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What is best for Clark County
With the election over I want to congratulate Mike Lyons and Nancy Barnes for finishing in the top two and advancing to November.
My fourth place finish came as a shock but it came as a lesson as well, that politics is fickle and unpredictable at the best of times and you cannot control everything you need to ensure the outcome you desire. One uplifting point is that after election day, in subsequent vote counts of late returns my percentage was the only one of the five candidates that went up on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; meaning I was the top vote getter of the late mail in ballots.
So now we turn to the question of Lyons vs Barnes. If I am to honestly keep what is best for Clark County in the forefront of my decisions then I must ask everyone who voted for me to strongly consider casting their ballot for Nancy Barnes for Clark Public Utilities Commissioner.
I thank everyone for their support of my campaign. It was a lot of hard work but it was also a lot of fun. I hope to continue being involved with the community in different ways over the next six years.
My fourth place finish came as a shock but it came as a lesson as well, that politics is fickle and unpredictable at the best of times and you cannot control everything you need to ensure the outcome you desire. One uplifting point is that after election day, in subsequent vote counts of late returns my percentage was the only one of the five candidates that went up on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; meaning I was the top vote getter of the late mail in ballots.
So now we turn to the question of Lyons vs Barnes. If I am to honestly keep what is best for Clark County in the forefront of my decisions then I must ask everyone who voted for me to strongly consider casting their ballot for Nancy Barnes for Clark Public Utilities Commissioner.
I thank everyone for their support of my campaign. It was a lot of hard work but it was also a lot of fun. I hope to continue being involved with the community in different ways over the next six years.
Election Day
Good Day Vancouver! It is election day and the hopes and dreams of dozens of candidates rests in your hands. You get the final say. Remember that freedom is a flame that needs constant tending and one of the responsibilities of freedom is making sure that your voice is heard. Remember the sacrifices of those that e...nsured you this freedom and honor them by casting your ballot today.
Why Is The Utility Commissioner Important To You?
Your local utility commissioners for Clark County effect your life every single day. Commissioners set the rates you pay for electricity and in some parts of the county, the water. Commissioners approve the budget; and you cannot keep rates down or maintain excellent customer service without a serviceable budget. Commissioners also hire the Manager who oversees the day to day operations of Clark Public Utilities. Now of even more importance is that Commissioners oversee the implementation of Initiative 937, passed by voters in 2006 which mandates utilities phase in a percentage of renewable (green) power. Read more about I-937 on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Initiative_937_%282006%29
More about that later...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Initiative_937_%282006%29
More about that later...
So why run?
A wise bumper sticker once told me that if I am not outraged I am not paying attention. I do pay attention and while I may not be outraged about Clark Public Utilities I certainly am concerned. Since becoming a resident of Clark County in 2002 I have kept an eye on the goings on of the utility because I like knowing where my money is going. Of late I am concerned about many decisions and contracts that the Board of Commissioners has negotiated and passed. I will lay them out as I post more. When I heard that a seat was coming up for election I decided that I need to channel my energies to making a difference instead of complaining to my poor Wife.
When I am represented by someone I want that person to be like me, someone who is living their life like most of the people in District 2. Most people are not business owners, most people live paycheck to paycheck or close to it, most people have a mortgage and children in school or approaching school age, most people have senior citizen family in the area they worry about. I am all those things, like you and your neighbors. If you want someone to represent you then send someone to that Commissioners seat who is like you. I will look out for your best interests because they are also my best interests.
When I am represented by someone I want that person to be like me, someone who is living their life like most of the people in District 2. Most people are not business owners, most people live paycheck to paycheck or close to it, most people have a mortgage and children in school or approaching school age, most people have senior citizen family in the area they worry about. I am all those things, like you and your neighbors. If you want someone to represent you then send someone to that Commissioners seat who is like you. I will look out for your best interests because they are also my best interests.
Green energy and you.
According to the State of Washington hydro-electric power is not a renewable resource. Water flowing down a major river through a dam is not a renewable resource? I think a lot of voters from 2006 wish they had read that Initiative a little closer. Still, for now, that is the law and Clark Public Utilities has to deal with it as written. The Initiative states, "The initiative proposes to require large utilties to obtain 15% of their electricityfrom new renewable resources such as solar and wind but excluding hydro by 2020 with incremental steps of 3% by 2012 and 9% by 2016 along with undertaking cost-effective energy conservation." I believe in developing green energy options for Clark County utility users but in a responsible way that will not financially punish families and individuals. Currently not a single volt or amp of green energy is entering the county and yet we are paying for green energy.
