An expose of bad businesses and their unethical practices

Seattle Port Commissioner Lloyd Hara has indicated that he fully supports the resolution to bring oversight back into the purview of the commissioners. Hara has further said that he was “very concerned” about the findings of contractor fraud uncovered by Washington State Auditor Brian Sonntag earlier this month. The report detailed findings of possible fraud, $97.2 million in wasted public funds and concealed information from commissioners.

“The report clearly indicated that too much authority had been delegated to the CEO by the commission,” Hara said. “Ultimately, the five, elected (commissioners) are held accountable for the actions of the port.” Mic Dinsmore served as CEO during the years under review by the audit. He added, “To see the array of findings, that’s pretty unusual to find that many in one report. (I want to) have a full discussion of each and also to have, if necessary, the auditors (Patti Jones and David Cotton) present.”

For the moment, Hara says that he is focused on two issues: poor management of construction contracts and violations in the competitive bidding process. The problems mostly stem from issues involved in the construction of a third runway at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. This is big time Bad Business in government contracts, and the commissioners have a lot of work to do to clean up the port’s act.