Washington State Department of Transportation Secretary Lynn Peterson has appointed John Klekotka P.E., the Chief of Engineering & Planning at the Port of Everett, to represent public ports on the Transportation Improvement Board. The Transportation Improvement Board is an independent state agency, created by the Legislature that distributes and manages street construction and maintenance grants to 320 cities and urban counties throughout Washington State. “Ensuring we have a strong, safe and functional transportation infrastructure is something that I am particularly passionate about,” Klekotka said. “My focus in representing the Washington ports will be ensuring that we keep freight in mind as we move forward with critical transportation improvements.”  Klekotka has been at the Port of Everett since 2000 and has more than 29 years in designing and engineering port infrastructure. At the Port, he is responsible for the $25 million annual capital project budget, including project management, permitting, environmental cleanups, port planning, regulatory compliance and construction. Klekotka’s term is effective immediately and expires in June 2018. He will be eligible to serve another four-year term.