Conley retires, port seeks replacement

MOSES LAKE — The Port of Moses Lake is seeking a new commissioner following the resignation of longtime commission member Mike Conley.

“My wife said that it’s time for me to start having fun,” Conley told the Columbia Basin Herald from his new home in Sun City, Ariz. “She had major surgery and I need to get down here to be with her.”

Conley, 76, has served as commissioner for the Port of Moses Lake for more than nine years. Prior to that, he served as a commissioner for the Grant County Public Utility District, and has run both the ports of Warden and Royal. He has been commuting between Moses Lake and Sun City for a while now, and decided to finally retire after selling his in Moses Lake.

“It was an interesting job, and I hate leaving it, but we sold the house, and when you don’t live in your district, you can’t be a commissioner,” Conley said.

His last day on the commission is April 25.

Kent Jones, who also serves as a commissioner for Moses Lake, said the port is looking for someone to fill the vacancy left with Conley’s retirement.

“We’d like someone with a business profile, with a business background,” Jones said, noting that at one point, there was a commissioner who owned a machine shop but was also a private pilot — a perfect background right now to serve as a port commissioner.

Jones also served as a PUD commissioner, and he has worked in real estate. Commission President Stroud Kunkle, who is currently visiting Japan, is a certified public accountant.

According to Kim DeTrolio, director of finance for the Port of Moses Lake, the port is currently “developing the process” to replace Conley. The port is soliciting applications from anyone living in the Port Commission’s first district, which encompasses eastern and central Moses Lake. The position of commissioner pays $3,048 per year, plus an additional $114 per meeting, which are typically held twice a month.

“It does pay, but not a lot,” she said.

Conley said he is going to spend the next month or so unpacking boxes, and then he hopes to eventually get involved with the Lions Club in Sun City and play some golf.

But he’s going to miss being a port commissioner.

“The port has a lot going on, and it’s an exciting time,” he said. “That’s the hard part of doing this.”