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Archived News
Columbia Generating Station Information
June 26, 2006
News Release 06-10
Brad Peck, Corporate Communications
(509) 377-8247
RICHLAND, Wash. – Energy Northwest’s Executive Board elected new officers at the public power agency’s June 22 meeting in Richland. Effective July 1, Executive Board officers will be: Sid Morrison, chairman; Tom Casey, vice chairman; Dave Remington, secretary; and Kathy Vaughn, assistant secretary. All were elected to serve one-year terms.
Morrison has served on the Executive Board since July 2001. He is a past chair of the Operations, Construction, and Safety Committee. A former legislator, Morrison served in the Washington State House of Representatives from 1966-1974, the Washington State Senate from 1974-1980 and the United States House of Representatives from 1980-1992. He was appointed Secretary of Transportation by the Washington Transportation Commission in 1993 and served in that capacity until retiring from state service on June 30, 2001.
Casey has served on the Executive Board since June 2002 and has been a member of the Energy Northwest Board of Directors since 1995. He was elected to the Grays Harbor County PUD Board of Commissioners in 1982 and is currently president of that body. Casey was previously a policy analyst with the Washington State House of Representatives from 1973 to 1978 and a lobbyist for the Washington State Grange.
Remington has served on the Executive Board since his appointment by Gov. Gary Locke in December 2004. He is retired from Itron, Inc., in Spokane where he was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He has more than 35 years experience in finance, treasury, and investment banking services. He holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School as well as a BS in electrical engineering from the University of California - Berkeley.
Vaughn, a Snohomish County PUD Commissioner since 1995, was elected to the Executive Board in June 2005. Vaughn is the owner of Goldmark Financial Corporation, a Snohomish County mortgage company. She also is co-owner with her husband of a construction firm. Prior to her election to the Commission she was active in the community leading youth organizations and serving as a precinct committee person.
In other Executive Board action, Klickitat PUD Commissioner Dan Gunkel was appointed chairman of the Operations, Construction & Safety Committee; Wash. State Senator Tim Sheldon was appointed chairman of the Administrative & Public Responsibility Committee; and Larry Kenney was re-appointed chairman of the Audit, Legal & Finance Committee. Kenney was also reappointed by Governor Gregoire to a second four-year term on the Executive Board effective July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2010.
The Executive Board also passed resolutions recognizing the contributions of three prominent members; Edward E. (Ted) Coates, Vera Claussen, and Roger Sparks.
Coates was honored for faithful service and outstanding leadership on the Executive Board as Secretary from September 1995 through June 2001, and as Chairman since June 2003. He continues to serve today as a member of the Executive Board. In honoring Coates the Executive Board highlighted his concern for the ratepayers of the Pacific Northwest, the Board of Directors, and the member utilities and employees of Energy Northwest.
Claussen was similarly recognized for faithfully serving on the Executive Board from January 1986 through June 2006. She served as Assistant Secretary from January 1986 through June 2003, Chairman of the Construction Committee from June 1986 through July 1988, and has been Chairman of the Administrative and Public Responsibility Committee since August 1988. She continues to serve on the Board of Directors. Claussen was cited for her outstanding leadership and counsel as well as her concern for the welfare of the region’s ratepayers, Energy Northwest employees and member utilities.
Sparks was recognized for his outstanding service and leadership on the Executive Board since January 1984. He served as Secretary of the Executive Board since February 2005 and continues to serve on Energy Northwest’s Board of Directors. He too was recognized for his outstanding leadership, concern for the needs of the region’s ratepayers, and the welfare of Energy Northwest employees and member utilities.
The Executive Board is Energy Northwest’s policy-making body. It meets monthly and is composed of 11 members; five elected from the Energy Northwest Board of Directors and six outside members. Outside members have no other formal association with Energy Northwest; three are appointed by the Board of Directors and three are appointed by the governor.