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PUD commissioners elect 2008 officers

Chelan County PUD
News Release
1/7/2008

Chelan County PUD commissioners named their 2008 officers Monday, re-electing Norm Gutzwiler of Wenatchee as president of the board. Gutzwiler, on the board since 2003, was also president for 2007. He thanked fellow commissioners for their hard work in the past year.

PUD Commissioner Ann Congdon of Manson was re-elected vice president. Congdon has been on the Board since 2005. Wenatchee’s Dennis Bolz was elected secretary. All the positions are for one year.

New staff attorney position will be filled

Commissioners Monday discussed plans by the District to hire an additional staff attorney to help cover the growing workload faced by two staff PUD attorneys and a number of contracted lawyers. Staffing is within the general manager’s responsibilities, and commissioners approved the new position in the 2008 budget but wanted further public discussion of the issue. General Manager Rich Riazzi said later that the position will be filled.

Commissioner Dennis Bolz shared comments he has received from customer owners, including suggestions that it is often better to have outside legal help for a broader perspective. Commissioner Werner Janssen added that there is a perception that inside legal counsel has more influence than they should in day-to-day PUD business.

Riazzi responded that for utilities, “The dynamics of our industry is changing around us,” and said the PUD is focused on having the right staffing levels as it faces a growing volume of work related to regulation and climate change. He said it is important to have the right knowledge within the PUD’s legal department to be proactive and to avoid issues before they develop.

The PUD’s general counsel is a full-time position, while the existing staff attorney position is part time, 32 hours a week. The new position would be full-time.

Part-time Staff Attorney Karen Wiggum reported that existing staff are facing many new issues and regulations and there was a 90-percent increase in the number of contracts related to PUD work since 2004.

Salaries, benefits and taxes for the two existing positions total $360,000 a year. The 2007 cost for outside attorneys (without December) was $1.8 million.

Customer-owner Rich Cole of Malaga said he is opposed to filling the staff attorney position approved in the 2008 budget. Cole questioned the need for the position, and said he agreed with e-mailed comments from Gary Nelson of Wenatchee who suggested alternatives to try before adding the third in-house attorney.

In other business, PUD commissioners:

• Set a special meeting for 1:30 p.m. on Jan 15, in the Chelan County Commission Chambers to meet with the Port of Chelan County and Chelan County commissioners to discuss items of mutual interest.
• Set customer partnership group meetings for February through May. Click here for a list of dates, times and locations.

***

The next regular meeting of the PUD commission is at 1 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 14, in the boardroom at PUD headquarters, 327 N. Wenatchee Ave.

Most PUD commission meetings are recorded, and a link to the audio is available on the PUD’s home page at www.chelanpud.org.

Christy Shearer
Communications Audio-visual Specialist
Chelan County PUD
509.661.4258 office
509.421.4258 cell
509.661.8133 fax
christy.shearer@chelanpud.org

Link to board meeting.