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SUNDAY, 05.03.2015
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Deputy Bud
Probe looks at contract ethics PUD improperly steered $16 million in no-bid contracts to a company owned by a former PUD employee, a current employee alleges. By Dan Catchpole Herald Writer
EVERETT — The Snohomish County Public Utility District’s board of commissioners has hired an independent investigator to look into allegations that the utility improperly awarded contracts worth millions of dollars to a clean-energy consultant. The investigation began after a PUD employee made the allegations at a commission meeting in March. The employee, Anthony Curtis, repeated his claims at the commission’s April 21 meeting. According to Curtis, the PUD’s top leaders, including recently retired CEO Steve Klein and his interim successor, Anne Spangler, helped steer lucrative contracts to a private consulting firm owned by former PUD employee Dave Kaplan. Records show Kaplan set the company up and negotiated its first contract with the utility while still working there. Since that first contract in 2011, Kaplan’s Seattle-based company, 1Energy, has received no-bid contracts worth about $16 million. Not all that money is going to 1Energy’s bottom line. Some has been used by the firm to hire subcontractors and for other expenses
PHOTOS BY DAN BATES / THE HERALD
Third-grader Mason Coker talks with Deputy Bud McCurry just outside the gymnasium at Lakewood Elementary School recently. McCurry, who is with the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, has become a regular and friendly sight to students since being assigned as school services deputy.
With friendly support or firm guidance, school cop keeps kids on course By Rikki King
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See PUD, Page A4
Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E3 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . .D8 Dear Abby. . . . . . . . . . . . . .D8 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . .D8 Lottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2
In the angular morning sun, Deputy McCurry walks between schools in the Lakewood School District.
Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A7 Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D8
Herald Writer
AKEWOOD — When Bud McCurry makes breakfast, there’s protein on the plate. He usually fries up fresh eggs from the chicken coop before his three kids head to school. Last year, he’d bring a dozen or so eggs to Cougar Creek Elementary on Fridays, for breakfast with the special needs students. On a walk through campus in January, he stopped by the open door and gently knocked. “Looks like everybody’s busy,” he said, greeting children by name. “Good kids,” he said, turning down the hallway to continue his rounds. McCurry, who turned 42 on
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Tuesday, is a deputy with the Snohomish County sheriff’s school services unit. He works in the Lakewood School District and four schools on the Tulalip Indian Reservation. He’s also the face of law enforcement in the county’s juvenile drug court. Both assignments bring new challenges for the broad-shouldered, shaved-head veteran of the Marine Corps. He’s been the hammer of justice, busting drug dealers and gangs. Now, part-policeman, partsocial worker, he’s tasked with keeping kids on the right path. If they stray, he’s there, too, ready to help. Life has taught him, there’s always a way back.
Marine tough McCurry remembers watching TV news of an Iraq offensive in the Gulf War in 1991. “I wanted to be a Marine before that, but that sealed the deal,” he said. “I was ready to go in and fight.” His parents had reservations. The football player didn’t take well to direction. At 17, he was a “knucklehead kid,” acting out and getting in trouble. He was struggling with new revelations about himself and his family. He had learned that when he was a toddler, his mother escaped with him from a dysfunctional home. Until high school, he’d been shielded from the stories of abuse and addiction. “I had someone who loved See MCCURRY, Page A6
Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . .B4 Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . .B7
SUMMER HITS LIST
ALLOWANCE THAT COUNTS
FIGHT OF THE CENTURY
Your sneak peek at the upcoming blockbuster season. Good Life, D1
Along with the money, give kids a lesson in responsibility. Success, A7
Mayweather defeats Pacquiao in a unanimous decision, Sports, C1
Middling 66/44, C10
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VOL. 115, NO. 81 © 2015 THE DAILY HERALD CO.