Port hires former newspaper editor as marketing director

The Port of Bremerton has hired a former newspaper editor and school district communications director to be its new manager of Marketing and Communications.

Chris Case will begin her new position next month, after most recently serving as the communications director for the North Kitsap School District. She also served as editor of the North Kitsap Herald in Poulsbo, a Sound Publishing newspaper.

“I am thrilled to be able to hire (Case) for our position. She is extremely qualified and is well respected in our community,” said Chief Executive Officer Cary Bozeman. “She will be an outstanding member of the team at the Port of Bremerton. Her past work as the assistant creative director with the world famous advertising firm of J. Walter Thompson in Chicago will be of great support in marketing our marinas, our industrial park and our airport” said Cary Bozeman, CEO, Port of Bremerton.”

Case was one of 125 applicants for the position, which pays a $65,000 salary — plus a $15,000 benefits package. At a study session last month, Bozeman described that as a “minimal investment, considering the potential. This is a $16 million-dollar company, with no one in charge of marketing.”

Board President Bill Mahan agreed, saying that the port had adopted an ambitious public outreach policy only to let it languish.

“I don’t think it’s appropriate to tell people you’re going to do something, then not make it happen,” Mahan said. “We passed the policy, and frankly, we’ve been very lax in falling through. If we really mean what we say in this policy, we need to put some resources towards it.

“I feel this position is crucial to the effectiveness of the port and for letting people know what the port is doing,” he continued. “I don’t want to tell the public, ‘We wanted to be more transparent, but we didn’t want to put more money toward it.’”

“You can’t conquer a problem by throwing more money at it and hiring more people,” Commissioner Larry Stokes said. “Nobody seems to care about spending other people’s money.”

Stokes said if someone is hired, it should be on a “six-month trial basis, and if they don’t perform, they’re on the road.”

Commissioner Roger Zabinksi also expressed reservations about the position.

“I am concerned about how effective the person will be if the job is diluted into both a marketing and an outreach position,” Zabinski said, adding that he also wondered what the criteria for success would be, and if the port should be spending money for public relations now. “There is value to public relations, but these are tough economic times.”

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