Chris Roden, left, and Matt Samuelson stand in front of a Lewis County Public Utility District in 2015 when both worked for the utility. Samuelson is currently the interim manager of the PUD while Roden is the top candidate to assume the role.
The next general manager of the Lewis County Public Utility District will likely be a familiar face to people inside the building and around the county.
Chris Roden, currently the Director of Government and Regional Affairs for the Cowlitz County Public Utility District, has been offered the position by the Lewis County PUD Board of Commissioners. Roden met with board members earlier this week and both sides are optimistic a contract will be agreed upon in the near future.
Roden previously served as the Power and Business Services Manager for Lewis County PUD until assuming his current role with Cowlitz PUD in Oct. 2017. He was a finalist for the Lewis County PUD manger opening in 2016 that was ultimately filled by Dan Kay, whom the commissioners fired without cause on Sept. 25.
“We’re in negotiations with him to work out the final details, I’d say,” Lewis County PUD Commissioner Ben Kostick said. “We feel he has the tools to move the utility forward.”
Kostick cited Roden’s experience working with officials in Olympia and in Washington D.C. during his time in Longview as a major reason why he was the only candidate they interviewed for the position.
Roden did not want to say much Friday about the job offer he holds, but agreed that his time working on government and regional affairs helped make himself a more qualified applicant this time around.
“I think I gained a lot of insight into the legislative process on the state level and federal level,” Roden said. “I’ve had a lot of great opportunities to work with Oregon and California groups to benefit Northwest and West Coast utilities. It was time well spent to round out and learn some things.”
Roden and the commissioners all consider his prior five years as a member of the Lewis County PUD team to be another major factor in his favor.
Some of the managers he worked with there remain in those positions today, including Power Supply Manager Matt Samuelson, who is serving as interim PUD manager. He’s also a well-recognized figure in the Lewis County community and owns a home near Mayfield Lake in Mossyrock.
“He wants to keep his family here and stay in the Northwest,” Kostick said. “He would be, as our Human Resources Manager said, able to just plug and play.”
