Unless it’s very foggy, Rolf Seitle has a pretty good view of Langley’s troubled small boat harbor from his home perched on a bluff overlooking Saratoga Passage.

As an elected commissioner for the Port of South Whidbey, he has more than a scenic interest in the marina’s future — economically, aesthetically and environmentally.

On Dec. 4, Seitle will represent his fellow commissioners in the first series of negotiations designed to transfer ownership of the marina from the city of Langley to the port district.

Though he’s proud of what the port district has done since he was first appointed commissioner in 2003 — creating the Clinton Beach park project on time and within the budget, especially — the next chapter will be vital.

“The best is yet to come,” he said during a recent interview.

On Sept. 28, the city of Langley formally indicated their desire to sell its marina holdings for an undisclosed amount.

Seitle, port director Ed Field and port attorney Al Hendricks will meet with Langley council members to work out a satisfactory purchase agreement.

During an earlier port meeting, Seitle pointed out several potential hurdles.

“Their letter said they expect to be compensated,” he said. “But if we provide the city with a lot of money — and we don’t know yet what that would be — it will end up affecting our ability to upgrade the marina. However, the big problem is the permit process, in terms of timing.”

Acquiring the port is a long-standing goal for Seitle.

“It fits within the tenets of what a port should be doing,” he said. “I strongly believe we are not living up to opportunities provided by the Legislature. We currently operate our facilities with a negative cash flow but the state allows us to be profitable.

“The question is, how do we get there?”

According to Seitle, there are three questions that must be answered before taking over the port:

• Is the project acceptable to the community?

• Is the plan environmentally sound?

• Does any proposal meet “smart” objectives?

“For example, we are not going to build a cement plant on South Whidbey,” Seitle said.

For better or worse, revenue is dependent on tourism, but Seitle wants to explore alternatives.

“Can we do something to entice industry that would provide jobs but not destroy what we love about the island?” Seitle asked.

Seitle said he has been thinking hard about it. He’s been in contact with a company in Houston interested in developing a software research-and-development facility outside of Texas.

“If we subsidized 20 or so employees to come here and each created three more support jobs, that would meet a key goal for us,” he said.

From Vienna to Langley

Born in Vienna during the Nazi occupation of Austria, Seitle graduated with a degree in electrical engineering when he came to the attention of the U.S. State Department. They were looking for translators to help rebuild Europe’s war-torn economy.

Eventually, Seitle came to America, joined the Army and became a citizen.

He worked as an engineer for television stations in Tampa, Fla. and San Francisco, Calif., including a stint as a cameraman for the White House communications agency.

In 1956, Seitle was hired by a public television station in Chicago, Ill. But there was a problem; when they broadcast classical concerts, no one could read music. Several young ladies from Northwestern University were hired to remedy the situation and one in particular caught Seitle’s eye.

Fifty years later, Rolf and Barbara Seitle celebrated their marriage with a return to the pizza joints and cafés of their youth.

Seitle returned to the Bay area and put his engineering skills to work in the aerospace industry, becoming vice-president of Transdyn Controls by the time he retired and moved to Whidbey in 1997.

Port of South Whidbey

For 12 years, Seitle served on a local water board in California and was amenable to the idea of volunteering for the port when he was approached in 2002 to fill an empty slot.

In 2003, he was elected in his own right for a six-year term representing Langley.

“I’ve always been interested in the marina; it has great potential,” he said.

“But you can’t operate such a facility without investing and improving it. That’s what I hope we can do. We will have to subsidize the harbor but there will eventually be a revenue stream.”

Seitle bristles at the notion he is sometimes hard to work with.

“In 2004, Neil (Mayor Colburn) and I agreed that it made sense for the port to take over — the other commissioners at the time had some doubts,” Seitle recalled.

Seitle felt good about the positive interaction during the discussions back then, and a joint memorandum resulted, but the city withdrew.

“I did become upset about that, but I think now we can come to a positive agreement. The harbor has no market value as it stands; the whole area must be improved and we need to control it to properly supervise,” he said.

As examples, he points to the port’s experience with the improvement projects at Bush Point and Clinton Beach.

In the first instance, the Department of Fish and Wildlife started building a state-of-the-art boat launch ramp in 1998 – it still isn’t finished.

On the other hand, the park in Clinton was financed and supervised by the port district with minimal fuss and opened on time in the spring.

“I can’t, as a commissioner, approve taxpayer money to be spent without oversight and accountability,” he said. “We are willing to accept a huge responsibility for the community and have nothing but positive motives.”

Fellow port commissioners Lynae Slinden and Geoff Tapert are in concert with Seitle, viewing the Langley marina acquisition as a real opportunity to expand the port’s operations while meeting the essential goals of economic development, environmental stewardship and thoughtful governance.

“Whatever we can do to help our island’s economic health — our support of this year’s Chochookum festival is a good example — is just one reason why I’m happy to serve on the board.”

Jeff VanDerford can be reached at 221-5300 or jvanderford@southwhidbeyrecord.com.