PORT ANGELES — The city’s Utility Advisory Committee has recommended three community members to fill out the committee’s membership.
Committee members Tuesday, Feb. 11, voted 5-0, with member Paul Elliot absent, to recommend Elliot and fellow committee member Lynn Bedford be reappointed by the full City Council to four-year committee terms.
Former City Councilwoman Betsy Wharton also was recommended to fill the spot of advisory committee member Dean Reed, whose final meeting was Tuesday after 14 years on the committee.
The Utility Advisory Committee comprises council members Sissi Bruch, Dan Gase and Lee Whetham; two community representatives; and one representative from the city’s sole industrial electrical transmission customer, Nippon Paper Industries USA.
Elliot, engineering and maintenance manager for Nippon, was not present for committee member candidate interviews before Tuesday’s regular committee meeting.
Bedford, a 16-year Port Angeles resident and real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Uptown Realty, said during her interview Tuesday that she wanted to volunteer for the Utility Advisory Committee because of her past work for the Bonneville Power Administration in Eastern Washington.
Wharton, an 11-year city resident and a registered nurse at First Step Family Support Center, said Tuesday she is interested in the Utility Advisory Committee because the city’s utilities are some of the most basic services a city can provide its residents.
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
