Joe Deets: Bainbridge Island (District 2 - North) Candidate

Joe's first career was a brokerage firm in Seattle, followed by years overseas working for the Securities and Futures Commission (the financial market regulator for the Hong Kong Government). There, he protected small investors and helped recover lost assets resulting from the Asian financial crisis of 1997.

When he returned to US and settled on Bainbridge Island (his home since 2000), his passion for the natural environment and climate change led him to co-found nonprofit Community Energy Solutions. He worked with then Senator Phil Rockefeller, passing innovative community solar legislation, Senate Bill 6658. Thousands of Washingtonians went solar as a result, and more than 60 community solar projects across the State are creating clean power, jobs, and needed local infrastructure. Bainbridge Island City Hall's 72-kilowatt photovoltaic system is a project he led. Financed entirely by 24 Island families, the City receives a constant revenue stream from the electricity generated.

Deets also led or participated in a solar program for low-income housing (which continues to benefit Habitat for Humanity of Kitsap County), and a community-wide residential energy efficiency program for Bainbridge Island funded by the US Department of Energy. He is currently a consultant for Sunergy Systems in Seattle, and speaks to state policymakers, tech graduate students, various organizations & environmental groups.

Joe has a B.S. in Business Administration with special focus in Finance from Univ of Montana, a MBA from Seattle University, and a MA in Environment and Community from Antioch University Seattle (Thesis: Adapting to a New Energy Paradigm: Evaluating Behavior-Based Strategies for Increasing Renewable Energy Adoption at the Community Level) . He is Ethics Board Chair for the City of Bainbridge Island, and volunteers for Bainbridge Island School District, Habitat for Humanity, and Hospice of Kitsap County.