I’m running for Thurston PUD Commissioner, one of three Commissioners who make decisions on behalf of the Thurston Public Utility District. The PUD serves about 9,000 water customers in and around Thurston County. It would be my solemn responsibility to serve both, the PUD customers and the citizens of Thurston County in protecting our sacred waters!
Water is Sacred!
The top priorities of the PUD never change. Those are serving our customers with clean & affordable water. I would work hard on those duties as I will describe below. However first I want to share something new. Thurston PUD Commissioners are elected by the entire county but only provides a small portion of residents as their water utility. I’d like to do more in service to the residents of the entire county, not just the PUD’s customers. I propose reaching out to our citizens, to other water utilities, the schools, churches, tribes, unions, small businesses and community groups in Thurston County to organize, what hopefully would become an annual, Thurston County Water Day.
We need a Water Day to celebrate and give thanks for our water! Let’s face it, most people here, including myself, take our water for granted. We turn on the faucet and water comes out without much thought on where it comes from or how important it is. It’s high time we changed that. With today’s aging infrastructure, changes in weather, higher demands for more water and limits on supply starting to be faced, we need to learn to show water much greater respect.
Changing weather & water retainment.
We’ve seen our weather patterns shifting across the world but also here at home. Thurston County now regularly gets hit with what is known as Atmospheric Rivers. These focused drenching rains, surging from the Pacific, seem to be hitting us much harder in the winter. When combined with the growth in population, the increase in impermeable surfaces from new construction, this county faces a need for implementing more storm water retainment systems and strategies to mitigate flooding. Thurston PUD only holds a small part of the responsibility in dealing with these issues, but I’d like to show how that can make us a nimble, and valuable, component in serving the water needs for the entire county.
Increasing efficiency & saving money.
Thurston PUD has grown quite a lot over the past 20 years. One way we have done that is by buying private water systems that were often in somewhat disrepair. Bringing these newly acquired, but aging, water systems up to snuff has been a real challenge but it also provides opportunities for increasingly efficient, and therefore cheaper, services. I will be looking into the PUD operations with fresh eyes for low hanging fruit for increasing efficiency and decreasing costs. I know there are savings to be made and I’m absolutely certain I will find them. I feel strongly that that’s part of the job of Commissioner, to understand the entire PUD and find the cost savings.
Git’er Done!
I said in my official Voter’s Guide statement that I’m someone who rolls up their sleeves willing to do what is needed. After all, with only around 25 employees, Thurston PUD is still a small utility. When winter storms hit, having one more person capable with a chainsaw can sometimes make a difference. However, there are other matters, like researching competitive pricing for materials, machines or services. Or seeking out solutions ahead of future problems. I’m a problem solver by nature, so I’d like to apply my tenacity for practical purposes at the PUD. The way I see it, I’d rather not just be staying up late worried about issues coming down the road and instead be working on what I can do in the present. Plus it really takes a village when it comes to caring for our water supplies. I want to encourage everyone to do more and feel that personal responsibility for our community’s problems.
