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Committee recommends confirmation of Louis Ernst to City Light review panel
Summary
The Seattle City Council Sustainability, City Light, and Arts and Culture Committee voted 5-0 to recommend confirmation of Louis Ernst as the panel’s financial analyst; the committee noted an ongoing City Light investigation and said a further update will be provided later in the year.
The Seattle City Council Sustainability, City Light, and Arts and Culture Committee voted 5-0 on May 2 to recommend confirmation of Louis Ernst to the City Light review panel, the committee’s chair said.
The review panel, created by City of Seattle ordinance in 2010, evaluates Seattle City Light’s biennial strategic plan and rate path and issues an independent opinion when the plan is submitted to the mayor and council. Lee Brecker, interim chief of staff at Seattle City Light, described Ernst as an engineering-trained finance professional now working as a finance manager for two Amazon subsidiaries and urged the committee to confirm him.
The committee also reiterated that it will receive a later update on a separate City Light internal investigation. Chair Rink said the committee is “in regular communication with City Light” and will be provided “an update later in the year regarding actionable steps City Light is taking to change its internal culture.” The chair summarized portions of the previously issued report as describing a “pervasive culture of heavy drinking” and instances of assault and harassment identified in the department’s report.
Councilmember Rink moved the committee recommendation to confirm appointment 03130. The clerk called the roll; Councilmember Moore, Councilmember Saka, Councilmember Solomon, Councilmember Strauss and Chair Rink voted yes. The committee record shows five in favor, zero opposed and zero abstentions. The committee’s recommendation will be sent to the full City Council for a May 13 confirmation vote.
City Light staff said Ernst could not be present because his spouse had a child the previous day; Brecker summarized Ernst’s background, saying he holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA in finance and economics and has worked in mechanical engineering, consulting, strategy and finance.
No amendments or alternate motions were offered during the committee vote. The committee did not take any other formal actions on City Light operations during the meeting; it noted the prior report’s findings and signaled that additional, more-detailed updates and possible follow-ups will come later in the year.
