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The Chronicle - Centralia
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MGP helps secure $454,436 to support Columbia River barge service
Last week, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA-03) helped secure a $454,436 grant through the Department of Transportation’s United States Marine Highway Program to support Columbia River barge services on Marine Highway 84 (M-84). With the funding, Tidewater Barge Lines will acquire a low emissions container handler to help divert an estimated 3,800 containers of municipal solid waste from highways to M-84. The efforts would help mitigate growing highway and rail congestion between Vancouver and Boardman, Oregon. In August, Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez wrote to the Department of Transportation supporting the project, according to a news release. “Moving solid waste efficiently and affordably to an appropriate disposal site upriver isn’t the sexiest topic or something most folks think about each day, but it’s an essential service our communities rely on,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in a news release. “By bringing this funding home for a new container handler, we’re supporting the nuts and bolts of local maritime services and equipping the hardworking heroes at our ports and on the water.” An interactive map of community investments supported by Gluesenkamp Perez can be found at gluesenkampperez.house.gov/invest. |
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PUD commissioner pleads not guilty to bribery, unlawful compensation charges 
Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD) Commissioner Michael Jay Kelly was formally charged Monday, Dec. 2, in Lewis County Superior Court with two felony charges for allegedly attempting to bribe PUD General Manager David Plotz last month. He faces one count each of bribery, which is a class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and requesting unlawful compensation, which is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Kelly, represented by attorney Brian English, pleaded not guilty Monday to both charges. English declined The Chronicle’s request for comment. Trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 20, with Kelly’s next hearing, an omnibus to check in with all parties, scheduled for Jan. 23. In the bribery charge, the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office alleges that Kelly, who is a public servant, “did” on or about Nov. 7 and Nov. 14 “request, accept and agree to accept a pecuniary benefit, to wit: promise of employment, pursuant to an agreement or understanding that his vote, opinion, judgment, exercise of discretion, or other action as a public servant would be used to secure or attempt to secure a particular result in a particular matter,” in violation of state law. In the requesting unlawful compensation charge, the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office alleges that Kelly, again as a public servant, “did request a pecuniary benefit, to wit: promise of employment, from David A. Plotz, for the performance of an official action, to wit: vote on compensation, knowing that he was required to perform that action without compensation or at a level of compensation lower than requested” in violation of state law. Kelly was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail at 7:09 p.m. on Nov. 27 and was released at approximately 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 29, after he posted $10,000 bail. A judge ruled Monday to maintain that bail amount, allowing Kelly to remain out of custody for the duration of his case as long as he follows his conditions of release, which include having no contact with any witnesses and committing no additional criminal law violations. The arrest was the culmination of a Centralia Police Department investigation that began Nov. 8 after Plotz and PUD attorney Alan Unzelman reported the possible bribery. The alleged bribery itself occurred during a conversation between Plotz and Kelly the day prior, on Nov. 7, according to charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court. “Plotz said that as general manager of the Lewis County PUD, he meets with PUD commissioners annually to speak about his year review and the possibility of a pay raise for the next year,” the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office stated in an affidavit of probable cause filed on Dec. 2. Plotz and Kelly reportedly met at a brewing company in Centralia at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 7, and soon relocated to a different bar in Centralia “due to a female patron having a problem with the PUD,” according to court documents. Plotz reported that the conversation with Kelly shifted away from his annual review as “Kelly started to talk about his current employment at TransAlta coming to an end due to TransAlta closing in 2025,” according to court documents. Kelly is a computer and controls professional at TransAlta’s coal-fired power plant in Centralia, according to the PUD’s website. He was elected to the Lewis County PUD Board of Commissioners in 2020. His term began in January 2021. Washington state law sets PUD commissioners’ salaries at $1,800 per month. Kelly’s primary source of income is his position at TransAlta, according to Plotz. During the conversation on Nov. 7, Kelly allegedly told Plotz “that he could make his pay raise happen if Plotz created a position for him at the PUD” and allegedly “kept repeating ‘You take care of me, I take care of you,’” according to court documents. Plotz told police that “the conversation made him uncomfortable and he knew it was inappropriate.” He provided detectives with a written recollection of the Nov. 7 conversation, which the PUD released on Friday in response to The Chronicle’s public records request. “Kellyʼs suggested my year end compensation amount to be 4% compensation increase and 8 years of service credit,” Plotz wrote. “This was far below my own ask and expectations of 8% and 8 years of service credit, which I made clear. We discussed the reasons for our respective asks at which point C. Kelly made clear that I needed to promise him I would hire him, and he would convince the other commissioners for an increase at my expectations, saying specifically ‘you take care of me, I take care of you.’” Plotz said Kelly reiterated his request to “be taken care of,” before the two parted ways. Plotz wrote that he replied he “would take care of him as I wanted to remove myself from the situation.” Elsewhere in Plotz’s statement, he wrote that Kelly talked extensively about his plan to run for election on the commission again and, win or lose, nominate a replacement so the PUD could hire him in a senior position. On Nov. 14, Plotz participated in a judicially authorized recorded phone call with Kelly, during which Kelly allegedly requested Plotz create an employment position for him at the PUD and, in exchange, Kelly said he would “persuade the other commissioners to agree to the (8%) raise and not to worry about it,” according to charging documents. “While speaking about this topic, Plotz repeated, ‘I’ll take care of you, you take care of me,” the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office states in charging documents. Kelly reaffirmed after hearing the statement, according