Minutes Exhibit C
Port Commission Special Meeting
of August 15. 2017
Dressler, Am

From:                White, Paul
Sent:                   Monday, August 28, 2017 7:49 AM
To:                   Dressler, Amy
Subject:                 Fwd: closure of Pier 86 public fishing pier

For the 8/15 meeting record.

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: Heather McAuliffe 
Date: August 16, 2017 at 6:09:21 AM PDT
To: Paul White 
Subject: Fwd: closure of Pier 86 public shing pier

Heather

Begin forwarded message:

From: Heather McAuliffe 
Date: August 16, 2017 at 5:45:57 AM PDT
To: tomalbro@portseattleorg, "Bowman, Stephanie"
, "Felleman, Fred" ,
"Gregoire, Courtney" , "Creighton, John"

Cc: "McGraw, Peter" , "Mills, Pete"
, kate.joncas@seattle.gov, sallybagshaw@seattle.gov,
"Mike O'Brien" 
Subject: re: closure of Pier 86 public fishing pier

Dear Port of Seattle Commission members,

Thank you for the opportunity to make public comment during New Business at
your August 15 Special Meeting. I know that your schedule was particularly tight,
and that it required going overtime to accept public comment on new items. I
took four hours off from work to attend the meeting, so it would have been a
disappointment if I had missed the opportunity. I especially appreciate that you
are considering moving your meetings to noon, to better accommodate the
public, and that you plan to start attending some community meetings that are
related to your area of purview.

As I said at yesterday's meeting and in an earlier email to each of you, I am
concerned about the sudden closure of the public fishing pier, Pier 86, without
public notice or input, and the impact of the closure.

1

lam concerned about the lack of access for people who have mobility issues and
need the boost of being out over the water to fish successfully, and for people
who depend on fishing there to supplement their diets, subsistence fishing. I
know that Commissioner Gregoire said that there is ADA access for fishing at Pier
68, but I think it is a longshot for someone to get there, given the difficult traffic
and parking issues downtown. Regarding subsistence fishing, given the high cost
of groceries in Seattle, I think it is important to offer any and all opportunities for
residents to fish locally in order to reduce their grocery bills.

I am also concerned about the marginalization of Fish On, the fishing tackle and
bait shop that is located at the east end of the pier. Although the business sells
food in addition to fishing supplies, a closed fishing pier immediately adjacent
clearly reduces the opportunities to make sales. Fish On is owned by a person of
color. I learned at your meeting that the Commission wants the Port of Seattle to
prioritize hiring of contractors that are women and/or minority-owned, as it
should. I think you should be doing everything you can to support the economic
prosperity ofthis business. As an aside, the business owner is required by the
Port of Seattle to maintain the adjacent public bathrooms. I think this is
extraordinarily unfair to the business owner, given the park-sized bathrooms and
the fact that he is an owneroperator. I read that there have been complaints
about the state of the bathrooms. lam not surprised - who picks up the slack
when the business owner is gone for several days due to recovery from
complicated dental work as he was recently, or from serious illness as he was
last winter? The owner has told me about encountering toilets filled with whole
rolls of toilet paper (someone's vandalism). No small business owner should
have to fix or clean public bathrooms.

I am concerned, also, about the state of deferred maintenance on the public
fishing pier. I heard there was an issue with one of the pier's supports
(potentially, anyway, since I haven't seen the structural reports yet) but what I
have noticed on the pier is that is that the shelters/related equipment and light
fixtures are not being fixed. The south end of the pier got fenced off some time
ago because of a dangling light fixture overhead. There is also a substantial
amount of graffiti on the shelters that is longstanding. Having worked for the
City of Seattle's anti-graffiti program, I am aware that allowing it to stay up
perpetuates the problem. I am concerned also, based on my experience, that
taggers will now see the new fence preventing access to the pier as a challenge
to overcome, and that they will tag the pier yet more. This is why you see graffiti
under the express lanes of the freeway, or on freeway signs: it's a challenge and
they are up for it.

I understand that there is an expired agreement between the State of
Washington Fish & Wildlife Service and the Port of Seattle. I urge you to get the
agreement worked out immediately, and find the funds to fix and reopen the
pier.

l have some suggestions to improve access to the pier and the related
business. l would suggest that wayfinding signage on the sidewalk just south of
Sculpture Park that notes the location of the pier and the business, and walking
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and biking time to the location, because that is how park users access it. A
second sign should be installed on the sidewalk immediately north of the access
point by the driveway to Pier 91. And finally, I would suggest that you have the
Port contact pedicab companies and encourage them to ferry customers from/to
the cruise ships at Pier 91 through Centennial Park. All of these suggestions
would seem to fit within your sustainability agenda.

I apologize for such a long letter, but I felt it was necessary to thoroughly
document the issues.

Sincerely,

Heather McAuliffe
Seattle