Sommerhauser Appointed to Planning Commission

Central Kitsap Commissioner Josh Brown has appointed retired union
lobbyist Jim Sommerhauser to the county’s planning commission.
Sommerhauser, who calls himself “a student of Kitsap County
government,” is a frequent flyer at commissioners’ meetings, where he
is known for taking commissioners to task over details of the agenda
and due process.
“I’ve always known Jim as someone who leaves his pretenses at the
door,” said Brown. “He does his homework.”
Brown noted that Sommerhauser has attended more than 150 commissioners
meetings, briefings and other county meetings since he retired from the
civil service in 2001.
Sommerhauser, a Central Kitsap resident, described himself as a “policy
geek, well beyond wonk.”
He spent 36 years with the federal government, much of it in labor
relations. Most recently, he advised the Office of the Secretary of
Defense on labor issues. He served three terms as international
president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical
Engineers, AFL-CIO, which represents engineers in the private, public
and federal sectors.
Earlier, he worked for 15 years in nuclear testing at Puget Sound Naval
Shipyard.
Besides his federal and union work, Sommerhauser started and ran two
private businesses, Sommerhauser Aircraft Leasing and Sommerhauser
Labor Relations Training and Facilitation.
Sommerhauser is a veteran of the U.S. Navy, where he served eight years
of active duty during the Vietnam era and six additional years with the
reserves.