Shawn Brown chosen Port of Columbia Commissioner

DAYTON–The Port of Columbia Board of Commissioners voted to select Shawn Brown for the District No. 1 Commissioner seat, replacing Dan Aschenbrenner, who moved out of district. Brown was sworn into office immediately following being selected.

The commissioners, Earle Marvin and Sean Milligan, together with Port Executive Director Jennie Dickinson, interviewed Brown and another candidate, David Klingenstein. Both were questioned about what they could offer as a commissioner.

Brown indicated he has an interest in serving his community and is eager to participate in that way here. "I've always had an interest in providing service to the community and in the time that I have been here in Columbia County I've grown very fond of the place, said Brown. "I also have longtime and ongoing interest in economic development. Seeing the Port of Columbia as the prime driver for economic development in Columbia County, I'm attracted to come and help."

Brown's experience includes seventeen years in various real estate-related roles and he has a background in education, including building the first form of online education before the internet, including research libraries. He considers his professional involvement has helped in addressing conflict in learning to explain situations plainly to create understanding to move forward.

He has been an active resident in the county the last two years. One way has been through the Chamber of Commerce, which has allowed him to get to know business owners and helping them find creative ways through the pandemic. He also just recently joined the City of Dayton Affordable Housing Commission "to help further build the tax base and listening to residents and bringing their opinions back to our meetings."

When asked about potential conflicts of interest, Brown stated, "The core of my business is residential lending. I don't see any potential conflicts between the Port's activities and residential lending. I do serve as a member of the Board for the Dayton Chamber of Commerce, and both the Port and Chamber have a long history of working closely together. If it ever were to come to a point where there was an issue in front of the Port, that it be reflected or affected by my position with the Chamber, I would have no problem in promptly recusing myself from any votes on that."

The board also interviewed long-time Columbia County resident David Klingenstein, whose interests paralleled that of the other candidate. "I'm a lifelong resident of Columbia County, was born and raised here. I, like Shawn, am interested in economic development and helping our community and county do better than what we're doing. I'm very familiar with Lyons Ferry. I'm also interested in broadband. I built a fiber-optic network through Dayton and I know the Port has been interested in broadband. I think it would be a good match to become a commissioner, to help out with that function."

He also stated that having "thirty years of experience in communications industry" is an asset to the Port. He said that being a business owner, he serves members of the community who have talked with him about some issues in the county, some with the Port. As a commissioner, he would gather their opinions, explain to them what's going on at the Port and be able to relay the information back to the Port.

He claims his experience as a business owner has helped him learn to work through conflict by being available and addressing their concerns honestly. Klingenstein acknowledged that there would be a conflict of interest with owning a broadband company because of the Ports existing plans with Pocket iNet to come in with a dark fiber network.

Commissioner Milligan asked what he would do when faced with the conflict of interest. Klingenstein replied "Well, I don't know. I might have to resign or count myself out. I wouldn't be able to vote for an issue like that because I would be biased. I acquired a business offering broadband to this community. This business has been here since 1953. My grandfather started this business and we're a family-owned and operated cable company. We're actually one of the oldest companies in the United States. My FCC ID number is 43 so we were the 43rd cable company built in the United States here. I'm pretty proud of that, that we've been here this long and have served this community."

Klingenstein also expressed concern over the vacancies on Main Street and suggested that maybe the Port businesses should relocate to Main Street.

After reconvening from executive session, the commissioners announced the selection of Shawn Brown, who was then formally approve.

Brown and his wife, Kristina, who is the Dayton High School Principal, moved to Dayton two years ago when she accepted that position.