At a special meeting Monday morning, the Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD) commissioners voted 2-1 to terminate the utility’s general manager, Chris Roden.
Those in favor were commissioners Mike Hadaller and Michael Kelly. Commissioner Ed Rothlin voted against the motion to fire Roden, who was hired in 2018 after a stint in a different management position for the utility and time working at the Cowlitz County PUD.
Kelly made the motion to terminate Roden’s contract “without cause.”
“Obviously this motion is going to pass. I’m going to go on the record as a ‘nay’ vote,” said Rothlin after his seatmates voted in favor of termination, adding, “We’re gonna work hard over the next day or two. … Further action and next steps will begin tomorrow.”
On the motivation for his vote on Monday, Hadaller said, “We’re just moving on to new things.”
Asked if they had a replacement in mind for Roden, the commissioners declined to provide additional comment before The Chronicle’s Monday afternoon press deadline, but said more information would be available during their regular business meeting on Tuesday morning.
Roden was voted into the position by previous commissioners Ben Kostick — who was ousted by Kelly in the 2020 election — and Tim Cournyer, who lost in the 2022 primary race to Hadaller. Rothlin was elected in 2019.
The two most recently-elected commissioners focused their campaigns on the promise of keeping rates low, and Cournyer was recently the only holdout on the board to vote against a budget that included no rate hikes for the years of 2023 and 2024.
Cournyer argued the move would threaten the PUD’s strategic goals — which he said are to supply “safe, reliable power at a reasonable cost” — because the budget would not spare room for training, maintenance and equipment purchases.
During the primary, Hadaller told The Chronicle: “I feel that the PUD is overspending. I feel that they waste a lot of money. I feel they have higher management that is overpaid.”
Likewise, on the campaign trail, Kelly said his goal as a commissioner was to “reign in spending and stabilize our rates.”
Now representing a majority, the two were able to cut ties with Roden shortly after Hadaller was sworn in, despite Rothlin’s vote against it.
The PUD declined to provide’s Roden’s salary information to The Chronicle Monday. The Chronicle has submitted a formal records request.
Commissioners serve for six-year terms and, according to the PUD’s website, are tasked with setting policy and overseeing the work of the general manager. They make an annual salary of $30,804.
