EDITORIAL: Kelly deserved the verdict -- and Plotz deserves our thanks

Our editorial board has always thought our area was very fortunate to have David Plotz as manager of Lewis County Public Utility District (PUD).

That quiet organization has kept the lights on in most of the communities and homes in Lewis County, outside of Centralia, for nearly a century.

The past utility managers, including Merle Johnston, Gary Kalich and Dave Muller, have been competent public servants loyal to ratepayers as well as our communities.

Plotz has the same qualities in addition to a significant background in finance and business.

But, two years ago, Plotz was challenged beyond the daily issues he faces as a public utility manager. He was challenged by an elected PUD commissioner, Michael Kelly, who wanted a high-paid job within the utility, offering, according to the Lewis County jury hearing the case, a bribe of higher pay if Plotz agreed to create the job for the commissioner.

That was the wrong thing to do for ratepayers and the wrong thing legally and morally.

Plotz made two decisions in the face of Kelly's offer, and we applaud both of them.

First, Plotz did not agree to accept the illegal offer. He did not create the job suggested by Kelly in exchange for higher pay for himself.

He did the right thing there without any question.

But his second decision was a harder one. He didn't just refuse the offer from his elected board member. Remember that the board of an organization is the supervisor of the manager, in either a business that has a board or in a public agency that has one.

Here, Kelly was Plotz's boss.

There are three PUD board members, and Kelly let Plotz know that another commissioner, Mike Hadaller, would follow Kelly's lead.

Plotz's second decision went far beyond just saying "no" to the illegal offer; he took the courageous step of reporting the actions of his board member to the police and then the prosecutor.

He agreed to participate in a recorded phone call during which Kelly repeated the offer, creating a tape the jury recently heard, leading to the conviction.

Maybe people respond to what Plotz did and say "he just did what is right."

And, yes, he did do what's right.

But think of the exceptional courage and integrity it took for Plotz to go to the police on a matter turning in his boss, his board member and filing a criminal complaint. Plotz put his job and career at risk to do the right thing, and we applaud him for this action.

So should our community.

We live in a world when right and wrong sometimes seem to blur. We as humans are selfish by nature. In the case of Plotz, he was offered more money to do the wrong thing, and since the conversation was just between he and Kelly, who would know if he'd said "yes?"

With all of that, Plotz said "no" and then took the courageous step by blowing the whistle to the authorities.

There was no blurred right and wrong in this case.

Kelly deserved the verdict. Plotz deserves our thanks.

This case demonstrates once again that who we choose to elect to office matters even when the office is relatively low profile like PUD commissioner. These elected officials make decisions that impact lives and costs for Lewis County residents. And when they do the wrong thing, their actions can cause real harm. It's a reminder that more citizens should consider serving in public office and that all of us should pay careful attention to the qualities, qualifications and positions of candidates for public office, including the ones that don't usually headline the news.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 11:18 AM.