The Basics
Years of Service: Two in July
Division: Asset Management and Large Projects
Role: As part of the asset data services group, I analyze City Light’s asset data across multiple systems. I work with different business units to address discrepancies and gaps in our asset data and create database scripts, reports, and data visualizations for our business needs.

Background
Hometown: Federal Way, Wash.
Alma Mater: University of Washington (UW). Go dawgs!
Discipline/Trade of Study: I first studied communications, international studies, and political science at UW to earn my bachelor’s. I also have a master’s degree in management information systems from the University of Arizona.
Tell us about your family: My parents and younger brother both live in the Federal Way area. My younger sister lives in Washington D.C., where she works as an electrical engineer. I also have a girlfriend of a little under a year.

Just for Fun
Where do you currently live and what’s something you love about the area? I purchased a home in Federal Way in December! I love living in my hometown and that I’m so close to parks and restaurants. It’s a bit of a quiet town, which is perfect for me to enjoy and unwind after a long day of work!

What are some of your favorite activities/hobbies? A lot of my favorite activities revolve around computers and sports. I enjoy building custom computers whenever I have the budget to satisfy my fancier tastes. I’ve also recently gotten into golfing as a good, socially distanced sport, although a lot of the workout comes from simply walking the course.

What is something most people don’t know about you? People may not know that I’m actually a pilot! I have a private pilot’s license and several of my family members work for Alaska Airlines, so I got hooked into aviation at a young age.

What brought/attracted you to City Light? The utility initially attracted me because it checks all the boxes! This is a critical organization that does very important work in powering Seattle. My position allows me to fulfill my desire to apply my technology knowledge and experience and leverage that into a role that helps my community.

The Basics
Years of Service: 33
Division: Transmission & Distribution Operations
Role: I purchase, repair, and order tools for the South Service Center tool room, where I’m based. I meet with crew chiefs and managers from transmission and distribution operations and throughout our utility to identify tool and equipment needs. I also procure vendors to conduct repairs and maintenance for our high and low voltage work and other test equipment, collaborating with the North Service Center tool room to provide consistency and maximize our inventory.

Background
Hometown: Hermanville, Miss.
Alma Mater: Port Gibson High School. I studied at several technical colleges, Bates Technical, Renton Technical and South Seattle Community College, but am proud to boast that I graduated from one of the best auto mechanic schools in the south, “The Shade Tree Auto Mechanic School,” taught by my father.
Discipline/Trade of Study: Automobile mechanics
Tell us about your family: I am the sixth of eight children born in Hermanville, Miss. My father, the son of a poor sharecropper/farmer, received a third-grade education because he and his family had to dedicate their lives to working for their plantation owner. In addition to being a World War II veteran, a farmer, and a sawmill worker, he was one of the best self-trained electricians and shade tree automobile mechanics in our area. My brothers and I were right there, following in his footsteps, and learned responsibility, work ethic, and automobile service and repair at a young age. I drove cars and tractors at the age of 12. When I was 15, I worked a summer job cleaning bushes from the roadside and hauling hay, earning $300. I used that money to purchase a car’s shell and a rebuilt engine that my dad and I put together. It was a blue 1965 Chevy Impala that I drove in high school.

Just for Fun
What brought you to Washington? When I was in high school, I visited Tacoma to see my sister one summer and was amazed at the Evergreen State’s beauty. I was in awe of its giant Douglas fir trees, blue skies (when we see it), and the majestic snow-capped mountain peaks. (I had never seen trees line up the mountainside and down the other side like hair on a dog’s back). I couldn’t wait to visit Mount Rainier and have a snowball fight and ride an inner tube. We rarely had enough snow in Mississippi to make a snowball!

What are some of your favorite family memories and activities/hobbies? While flying home to visit my parents one Christmas holiday, I met the love of my life, my wife Barbara, at an altitude of 30,000+ feet on United Airlines. We celebrated our 40^th anniversary on March 2 and are the proud parents of Ryan, Dana, Anthony, and Gregory. We’re also proud grandparents of five grandchildren—three adults, a preschooler, and a toddler who keeps us on our toes. We also have one great-grandson. I enjoy gardening, fishing, cooking, watching sports, and auto mechanics in my spare time.

