Congratulations to all of the candidates in the general election. Even those who didn’t win raised issues and contributed ideas that could help make for a better community.

This is the first in a series of editorials on what needs to be accomplished post-election.

The Port of Kingston is recruiting for a new port district manager. Mary McClure, former executive director of the Kitsap Regional Coordinating Council, will soon join the commission. This month, the State Auditor will pore over the port office’s records as part of its three-year auditing cycle, in an effort to detect and report on significant misappropriation, misuse or loss of public funds and non-compliance with laws and regulations.

This is a good time for the port and two of its constituents, Beth Brewster and Tania Issa, to go to mediation.

It is apparent there are problems in the Port of Kingston, the biggest of these being mistrust. Kingston Adventures owner Beth Brewster believes she was discriminated and retaliated against by then-Port Director David Malone. (One of their allegations has been gender discrimination, which we hope can be calmed by the ascent of two high-ranking port district officials, who happen to be women: Commissioner McClure and Port Controller Nancy Payne.)

Brewster and Issa are suspicious of how the port conducts business and have filed more than 200 public records requests in an effort to prove their suspicions. Those public records requests have created a burden on port staff, and Brewster and Issa have filed three lawsuits related to the port’s alleged failure to comply with their requests for information. We’re not going to try the case here, nor are we going to question the legitimacy of their suspicions. Residents indeed have the right to request copies of public records. But we’re concerned that this is devolving into an effort in which no one’s interests will be served. And the public, which owns the port district, will bear the cost.

One of the records requests is for copies of all public records provided to the media. What does that prove other than the port provided records to the press as requested by members of the press? Another recent request is for “detailed billing and usage records for phone and internet services at the Port of Kingston (landline, mobile, VOIP, Skype, Comcast Cable, etc.) from January 2014 to present,” as well as “all metadata associated with electronic records.”

An experienced mediator can help both sides resolve these issues more expediently, and at less cost than going through a lengthy court process.