to court documents. Following the Nov. 14 phone call, Centralia police reportedly tried to contact Kelly at his residence, “but no one answered even though there were clear indications someone was in the residence,” according to court documents. “Shortly after, a woman arrived and said Kelly was not at home.” A detective instructed the woman to have Kelly call him, according to court documents. “Eventually, Kelly called and asked why the police were seeking to contact him,” the prosecutor’s office states in charging documents. A detective told Kelly it was a criminal matter and asked to meet with him in person, but Kelly reportedly “put off the officer’s request and later an attorney called (the detective) on Kelly’s behalf” and “discussed setting up a meeting at a future date.” On Nov. 20, Lewis County resident Lynnette Hoffman, who works for a weekly newspaper in Winlock, called a detective to report that she was “a friend of Kelly and political consultant for him,” and advised that “Kelly had called multiple times, and she thought he would seek her advice on this situation,” according to court documents. The court authorized a recording of the phone call between Hoffman and Kelly. During the call, Kelly allegedly said he had met with Plotz to talk about his annual increase and said they had “talked about an assets manager position at the PUD.” Kelly reportedly said he “told Plotz he had taken good care of Plotz in the past” and allegedly “said he was concerned that Plotz became ‘squirmy’ about the conversation.” Kelly allegedly “eventually” recalled Plotz’s ask for an 8% pay increase and allegedly said he had “told him that he wanted to be the asset manager making decent money too, ‘Take care of me, I take care of you,’” according to court documents. Kelly allegedly “further said he was feeling bad about the conversation that they had, and he felt like they were colluding a little bit,” according to court documents. Centralia police responded to Kelly’s residence on Nov. 27 to arrest him. They reportedly attempted to contact Kelly at the door and by calling his phone, but he allegedly “did not answer either” and “police believed Kelly was inside the residence and refusing to answer.” Police “maintained observation of the house and were later able to confirm Kelly was inside,” according to court documents. They obtained a warrant to enter the house, but were reportedly able to persuade Kelly to exit the residence before officers began executing the warrant. During a special meeting Monday afternoon, the remaining two members of the PUD Commission passed a motion formally restricting Kelly from communicating with all PUD staff for the duration of his case. Kelly’s conditions of release additionally prohibit him from contacting any witnesses, including Plotz. After adopting the motion Monday, Commissioner Mike Hadaller suggested restricting Kelly’s access to PUD facilities; a suggestion was not adopted, though Commissioner Ed Rothlin said they could again consider the idea ahead of their next meeting, which is scheduled for Dec. 17. Dave Fenn won an election in November and will fill a vacancy left by Rothlin in the new year. The three-person board oversees operations of the PUD and directs Plotz and the rest of the staff. Kelly was not present at Monday’s special PUD meeting.
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Lewis County commissioners adopt property tax increase
The Board of Lewis County Commissioners (BOCC) unanimously approved increasing the county’s general property tax levy by 2.98% and the county roads property levy by 2.77% in 2025 compared to 2024 during a budget hearing Monday morning. The increases, adopted via a resolution, come as the county adopted its 2025 budget. According to the resolution, the property tax levy will raise an additional $458,506.98, and the regular levy will be set at $16,500,000, while the road levy will raise an additional $398,046, with the county road levy set at $15,400,000. While jurisdictions are typically restricted to increasing property taxes by no more than 1%, the commissioners utilized the county’s banked capacity, which allowed the commissioners to increase the property tax by a greater percentage after not increasing the property tax in previous years. During the commissioners' meeting Monday morning, the commissioners also adopted the 2025 final budget. In a presentation outlining the budget, County Manager Ryan Barrett said the 2025 budget projects to raise $190,699,983 in revenue and has $193,810,836 in expenses. “They put together a budget that I believe is sound and provides for the kinds of services that people expect, including law enforcement,” Lewis County Commissioner Scott Brummer said. “Putting this together has been a challenge, but it’s one that our folks have risen to, and I think this represents the very best possible outcome for 2025.” The Chronicle will have additional coverage on the budget adopted by Lewis County commissioners as well as recent discussions over the use of the recently passed 911 tax in the next edition and at chronline.com. Before voting on the property tax increases, the county commissioners spoke to the difficulty of the decision. “For the past year, since I’ve been a county commissioner, I’ve been very staunch on not taking the 1%. I don’t think, in government, taxation is the way to get out of a situation, and I think it’s punitive when it comes to property tax, that the property owners have to carry the burden,” Commissioner Sean Swope said. Swope added that while he did not initially support the levy, it was needed to ensure that the county did not cut from public safety. “Voting for this is strictly for making sure that we don’t cut deputies,” Swope said. In her remarks, Commissioner Lindsey Pollock said while she did not like increasing property taxes, the county has “no other way at this point” to balance the budget. “And I am unwilling, as I was last year, to dip into reserves to balance the budget because we don't have anything left,” Pollock said. “If we dip into reserves at this point, we will go beneath the three-month reserve that is recommended to just maintain basic government solvency.” The county’s preliminary budget initially called for the use of $3.3 million from the general fund, which would have left an “estimated ending fund balance below the recommendation and best practice outlined by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA),” according to a Sept. 30 budget memo. “While none of us like tax increases, that’s why the last two years, since I’ve been here, the last two budget seasons, we did not vote for even the one percent increase that’s allowed,” Brummer said. “However, we have seen significant increases due to inflation. Across the board, the cost of employees, the cost of fuel, the same kind of things that you and I have in our daily budget have increased for the county. Those costs have gone up dramatically.” Brummer added that the county “would not even come close” to keeping up with inflation, even with the increase. “We’re still falling behind, and do have deficits,” Brummer said. “I believe that this budget is not necessarily a compromise, as much as it is a lot of hard work that’s taken months to get through by dedicated staff and dedicated people who serve the citizens of Lewis County.” |
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