POULSBO — John Armstrong has two decades’ worth of experience as a Kitsap Public Utility District commissioner. Debra Lester is a former mayor of Bainbridge Island.
They emerged the top two finishers Aug. 2 primary election race for Kitsap PUD commissioner, district 1.
As of 8:15 p.m. election day, Lester had 4,102 votes, Armstrong had 2,883. Denise M. Ledingham, a former Kitsap PUD communications officer, had 1,936 votes. Rusty Grable, an engineering technician at Naval Undersea Warfare Center, had 1,465.
At a July 14 candidates forum in Poulsbo City Hall, the candidates were similar in their views. Each sees broadband service, which the district provides, as essential; supports changing commission meeting times from 9:30 a.m. to a time more convenient to the public; and supports the public creation of local utility districts to fund improvement of neighborhood-level services (residents of Lookout Lane, northwest of Poulsbo in unincorporated Kitsap, have proposed creating a district; property owners would pay an assessment to cover the cost of improvements).
Because of the candidates’ similar stands on issues, moderator Catherine Ahl was compelled to ask each to explain why he or she should be elected.
Armstrong, seeking a fifth term, said the district is recognized statewide as an efficient and well-run utility and he’s proud to be part of that. He noted that during his tenure, the range of services provided by the district has expanded yet the tax rate has increased from 8 cents to 8.05 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. “We’re a tight bunch,” he said.
In the voters’ guide, he wrote that his “common-sense approach to decision-making requires me to weigh cost vs. benefits to reach a fair and balanced decision. This method of resource management has been gained through 26 years of organizational management, 24 years of serving as your PUD commissioner.”
As a former member of a city council and various regional policy and planning committees, Lester said she’s familiar with testifying in Olympia on behalf of Kitsap and would work to build stronger alliances within the district’s communities. She’s also “very curious” about new technology (she talked about turbines that can be placed in municipal water pipes to generate electricity, and excitedly recounted her visit to a wastewater treatment plant).
“Working with fellow commissioners, my goal is to assure KPUD customers affordable and reliable utility services using a thorough process of rate setting, cost/benefit analysis, and budget reviews,” she wrote in the voters’ guide. “Having worked directly with many Kitsap County elected officials and tribal leaders, my focus is on building stronger alliances to carefully manage our water resources, treat wastewater so as to retain more freshwater resources in freshwater systems, and continue efforts to extend broadband telecommunications.”
AT A GLANCE
The Kitsap Public Utility District is governed by a publicly elected three-member Board of Commissioners, with one commissioner elected from North Kitsap, another from Central Kitsap, and another from South Kitsap. Commission terms are six years.
The district’s 2015 budget was $10.4 million in revenue, $6.2 million in regular expenses, $2.1 million in debt-service payments, and $5.6 million in capital expenditures. The district covered the $3.5 million overage with its reserves, ending the year with a reserve fund of $5.1 million.
According to www.KPUD.org, the utility district was formed by voters in 1940 to explore providing electrical service as a public special-purpose district, instead of a private company.
In the 1970s, Kitsap PUD began providing water utility service after it acquired several small, privately owned water systems and municipal water districts. Today, the district owns and operates 50 separate water systems that provide drinking water to 50,000 residents of Kitsap. The water systems consist of wells, storage reservoirs, and pipes that carry water to homes and businesses.
In the late 1980s, Kitsap PUD was designated lead agency for development of the county’s Coordinated Water System Plan and Ground Water Management Plan. Kitsap PUD initiated a countywide water resource monitoring program which includes tracking well-water levels, rainfall, and stream flow. The district drilled a series of test wells to improve the understanding of aquifers in Kitsap County.
In the 1990s, Kitsap PUD conducted a water-related education program for students and adults, and in 1995 started the annual Kitsap Water Festival.
Since the early 2000s, Kitsap PUD has been operating a high-speed open-access fiber optic broadband network in Kitsap County. Almost all of the county’s schools, libraries, government offices, first-responder buildings and major medical facilities have been connected to this fiber optic network.
In 2014, Kitsap PUD began assisting in a project to renovate the wastewater treatment plant at Port Gamble. The plant’s effluent will no longer be directed into Hood Canal but to a large, upland drainfield.
