Current Board Members

President

Jon Funfar

Jon is a native of Enumclaw, where he was Media Services Manager for the City of Enumclaw for over ten years, then moved east in 2011 for sunnier vistas and became Communications Program Manager for the City of Pasco. Jon’s major duties for the City include operating Pasco City Television, the City of Pasco website, social media, print publications, and press liaison.

He also serves on the Alliance for Community Media’s Northwest Region Board. Jon was previously on the ACM’s National Board and is a winner of the ACM’s 2021 Buske Leadership Award.

Jon previously served as WATOA President in 2009 and has been a board member for over 15 years. Jon is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University and lives in Richland with his wife, Roberta, and her two boys.

Vice-President

Mike Connor

Mike Connor is the staff Video Production Specialist for the City of Kirkland. He is responsible for the day to day operations of Kirkland’s two cable channels and produces video content for the City’s cable and web communications externally and internally. Before 2007, Mike contracted as a Corporate and Legal videographer for a variety of private firms and government agencies in the Puget Sound area. He has produced many award-winning videos during his 32 years in the video production field. Mike is a WATOA Past Present and enjoys being involved with regional and national issues concerning the future of PEG channels and helping his fellow WATOA members prepare for that future. During his free time Mike enjoys working on Indie film sets and also can be seen on stage playing his sax with many Northwest rhythm and blues and jazz artists.

Board Secretary

Megan Hutton

Megan is the General Manager of Pierce County Television (PCTV) and oversees the operations of PCTV and the Rainier Communications Commission. She also produces Pierce County News, an award-winning weekly newscast, hosts the public affairs show Pierce County Talks, and oversees video projects for government agencies and other clients. Megan came to PCTV in 2004 with an Emmy from KING 5 Evening Magazine. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism from Pacific Lutheran University and lives in Edgewood with her husband and two young children.

Treasurer

Alice Lawson

Alice Lawson is the Wireless Affairs Advisor for the City of Seattle, where she works with industry members, city departments and city residents to promote effective and equitable roll-out of next generation wireless networks. She is part of Seattle IT’s Digital Equity Program. Prior to the focus on wireless industry buildout, she served as Seattle’s Broadband and Cable Program Manager, working on cable franchise management, broadband, wireless and telecommunication policy, advocacy and consumer protection, coordinating FCC responses, and supporting Seattle’s public access and PEG channels. She’s has also worked as the Cable Compliance Administrator for King County’s Office of Cable Communications, serving cable customers in unincorporated areas of the County, working with I-NET staff, and acting as staff liaison for King County TV’s citizens’ advisory board. Before her cable and telecommunications roles, Alice was a City Finance Analyst and held finance and administrative roles in federal and state government, higher education, and the construction industry. She holds a Masters of Public Administration from the University of WA and has served as WATOA’s Board Treasurer from 2015-2017 and 2019-2022, Conference Committee Chair from 2014-2017 and 2019-2020, and was WATOA’s 2017 Member of the Year.

Region 1 (North & Puget)

Ben Skudlarek

Ben Skudlarek is the Television Station Coordinator for Bellingham Television (BTV). He joined BTV in 2019, after working six years as a producer for MontanaPBS and was part of the MontanaPBS team that received 11 Emmy® Award Nominations from the Northwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in 2017. Ben is an experienced director, photographer, editor, animator, and colorist and says “I’ve always enjoyed working in media. If I can fulfill some civic duty while still being creative, that’s really appealing to me.”

Region 2 (King)

Patti Belle

Patti Belle first entered the communications and marketing industry over 20 years ago. After more than eight years with the Tacoma News Tribune, she moved on to the public sector, where she joined the City of Kent. Currently working in the Office of Kent Mayor Dana Ralph as the Communications Manager, she has led national, award-winning visual communications and marketing teams in both the public and private sectors.

Patti is also a City Councilmember for the City of Lakewood, where she was appointed in 2021 and elected in 2022.

Region 3 (Puget & Coast)

George Geyer

George has worked for Kitsap County since November of 1997 and serves as the Voice, Video and Infrastructure Systems Engineer for the Department of Information Services. As an additional duty he manages Kitsap County’s Office of Cable Communications. George works closely with the Bremerton Kitsap Access Television (BKAT) for local broadcast and with INET connectivity throughout Kitsap County interconnecting whenever possible with the cities. His team is responsible for all infrastructure equipment for broadcasting the Board of County Commissioners on the County’s PEG channel. George has worked on cable franchise negotiations with both Comcast and Wave Broadband for the past 13 years and serves as the primary contact for all citizen comments and issues. On the weekends, George works with Veterans and serves as the Combat Veterans Motorcycle Association Chapter 11-1 Commander. He retired last year from the Army and Army National Guard after 37 years of total service. He served his final four years as the Senior Enlisted Leader for Washington State’s Public Affairs Operations Center where he managed 12 advanced photographers and journalists. On his last engagement he served as the Public Affairs Officer for Operation Cobra Gold in Thailand in 2015.

