Pat Davis, a longtime Port of Seattle commissioner and the first woman elected to its commission since the organization was founded in 1911, has died at the age of 91. During her quarter-century in office, Sea-Tac Airport grew from fewer than 12 million passengers a year to about 30 million, Seattle became a major cruise destination, and the city’s waterfront began a sweeping redevelopment.
Davis joined the port commission in 1985 after working with the League of Women Voters and a civic organization that monitored the port’s activities. Alongside her colleagues, she supported expanding container terminals along the Duwamish River, building Sea-Tac’s third runway, and creating a convention center, hotel and cruise terminal in downtown Seattle. Supporters regarded her as someone who helped turn the region into an international economic center.
At the same time, the expansion of industrial infrastructure along the Duwamish intensified pollution of the river and surrounding land with petroleum products, heavy metals and other industrial chemicals. This restricted access to safe fishing and other traditional activities. Indigenous peoples, including the Duwamish Tribe, as well as workers and low-income communities in South Seattle, bore the greatest burden. The river cleanup is continuing, but the environmental damage and effects of the unequal placement of industry remain.
Davis also chaired the Washington State Council on International Trade and invited the World Trade Organization to hold its 1999 conference in Seattle. The meeting sparked massive protests by labor unions, environmental activists, human rights advocates and opponents of globalization, who objected to the closed nature of the negotiations. Clashes downtown, police use of tear gas and rubber bullets, and the imposition of a special security zone and movement restrictions became known as the “Battle of Seattle.”
The events heightened attention to police tactics, the right to protest and economic inequality in urban policy. Internationally, Seattle became a symbol of opposition to the prevailing model of globalization and one of the main sites of mass protests against international economic institutions. Davis later also faced criticism over allegations of weak oversight of construction projects, inefficient spending and a controversial promise of an additional payment to a former port executive. She denied any wrongdoing but decided not to seek a seventh term in 2009.
Colleagues remember Davis as an energetic reformer who defended jobs and supported the careers of other women. Some of her projects were criticized because of their environmental consequences or poor performance, but her contribution to the development of the port and the city is considered significant. The Port of Seattle said her vision and persistence played an important role in shaping the organization’s modern identity; an annual award for women leaders has been established in her honor.
Based on: Pat Davis, longtime Port leader who invited WTO to Seattle, has died