Isiah Williams has been at City Light for six years. As an Office Aide, he works in the mail room where he delivers mail, packages and paper to City Light employees at the Seattle Municipal Tower. “There are about five of us in the mail room,” Isiah said. “I meet so many people delivering the mail. It’s the best part of my job. It’s fun to go around and interact with different people every day.”

Born and raised in Auburn, Isiah is a true Washingtonian. “I still live in Auburn. In fact, I live in the same home I grew up in!” he shared. He has two older sisters and a niece and enjoys the sense of community in his hometown. He also loves the beauty of the Northwest. “I enjoy all the scenery here – the trees, the water. It’s nice.”

In this week’s (spot)Light, Isiah talks about his hobbies and shares what’s on his bucket list.

“I love sports. Football is my favorite. I love the New England Patriots. Obviously, one of my bucket list items is go to Boston for a game! When I watch baseball, I follow the Angels. Locally, I play basketball for Auburn Parks in their Special Olympics. I’ve been doing that for eight years. Usually, I play a forward or center. It’s really fun. I also do cycling and softball.”

“I like spending time with friends and family. And going to the movies. I also like traveling. In the last three years, I’ve been to Las Vegas, California, Michigan. In California, we went to Disneyland and Universal Studios.  Couldn’t get to an Angels game, though! Oregon is one of my favorite places to visit. We have family there and we always go the beach. That’s a special spot for me.”

“I went to Auburn Mountainview High School. I did a school-to-work-program which connected me to Vadis, a program that helps students with disabilities with job placement. That got me to City Light. When my mom got the call that there was an opportunity for me at City Light, well, it was too good to pass up. When I first started here, the people were so welcoming. I was able to learn my job easily and, soon, my responsibilities began to grow. I really like it here. If it’s possible, I continue to like my job more and more each day!”

Joseph Fernandi will celebrate five years at City Light in August. He’s part of Customer Energy Solutions (CES) where he serves as an Energy Management Analyst Supervisor. “I supervise a team of program managers that oversee the design, development, and ongoing management of demand-side management programs in our commercial portfolio,” he explained. “We build and manage programs and services to help our customer owners meet their energy needs and maximize energy performance in their buildings – and work closely with a network of contractors and service providers that enable this work.

Joseph grew up in New Jersey but also lived in the Phoenix area for 18 years before moving to Seattle. “I’ve always been drawn to the Pacific Northwest. My brother and his family have lived here for 20+ years so I visited often,” Joseph shared. “I knew I wanted to end up here for the better part of ten years, but it took a while for the stars to align. Surprisingly, a number of my friends also moved here from Arizona which made the transition quite easy.” He lives in Greenwood and loves the proximity to Green Lake and surrounding neighborhoods.

In this week’s (spot)Light, learn about Joseph’s musical background, energy career and more!

“I come from a musical family. My dad and four half-siblings sing and play guitar or piano. I didn’t get the singing gene, but I’ve played the drums for 15+ years and was in two different bands in Arizona. I play a lot less these days, but still love music and going to shows. I’m also a big sports fan and have picked up favorite teams from various places (Sounders season ticket holder, Phoenix Suns, Washington football team, etc.). I also play an absurd amount of ping pong. Outside of that, I enjoy spending time with my girlfriend Kelsey and dog Chloe!”

“I graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in sustainability. After spending five years in energy consulting working with utilities, I decided I wanted to sample life on the other side of the fence working for a utility. I was drawn to the region as a result of its sustainability leadership, shared goals around energy & climate and excited by the network of passionate and capable folks with a common vision. When I saw an opening at City Light, it was a no-brainer. Dream job.”

