L E A D E R S H I P
PUBLIC UTILITY BOARD
Woodrow Jones is retired from the City of Tacoma, where he worked in Human Resources for more than 20 years. He joined the Public Utility Board in 2009 and stays active in the community. He is past president and current member of the Sunrise Rotary and a member of the Tacoma-Pierce County Black Collective. He is a past board member for the City Club of Tacoma and Associated Ministries.
WOODROW JONES | CHAIR
Bryan Flint is the executive director of the Greater Metro Parks Foundation. He is a member of both Rotary No. 8 and an American Leadership Foundation Senior Fellow. He joined the Public Utility Board in 2011.
BRYAN FLINT | SECRETARY
Karen Larkin, a former city of Tacoma and state of Washington employee, joined the board in 2015. She has a long history of public service, having served 31 years in Tacoma's city government and her last 5 years prior to retirement as an assistant director at the Washington State Department of Commerce.
KAREN LARKIN | VICE-CHAIR
Mark Patterson is an attorney with the local law firm Vandeberg, Johnson & Gandara. He is a board member of Franke Tobey Jones and on the personnel committee of Associated Ministries of Tacoma/Pierce County. He joined the Public Utility Board in 2012.
MARK PATTERSON
Christine Cooley is the Water Resource Program Manager for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. Christine is the past chair of the Sustainable Tacoma Commission, a member of the Chamber of Commerce, and a volunteer with Forterra, the International Living Future Institute, and Tacoma Roots. She holds a Master of Business Administration from PLU and a Bachelors of Science from The Ohio State University in Environmental Policy and Management.
CHRISTINE COOLEY
MANAGEMENT TEAM
Jackie Flowers was appointed as Tacoma Public Utilities Director in 2018. Flowers previously served as the general manager of Idaho Falls Power since 2006, overseeing operations similar to those at TPU, including hydropower generation, power supply, power transmission and distribution, energy efficiency, engineering, operations technology, fiber optic networks, and traffic signalization. She has more than 25 years of utility experience.
JACKIE FLOWERS | DIRECTOR
Scott Dewhirst was named superintendent and COO of Tacoma Water in 2017. Scott’s experience includes 17 years at Newport News Waterworks including roles as the assistant director and the interim director. He holds degrees in both civil and environmental engineering and was the chair of the Virginia Section of the American Water Works Association in 2016.
SCOTT DEWHIRST
TACOMA WATER SUPERINTENDENT
Steven Hatcher has served as Tacoma Public Utilities’ Customer Services manager since 2006. He is responsible for front-line customer service, field investigations and meter reading, billing, mail delivery services and low-income assistance programs. Steve has prior experience as a city administrator and is a retired United States Army officer with 20 years of military service. He is a member of American Association of Blacks in Energy and the Pierce County Black Collective; he is also a member of the E Source Customer Experience Executive Council.
STEVE HATCHER
CUSTOMER SERVICES MANAGER
Chris Robinson was selected as superintendent of Tacoma Power in 2015. During his more than15-year tenure with Tacoma Power, Chris served as power manager and assistant power manager. Prior to Tacoma Power, Chris worked as a consultant with multiple electrical utilities. Chris serves on the boards of the Public Power Council, Northwest River Partners and the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee.
CHRIS ROBINSON
TACOMA POWER SUPERINTENDENT
Dale King was named superintendent and COO of Tacoma Rail in 2008. Dale served previously as the director of rail services for Weyerhaeuser Co. and has also served with Burlington Northern Railroad. Dale is a certified member of the American Society of Transportation & Logistics, now a part of APICS.
DALE KING
TACOMA RAIL SUPERINTENDENT
Jim Sant was named deputy director for Administration in 2012. He is responsible for budgets and organizational performance, insurance and claims, records management and financial oversight. He is also serving as interim deputy director for Public Affairs and Communications, a position that oversees community and government relations, market development, economic development, marketing communications, and community and media services. Jim’s experience includes more than 10 years at Puget Sound Energy where he was the assistant treasurer and directed the utility’s financial planning and analysis, plus serving as regional director of finance at Verizon Wireless. Jim has more than 25 years of financial experience and is a member of the Washington Society of Certified Public Accountants.