If you could have any other job, what would it be and why? I would be a flight attendant. After high school, I completed training and got the job, but when they called me for a training flight, I became nervous and dropped out. There were a couple of flight crashes during that time, and I realized I would be in the air every day. I missed the travel opportunities that I had dreamed about.

What brought/attracted you to City Light? After graduation, I moved to Tacoma to go to auto mechanic school, but the waitlist had more than 500 people. Meanwhile, I worked at Nalley’s Fine Foods Cannery and then at a sandblasting company in Tacoma’s tide flats. It was a dirty job, so I returned to Nalley’s and got my license to become a long-haul driver. After I completed the course, Nalley’s sold their trucks and hired independent truckers. I started job hunting and applied at Seattle City Light, Metro, and the Seattle Water Department. Ironically, all three companies offered me a job within the same week. I chose City Light’s machine shop because I could use my mechanical hands-on skills and work in the outdoors. After 15 years in the machine shop, I became an electrical helper and moved to a material supplier with the line crews.

The Basics
Years of Service: One and a half
Division: Regulatory Affairs
Role: Our team focuses on reliability standards compliance and regulations. What that means is we ensure City Light meets or exceeds the safety and security standards set forth by regulatory authorities. Failure to do so can lead to major penalty and safety/security implications not only for at City Light, but for our interconnected electric grid. More specifically, one of the files I manage is our Columbia Basin Hydro Power (CBHP) contract from a reliability standards standpoint, ensuring that we remain in compliance to North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) reliability standards, and that all parties understand their role when it comes to compliance. I conduct an annual review between all parties of the contract (Tacoma Power and CBHP), revisiting our Standards to make sure they are relevant, active, and when necessary, making amendments to our Exhibits or MOU if any changes have occurred. I also led the migration of Regulatory Affair’s SharePoint site to the new Hub, so feel free to head on over to our page to learn more about what our group does and what reliability Standards compliance means at City Light and for you!

Background
Hometown: Toronto, Ont. CA (Go Raptors!)
Alma Mater: McMaster University, located in Hamilton, Ontario in Canada
Discipline/Trade of Study: I received my undergraduate degree in political science and then went onto my master’s, also in political science, majoring in public policy and public administration.
Tell us about your family: My family consists of my husband, Richard, my dog, Teddy, and me. My husband serves in the Royal Canadian Air Force as an aircraft commander for the C-17 fleet. He was selected to go on an exchange with the United States Air Force, which is what brought our little family to Washington. He is posted at the McChord Air Force Base flying the C-17 and is currently training to become an instructor on the plane. Though my husband and I are both Canadian, our dog is actually from New Jersey! He’s a little Maltipoo who we rescued from a shelter, and we’ve had him for about four years now.

Just for Fun
Where do you currently live and what’s something you love about the area? We live in downtown Seattle across from the Amazon Spheres and I absolutely love the area! I have never lived downtown anywhere before, so my husband and I are really soaking in downtown life by enjoying all the patios, different restaurants, and the convenience of our location being walking distance to basically everything. Fun fact: I haven’t driven a car since we moved here in July 2019! There is no need because everything is accessible downtown by walking!

If you could use two words to describe yourself, what would they be? Creative and long-winded. I love coming up with new ideas; I think anyone that has gotten the chance to work with me can vouch for the fact that I am an idea-generator. I am most comfortable being in a place of problem-solving and thinking through new ways to approach problems, I think that’s where I really thrive. That being said, I am also super longwinded. I have a lot of stories, and if I get going on a topic I’m really passionate about, it’s really hard for me to scale it back. This makes it really easy for me to make small talk with strangers though! Just take this response for instance, I’m pretty sure I was supposed to answer in two words!

