A Lewis County Public Utility District commissioner arrested and jailed on bribery accusations Wednesday allegedly sought to link a raise for the utility’s manager into employment at the PUD for himself, according to a statement obtained by The Chronicle on Friday.
Commissioner Michael Jay Kelly was arrested on Wednesday evening and booked into the Lewis County Jail for alleged bribery, according to jail records.
Bribery is a Class B felony in Washington state. Penalties can include up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
Kelly was released from the jail at about 4 p.m. Friday, according to jail records.
Few details have been made available regarding the investigation.
On Friday afternoon, the Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD) provided The Chronicle with a written account of a statement General Manager David Plotz sent to PUD attorney Allen Unzelman and Centralia Police Department Detective Mitch King on Friday, Nov. 8, where he recollected a Nov. 7 incident where PUD Commissioner Michael Kelly allegedly attempted to bribe Plotz into promising to hire him.
The document was obtained by The Chronicle through a public records request.
In the statement, Plotz wrote that he and Kelly had scheduled a meeting for 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, at a brewing company in Centralia.
According to the statement, a conversation focused on the outcomes of the recent election soon morphed into Kelly detailing a plan for the PUD to hire him as assistant manager or asset manager.
“Essentially my direct report, at a point near the end of his commissioner term,” Plotz recalled. “This position is not scoped within the budget nor currently exists within the district. We discussed this position and I disagreed on a few points with regard to him filling the hypothetical position.”
After a while, the pair relocated to another nearby bar, according to the statement, which indicated they continued to the conversation there.
“I repeated my aversion to promising to hire him, and outlined some of my hesitations for him to take the position,” Plotz wrote. “Specifically, I disagreed with him taking the position based on his past interactions with staff and went on to explain to him the potential internal, external and optical problems of hiring C. Kelly would create for the District.”
Plotz wrote that he suggested Kelly pursue a general manager position at another facility and offered to help him find open positions.
“Kelly emphasized he needed the position as his time at his current job (TransAlta) was coming to a close, money was short from a divorce, desire to remain in the local area and a few times made the point he needed me to promise him the position/guarantee it for him, to which I replied I could not promise the position for him for the aforementioned reasons,” Plotz wrote. “I also felt uneasy making a promise so far into the future.”
Plotz said Kelly then turned the conversation to Plotz’s annual compensation review at the end of the year.
“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.
Kelly was elected to the Lewis County PUD Board of Commissioners in 2020. His term began in January 2021.
He currently serves alongside fellow commissioners Mike Hadaller and Ed Rothlin. Dave Fenn won an election in November and will fill a vacancy left by Rothlin in the new year. Together, the three oversee operations of the PUD and direct Plotz and the rest of the staff.
Kelly is a computer and controls professional at TransAlta’s coal-fired power plant in Centralia, according to the PUD’s website. He represents District No.1, which includes the central part of Lewis County east of Centralia and Chehalis, including the Big Hanaford, Little Hanaford, Coal Creek, Logan Hill, North Fork, Forest, Napavine, Evaline and Winlock areas, according to the PUD.
This article will be updated when more details are made available.
Read the full statement by Lewis County PUD General Manager David Plotz below:
Detective King,
Thank you for taking some time with us this afternoon. Per our conversation this is my recollection of the evening's events:
Commissioner Kelly and I had scheduled this meeting after work to discuss the District's performance and my own expectations for end of year assessment and compensation. We arranged to meet at the Good Buzz Brewing Company at 5pm on Thursday, November 7th. At arrival did not see C. Kelly's truck in the parking lot so believed I arrived ahead of him at 5pm, but on entry to the establishment I saw C. Kelly had already arrived and started with his beer, and ordered a beer for myself. C. Kelly told me he opened a tab at the bar and paid for our drinks that night.
I sat with C. Kelly at the first table near the door and we began discussing the outcome of the recent election at the presidential, state and local levels. The conversation then turned to a plan of C. Kelly's for me to hire him as Assistant Manager/Asset Manager, essentially my direct report, at a point near the end of his commissioner term. This position is not scoped within the budget nor currently exists within the district. We discussed this position and I disagreed on a few points with regard to him filling the hypothetical position.
We recognized a newly arrived couple to be Deb Aust and her husband who sat at the next table over, after which C. Kelly and I continued the discussion for a few minutes longer until C. Kelly suggested to relocate to the nearby Limit Bar and Grill. I agreed to relocate.
Upon aririval at the Limit we took a booth and continued the conversation and I mentioned I would have to end sometime between 6:15 and 6:30 for a conference call that started at 7pm. I repeated my aversion to promising to hire him, and outlined some of my hesitations for him to take the position. Specifically, I disagreed with him taking the position based on his past interactions with staff and went on to explain to him the potential internal, external and optical problems of hiring C. Kelly would create for the District. I suggested he look for a General Manager position at other utilities and would help him find open positions. C. Kelly emphasized he needed the position as his time at his current job (TransAlta) was coming to a close, money was short from a divorce, desire to remain in the local area and a few times made the point he needed me to promise him the position/guarantee it for him, to which I replied I could not promise the position for him for the aforementioned reasons. I also felt uneasy making a promise so far into the future.
C. Kelly then turned the conversation to my own annual compensation review for the end of this year.
Kellyʼs suggested my year end compensation amount to be 4% compensation increase and 8 years of service credit. 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."
It was 6:30 or so by that time so we made our departure from the Limit where C. Kelly reiterated his request to be taken care of, and I replied I would take care of him as I wanted to remove myself from the situaiton.
Below is my write of the salient points of the conversation I put down the next morning November 8th, at 8:04am (today).
Kelly meeting on Nov 7, 2024
• Talked about his plan extensively, to run again, win or lose, if win nominate next person and I would hire him as asst GM /Asset Mgr.
• Asked me to promise him and guarantee that will happen
• I told him I cannot promise for various reasons, most he dismissed and said could be worked through
• Changed to talk about my raise and lowballed me saying 4% and +8 years of service for PL accrual, together puts me “in top third”, I countered PL is just bringing me back to where I should be and is not too third or quartile? And need 8% and 8 years.
• He said he could do that and could convince the other commissioners, saying “you take care of me, I take care of you.”
• I am stuck between arguing and worried about damaging my opportunity, ended convo
• Left
• Deb Aust saw us talking at first location (Mead bar) before we changed and went to talk at Limit Tavern
Let me know if you have any questions and regards,
David Plotz
General Manager
