During the meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Lincoln County Power District No. 1 on Jan. 12, Dylan Frehner was seated as the newest Trustee to replace longtime member and outgoing President John Christian. The Board then took action to elect its officers for the coming year, electing Ed Wright to serve as President and Lee Mathews to serve as Vice President. Following the election of new officers, the first order of business of the new Board was to thank John Christian for his service by adopting a resolution of appreciation and asking Board President Wright to present the resolution and a plaque commemorating his service.
General Manager David Luttrell reported on Christian’s extensive history at the Power District including how he was first asked to serve on the Board in May of 1993 when long time Board member Louis Scott found it necessary to resign for health reasons. Christian, one who has always responded when civic duty called, accepted the appointment to fill Scott’s term but indicated he did not want to serve beyond the end of that term given a telephone company employee was already serving on the Board. As such Christian did not seek re-election when his term ended. However, the Power District recognized what a great asset he had been while serving temporarily and when Board member Allen Newberry suddenly resigned due to a job transfer, Christian was again asked to accept an appointment to fill a vacancy in November of 2000. This time, with no other telephone company employee serving on the Board, he sought re-election at the end of the appointed term. John was repeatedly re-elected to the Power District Board until he was no longer able to be re-elected given term limit laws in Nevada.
During his time at the Power District, Christian has served as Trustee, Vice President of the Board, and ultimately President of the Board. The Board discussed how over the years John was an instrumental guiding force for the Power District, from assisting staff when implementing the first integrated accounting and billing system in 2005 to working with employees to develop a fair and equitable revision to the employee benefit package in 2014.
Wright noted that Christian, a businessman and respected leader in the community, brought a unique combination of talents to the Board which helped him provide input and guidance to staff on the complex issues routinely faced by the Power District.
