Port of Tacoma commissioners selected Clare Petrich as commission president for 2019.

Petrich, who was first elected to the commission in November 1995, succeeds Don Meyer as president.

The commissioners approved the officer positions at the special commission meeting on Dec. 20, 2018. The positions rotate yearly.

2019 Port of Tacoma Commission

• Clare Petrich, president
• Don Johnson, vice president
• John McCarthy, secretary
• Dick Marzano, first assistant secretary
• Don Meyer, second assistant secretary

The Port’s five commissioners serve four-year terms.

Commission meetings and study sessions are open to the public. They are held in Room 104 of The Fabulich Center at 3600 Port of Tacoma Rd. Meetings also are available for viewing live and on demand.

About Clare Petrich

Clare Petrich is a small business owner with strong ties to Tacoma’s maritime heritage. She is co-founder and former chair of the Commencement Bay Maritime Fest, an advisor to Tacoma Community Boat Builders and deeply involved in maritime heritage research.

Petrich serves on the Joint Municipal Action Committee, Pacific Northwest Waterways Association, the Youth Marine Foundation, the Flood Control Zone District Committee and the Washington Council on International Trade. She was recently elected to the boards of Sister Cities International and the Washington State Trust for Historic Preservation.

She is a past president of the Puget Sound Regional Council’s Economic Development District Board and continues to serve on this board. She is also board secretary for the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle.

Petrich and former Port of Tacoma Commissioner Connie Bacon were co-recipients of the Tacoma Propeller Club's 2015 Master Mariner Person of the Year award, and she received the Seattle Propeller Club's 2015 Public Official of the Year award with Port of Seattle Commissioner Stephanie Bowman.

Petrich graduated from Manhattanville College in New York and received her master’s degree from the University of Virginia. She is a senior fellow of the American Leadership Forum.