Central Shoshone Water District Board of Directors candidate: Rod Plank

Rod Plank, 68, is running for one of three open Central Shoshone Water District Board of Director positions and hopes to "promote fiscal responsibility, control operational costs, contribute to sound management of the district, and ensure that employees are provided with a safe, positive, productive work environment with appropriate compensation and benefits," if elected.

His immediate family includes his wife, Patti Hei, and their dog Jake.

Plank's education consists of several college courses and thousands of hours of Peace Officer training.

His job experience began in construction, where he owned and operated a couple of small businesses, but then moved on to law enforcement.

"The majority of my adult life was spent as a Peace Officer," he said. "The majority of those 33 years were spent in supervision and management positions."

In addition to that, Plank has also been on the City Council in Kellogg and currently serves as the Sewer Project Manager for the City of Kellogg.

"In that capacity, I worked closely with representatives of most of the utility providers including the Central Shoshone County Water District," he explained. "I have known most of the Water District employees for many years and I have attended several Water District board meetings to become more familiar with their operations."

Through the construction work associated with the Kellogg sewer project, Plank believes he has gained a greater understanding and respect for the work of the employees of the district.

Beyond raising children, who have all grown up to be adults that he is proud of, his most recent achievement that he takes pride in has been leading the Silver Valley Flood Group over the past 4 years.

"We were finally able to submit a request to FEMA in January of this year for revision of the flood maps from Elizabeth Park to Pinehurst," he said. "This has the potential to reduce or eliminate flood insurance rates for hundreds of property owners."

When it comes to the CSWD board position, Plank thinks the most pressing issue is the main water line bringing water to the upper valley from the pumping station at Enaville.

"This needs to be addressed soon and will be a very costly project."