The Port of Benton’s contract with an HR consultant has ended, and the consultant’s exit report highlights both progress made in strengthening the port’s culture and processes, and changes still needed.

Eileen Griffin-Ray’s 11-page concluding report notes that “several temporary policies and processes have been implemented to address some of the most critical issues at the port,” but commissioners are responsible for approving and implementing new policies. 

“Analyzing the organization resulted in a number of issues and concerns,” Griffin-Ray wrote in her exit report. “Some problems had to be dealt with as quickly as possible, and others will take time to address.” 

The exit report follows Griffin-Ray’s initial report, released to the public in April, which described the port as “toxic” and “immersed in chaos, confusion and leadership neglect.”

That report also criticized the port’s “top two leaders,” Executive Director Diahann Howard, who was put on paid leave Jan. 7, and former Finance Director Alicia Myers, who was fired Feb. 2.

Both women’s attorneys denounced the report and are disputing the suspension and firing.   

Progress points

Griffin-Ray’s exit report highlighted the progress she and port staff have made so far, including work on a hiring policy, onboarding program, employee transitions policy, travel policy, nepotism policy, part-time and temporary employee policies, public relations policy, education/training policy, on-call policy, dress code and background check/drug screenings. 

Some policies and procedures have been revised or updated, while others are newly drafted and will need an OK from commissioners. 

Job descriptions also have been updated to reflect employees’ work, onboarding and exit checklists have been established, and two new employees have taken on some of the port’s administrative tasks, according to the report.  

Where Griffin-Ray’s initial report criticized the organization’s leadership, the exit report praises the port’s interim executive director’s work as an engaged and “hands-on” leader. The report notes that since the interim executive director has been in place, “there is already a significant difference in the office environment. Employees seem to be more positive and upbeat. Throughout the office, laughter can be heard frequently.” 

Work to do

The exit report also made it clear that the port still has work to do. 

One of the more drastic changes Griffin-Ray suggested in her original report was restructuring the organization’s hierarchy from one executive director to three senior leaders, over the areas of facilities and operations; finance; and external affairs and economic development. 

Giving the three leaders equal oversight would “eliminate the centralized power in one individual,” Griffin-Ray wrote in the original report. 

In the exit report, Griffin-Ray said that restructuring has been proposed, with some changes already implemented, and the proposal regarding three leaders over three groups will go before the commissioners for consideration. 

Other areas Griffin-Ray flagged for the port to work on include disciplinary processes, the payroll system, retention, helping employees feel heard and recognized, helping employees understand their roles, and potentially bringing on an in-house attorney or HR manager, or both.  

Commission support

Griffin-Ray was under contract for 60 days, starting Jan. 14, the same day Ron Branine, director of facilities and operations, became interim executive director. Her contract was extended an additional 30 days in March. 

The contract specified that Griffin-Ray was to be paid not more than $50,000. In the June 10 port commission meeting where commissioners voted to publish the exit report, Commission President Bill O’Neil said the total was less than half of that amount. 

O’Neil backed Griffin-Ray’s work for the port and defended her credentials after seeing “derogatory comments” online about them. 

Griffin-Ray has ties to the Richland Airport, where utility connections have been at the center of the port’s turmoil for the last year. Griffin-Ray runs Rest on High, a business based at the Richland Airport, with her husband, pilot Jonathan Ray, and her father, Harold Griffin, according to a 2023 Journal profile about the business.

Commissioners also voted Jan. 14, when Griffin-Ray was hired, to exempt her contract from the competitive solicitation process due to “the urgency of this need,” Commissioner Lori Stevens said at the time.