On March 24, 2009, nearly three years before mandated, Clark Public Utilities entered into a 20 year agreement to purchase all the energy from Eurus Energy's Eurus Combine Hills II wind farm. They are buying the power for more than you pay per kilowatt hour and they are selling it to other utilities at a loss! Eurus does not even have a contract with Bonneville Power to get the power here! We are buying something we cannot use and depleting the budget to do it. The real bad news is that this windfarm is in Milton-Freewater, Oregon and Eurus Energy is owned by a company in Tokyo, Japan. Some of your hard earned utility dollars are going to Oregon and Japan. I have been out to this area and you know what? There are wind farms on the Washington side of the river as well. Those windmills are turning just as fast as the Oregon ones. The incumbent states that they used machines to predict the wind at peak times of need. I have a hard time believing anyone can predict wind on a certain day, week or month. Let's go to Olympia and see if we can have I-937 amended to allow for the percentages to be lowered to allow for green energy technology to catch up and become competitive with hydro-electric rates. Lets see if we can fix this debacle.
On March 24, 2009, nearly three years before mandated, Clark Public Utilities entered into a 20 year agreement to purchase all the energy from Eurus Energy's Eurus Combine Hills II wind farm. They are buying the power for more than you pay per kilowatt hour and they are selling it to other utilities at a loss! Eurus does not even have a contract with Bonneville Power to get the power here! We are buying something we cannot use and depleting the budget to do it. The real bad news is that this windfarm is in Milton-Freewater, Oregon and Eurus Energy is owned by a company in Tokyo, Japan. Some of your hard earned utility dollars are going to Oregon and Japan. I have been out to this area and you know what? There are wind farms on the Washington side of the river as well. Those windmills are turning just as fast as the Oregon ones. The incumbent states that they used machines to predict the wind at peak times of need. I have a hard time believing anyone can predict wind on a certain day, week or month. Let's go to Olympia and see if we can have I-937 amended to allow for the percentages to be lowered to allow for green energy technology to catch up and become competitive with hydro-electric rates. Lets see if we can fix this debacle.
Rates.
Unfortunately any candidate who tells you that they will lower your rates is uninformed or ignorant of the fact that utility rates cannot go down. I would love to be able to tell you that I am going to go into that Commissioner Meeting Room and beat down the utility and drop your rates. It cannot be done, the way the Utility makes money and pays for power will never allow that. However I can tell you that I will fight like a Wolverine to keep your rates the same if possible. Unfortunately, before the new Commissioner takes office there is serious talk at Commissioner meetings that a rate increase is inevitable in December. They claim that sales are down and I concur about that, the evidence is easy to research. However they say you cannot budget for this increase, and that is where I have to wonder, why? If I cannot afford something in my household I either do without or amend my budget. Simple. I cannot shoulder new rate increases, I should not have to, you shouldn't either unless every option is explored and I do not believe that is the case here. When you elect me as your Commissioner I will keep you informed of my efforts to fight for you.
August 1, 2010
By now everyone in Clark County has received their ballots in the mail. It is now up to you to make the decision of who goes through to the top two final elections on November 2nd. Don’t think for a minute that this means I am going to lay down and let fate decide anything at this point. There are 17 days left before ballots are due and studies show that many people wait until very late before making up their minds. I am going to do everything possible to make sure people know about me, my stance on energy and water as well as the issues between now and then.
Campaign Interrupted
I have stated in the past that the first thing I have learned about running a campaign is that you have to expect the unexpected and make changes accordingly. Plans change, things happen, and sometimes the are more important than even this campaign. This week I was picked to be in the jury pool for the Clark County Superior Court. I got picked as a juror for a trial expected to last three days. Today was day two of that trial, we are expected to wrap up tomorrow. This meant that I was not at the Commissioner meeting today where the public was invited to make comments about the possible rate hike. Somethings are just more important that even Utility business, and doing your civic duty is one certainly one of those times. I am proud to be taking part in the judicial process, it is one of the many things that sets America apart from many countries in the world. I hope you will bear with me during this small interruption.
