PORT HADLOCK — Jefferson County Public Utility District commissioners Wayne King and Ken McMillen on Wednesday will interview six applicants for the District 1 commissioner seat left vacant after the November death of Dana Roberts.
The half-hour interviews in closed executive session at the PUD offices, 230 Chimacum Road, Port Hadlock, will begin at 1 p.m. and will be followed by discussion between the two remaining commissioners, King and McMillen, in executive session.
King on Thursday was uncertain whether a decision would be made at the PUD commissioners 5 p.m. Wednesday public meeting.
“I hope so, but I wouldn’t count on it,” King said. “I hope we can. We need to move on.”
PUD General Manager Jim Parker said that on Monday he will draw names out of a hat to determine the order in which the applicants will be interviewed.
Applicants will be asked to say why they want to be selected and why the board should select them, Parker said.
Applicants
Sam Gibboney, principal owner of Port Townsend-based ISE Consultants, became the sixth applicant when she submitted her paperwork just before Thursday’s deadline.
“I would bring a diverse background, the experience of a seasoned professional and the commitment to creating public value to the board,” she said in a letter to King and McMillen.
She said she was “profoundly aware of the ways in which our lives depend upon the provision of basic services such as water supply, waste treatment, transportation and electricity.”
Gibonney’s company provides project management, strategic planning, facilitation, public outreach and communication services to government and nonprofit clients.
She worked from 1994 to 1999 for the city of Port Townsend Public Works Department and CH2M Hill as a civil engineer, and in 1995-1996 as project manager for Jefferson Land Trust’s Quimper Wildlife Corridor project.
She has also been a watershed educator for Washington State University Cooperative Extension.
Former Jefferson County Commissioner Larry Dennison and Jerry Spieckerman, a retiree active in community service, have also applied for appointment to the Jefferson County Public Utility District 1 commissioner seat left vacant when Dan Roberts died in November.
Three other applicants are journalist and former government planner Barney Burke, former Port of Port Townsend commissioner and City Councilman Bob Sokol, and Team Jefferson economic development council Chairman Bill Wise.
The appointee will serve from the date of appointment until the November 2010 general election.
Commissioners’ pay
Commissioners are paid monthly salaries of $1,000, and receive per diem at a rate of $90 per meeting, as well as medical coverage.
The PUD commissioner has regularly scheduled meetings on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. Special meetings are called as needed.
The PUD, which serves 3,500 water customers and 200 septic system connections, has nine full-time employees, and operates on an annual budget of more than $2 million.
The agency is examining its option authorized by voters in November 2008 to get into the electric service business, and is negotiating with Puget Sound Energy to possible take over that private company’s facilities and service in East Jefferson County.
PSE now provides electricity to more than 18,000 East Jefferson County customers.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