If you could learn to do anything, what would it be? I wish I could learn how to sing. My husband and I do a lot of “Car-eoke” when we drive anywhere, and we really have to turn up the volume for me because I have no sense of pitch or key… or even singing the right lyrics for that matter.

What brought/attracted you to City Light? I have worked in the public sector for most of my career in a few different policy realms, such as commuter rail transportation in both electrification and railway safety regulations. I have also done policy work on property assessment and property tax regulations. Out of all the different policy areas I have worked in, the energy realm is by far the most dynamic, complex, and interesting. That is what initially compelled me to the role, and it continues to keep me engaged and enthused about the work we do here!

The Basics
Years of Service: 4-plus
Division: Communications
Role: I like to think of my role as one that connects and informs our employees, from managing our (spot)Light profiles series, writing articles for Network newsletter, and coordinating the Monday Message to creating and co-facilitating programs like Get to Know City Light, Value Ambassadors, and our overall One Utility effort. I’m always looking for ways to best serve our employees with the information and resources they need to do their job effectively (like our meeting toolkit) while providing opportunities to engage with one another.

Background
Hometown: Thermal, Calif.(Palm Springs area)
Alma Mater: Loyola Marymount University / California State University Northridge
Discipline/Trade of Study: I have a bachelor’s degree in communication studies and a master’s degree in mass communications.
Tell us about your family: Well, I’m a new mom! My husband and I welcomed our son, Theodore, right before COVID hit. It was quite a year but staying at home has given us the gift of time, which we can never get back. It’s been a blessing in disguise for us. Teddy is the best, and we love him to bits. Outside of my little family, I have a younger sister and a younger brother. He just got engaged—yay! My parents and siblings live in Southern California.

Just for Fun
Where do you currently live and what’s something you love about the area? We live in Bothell, and it’s exactly what I envisioned when my husband and I moved to Washington five years ago. We pictured a friendly community, quiet neighborhoods, lots of trees and trails. Bothell has all that, plus big parks and a river. It’s also nice being close to Woodinville; its countryside feel reminds me of home.

What is your favorite travel memory/experience? My husband and I got engaged in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, so that will always hold a special place in my heart. But I absolutely loved Banff National Park and think it just might be the most beautiful place I’ve ever visited. It was a winter wonderland—like a page right out of a storybook—which was a big deal for someone who grew up in the desert. Ice skating on Lake Louise, dogsledding, hiking on snow to ice canyons—I ate it all up!

What was your first concert? Oh my goodness. My parents took us to a 5th Dimension concert when I was in fourth grade, I think. My sister and I were the youngest ones there. The lead singer spotted us and called us out. We didn’t know whether to feel embarrassed or cool. Ha! After that, my next real concert experience was Ice Cube my freshman year of high school. Talk about an eye-opener!

What TV show are you currently bingeing on? My mom has been staying with us to help with Teddy and has us bingeing a Canadian series called Heartland, a feel-good family show about a horse ranch outside of Calgary. Does anyone else watch it? I never heard of it but now it’s our bonding time. I also started Grace and Frankie (which I’m loving) and have to get in a plug for Schitt’s Creek and Workin’ Moms.

What is something most people don’t know about you? That I grew up on a date ranch about 40 minutes east of Palm Springs. I have fond memories of seeing my grandpa and my dad working on the ranch together; it was in my family for three generations. My family settled in the Coachella Valley more than 100 years ago, and I am very proud to have such a deep connection to the area. If you haven’t tried a date shake, I highly recommend it. I’m not a fan of dates (ironic, right?) but won’t turn down a date shake!

The Basics
Years of Service: Five
Division: Transformation & Customer Experience
Role: My current position is with the newly formed customer advocacy team as an out-of-class senior customer service representative. I enjoy working with the public to answer their questions and provide resources to find the best possible solutions.

