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Five Commissioners, elected at large by the voters of King County, serve four-year terms and establish Port policy.
Meet the Commissioners | Meeting Audio - Video | Commission Procedures | Accountability
 Tom Albro |
 Bill Bryant |
 John Creighton |
 Rob Holland |
 Gael Tarleton |
Graduating from the University of Washington in 1985 with a BS in Civil Engineering, Tom Albro worked nights at United Parcel Service to put himself through school, then continued with UPS for several years before leaving for more entrepreneurial pursuits. He sold real estate until 1991, when he became a manager and eventually an owner of a construction firm in North Seattle. He founded Seattle Monorail Services, the private operator of the publicly-owned Seattle Center Monorail, with several partners in 1994 and assumed full ownership in 2008. Today, Seattle Monorail Services is collaborating with the City of Seattle on refurbishing and stewarding this icon so it continues to serve Seattle for years to come.
From 1999 until the company merged with MD-IT this year, Albro owned and managed Pro-Scribe, a medical documentation firm that serves health care providers throughout the Northwest. During this period Pro-Scribe grew from five to more than 100 employees, and the company now focuses on helping customers adopt electronic health records.
Albro has served as a member of the Municipal League’s candidate evaluation committee, board of directors, served as chair (2000-2002), and helped launch the league’s Regional Governance Project. He was selected as an American Marshall Memorial Fellow, and served as a member of the Planning and Host Committee of the Marshall Forum in 2006.
Prior to these activities, Albro served on the Downtown Urban Center Planning Group, the King County Metro - North Seattle Sounding Board, and chaired the city's Seattle Downtown Circulation Study (1996-98).
He and his wife Tina have three grown children.
E-mail Commissioner Albro here.
Commissioner Bill Bryant was elected to represent King County citizens as a Port of Seattle Commissioner in the fall of 2007. In January 2008, he was sworn into office by former Governor Dan Evans, who co-chaired his campaign. Bryant immediately began increasing the Port’s transparency and public accountability, working to protect Puget Sound, and improving our transportation system. After only one year on the Commission, in 2009, he was elected President of the Commission by his peers. He was reelected President in January 2010.
Commissioner Bill Bryant was born in Morton, and grew up on the Olympic Peninsula and in Olympia. After attending Capital High School, he studied trade and diplomacy at Georgetown University. He put his training to work immediately as the director of Washington Governor John Spellman’s trade council. He then lived in Yakima for seven years, traveling around the world working to eliminate unfair foreign trade barriers and open new markets for Washington's fruit growers.
In 1992, Bryant moved to Seattle and founded Bryant Christie Inc., a company that works to eliminate foreign trade barriers, develops new international markets, and builds customized Internet databases of international technical standards and research/reporting products. He is also an investor and advisor to Deneki Outdoors, a company with fly fishing camps in Alaska, British Columbia, South Andros, and Chile.
In addition to his entrepreneurial interests, Bryant has been appointed by both Democratic and Republican administrations, Congress, and the United States Export Import Bank to advise on our nation’s trade policies.
Bryant serves on the Seattle Port Commission because it is one of the few positions in King County where a citizen can work to both create jobs and protect our environment. He believes doing both simultaneously is the challenge of our generationE-mail Commissioner Bryant here.
John Creighton has served on the Port Commission since 2005. He came to the Commission with broad experience as a lawyer who worked on complex international transactions in the port cities of Singapore, Helsinki and Istanbul prior to returning home to Seattle. Creighton was selected by his colleagues to serve two consecutive years as Commission President in 2007-2008.
Creighton advocates increasing the Port's role as a creator of family-wage jobs in the region and investing in infrastructure that will bolster our economic vitality. During his tenure, he has been a strong advocate of environmental protection and increased cooperation among ports. He also has supported a strong social responsibility ethic at the Port, and has worked to build stronger ties with all of the communities in which the Port operates.
Commissioner Creighton has developed significant expertise in regional transportation and economic policy since becoming a commissioner – he sits on the Puget Sound Regional Council Transportation Policy Board on behalf of the Port, and in 2006 he was appointed by Governor Gregoire to the State Freight Mobility Strategic Investment Board. He also serves as chairman of the board of the Pathways Initiative of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, which seeks to empower small and disadvantaged contractors by providing them with the training and resources to become more competitive. He has been active in the community as an attorney, past co-president of the Seattle World Trade Club and member of the boards of the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau, US-Japan Leadership Program and Chief Seattle Council.
