||| FROM TOM OWENS |||
The Members, Board of Directors, and Staff of the Eastsound Water Users Association have endured a thousand days of chaos. The origins of this chaos are well-documented in our island publications and need not be revisited. However, the ongoing consequences of the chaos must be known to all:
- A growing number of Members question the Board of Director’s approach to governing the Association. This manifests as increased attendance at monthly meetings, more public comments all advocating change, and more discussions in the coffee shops with the theme “What the heck is wrong with Eastsound Water”?
- Some of the current Board of Directors have expressly said in recent public meetings that they are tired of the time and emotional demands of their volunteer positions. Others appear to me to be disengaged at these meetings. We are all sympathetic to the time commitment and, as was noted at the January meeting, this is the third incarnation of the Board, with minimal overlap since the chaos began. Reestablishing Eastsound Water as an institution for which serving on the Board is both attractive and fulfilling is critical.
- The Association has lost nearly a third of its Staff in the last few months and polling of the remaining Staff, presented at the January meeting, indicates that most are looking for other employment. Eastsound Water used to be viewed as one of the better jobs on Orcas Island.
Not anymore and the emotional and economic toll on the staff is devastating. Characterization of this situation as a major crisis is not hyperbolic.
At the January public meeting, one Board member indicated that the current atmosphere is the worst that she has experienced in many decades of volunteer work on the island. I have no reason to doubt that, and it is truly unfortunate.
The focus of my thoughts is how to fix this sad situation and allow Eastsound Water to emerge from this crisis as organization that respects and supports it’s employees, operates efficiently and transparently, and as a result is respected by its members and the island community.
My decades as an elected, volunteer member of governing boards spans organizations as small as dog training clubs to as large as a global scientific research consortium with an annual budget of tens of millions of dollars.
The path to Eastsound Water’s transformation became clear when I realized that, in my experience, no organization has ever recovered from a major crisis through continuing, or making only minor tweaks to, “Business as Usual.” Major crises require major changes; the kind of changes that are uncomfortable and difficult for volunteer Boards to recognize and even harder to make. In these situations, Board members must be wise enough to recognize what must be done, then brave enough to make the change. Organizations with Boards that can do that will emerge stronger. Organizations that cannot find a way to make major changes will continue to falter and will likely be rendered incapable of fulfilling their core mission.
Most often, when organizations face a prolonged crisis, the change they ultimately confront is at the level of executive leadership. In Eastsound Water’s case, that responsibility rests with the General Manager, whose role is the primary accountability for the institution’s operations, internal systems, and the conditions that support both employees and members. It is easy to understand how difficult and uncomfortable this assessment is for the Board, given the close and ongoing working relationship they maintain with the General Manager.
The current General Manager deserves recognition for identifying the value of a more unified operational model across the island’s water systems, a vision that has real merit. At the same time, the General Manager is also responsible for ensuring that the organization has the structures, resources, and leadership capacity necessary to protect its employees, stabilize operations, and maintain the confidence of its membership. Where those systems have not been put in place, or do not operate effectively when needed, the consequences have accumulated at the institutional level, impacting staff and membership trust.
From that perspective, the issue before the Board is not one of blame, but of accountability. The role of General Manager is ultimately accountable for the health of the organization and its processes, and when an organization remains in sustained crisis, it is appropriate, however difficult, to evaluate whether a change in leadership is necessary to restore stability and trust. I believe the Board has the collective wisdom to make that assessment. I hope they feel supported by the membership in taking whatever steps are required for Eastsound Water to emerge from the current crisis to once again become an organization that its members view with trust and pride; its Board members feel appreciated; its staff feel respected and supported.
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response to the editorial, part ONE
What? No comments? Surprising. Ok, I’ll start. Since you brought up the ‘thousand days of chaos, Tom, here are my thoughts about what I think is going on, based on ONE meeting I attended and on talking to a few of the employees who were treated so badly and threatened and intimidated by EWUA Water Board. I also spent time reading on EWUA’s website and was shocked, but not surprised, at how little relevant information is on there. I also read here on the Orcasonian – the only Orcas locally owned and run publication (single handedly by Lin McNulty) that allows community voices and opinions, and is not corporate-run and well funded by those corporations. This will likely be a two part comment because it is so long and doesn’t nearly cover it.
