P.O. Box 1209
Seattle, Washington 98111
www.portseattle.org; 206.787.3000
APPROVED MINUTES
AUDIT COMMITTEE SPECIAL MEETING
March 18, 2025
The Port of Seattle Commission Audit Committee met in a special meeting March 18, 2025. The meeting was
held in the Commission Chambers located at the Port of Seattle Headquarters Building, 2711 Alaskan Way,
Seattle, WA, and virtually via Microsoft Teams. Committee members present included Commissioner
Ryan Calkins, Commissioner Mohamed, and Public Member Sarah Holmstrom
(non-voting).
1. Call to Order:
The committee special meeting was called to order at 8:45 a.m. by Commissioner Mohamed. The agenda
was approved without objection.
*Internal Audit Department presentation contains information for Agenda Items 3 through 12.
EXTERNAL AUDITS
2. Office of the Washington State Auditor – Accountability Audit Results for 2023
Presenters:
Sonia Khokhar, Assistant State Auditor
Sonia Khokhar, Assistant State Auditor, shared the results of the Port of Seattle’s most recent Accountability
Audit. The presentation overviewed:
• the role of the auditor;
• period of the audit – January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023;
• audit results – that the Port complied in all material aspects and audit areas;
• areas examined and included the audit;
• work of other auditors reviewed during the accountability audit; and
• the next accountability audit will be scheduled for the fall of 2025 and an assessment audit will be
conducted of the Port of Seattle Industrial Development Corporation.
Commissioner Calkins spoke regarding the auditor’s motto of increasing trust in government and spoke to
public employees’ working in good faith.
Members of the Committee thanked the Auditor for the report.
PORT COMMISSION AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2025
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UPDATES AND APPROVALS
3. Director’s Annual Communication
Presenters:
Glenn Fernandes, Internal Audit Director
Internal Audit Director, Glenn Fernandes, overviewed the annual communication he is required to make
regarding independence and quality assurance requirements.
Discussion ensued regarding the training that the Internal Audit team goes through for quality assurance,
external and internal.
4. Internal Audit Outreach Program Update
Presenters:
Glenn Fernandes, Internal Audit Director
Internal Audit Director, Glenn Fernandes, spoke about partnering with the Port’s Office of Equity, Diversity,
and Inclusion to build a training presentation targeted to leaders at small community-based organizations
utilizing grant programs of the Port. The goal of the program is outreach and to assist recipients of grants in
understanding the process and accounting and security requirements. Director Fernandes spoke to the 2025
goal of meeting with community-based organizations, developing partnerships, and providing them with
information.
Discussion ensued regarding program benefits to small businesses.
Members of the Committee thanked Mr. Fernandes and the team for their work on the program.
5. 2025 Internal Audit Plan Update
Presenters:
Glenn Fernandes, Internal Audit Director
Internal Audit Director, Glenn Fernandes, overviewed the status of the 2025 Audit Plan since its adoption.
He spoke regarding conducting audits of community initiatives to ensure grant guidelines are being followed.
He overviewed Limited Contract Compliance audits on the plan and separately, IT-critical audits. Director
Fernandes highlighted the seven GC/CM contracts currently underway for capital projects.
Discussion ensued regarding whether items listed on the plan are prioritized in any way as they come forward
to the Commission. Director Fernandes responded the first tier is risk-based. Commissioner Mohamed noted
that it would be helpful when items come forward to the Commission to know if those projects are currently
being audited.
Commissioner Calkins noted that it appears audits on the plan are on schedule.
PORT COMMISSION AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2025
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PERFORMANCE AUDITS
6. Consultants/Contractor Management
Presenters:
Glenn Fernandes, Director, Internal Audit
Dan Chase, Internal Audit Manager
The presentation addressed:
• the number of contractors working with the Port;
• assessing compliance with Port policy EX-10 and reviewing offboarding processes;
• the difference in how the Port works with contractors vs. Port employees;
• Internal Revenue Service criteria to determine whether individuals providing services are
employees or contractors;
• the Port is in compliance with EX-10;
• finding that the Port does not have a standard offboarding process making it difficult to know if
everything is collected before a contractor leaves the Port;
• inconsistency in data making it difficult to rely on data reviewed;
• inconsistency on how offboarding is done throughout Port groups;
• audit recommendation to have a uniform system and methodology to track contractor onboarding
and offboarding.
Deputy Executive Director Goon provided the management response, noting that there were no negative
findings of the audit and the audit provided the opportunity to review how this information is collected and
tracked.
Commissioner Calkins again underscored the value in having an internal audit group and appreciated the
work of the Internal Audit Department.
Public Member Sarah Holmstrom inquired to confirm that there was no non-compliance issue specifically
identified through the audit. Internal Audit Manager Dan Chase confirmed.
General discussion ensued regarding best practices on issuance of key/access.
The Audit Committee thanked the Internal Audit team for their report and management for their response.
7. Banking/Fraud Controls
Presenters:
Glenn Fernandes, Director, Internal Audit
The presentation addressed:
• the audit was a clean audit; and
• the audit reviewed bank statements for the Port’s authorized accounts; contacted 25 financial
institutions; reviewed grant payments, confirming all funds were received; and interviewed prime
contractors.
PORT COMMISSION AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2025
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The Audit Committee thanked the Internal Audit team for their report.
8. 2023 Airfield Projects
Presenters:
Glenn Fernandes, Director, Internal Audit
Spencer Bright, Capital Audit Manager
The presentation addressed:
• the audit was a clean audit;
• five critical projects for airfield infrastructure reviewed; and
• no issues were identified that warranted reporting.
The Audit Committee thanked the Internal Audit team for their report.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AUDITS
9. Closed Network System – Satellite Transit System (STS)
Commissioner Calkins advised that Item 9 would be addressed in non-public session due to the security-
sensitive nature of the item.
LIMITED CONTRACT COMPLIANCE AUDITS
10. BF Foods LLC
Presenters:
Glenn Fernandes, Director, Internal Audit
Director Fernandes reported that:
• a six-month period was reviewed;
• issues were found so that the period reviewed was expanded;
• $5M in sales at SEA with percentage fees in the amount of approximately $600,000;
• bag fees and retail fees were not being reported as revenue to the Port, which amounted to $12,963
with $1,500 in unpaid percentage fees;
• revenue is self-reported;
• 2023 - 2024 data was then reported with additional unreported revenue and unpaid percentage
fees; and
• the contract does include penalties for unpaid fees.
Director Fernandes noted that management’s response was that they would go back and collect the money.
Commissioner Mohamed asked if there was anything that would be done to avoid the missed fees in the
future. Director Fernandes stated that going forward it will be verified that the bag fees and the retail fees
are being added.
PORT COMMISSION AUDIT COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2025
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11. Concourse Concessions, LLC
12. Gate Gourmet, Inc
Commissioner Calkins noted that limited contract compliance audits are only discussed if issues were
identified and there were no issues identified with Agenda Items 11 and 12.
13. Committee Comments
Director Fernandes thanked the Members of the Committee for their efforts and time serving on the Audit
Committee.
Commissioner Mohamed thanked the entire audit team for their work and public member, Sarah Holmstrom
for her public service.
14. Adjournment
There being no further public business, the meeting recessed to non-public session at 10:00 a.m. Non-public
session lasted approximately 45 minutes, and the meeting adjourned at 10:45 a.m. with no further action
taken.
Prepared: Attest:
Michelle M. Hart, MMC, Commission Clerk Ryan Calkins, Audit Committee Chair
Minutes approved: July 15, 2025.
