Candidate appointed to fill port vacancy

EVERETT — A candidate running unopposed for an Everett Port Commission seat is in line to start the job months before the November election, after being appointed to a vacant seat Monday.

Glen Bachman is expected to be sworn in later this week as the interim representative for District 3. He is replacing former Commissioner Michael Hoffmann, who resigned earlier this month amid questions about whether he still lives in the district.

Though the appointment makes the Nov. 5 election all but moot, the commissioner-to-be said he won’t take his position for granted.

“Even though I’m running unopposed, even though I have this position, I’m still going to keep door-belling,” Bachman said.

Commissioners Tom Stiger and Troy McClelland voted to appoint Bachman, citing the need to move forward on port business. That includes upcoming work on the 2014 budget and helping to transfer the Mukilteo tank farm to the state Department of Transportation. The port also is studying buying the former site of the Kimberly-Clark mill for a possible expansion.

Port Executive Director John Mohr told Stiger and McClelland that he consulted with former Commissioners Don Hopkins and Jim Shaffer about the appointment, and they both recommended Bachman.

Bachman retired earlier this year as a vice president of retail facilities at Kemper Development of Bellevue. He’s now a president of the Asia Pacific region for Path America, a company owned by Everett developer Lobsang Dargey.

Hoffmann was evicted from his south Everett home earlier this summer. He initially resisted efforts to clarify his new address, before declaring that he had no desire to continue in office. McClelland and Stiger on Aug. 12 voted to accept his resignation.

Hoffmann’s six-year term as the commissioner for District 3 was set to expire at the end of this year. He was not seeking re-election.

Noah Haglund: 425-339-3465, nhaglund@heraldnet.com.