Was employee recognition party a good use of PUD’s funds?

Published 1:30 am Sunday, September 4, 2022

The Snohomish County Public Utility District, owned by Snohomish County rate payers, has once more chosen to spend funds that provide little to no benefits to us, the customer-owners.

Recently the PUD chose to celebrate Safety Days (sounds good, who would object to safety) by providing all of its over 1,000 employees with two free days of pay, higher than other utilities in the area, and benefits to allow them to celebrate the event.

The employees were treated to a key note speaker for the event, an expense of some $20,000. The PUD also provided food and drinks provided by food trucks at the site of the celebration. Free food for 1,000 employees definitely cost thousands of dollars.

I, like most of the the customer-owners of the PUD, appreciate the service provided by the company year round. A celebratory event to recognize a safe environment within the company could be worthwhile and rewarding. However, an expense of thousands of dollars spent for this event does not seem to be a good use of customer-owner funds.

Maybe our next bills will include a rate reduction to reflect the extra money held by the company. I will wait for my bill before I celebrate.

Ignacio Castro Jr.

Edmonds