Port of Seattle CEO Ted Fick resigns after administrative leave

Port of Seattle CEO Ted Fick resigned from his position Thursday.

Port commissioners called a special meeting specifically to address the resignation. The five-member commission officially accepted the resignation at the Thursday meeting, according to the port.

Related: Port CEO Ted Fick placed on paid administrative leave

“We accept the resignation of Ted Fick, and acknowledge his desire to return to the private sector,” said Commission President Tom Albro. “We are currently working through the details of his departure and will defer further comment until those details are resolved.”

The port’s Chief Operating Officer Dave Soike will serve as interim CEO.

Ted Fick

Fick joined the Port of Seattle as its CEO in 2014. He was paid $350,000 a year.

More recently, he was placed on administrative leave while going through a performance review. That review, started in January, was expected to take a few weeks. Port employees were told that the administrative leave was pending “resolution of personnel issues.”

The port has not specifically connected the leave to controversy Fick faced in 2016. In April, he was arrested for a DUI, according to the Puget Sound Business Journal. Fick reportedly was pulled over driving 79 mph on SR 520. This was shortly after he left a retirement party for a port employee. His blood alcohol level was reportedly .08, the state’s legal limit.

Fick is expected to go to court over the DUI this February.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this article.

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