WALDPORT — The Port of Alsea board selected Signe Reese as the probationary candidate for port manager during a special meeting Aug. 27.
Reese will start work Wednesday and work six hours a day, four days a week as she trains to take over as port manager at the end of October for Roxie Cuellar who is retiring after nine years on the job.
In April the board had hired Ron Graves of Waldport for the position, which comes with a probationary training period. He resigned in late May after not receiving a commitment that he would take over as port manager in the fall.
Reese will take on normal port maintenance duties and shifts at the Dock of the Bay store while also training in the office under Cuellar. Unlike Graves, who was paid $19 an hour during the probationary period, Cuellar will recommend to the board that Reese be paid a salary commiserate with the “low end” of the port manger’s salary or about $40,000 a year.
When Cuellar retires, the port manager position will move forward at 24 hours a week over four days with a top annual salary of $45,000.
Reese’s resume reflects a history of accounting work for multiple companies in the Eugene-area between 2006 and 2023. She lives north of Yachats.
The Port of Alsea district stretches from an area south of Seal Rock through Waldport, east to the Lincoln-Benton county line and south through Yachats to Lane County. It is overseen by a five-member board and the manager, who is responsible for preparing the budget, which is about $500,000 a year.
