Tacoma resident Mark Patterson will serve a five-year term as the newest member of the Tacoma Public Utility Board. Tacoma City Council appointed Patterson to the board at its July 10 meeting. He will attend his first meeting as a board member on July 25.

Patterson is an attorney and shareholder with the law firm Vandeberg, Johnson & Gandara, with an emphasis on business law. His areas of focus include corporate and partnership issues, taxation and securities law, mergers and acquisitions, commercial transactions, real property law and business succession planning. Patterson also serves on the board of directors of Franke Tobey Jones and on committees of Associated Ministries of Tacoma/Pierce County and the Washington State Bar Association.

The Public Utility Board is the governing body for Tacoma Public Utilities, which consists of Tacoma Power, Tacoma Water and Tacoma Rail. Tacoma Public Utilities serves 200,000 customers in the Tacoma-Pierce County area.

Tacoma City Council appoints the five members, who serve five-year terms without pay. The Board meets on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the Public Utilities Administration Building, South 35th Street and Union Avenue. Meetings are open to the public and public comments are accepted. Meetings are broadcast live on TV Tacoma channel 12.