It’s been interesting reading email this morning and to see the water utility employee responses to the Mayor’s announcement that they need to start over in finding a new Water Utility Manager. Here’s the Mayor’s email, followed by the responses we’ve been getting this morning.
Mayor’s Notification to Water Utility Employees:
Despite the hard work and good efforts of the Water Board members, staff, and citizens involved in the hiring process for the Madison Water Utility General Manager, the interview panel members and I jointly came to the conclusion today that we should begin a new recruitment process. This is too important a position to not achieve an outcome that is a win from all perspectives.
I want to thank the members of the written, oral, and staff panels who put a lot of time and effort into the selection process and ask that they again participate in the hiring decision. This was a fair and inclusive process that I would like to employ again.
We will begin placing notices for the position in newspapers and other publications this weekend. We hope to complete the process by early summer and have someone on board soon thereafter.
I am very pleased to report that Larry Nelson has agreed to stay on as Interim General Manager until the position is filled. I want to sincerely thank him for his steady hand and leadership. I also want to thank the staff and members of the board. I appreciate their patience and dedication to the City of Madison during what I know has been a long transition.
Mayor Dave Cieslewicz
210 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Room 403
Madison, WI 53703
608.266.4611
mayor@cityofmadison.com
The staff responses:
Dear Mr Mayor
Let me share with you my sincere and heartfelt disappointment in you and your staff regarding the choosing of the next Gen Mgr for the Madison Water Utility.
Another low expectation has been met. I am truly underwhelmed.
You win. Thanks so much.
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Another sign of lack of communication. How come employees had to find out about this thru news media first? Releasing an e-mail to us at 4:22pm – when most employees are done working by 4:00 — come on!
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Dear Mr. Mayor,
Once again communication is a problem. Because of the nature of our business, most of us start early to accommodate our customers and are done before 4:22 when your E-mail was sent. It was quite a shock to hear it on the 10:00 news. I did find out this morning that the managers new of this but were told not to tell the employees. What’s up with that? I am really disappointed once again.
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Good Morning:
One of the things the Water Utility has been faulted for was a lack of communication, both internal and external. However, It appears that the Water Utility is not the only agency that has this issue. Imagine my shock to open this morning’s WSJ and read the headlines in the local section, “Search to start anew for water head.” Even though a mayoral message was sent yesterday, it was sent at 4:22 when most of the employees have already left. Since this has such a direct impact on the employees of the Water Utility, would it have been too much to ask for us to have received this information in a timely manner from the mayor instead of from the news media?
Personally, I have spent much time and energy as part of the Steering Team trying to implement the Strategy Plan that was developed from our self-assessment. I believe the Steering Team has been, and continues to be, involved in being a successful guide in setting achievements for the Water Utility. The employees are making an effort to rectify problems and re-establish confidence in the Water Utility. Please give us the courtesy and respect of talking to us directly and not thru the media.
I’d call these responses highly unusual. And, remarkable in that these people all signed their names to their emails and sent them quite publicly. They must be experiencing a high level of frustration to have written those emails. Another tough place to be working these days . . . Treasurer, Clerk, Water Utility . . .just the tip of the iceberg? I keep hearing rumblings and I can’t tell if people tell me cuz they know I will listen, or if things are getting worse.