Background
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Alma Mater: Eastern University
Discipline/Trade of Study: I graduated from Garfield High School (go Bulldogs!) and received my undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary studies from Eastern University. Tell us about your family: My mother was born in Japan and moved to Seattle when my grandfather was stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma. My dad was born in British Honduras, which is now Belize and moved to New York, joined the Army and was eventually stationed in Seattle. My parents eventually met sometime in the 70s and I have two sisters, one brother, two nephews and four nieces. My sisters have both moved to the south, while my brother and I have stayed local. I also have a HUGE extended family, tons of cousins, aunts and uncles who have filled my life with extreme joy and laughter. 

Just for Fun
Where do you currently live and what’s something you love about the area? I come from a family rich in culture and very diverse, which is why I love living in the South Seattle area.  More specifically, I live in the 98118! 

How do you like to spend your time when you’re not working? When I’m not working, I spend my time raising my pride and joy, Nina, who turned five this year. It’s been a challenging year for everyone with the pandemic, but we have managed to find creative ways to stay active. We’ve gone to outside movies, driven through Northwest Trek, taken a ferry to Bainbridge Island, and even stayed at a hotel to enjoy the pool! For Halloween this year, Nina dressed up as ”Quaran-Tina Turner” and won best costume.

What brought you to City Light? I worked at the Seattle Public Library in borrower services for three years before coming to City Light. I joined the utility in 2017 as an out-of-class employee in account control. I became a permanent employee in 2018 and have worked in account control and validation ever since.

What do you enjoy most about working at City Light? What I love about City Light is that the utility provides employees with both growth and learning opportunities. I have been fortunate to participate in the Women in Power Mentorship program, which has been a rewarding experience. I plan to take advantage of the opportunities provided so that I can continue to learn about the different career paths available within City Light.

The Basics
Years of Service: 22+
Division: Utility Operations & Engineering
Role: I supervise crews who maintain and install equipment in substations for system reliability. We also maintain commercial and industrial substations throughout the city, occasionally supporting our generation projects: Skagit, Boundary, Cedar Falls, and Tolt Powerhouses.

Background
Hometown: Born and raised in Seattle, Washington
Alma Mater: University of Washington (UW), South Seattle College and North Seattle Community College
Discipline/Trade of Study: I graduated from Shorewood High School and went to the University of Washington for general studies before obtaining an associate of applied science degree in multi-occupational trades from South Seattle Community College. I also completed the electrical constructor apprenticeship at City Light, and previously studied industrial electronics at North Seattle Community College. I am also recognized and have my journey worker card with the IBEW union through Local 77. Tell us about your family: Our family is a blended family. I reconnected with my wife Sarah at our high school reunion, but I’ve known her since we were in the same class back in the third grade. It’s amazing to see how we’ve both lived our lives after all these years, only to have it come back around to find each other. Between us, we have five wonderful children, four daughters aging 16-8, and one son who is 13. Our children make it easy on us, and often we forget that we are blended. During the pandemic, it’s been challenging at home with my wife teaching, and all the kids being online with school. When we were able to, one of our favorite things to do is vacation, get away, and explore new places – especially if it included a pool or a spot for the kids to spend many hours in the water! Hopefully we will be able to do it all again soon.

Just for Fun
Where do you currently live and what’s something you love about the area? I currently live in Snohomish County in an unincorporated area between Lynnwood and Bothell. What I love most about where I live is sharing the warmth in our house with my family and enjoying the sight of the forested greenbelt from our backyard.

What are some of your favorite activities/hobbies? Golf has to be my favorite activity to get outside, relax, and disconnect from daily life. My son and I have also picked up riding dirt bikes as another hobby that we enjoy. I love to get away and go on trips with my wife, daughters, and son in more normal times.

What brought you to City Light? I come from a family of electricians. They worked primarily in the shipyards and the state ferries, parks and were part of the IBEW (International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) Local 46 Union. Other family members worked in different departments within the City of Seattle; that led me to complete the electrical apprenticeship at City Light while studying industrial electronics at North Seattle Community College.

What do you enjoy most about working at City Light? What I love most about City Light is the ability to see firsthand how we can adjust as a utility to support the needs of the increasing demand of reliable power. A good example is being a part of the construction of Denny Substation and seeing everything it takes to build a substation in a modern environment right in the heart of Seattle.