“I enjoy the people at City Light. We have an incredibly talented, creative, and dedicated workforce. We also have the privilege of being part of a City network and responsibility to do what’s best for our customer-owners. I appreciate our mission and vision and feel connected to broader sustainability goals at the City, state, and even regional level. I feel fortunate to support the work of our team, which is a critical component of providing value to our customer owners, especially as the value proposition and role of the utility is changing rapidly. I also appreciate the unique challenges here in our City around rapid development and population growth, equity, affordability, declining load, and a rapidly changing landscape to name a few. Working with smart people to solve difficult problems and fulfill ambitious and meaningful goals is about all you can ask for professionally.”

Maneet Jain has been at City Light for 14 years but began his City career 23 years ago. “When I started working at the City, I was in the Parks department. I really enjoyed it; in fact, that’s where I met my wife!” Maneet shared. “Opportunity brought me to City Light. I wanted to apply my degree and there was room for growth.” Maneet is part of Transmission and Distribution Operations (T&D Ops.) where he manages two work groups: field operators and planning and scheduling.

Maneet was born and raised in Seattle. “My family lived in Licton Springs, right by the North Service Center,” Maneet said. “I have fond memories walking to the service center and paying the bill with my dad.” He graduated with a degree in business management from the University of Washington and lives in Edmonds with his wife Kelly and their two daughters, Meena and Nyla.  

In this week’s (spot)Light, Maneet talks about his career at the City and family time.

“We’re a big Husky family. We go to lots of games and events – trying to breed that pride young! We keep busy on the weekends with all sorts of activities. There’s always something to do! I coach my daughter’s basketball team. We get outdoors and try new hikes. Our favorite getaway is the Oregon coast, particularly Manzanita and Cannon Beach. We love to hang there and just veg out. I also want to take them up to Skagit and check out that north loop.”

“My dad worked for Parks. He retired last year after 20+ years of service. I’ve always been around public service. I was part of the City’s summer youth employment program. I worked at the community centers and helped run the basketball and youth programs. I later moved on to grounds maintenance – that helped me pay for college! After that, I joined City Light’s Customer Care team where I worked for twelve years in different capacities. Things like credit and service representative (both electrical and customer), meter reading, technical metering operations, streetlights, LED engineering and capital improvement projects.”

“The last two years I’ve managed three groups in T&D Ops. The field operators at the System Operations Center are our first responders; the eyes and ears for our dispatchers. They let the dispatchers know what’s going on and troubleshoot things like flickering lights and car pole accidents. I also managed civil construction for the utility, both in the city and at our hydro facilities. Basically, any infrastructure that needs to be put in place. Lastly, I manage planning and scheduling. We plan and schedule work load, so we can meet our customers’ demands and expectations.”

“I fell into management. I attended UW as a civil engineering student but switched majors after taking a few business classes. I like being part of the solution, but I also like working with others and getting their perspective. I do a lot of that at City Light. I work with cross-functional teams and gather input from different backgrounds and disciplines. I really like our service work and problem solving. It’s been amazing to have had a variety of roles and responsibilities. I’ve enjoyed it. Not to mention, the camaraderie you build working with different people across the organization.”

Kyler Flores has been at City Light for more than five years. He first joined the utility as an intern and was later recruited by his former colleagues to return as part of the Distribution Mapping Team. “I supervise the Looped Radial Distribution Mapping Team,” Kyler said. “There are eight people on my team. They’re located at our service centers, Seattle Municipal Tower and the System Control Center.”

Born and raised in Washington state, Kyler attended Edmonds Community College and the Universal Technical Institute for Automotive Technology before graduating from Seattle University with a degree in civil engineering. “At Seattle University the motto is to develop the whole person, because of that, it is required to take courses on Ethics, Philosophy, and Theology,” Kyler shared. These courses gave me a broader perspective on how my actions affect the environment, people, and communities and I’m grateful I had to take them.

In this week’s (spot)Light, Kyler talks about his family and life at City Light.

“I live in Everett with my wife Kirn and two children Mata (two years old) and Suhavee (five months old). I like to enjoy the moments I have with my family, especially my kids since they grow and change so quickly. I play soccer on Sundays in a league in Everett. I actually played soccer for two years at Edmonds Community College. I also love to read and watch anything Sci-Fi. Frank Herbert is my hero.”

