am building coalitions to push forward positive solutions that are beneficial to all County residents.  As your Port commissioner, I am working to make sure that the Port –

• strengthens its historical role as a major creator of family wage jobs for the region, now more important than ever in the down economy,
• ensures that our airport and seaport are secure from the threats of the 21st century,
• meets critical Western Washington infrastructure needs, and
• significantly increases its commitment to the environment and becomes a more accountable, socially responsible public agency.

The State Auditor's performance audit released in 2007 showed a lot of room for improvement at the Port of Seattle. With new commissioners joining me in the last three years who share my committment to positive reform, we finally have the critical mass on the Commission to push forward needed accountability and transparency. We have been hard at work and our Accountability Agenda is thorough: we have revised the Commission's oversight protocols, tightened the Port's systems and procedures and directed an outside investigation by respected former prosecutor Mike McKay of the potential for fraudulent activities at the Port, while giving Tay Yoshitani, the new CEO we brought on last year, the space to make needed management changes.

The outside investigation performed by Mike McKay released at the end of 2008 found ten instances of fraud committed by Port employees in Port contracting practices. This is clearly unacceptable, and the Commission under my leadership has directed that all of the McKay Report's recommendations be adopted and that staff be held accountable. We have also directed an internal audit of all contractors named in the McKay Report.

We need to continue working towards making the Port a transparent and accountable public agency that reflects our community's values, while also continuing to make the infrastructure investments needed to keep the 194,000 jobs generated by Port activities in our region. However, there are some in the port good old boy community who want to maintain business as usual and are fighting change at the Port. Please help get the word out about my re-election campaign so that I can return for another four years and continue fighting for positive change at the Port of Seattle.