I gotta agree with Bill Leuders. Well, kinda. I’m not sad about seeing Gonzalez leave, in fact, it wasn’t soon enough. David Denig-Chakroff is a different story.
I have mixed feelings about him leaving. On the one hand, he’s the boss and the buck stops there and ultimately, he’s responsible for what went on at the Water Utility. On the other hand, while I’m not there on a daily basis, I get the feeling that the problem was with some other top managers. So, I’m not sure much is going to change in the immediate future. I’ve been asked to name names, and I don’t feel comfortable doing that as I do not have first hand knowledge, but it seems rather widely known that there are at least two other people that are a problem, and some people think there are three or four more. I don’t know where it stops, but I don’t think the problems at the water utility end until there is a major attitude change with a few employees.
I am somewhat hopeful that Larry Nelson, who was named interim manager, can help start a process of evaluating what the issues are. I don’t know how quickly, if at all, disciplinary action can be taken there. And maybe the problem employees will act differently with Nelson in charge. One thing is clear, there is an attitude problem with some and some questionable hiring practices that have gone on for a while. These issues need to be addressed and if Mr. Nelson doesn’t do it, the person who gets hired to be the Water Utility Manager is going to have their hands full until there are some bigger changes.
Finally, to be clear, this is about the top management, not the workers at the utility. The situation is alot like with the Police Department, where the Police and Fire Commission makes the hiring decisions, not the Mayor and the Common Council. The on-the-street workers can do their jobs and do them well, but if there are bad management decisions made, the whole department looks bad. Hopefully, at least in the case of the Water Utility, things are starting to change.
