”Changing the ports of Seattle and Tacoma from competitors to political allies was one of the key ideas behind formation of the Northwest Seaport Alliance.” — Puget Sound Business Journal.
The Port of Seattle plans to get the Port of Tacoma engaged in fighting the proposed arena just south of downtown Seattle, Port of Seattle Commission Co-President Stephanie Bowman said in an interview. With the two ports running their maritime terminals together under the Northwest Seaport Alliance, this has become a regional concern.
“I have more confidence that it gives us more political power, and more concerned people looking at the site,” Bowman said. “We have the firepower of the Port of Tacoma commission to add to the concerns that we’ve been expressing about the Sodo arena.”
Ironically, when the proposed arena first came up, Port of Tacoma officials were happy about it, Bowman said, because they expected it would undermine Seattle’s competitiveness. But now, with the two commissions wanting all the marine cargo assets to function optimally, Tacoma’s position has flipped.