King honored at last public meeting as Commissioner

3 term Jefferson County PUD Commissioner Wayne King was honored with a resolution acknowledging his 18 years of service and leadership at his final public meeting as a commissioner on December 11, 2018.

King was a key member of the team that oversaw Jefferson County PUD’s transition from a 5000-customer water and sewer district with a $2 million annual operating budget and 8 employees to $39 million utility with nearly 50 employees after Jefferson became the first WA state public utility in nearly 60 years to acquire electric service from a private company.

As the resolution honoring him states “King demonstrated profound leadership during the negotiation of the acquisition of Puget Sound Energy’s electric assets in Jefferson County, and in the successful transition from private to public electric service with comparable rates, more family-wage local jobs and greater accountability and transparency to the local residents.”

King was also instrumental in authorizing the construction of the Beckett Point septic system that drastically reduced septic pollution to Discovery Bay. He was involved in the protection of the upper watershed of Chimacum Creek through the PUD’s acquisition of Peterson Lake. The King family were integral in forming the Gardiner water system, one of the first in the PUD.

Though King was born in Jefferson County and lives there now, he also spent many years as a Top Fuel drag racer in Bakersfield, CA. King still owns and operates King Hydraulic Marine and Machine.