Garnant retires from PUD

EPHRATA — Gary Garnant never tired during 27 years as spokesman for the Grant County Public Utility District, seeing every day's challenges as opportunities to get the day's news and information out quickly.

PUD Commissioner Tom Flint said the quick-witted, always-positive Garnant is going to be difficult to replace.

"He's always kept the district on a factual, high plane," Flint said. "I've always appreciated Gary's ability to wordsmith the issues that the PUD deals with on a daily basis, he's got the right stuff and we'll miss him immensely."

Garnant, 62, retired last week, after spending his entire career in public service.

Vera Claussen, who retired from the PUD commission after 24 years in December, said Garnant was a consummate professional.

"He was a big help to the commissioners when we needed him," Claussen said. "I thought a lot of him, both as a friend and colleague."

Garnant received the Northwest Public Power Association's Lacy Peoples Award, Claussen pointed out. Garnant was selected by his peers from the 200 public utilities in the Western United States and Western Canada, honoring him for his longtime commitment to the public power industry and remarkable work in the areas of marketing and communication.

Garnant's career started in the army, for a three-year period, with a year of military intelligence. From there he went on to college at Washington State University, graduating in 1970.

He spent the next four years working for the CIA, as an all-source analyst, in Washington D.C. He reviewed intelligence for the CIA, such as satellite photography, at the peak of the Cold War.

"That was a dream come true for me," Garnant said. "I started thinking about working for the CIA when I was 13."

Garnant wanted to move back to Washington state, being originally from Chelan. Both he and his wife, Linda, preferred to raise a family out west. The couple have a son and daughter.

Garnant, with a background in technical writing, landed a job in Richland with Battelle in 1974, doing editing and writing work on classified projects.

After a four-year stint with Battelle, Garnant moved to what is today Energy Northwest, where he worked for two years. Garnant's focus was public information at Energy Northwest, during construction of nuclear power plants. Energy Northwest planned to build five nuclear power plants at the time, which was the largest construction project of any kind in the world during that period. Only one plant was ever completed.

Garnant and his family didn't arrive in Ephrata until 1980, shortly after the massive eruption of Mount St. Helens.

Grant PUD's general manager at the time, Larry Peterson of Moses Lake, recruited Garnant for a public information position after seeing Garnant's work at Energy Northwest. Peterson said he was impressed with Garnant's personality, level-headed approach to communications and experience at Energy Northwest.

"We had several very good applicants for that job," Peterson said. "I always thought we picked the best person for the job. I've never regretted it."

Joe Dennis, opinion page editor for the Grant County Journal, recalled he and Garnant first met while attending communication classes together at Washington State University.

"I've really enjoyed working with Gary all this time," said Dennis, a reporter covering Grant PUD for more than 20 years. "He's always looked out for the best interests of the PUD."

Dennis said Garnant made sure reporters got the news they needed, quickly and accurately.

"He never steered me wrong," Dennis said.

Garnant always kept his professional relationship with reporters positive. It was easy to maintain the relationships, he said, because reporters always wanted an accurate story and so did he. His spokesman duties covered work with newspaper, radio and TV reporters. He also maintained community contacts with chambers of commerce, service clubs and schools.

He said he also relished the opportunity to work with the PUD's highly-skilled employees and dedicated commissioners. He said working for Grant PUD, a leader and innovator among the region's public utilities, was both more challenging and rewarding.

Every day at a large utility, brought new and unexpected challenges, he said.

In one case, a reporter called about high-voltage power lines, fallen across a major highway. The location, he said, made it most likely a low-flying military jet severed the power lines, which proved to be the case.

Fortunately the pilot made it to base, repairs were made to the line and no one was injured.

"What makes a job like this interesting is any call could be like that one," Garnant said.

Garnant dealt with a variety of different media in his years as a spokesman, each reporter needing different details and information.

"Dealing with the media was never a one-size-fits-all situation," he said.

Garnant used his communications experience in a volunteer capacity, too.

For 25 years he volunteered as the public information officer for Grant County emergency management. He plans to continue working for the department.

"They're one of the best operations in the state," he said.

For the department, he'll be able to face many of the same technical challenges he was confronted with during his years at the PUD.

Garnant is also in the process of setting up a home office, where he plans to pursue some new writing projects.

"I'd really like to pick up a golf club, but I'll always be pounding on those computer keys," Garnant said.