Outgoing City Council President Scott Peters won five votes from his colleagues Monday for a seat on the San Diego Unified Port District Board of Commissioners, beating out a nominee from Point Loma. The action took place despite an attempt by Councilmember Donna Frye to have the vote postponed until four newly elected members of the council begin their terms next month. Peters, of La Jolla, will serve a Port District term that will end Jan. 2, 2013. Peters is leaving his 1st District council seat next month because of term limits. Peters recused himself from voting, and the meeting was conducted by Jim Madaffer, outgoing council president pro tem. Laurie J. Black, of Mission Hills, also won five votes from the City Council for the only other seat as a Port District commissioner for a term that will also end in 2013. Both begin their terms Jan. 2. Robert McNeely, of Point Loma, won the votes of four councilmembers. Several councilmembers told McNeely they prefer him to remain on the Centre City Development Corporation, to which he was recently reappointed by the council. Voting in favor of Peters were councilmembers Kevin Faulconer, Toni Atkins, Ben Hueso, Jim Madaffer and Brian Maienschein. Voting for Black were Councilmembers Tony Young, Donna Frye, Faulconer, Madaffer and Atkins. McNeely won votes from Young, Frye, Maienschein and Hueso. In a brief statement to the council, Peters said he is former Coastal Commissioner and an attorney who specialized in environmental law. He described himself as “a good listener” and has served as council president for three 1-year terms. A spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders told the council the mayor endorsed Peters for the Port District seat. Before the vote, Peters told the council he would not be accepting the $1,000 monthly transportation or $100 monthly phone allowances. Port Commissioners do not receive a salary but they do receive some free travel with their official duties. Councilmember Donna Frye unsuccessfully asked at the start of the meeting that the vote be delayed until after four recently elected councilmembers are sworn into office on Dec. 8. Frye said she made the motion “out of courtesy to our incoming colleagues” and added “there’s no rush” to fill the Port District seats that will not be vacant until Jan. 2. “I don’t think it’s the fair thing to do,” said Young, who seconded Frye’s motion to postpone the vote. Activist Ian Trowbridge said the new City Council should be the ones to vote on the nominees, adding that it was “shameful to docket this item” before the new council is seated. Madaffer, however, said there was nothing wrong with docketing the matter now. He said many council actions are often delayed, but there was no reason to delay this one. The new council will meet only twice in December before the Christmas recess, and it won’t meet in January before the vacancies take effect. The Port District of San Diego was created by the state legislature in 1962 to manage San Diego Bay and surrounding waterfront land and is a state agency. The cities of Coronado, Chula Vista, National City and Imperial Beach also elect representatives to sit on the Port District.