The Basics
Years of Service: Two
Division: Customer Care & Energy Solutions
Role: I work closely with owners, developers, building operators, property managers, tenants, and a network of contractors and service providers to implement energy efficient services, conduct program outreach, and act as a point of contact for businesses and multifamily properties.

Background
Hometown: Seattle, Washington
Alma Mater: University of Washington – Go Dawgs!
Discipline/Trade of Study: A bachelor’s degree in communications, a master’s in public administration, and a professional certificate in environmental law & regulations.

Just for Fun
Where do you currently live and what’s something you love about the area? Living in West Seattle, I have really enjoyed kayaking, weather permitted! I also love playing with dirt in my garden and waking up to the sounds of the ferry boat fog horns in the morning along with the occasional stroll on beautiful Alki Beach.

What is your favorite local restaurant and dish of choice? I love Spud’s Fish and Chips on Alki and love pretty much any and everything on the menu, but mostly the cod…mmmmm.

What is something most people don’t know about you? I love classic jazz music, movies from the Golden Age of Hollywood, and I have a 1963 Golden Hawk Stuedebaker.

What do you enjoy most about working at City Light? City Light’s commitment to conservation, staff development and race and social justice initiatives really resonated with me and attracted me to the utility initially. Being a part of the City Light family for two years now, I have loved the flexible work hours, my management’s support and the overall satisfaction I get from delivering creative solutions for our customers.

The Basics
Years of Service: Two
Division: Customer Care & Energy Solutions
Role: I focus on conservation programming for our new construction and multifamily customers, specifically affordable housing and efficient, low greenhouse-gas-emitting properties. In 2020, I also had the opportunity to support the Utility Discount Program, which was expanded in response to COVID-19.

Background
Hometown: Wenatchee, Washington
Alma Mater: Western Washington University and Columbia University
Discipline/Trade of Study: A bachelor’s degree in international business and a master’s in public administration in environmental science and policy.
Tell us about your family: My family is constantly changing because my husband and I foster dogs for a local rescue organization. We also have a lot of extended family in the area (about 15 aunts and uncles and 20-plus cousins). Although we have not seen them in person during COVID-19 , we’ve maintained a weekly Zoom since March 2020. The calls can get a bit unruly with so many people on the line, but I am thankful for the clamor as it provides a proxy to in-person gatherings.

Just for Fun
What’s something you have learned more about through quarantine? My husband and I live in the Greenwood area, and I have to say that the neighborhood has to be my favorite part about living here. During isolation, we’ve gotten to know neighbors better through socially distant happy hours and joint neighborhood yard sales, which has been nice!

What’s your favorite indoor activity? I’m a pretty voracious reader. This year I’ve particularly gravitated toward BIPOC women authors writing science fiction, such as N.K. Jemisin and Rebecca Roanhorse. Their writing was especially powerful to me during the pandemic because I got to live in the futures they’ve imagined, and it pushed me to think about the future I’d like to live post- pandemic.

What’s your favorite travel memory/experience? I worked in Washington, D.C., for international aid organizations, collaborating with grantees worldwide on process involvement and procurement. After D.C., my husband and I moved to India where I worked for a social enterprise that focused on increasing access to solar and other products in urban communities. I was also involved in selecting and testing new products like solar fans and water filters. Working in these communities and living in a densely populated area, it became quickly apparent how important strong local government and environmental policies are. Water scarcity was becoming an alarming issue, and almost all potable water had to be trucked in or purchased in water bottles. Local government efforts were also draining local water tables. This experience inspired me to go to graduate school to study public administration in environmental science and policy.

What do you enjoy most about working at City Light? If I had to pick one thing about City Light that I absolutely love, it would be my team. We have come together during this last year, and I feel very grateful to see them every day. If I get to pick more than one, I’d say the work is thought-provoking, and I love getting to be a part of creating the future for the City of Seattle.