“An internship is what first attracted me to City Light. It was posted as an electrical, mechanical and civil co-op. A year into it, I found out there were no mechanical or civil aspects! What kept me around were my colleagues and the challenge of learning about the utility and its systems, applications and procedures. The same notion brought me back to City Light, but the second time around there was an updated Geographic Information System (GIS). There were opportunities to streamline processes and supply our internal and external customers with information they had been needing and requesting.”

“My team has many responsibilities. We maintain the as-built electrical model of the Looped Radial Distribution System in GIS; maintain overhead and underground structures and transformers in Work and Asset Management (WAMS); maintain transformer to customer connectivity and underground drawings and respond to general requests for maps. The data we maintain is seen in City Light’s quarter section maps, Advanced Grid Analytics, Outage Management System, CurrentView, WAMS, and Customer Care and Billing. Currently, I’m reviewing our processes and focusing on improvements and efficiencies, so we can meet customer needs.”

“I enjoy the people at City Light. I believe people are genuine about their commitment to provide a quality product to our customer-owner and it’s contagious. I also enjoy the challenge. Things have been done a certain way at City Light for many, many years – no matter the division. With new technology, there’s an opportunity to change our processes, to maintain data that has not been previously maintained, and to provide additional information in a user-friendly way to our internal and external customers. It’s challenging to reach across well-established silos to convince others to do things differently. But I believe it’s worth the effort because in the long run, we’ll be able to provide a higher quality product to our customer-owners.”

Hillary Winchester celebrates five years at City Light this month. She has always been part of the Joint Use Engineering group, but recently started a new role as a Strategic Advisor on the Customer Experience Improvement Team. “In Joint Use I was an Associate Electrical Engineer where I reviewed and engineered application requirements, handled process updates and consultant work,” Hillary explained. “I loved it but am also excited to support the utility’s strategic initiative in my new role; something different!”

Originally from Virginia Beach, Hillary graduated from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Science in engineering and a minor in mathematics. “I mostly studied design and environmental engineering, but also took classes that had a sustainability focus,” Hillary said. “In 2018, I completed an MBA with an emphasis in Project Management from City University of Seattle.”

In this week’s (spot)Light, learn about Hillary’s family, her hobbies and her work at City Light.

“I met my husband in college. He was stationed in Virginia but got transferred to Washington state. We had a long-distance relationship and got married two weeks after I graduated! I moved here right away and love it. We live in Lynnwood with our kids, cat and dog and enjoy that we can easily be in the city or the mountains depending on which direction we drive. We do a fair amount of hiking and camping, so it’s nice to be so close to such gorgeous scenery.”

“I love to bake, cook and spend time with my family. My daughters are at an age (3.5 and 1.5 years) where we can play outside, so this year we’ve been visiting new parks every weekend. It’s been a lot of fun. We love being outdoors, even if it’s a quick neighborhood hike or working in our garden. This year we tried cabin camping and my girls had a blast. I also bake cookies for CLEA and often bring treats into the office…if my husband doesn’t claim them all first! I like to bake cakes and macarons but I’m always trying new recipes.”

“Joint Use is a unique body of work. Every job was different and often a challenge. Over the last five years, our program has grown exponentially due to the introduction of 5G to our city. We play an integral role in the implementation process and are constantly evaluating how to make our processes better and more efficient. I’m excited for my new role because I’ll get to work with a part of the utility that is important to me: our customers. The challenge of delivering better experiences for our customers and leveraging new technology will be rewarding.”

“When I moved to Seattle, I kept a close eye on city and county engineering jobs because I liked the idea of working for a public entity. I didn’t know much about City Light before I started working here. I love City Light for a variety of reasons: the people, the emphasis on excellence and the environment, and our commitment to our community. Everyone I meet is passionate about making the utility better and serving our customers in new ways. During my time here, I’ve realized that being part of a public utility is incredibly fulfilling.”