The two candidates for Jefferson County Public Utility District 3 commissioner staked out distinct stances on the PUD providing internet access to its customers, during the Aug. 16 candidates' forum in Quilcene.

Tom Brotherton, of Quilcene, and Dan Toepper, of Port Ludlow, each began by citing their bona fides, Brotherton as a two-term county planning commissioner, Toepper as a heavy equipment operator who's personally installed utilities ranging from sewer lines to fiber optics.

Brotherton called for the PUD to “plan for the future,” by adopting and promoting electric vehicles and solar power, and touted an increase in the PUD's services as a means to reverse the Quilcene community's decline in local businesses.

“Providing internet would level the playing field for our businesses,” Brotherton said.

Toepper countered that he's all too aware of how much it costs to install fiber optics, and noted the PUD can only sell wholesale telecommunications services under state law.

“Different parts of the county rely on our PUD for different things,” Toepper said. “There's a lot of moving parts there.”

Toepper advocated instead for greater accountability and transparency, and warned against the PUD taking on any more debt when it still has $104 million in outstanding debt from its initial purchase.

When one forum attendee, a Quilcene resident, questioned why he should pay the PUD to replace what he already considered “adequate” internet service, Brotherton cited the example of five counties in Minnesota, who teamed up to form a “GigaZone,” a 1-gigabit fiber optic network.

“It raised their property values,” Brotherton said. “More businesses came in, and the businesses that were there were able to hire more employees.”

The questioner responded by recalling that he'd already paid into the PUD for such a system, but “it never got there,” and also pointed out the current restrictions on the PUD providing “the last mile” of telecommunication services to retail end-user customers.

While Brotherton proposed changing this law, Toepper asserted that such changes are “out of our control,” and that the PUD should prioritize other services instead.

Toepper became more specific in his criticisms of the expense of laying fiber optic lines, estimating its cost to be at least “$25,000 a spool,” and dismissed comparisons to the Kitsap PUD providing internet access, since it was a water-only utility with no debt.

When asked by another attendee how the PUD might lower its customers' bills, Toepper freely acknowledged that the PUD's initial purchase, while “beneficial in the long term,” was also “not the greatest deal in the world.”

Toepper attributed the PUD's recent rate increases to the fact that it wasn't keeping pace with the Bonneville Power Administration's rate increases, and opined that many of the utility lines that were left behind from the PUD's purchase were “no good.”

“They left us a dog,” Toepper said. “Which is why we need to be efficient and smart.”

One method of doing so that Toepper recommended would be to hire a new Chief Financial Officer.

“We've gone through five CFOs in as many years,” Toepper said. “We're doing better on our audits, but the PUD needs someone who knows how to work with public utilities specifically.”

Brotherton countered that the PUD could cut costs by reducing what he sees as an overstaffing in its management.

“As they say, there are too many chiefs, and not enough Indians,” Brotherton said.

When a question was put to all the candidates, asking how they would support the fire services in their respective roles, Toepper suggested the PUD could help facilitate communication during emergency responses, and even put out calls outside of emergencies, to encourage more volunteerism at the fire stations.

Brotherton expressed the belief that better infrastructure could help get more water out to fight fires.