Resolution No. 3810, Delegation of Responsibility and Authority Policy Directive Page 1 of 3
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PORT OF SEATTLE 3
RESOLUTION NO. 3810 4
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A RESOLUTION of the Port of Seattle Commission repealing Resolution 6
Nos. 3605, 3628, 3704, and all preceding resolutions 7
pertaining to the Commission’s ‘Delegation of 8
Responsibility and Authority to the Executive Director’ 9
policy directive and adopting the new delegation policy 10
directive as set forth in Exhibit A of this resolution. 11
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WHEREAS, the voters of King County authorized and approved the formation of a port 13
district coterminous with King County to be known as the Port of Seattle in a special election on 14
September 5, 1911; and 15
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WHEREAS, the Port of Seattle Commission is the legally constituted governing body of 17
the Port of Seattle; and 18
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WHEREAS, the Port Commission, through Resolution Nos. 3605, 3628, 3704 and 20
preceding resolutions, adopted the policy directive ‘Delegation of Responsibility and Authority,’ 21
designating specific areas of their authority to the Executive Director of the Port of Seattle; and 22
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WHEREAS, the purchasing authority delegated to the Executive Director, with some 24
specific exceptions in the policy directive, has been set at $300,000 since 2009, where at that 25
time, it was increased nominally from its previous long-standing $200,000 delegated limit; and 26
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WHEREAS, the Internal Audit Department conducted an operational audit of the 28
delegation policy directive for the period of January 2019 to July 2020, to evaluate internal 29
controls to assure monetary and contractual delegation compliance with rules, policies, and dollar 30
limitations governing redelegations by the Executive Director to staff, and concluded that internal 31
controls are operating effectively and had no issues to report; and 32
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WHEREAS, based on discussions with management, review of the data, and 34
benchmarking with other organizations, the Internal Audit Department recommended 35
management work with the Commission to identify if the current delegations process and 36
thresholds could be modified to maintain or increase transparency and governance, while 37
alleviating part of the burden on staff… with frequent (monthly) and robust reporting to the 38
Commission and the public; and 39
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WHEREAS, a comprehensive review by management to identify operational efficiencies 41
and opportunities in the policy directive and its processes was undertaken; and 42
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Item Number: 10f_reso
Meeting Date: November 29, 2022
Resolution No. 3810, Delegation of Responsibility and Authority Policy Directive Page 2 of 3
WHEREAS, the Governance Committee of the Port of Seattle Commission, based on the 47
recommendation of the Internal Audit Committee and on Management’s comprehensive review 48
and process improvement project --and in recognizing that purchasing power of the delegated 49
limits has significantly decreased over the course of thirteen years while inflation and operational 50
and capital demands have increased --recommended an update to the policy directive to increase 51
the Commission’s delegated authority to the Executive Director; and 52
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WHEREAS, other technical areas of amendment and the need to clarify process 54
requirements were also identified and are addressed in the recodification of the policy directive, 55
as outlined in attached Exhibit A. 56
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NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Port of Seattle Commission as 58
follows: 59
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SECTION 1. Repeal of Resolutions. Resolution Nos. 3605, 3628, 3704, and all preceding 61
resolutions pertaining to the Commission’s Delegation of Responsibility and Authority to the 62
Executive Director’ policy directive are hereby repealed in their entirety. 63
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SECTION 2. Establishment of New Policy Directive. The Policy Directive, ‘Delegation of 65
Responsibility and Authority to the Executive Director (DORA)’, as shown in the attached 66
Exhibit A, is hereby established through adoption of this resolution. 67
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SECTION 3. Effective Date. This resolution shall become effective April 3, 2023. 69
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ADOPTED by the Port of Seattle Commission at a duly noticed public meeting thereof, 71
held this ______ day of _______________________________ , YYYY, and duly 72
authenticated in open session by the signatures of the commissioners voting in favor thereof and 73
the seal of the commission. 74
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Port of Seattle Commission 86
Resolution No. 3810, Delegation of Responsibility and Authority Policy Directive Page 3 of 3
EXHIBIT A to Resolution No. 3810 87
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