How has your experience prepared you for this position?
I’ve been on the boards of four different nonprofits which is similar to the decision making roles I would have as PUD Commissioner. Plus I’ve worked in the field so I understand much of the type of work.
What do you consider the top three priorities for your PUD district?
I believe water quality and improvement of water resources is the number one priority. Next would be keeping costs low. Finally, I’d like to see about building community outreach across the county about the importance of water and the challenges we face because of growth and environmental concerns.
How would you handle them?
We need to hold more water reserves going forward. I’d want to see about building a water reservoir plus additional water towers. As far as water quality we need to continue testing but also avoid contamination. Prevention will save money in the long run. As far as other cost saving measures I’d like to make sure we maximize efficiency and see about employing youth perhaps in an Americorps crew, which is something I was a part of when I was younger. Finally, I’m thinking about proposing a Water Festival for the county which would be fun and educational.
How will you encourage your customers to conserve the resources for which your district is responsible?
Conservation saves money. We need to move away from glorifying lawns over native landscaping which will cut down on water use in summer. This would be a good focus for a Water Festival. Plus we could do more to bring attention to people who are leading in the communities we serve in conservation.
What part should your district play in your area’s environmental health?
Well the PUD serves about 9,000 customers, so we should at least play a proportional amount towards our area’s environmental health. It would be my goal to do even better than that and leverage that to encourage other water utilities to step up.
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