Region 4 (Southwest)

Jim Demmon

Jim is the Video Services Manager for the City of Vancouver/ Clark County Cable Television Office. His responsibilities include management of Clark/Vancouver Television (CVTV channels 21 and 23/HD323), the government access stations for the City of Vancouver and Clark County, and oversight of cable franchises for the City and County. He has been with the Cable Television Office for over 26 years and involved in franchise oversight for the past 16 years. Since graduating from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor of Science in Telecommunications and Film, Jim has held a number of video production jobs, including employment with Portland Public Schools and Around Town Productions. Jim enjoys running and biking. He lives in Camas with his wife Kim.

Region 5 (Rainier Valley)

Jon Baker

Jon has been a Right-of-Way Agent for Pierce County since 2021, where he is responsible for their wireline, wireless and cable franchises as well as creating and managing their broadband program. He brought 7 years of experience from the telecommunication industry where he was a project manager for Mastec Network Solutions. Jon’s formal education is from Lancaster University and he was awarded a Master’s in International Law.

Region 6 (Central)

Ben Faubion

Ben is the Information Technology and Telecommunications Manager for the City of Ellensburg. Ben started working for the City in 2006. He brought eight years of experience to the City ranging from telecommunications to information technology administration. He provides management oversight and technical support for a broad range of critical municipal systems that are used by employees throughout the City, utility customers, and outside agencies such as the Kittitas Valley Fire and Rescue. Ben’s formal education is from Central Washington University and he is a graduate of Perry Technical Institute. He has many certifications ranging from Cisco and Microsoft to a globally recognized Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).

Region 7 (Northeast)

Jessica Fisher

Jessica is the Public Information Coordinatorthe City of Spokane. She joined the City in 2016 and her work includes managing and promoting the City’s social media accounts including; Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Nextdoor, writing media releases, blogs posts, and taking event photography. She also produces video scripts for Spokane’s CityCable 5, participates in community outreach through multiple weekly construction meetings, and addresses citizens’ questions and concerns.

Region 8 (Tri-Cities)

Mark Ingham

Mark Ingham is the Multimedia Coordinator for the City of Richland. Mark began working for the City of Richland in 2008 as the part-time cable production assistant. He stayed in that role for 12 years before being hired as the Multimedia coordinator. Mark spent time working for the local ABC News affiliate in the Tri-Cities doing a bit of everything, most notably he worked as their Chief Photographer. Mark spent 5 years working in Seattle at Northwest Cable News as an Editor. Mark has been married to his wife Katrina for 16 years and they have two sons, Jackson (14) and Owen (11). Mark spends a lot of his free time coaching his sons sports teams. Through the years he has coached several little league baseball teams and youth tackle football teams.

Region 9 (At Large)

Edgar Riebe

Edgar is the manager of Seattle Public Schools Television (SPS TV) covering school board meetings and producing a variety of other educational and informational programs for students, staff and the community. Prior to joining SPS TV, Edgar was the Production Manager for the City of Kent’s Kent TV21. He’s an award-winning video producer, videographer, and editor with for over 27 years in broadcast and video production experience with KVOS, TCI Cable, Fox Sports, KCPQ, KCTS, The Seattle Channel, and Weber Shandwick.

Immediate Past-President

Jeff Lueders

Jeff moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2008 and became the Cable Communications and Franchise Services Manager for the City of Tacoma, Washington. In December of 2009 he completed negotiations on new 10 year Franchise agreements with Comcast and Click!. In June of 2010 his staff was honored by the Northwest Chapter of NATAS with a “Governors’ Award” Emmy for their recent coverage of the Memorial Service for the four fallen Lakewood Police Officers. Jeff started his career in 1985 as an educational access TV producer and was quickly elevated to District TV Coordinator for the Rochester Public Schools, Rochester, Minnesota, from 1985-97. He was instrumental in the growth of the Educational Access channel and the purchase of the district’s remote TV production truck. He then spent 11 years as Cable Coordinator with the City of Lakeville, Minnesota, highlighted by his production team winning an “Emmy”, negotiating a new 15 year Franchise Agreement with Charter, and coordinating the redesign of the City Council Chambers and Master Control room. Jeff served on the the MACTA Board (Minnesota Association of Community Telecommunications Administrators) for 10 years, seven as President, highlighted by the receipt of “The NATOA Presidents Chapter of Excellence” Award in 2007. Jeff is also a Past-President of WATOA and is on the NATOA Membership Committee and the Policy and Legal Committee.

NATOA Representative

Chris Jaramillo

Chris is the Manager and Compliance Officer for King County’s Office of Cable Communications, representing cable customers throughout unincorporated King County since 1990. Chris has assisted in negotiating franchises with a variety of cable operators (TCI Cable, AT&T, Comcast Cable, Millennium Digital Media, Broadstripe, Wave) and has overseen several transfers of ownerships. She acts as an advisor to King County’s Institutional Network (I-NET), which provides internet, voice and video service to over 280 locations. She also serves as the staff liaison for the Citizens’ Advisory Committee for King County TV-Channel 22 .

Chris helped to re-establish the WATOA Chapter in 1998 and has since served in several leadership positions including President, Vice-President, Secretary, Board Member and Nominating Chairman. She has also been an active member of NATOA for the past 23 years , representing King County as its voting member, participating in the national NATOA conferences as a moderator or speaker, and currently serving as WATOA’s NATOA representative.