Gov. Chris Gregoire has appointed Charles T. Royer of Seattle to the Washington State Transportation Commission. He will serve the remaining six months of the six-year term being vacated by Commissioner Richard Ford, who has resigned effective Nov. 30.

Royer served three terms as Seattle mayor, from 1978 to 1989, during which time he also served as president of the National League of Cities. After his tenure as mayor, Royer served for five years as director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University and lecturer at the John F. Kennedy School. He then returned to Seattle and the University of Washington where he directed the Urban Health Institute, a 10-year, national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Washington State Transportation Commission is a seven-member body of citizens appointed by the governor for six-year terms. The commission provides a public forum for transportation policy development. It reviews and assesses how the entire transportation system works across the state and issues the state’s 20-year Washington Transportation Plan. As the state tolling authority, the commission adopts tolls for state highways and bridges and fares for state ferries. The secretary of the Washington State Department of Transportation and a representative from the Governor’s Office are ex-officio members of the commission.

“I look forward to this opportunity to shape and improve our state’s transportation system,” said Royer. “From the wheat fields of the Palouse and the docks on Elliott Bay to the little bed and breakfast on Orcas Island, transportation ties together our economy and our unique culture and sense of place.”

Recently, Royer has been co-chairman of the Central Waterfront Committee, leading efforts to rebuild the seawall and improve the Seattle waterfront. He is chairman of the Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District and co-chairman of the Advisory Committee on Tolling and Traffic Management that is recommending strategies and policies to minimize downtown traffic impacts from the tunnel replacing the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

Born in Medford, Ore., Royer served in the Army and subsequently graduated from the University of Oregon in 1966 with a degree in journalism. He worked as a reporter and news analyst in Portland and Seattle prior to his election as mayor.

For more information about the commission, visit: www.wstc.wa.gov.