Chimacum man plans to run for Jefferson PUD seat

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, March 31, 2026

CHIMACUM — A business owner and fourth-generation farmer plans to run for the Jefferson County Public Utility District board of commissioners.

Keith Kisler will run for the board’s District 2 seat, which represents residents of Cape George, Marrowstone Island, Port Hadlock, Chimacum and Irondale.

The seat is currently held by Kenneth Collins of Marrowstone Island.

The filing period opens May 4.

Kisler said the locally controlled PUD is critical to the health and well being of Jefferson County residents, businesses and institutions such as schools, law enforcement, hospital facilities and fire stations.

“Our public utilities are critical to rural life and economic vitality,” Kisler said. “We need practical stewardship, sound financial oversight and long-term planning to ensure these services remain reliable and accessible for future generations.”

Kisler was raised on a dryland wheat farm in Eastern Washington where his family settled in the early 1900s.

Life on the farm instilled resilience and responsibility at a young age. By age 8, Kisler was driving the farm trucks. When he was 10, he was operating tractors. And by the time he was 12, he was running the combine during harvest.

Kisler studied biology at the University of Colorado in Boulder. His work in environmental education took him to the Arctic and New Zealand before he became a field science instructor in Yosemite National Park, where he met his wife Crystie.

In 1996, Kisler moved to Jefferson County where he founded Dig It Landscape Excavating.

Seeking to instill in their children the same connection to land and seasons that shaped his upbringing, Keith and Crystie partnered with friends to purchase farmland in Chimacum in 2004.

Their two sons, River and Coulter, grew up on that land and have worked alongside their parents, making deliveries, doing field work and working farmers markets.

Keith and Crystie then teamed up with partners in a farm venture that grew into Finnriver Farm and Cidery.

Since 2020, the Kislers have operated Chimacum Valley Grainery, which grows, stone mills, malts, bakes and brews organic grains.

The family works with a small crew to grow regional food security and provide the community with high quality and nutritious food.

Kisler said dependable power, water, sewer and broadband services must be resilient, affordable and responsibly managed.

If elected, Kisler said he plans to focus on maintaining reliable power infrastructure, supporting responsible rate management, strengthening rural broadband access and ensuring long-term stewardship and resilience of community-owned utilities in the face of growing complexities.