About Bob

Hi and thank you for your interest in our campaign! I’m Robert (Bob) Allen. I’m running for Grant County PUD Commissioner because it is crucial to develop a long-term plan that increases both the generation and transmission of affordable & sustainable power in Grant County. 

I have deep roots in rural communities, having grown up on a small farm in Snohomish County. We had a huge garden and livestock including cows, pigs, chickens, and ducks. We cultivated various fruit trees and made our own canned sauerkraut, pickled beans, and farm-fresh butter. I know what it is to work the land and provide for a family.

My father was a Vietnam veteran who served in a scout dog platoon and worked as a general contractor until he passed away––far too soon at a mere 42 years of age. Inspired by my father’s service, I joined the Army National Guard two years later, at the age of 17, and attended Army boot camp between my junior and senior year in high school. 

I enrolled in Combat Medic School at Fort Sam Houston the first summer after my senior year and joined the USMC in March of 1990. After completing the Marine Corps boot camp and job school, I was assigned to 29 Palms in California. My unit was already deployed to Saudi Arabia, and I shipped out to meet them just 3 days before the start of Desert Storm. Upon returning from deployment, I was reassigned to Marine Barracks 8 as part of the Marine Corps Institute. 

When my tour was complete in 1994, I worked a series of jobs and finally landed at the US Post Office, a job that brought me to Central Washington in 2001. In 2006 I joined IBEW Local 191 and have worked with them since, mostly in the Quincy area. I have lived in Grant County since November 2018 with my fiancé and our dogs Louis and Lamont. I also have an adult daughter who lives in East Wenatchee.

As stated above, we must develop a long-term sustainable plan to ensure ample generation and transmission of energy in a growing Grant County for at least the next 35-50 years.

This is not the time to go small. We have an incredible opportunity to bring industry and manufacturing to Grant County, creating living wage jobs and providing resources for improving/rebuilding infrastructure in all our communities, allowing us to invest in schools and other community assets. The effort I envision would be large-scale, on the same level as initial construction of the dams that provide the bulk of our power today. That’s what’s needed to truly protect our energy future in Grant County.

The wonderful new high school in Quincy is a great example of providing for the future, along with the water park and road improvements. We can invest in even more Grant County communities by partnering with industry and agriculture to find commonsense solutions that benefit every resident, not just a lucky few. It will take all of us working together to make that happen.

I will also lobby our elected officials to streamline and improve permitting, engineering studies, and licensing requirements for our dams. We must adapt our approach to energy production and pivot to meet the challenges of the future. Failure to do so will likely result in lost opportunities for Grant County, and that is an unacceptable outcome.

With all of this in mind, I would be honored to earn your vote for Grant County PUD Commissioner.