Community members, local leaders and port staff and tenants gathered Jan. 19 for an informal open house to meet the three finalists for Port of Vancouver USA CEO/Executive Director.

Ed Galligan, port interim CEO Julianna Marler and Art Scheunemann were selected as finalists from a slate of nearly 80 applicants and eight interviewees. After meeting with the port’s community panel in the afternoon of Jan. 19, Ed, Julianna and Art greeted and talked with attendees at the open house, which was held at the port’s administrative offices from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Also in attendance were the port’s commissioners: Brian Wolfe, Eric LaBrant and Jerry Oliver. This was the commissioners’ first opportunity during this process to talk with Ed and Art, receive feedback from the community panel and converse with staff and the general public about the candidates.

The commissioners met in a special executive session on Jan. 20 to evaluate the applicants’ qualifications. No decisions were made during executive session. The board will discuss the candidates during the next regularly scheduled public meeting on Jan. 24 and may take a vote during that meeting.

The port hopes to bring a permanent CEO on board by March.