CUB Bids Farewell to Samuel Pastrick
Posted on November 17, 2021 by Bob Jenks
Tags, General Interest
CUB said a bittersweet farewell this month to our Advocacy Manager, Samuel Pastrick. We will certainly miss Sam, but we recognize the benefits this transition will bring to Sam and his family and wish them the best of luck. And we honor the great work Sam did for CUB over the last seven years.
For the last two years Sam worked as our Advocacy Manager. In that role he represented CUB in legislative hearings and negotiations. He worked with legislators, the Governor’s office, and coalition partners. He reviewed bills in detail through each step in the legislative process to ensure they were in customers’ best interest. Sam forged strong relationships in Salem, continuing virtually through the pandemic, that were instrumental to CUB’s success in the legislature.
In this role, he was extremely successful. 2021 was, without a doubt, the most successful legislative year we have had as an organization. Sam played a critical role in the passage of five major pieces of legislation, including the 100% Clean Electricity Act and the Energy Affordability Act. Other bills increased funding for energy efficiency and low-income weatherization, utility investments in electric transportation, and low-income bill assistance.
Sam also played a major role overseeing CUB’s policy work on telephone and internet access services. His advocacy helped win the passage of Oregon’s net neutrality law in 2016 and a rural broadband bill in 2020. He secured benefits for Oregon customers through the Oregon Universal Service Fund, the Residential Service Protection Fund, and the Federal Lifeline Program. And he helped win benefits for residential landline customers in the recent acquisition of Frontier by NW Fiber, LLC (Ziply).
Sam also led our policy response to the COVID-19 pandemic by winning state regulators’ approval for a long pause on utility shut-offs, suspension of late fees, and funding to help customers who were behind on their bills. Thanks in no small part to Sam’s advocacy, Oregon’s framework for customer protections during the pandemic is one of the strongest in the country.
Before becoming Advocacy Manager, Sam worked in a variety of roles, including managing our foundation grants and overseeing our membership program. The fact that nearly every year, we asked him to take on new assignments shows that we could always count on Sam to dig into his responsibilities with professionalism and to get results.
Sam’s attention to detail is impressive and has been critical when reviewing legislative language. His ability to work with diverse coalitions and help them reach consensus is skillful. And the unsolicited feedback I got regularly from the Governor’s Office, legislators, and other stakeholders always reflected well on Sam’s abilities.
As a friend and colleague, he will be missed. As an advocate for utility customers, his talent will be difficult to replace.
We have no doubt that Sam will thrive in the next leg of his professional journey, wherever it takes him. Please join us in wishing him farewell and good luck.
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11/17/21 | 0 Comments | CUB Bids Farewell to Samuel Pastrick