CHICAGO -- James Bellus will step down Aug. 30 as president of the St. Paul Port Authority to join Minneapolis-based Piper, Jaffray & Hopwood Inc. as a managing director in its public finance department, the authority announced earlier this month.
Mr. Bellus has been president of the Port Authority since June 1989. Before joining the authority, he had held positions as an executive assistant to former St. Paul Mayor George Latimer and a director of the city's Department of Planning and Economic Development.
Kenneth Johnson, currently a Port Authority senior vice president, will replace Mr. Bellus as president, according to Mike Strand, an authority vice president. Mr. Johnson joined the Port Authority as senior vice president in December 1989. He, too, had previously been director of St. Paul's Department of Planning and Economic Development.
The Port Authority issues tax-exempt revenue bonds to promote economic development in downtown St. Paul.
