Charlie Sheldon has the support of large and small business, port customers and non-customers and constituents of the port on important issues such as cleanup of Bellingham Bay and the jobs that will create. We need Charlie to keep moving the Port of Bellingham forward!

We, the undersigned concerned citizens, for the good of this community, ask the Port of Bellingham Commissioners to call for a revote and reverse their termination of Charlie Sheldon as Executive Director. This should be done quickly and in whatever format is required of Commission meetings.

This sudden decision has shocked us as we felt he was doing an exemplary job, with a vision and effectiveness that fulfilled the stated mission of the Port. Though the Commissioners have the right to terminate Mr. Sheldon, we as citizens, customers, and taxpayers see no justification for this and believe that Mr. Sheldon’s termination is not in the best interests of the community.

Initially there were accusations put forth by Commissioner Walker that Mr. Sheldon “mismanaged funds”. This has been clearly proven by Commissioner McAuley to be a false accusation in his support of Mr. Sheldon at the April 3rd Port meeting.   Commissioner Jorgensen tellingly said nothing about these accusations in his discussion of the motions on the floor; instead speaking to issues involving senior staff and day-to-day operations.

We specifically request Commissioner Jorgensen call for a revote, change his position on this matter and vote to keep Charlie Sheldon as Executive Director.

Mr. Sheldon was terminated quickly without any semblance of a performance review and very little time for the constituents of the Port to voice their concerns, and those who had that opportunity on short notice were ignored.  No one spoke in favor of termination of Mr. Sheldon, and 100% of those speaking supported Mr. Sheldon and felt his performance has been exemplary – this included both large and small business, both Port customers and non customers, and constituents of the Port on important issues such as the cleanup of Bellingham Bay and the jobs that will create. Commissioner Jorgensen made vague references to the effect that some senior Port staff had issues with Mr. Sheldon, as Mr. Sheldon “did not share common goals with the Port”.  The Herald report from April 4 said Mr. Jorgensen noted “it was Sheldon’s lack of communication with senior staff that concerned him.” Nothing concrete was put forth justifying this termination by Commissoner Walker or Commissioner Jorgensen. 

Considering Mr. Sheldon’s past performance, lack of justification on the part of the commissioners, $100,000 expense for the applicant search, plus the time of the Commissioners and staff invested in the recruiting of Mr. Sheldon, we request Commissioner Jorgensen do just as he did last week, call a special meeting of the Commission and vote to re-instate Mr Sheldon. Time is of the essence as undoubtedly Mr. Sheldon will be seeking other employment. 

We ask that you address the issue raised at the meeting April 3rd by Commissioner McAuley that the Commissioners were negligent in providing a proper review of Mr. Sheldon’s performance.  Such reviews would normally include ranking the areas of his position which are strengths and identifying those that are weak.  Then, the review lists areas where performance should be improved, with definitive goals, and a time period in which corrections are made. Such a review is in the interest of good public policy and results in transparency of Commission decisions.  It would also be an opportunity for all Commissioners to interview all staff in order to determine if the views of a few staff are shared by all. 

We strongly feel this is in the best interest of the Port of Bellingham and the larger community of Bellingham and Whatcom County. Please add your voice and sign below!