Creighton grew up on the Eastside of King County and is a graduate of Interlake High School in Bellevue. He earned a B.A. in International Relations from Johns Hopkins University and an M.A. in International Economics and Law from the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. After graduate school, he worked as a financial analyst in New York with the Wall Street firm Goldman Sachs & Co. He went on to earn his J.D. from Columbia University and also has a Certificate in Administration from the University of Washington Business School.
E-mail Commissioner Creighton here.
Elected in 2009, Rob Holland is the first African American to serve as a Port of Seattle Commissioner in the nearly 100-year history of this body. He brings years of career experience as a transportation professional, energy business owner, and recognized progressive community leader.
Holland’s focus will be maintaining the Port’s competitive edge as a leading “green” gateway for international trade from pacific-rim countries. He believes creating public-private partnerships to invest in needed infrastructure projects from rail to roads will play a pivotal role in moving freight through our region and act as a “down payment” on the Port’s vitality for the next 20 years. A champion of free trade, Holland believes the Port can play a major role in developing export trade opportunities for businesses in our region. He will coordinate efforts with trade development agencies, businesses and overseas partners to expand U.S. products in Asia.
Holland believes the Port has an important role to play as a social responsible agent. He is committed to working with small businesses along with labor trade unions to create new opportunities to participate in the Port’s economic development mission. As an energy marketing consultant, he will continue to be a bridge between the Port and the environmental community on the issue related to clean fuel technology. He believes the Port of Seattle has, and will continue to lead on implementing alternative fuel technology from electric vehicles, biofuels and hydrogen technology – new ways of moving people and cargo through our region.
Holland earned a B.A. in Communications from Washington State University’s Edward R. Murrow School of Communications, concentrating in public relations. He holds a M.A. in Public Administration from Seattle University. Holland studied Global trade, transportation logistics at the University of Washington, concentrating on international energy trade in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea. His career spans positions in marketing and trade with the Port of Tacoma, Horizon Lines Shipping, and Seaport Petroleum.
He was awarded a fellowship in 2004 at the ENO Transportation Institute in Washington, D.C. for his work on international energy policy and received the Rodney Slater Scholars Award for African American contribution to transportation industry. Currently, he is the owner of Gulf Energy Consult, LLC, marketing biofuels and petroleum lubricants around the globe. In addition, he is active in the modern day anti human trafficking movement. Holland lives in south Seattle.
E-mail Commissioner Holland here.
Elected in 2007 to a four-year term, Gael Tarleton is the third woman to serve as a Seattle Port Commissioner in the nearly 100-year history of this body. Tarleton currently is the Commission Vice President and Chair of the Commission Audit Committee. She brings to the office nearly 30 years of experience as a national security expert, international manager for a global science and technology company, and leader in university and non-profit research initiatives. Tarleton has played a leadership role in revising Commission policies to make the Port of Seattle a more transparent, accountable public agency that competes as a global port while ensuring that its public lands create benefits for King County’s citizens.
Tarleton engages the public in discussions about the region’s dependence on the maritime and aviation companies that are the foundation of a working seaport and airport. These companies generate hundreds of thousands of living-wage jobs. Tarleton encourages community partnerships to tackle the challenges of creating a sustainable urban port as an engine of economic recovery for Seattle and the 39 suburban cities of King County. To help address the economic disruptions and urban pressures facing our diverse communities, Tarleton works with minority chambers of commerce and community organizations serving women, minorities, immigrants, veterans, and economically disadvantaged citizens in King County. Tarleton also serves on various non-profit boards: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s National Security Directorate Review Committee; Lower Duwamish Transportation Management Association; South King County Economic Development Initiative; Earth and Space Research, Inc.; and the Foundation for Russian-American Economic Cooperation.
From 2004 to the present, Tarleton has held several positions at the University of Washington including director of corporate and foundation relations at the College of Arts and Sciences; special assistant for global strategies under the Vice Provost of Global Affairs; and now a part-time research scientist and manager of partnerships for research centers in the College of Engineering and Information School. From 1990 to 2002, Tarleton was a vice president and international business manager at Science Applications International Corporation. From 1981 to 1990, she was a research analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C.
Tarleton holds a M.A. in Government and National Security Studies from Georgetown University, as well as a B.S. cum laude from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, concentrating in Russian Studies and earning an honors certificate in international business diplomacy. Tarleton grew up on the North Shore of Boston, MA and now lives with her husband in Ballard.
September 7 at 1:00 p.m. at Pier 69
Download the current 2010 Commission Meeting Calendar here.
Listen live here. (Link will function only when meetings are in session)
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