I’m writing to recommend candidate Thomas Jenkins to the Astoria Port Commission. Thomas has a military background, which makes him familiar with safe operations of both seaports and airports, especially surrounding weather and environmental hazards, as well as security
risks.

He worked in weather modeling and prediction for a good portion of his career. His undergraduate degree is in environmental science, and his graduate studies were in public administration. His background positions him uniquely as someone who understands how public systems work, and also, how work gets done in military and weather-dependent environments like ours.

Temperamentally, Thomas is level-headed, curious about others and scientific. From interacting with him, I can say that his desire to sit on the Port Commission has nothing to do with power, and everything to do with community. He is interested in relating sustainably to our local fishery, protecting wildlife and reducing the Port’s carbon footprint when possible, as well as minimizing air and water pollution.

Thomas has stated that he wants the citizens of our region to get an inner look at the workings of the Port, to communicate what the Port is working on and how it positively impacts local businesses. From what I can gather, Thomas believes that, because the Columbia River is for everyone, so should the Port of Astoria be, as well.

Please vote in the upcoming elections!

IRIS DOUGLAS
Astoria