1. Employees do not feel safe. Naturally, they want to unionize. Unions offer protection against discrimination and harassment., plus benefits and better pay. Union members pay for that privilege when these things should be a right – but they’re not. People still have to fight for that right. One employee has been assaulted. Others, threatened, or made to feel so miserable with intimidation for daring question anything, that they have left. Some are in fear of retaliation if they speak out. This doesn’t bode well for the board of EWUA. Naturally, it would follow that members don’t trust that we’re getting the whole story. We’ve been through this before with other boards. It’s nothing new. The populace assumes that the Board has their best interests in mind and stops paying attention. A few seat changes can change an entire board and that board’s direction- but things can only go in a good orderly direction when the People keep paying attention and calling for more transparency. I wish We the People would get this. It’s why I felt so heartened by all the faces in that room on January 20. We should welcome the new people! They will inherit this, especially young working families.
2. EWUA is a private essential utility. It calls itself a coop, just like OPALCO does. But in effect, it isn’t. Neither utility has to be transparent, and they remind the membership of that or worse, just do what they want, no discussion allowed. We have no real voice or choice. When we ask for an accounting, or even ask questions, we are blamed or stonewalled.
3. Watching the behavior of OPALCO board over the last several years, and having ongoing concerns about OPALCO’s transparency since at least 2012 with the digitalization of meters and other changes, I am greatly concerned that EWUA is adopting OPALCO’s policies practically verbatim – including bylaws, a conflict-of-interest policy (but as one astute young man at January’s meeting asked, does that also protect a board member who goes against the majority? That was never answered. That is when we all got a harsh scolding instead.) I don’t think it’s a good idea that two utilities, which should have been Public utilities, are allowed to go on like this with no transparency and blame any new people in the room who want to learn for themselves what the heck is going on,- then be scolded and shamed as if THEY are the problem. This happened in the January EWUA meeting. Frankly, I was aghast, and still am. I heard that the Nov. annual meeting was worse.
4. I am concerned that employees trying to form a union have had their own ‘thousand days of chaos’, feeling that the Board is dragging its feet on cooperating and facilitating for this to happen. Should it take years to get unionized? Just asking with genuine interest what the holdup is.
5. At the last meeting (January 20), I was concerned when manager Dan Burke enthusiastically mentioned selling excess water off the new Clark Well (across from Orcas Center) if it matches its potential of up to 150GPM! -Wait – What???!
a) I can find NO information on the internet because who knows what it’s really called. Probably not the name of someone on whose property it was installed, so why no more information on how to find out about this type of well and how deep they drilled, etc? Specs should be on the website, and readable. Environmentals should have been done, and still should, if not. Members are owed an education and explanation.
b) Owners of surrounding properties – do you know what this will do to your property in, say, a summer drought? I looked at the power point about it and became even more concerned. First off, that water belongs to the MEMBERS, who pay for it. Why would the Water Board even consider selling the ‘excess’ – and to whom?
c) again, the elephant in the living room: Who’s actually addressing the burden of unlimited, unmanaged growth with the UGA (urban Growth Area) taking the hit for everyone else on the island? Or the plethora of luxury condos and VRBOs clustered in the UGA when we are over 200 affordable housing units SHORT of what the Growth Management mandates, and those are expected to be in the UGA – which now needs to be expanded and have heavier densities – AGAIN – due to our crazy zoning regulations and land use laws (mainly, due to poor County management of HOW we should grow – we did have a choices several times, and it was squandered many years ago, and continues to be squandered with the blatant dismantling of environmental standards – which now protect nothing in the UGA) I keep harping on this because it relates to everything now happening.
Continued in part TWO.
Part TWO of comment to this editorial:
6. The website holds little information. The minutes are a joke with nothing of actual substance. There is NO educational material, which could have been written one-time for every conceivable issue or question that has arisen or may arise. It could have been done with transparency. On the website. Instead, defensive, victim stance – and then blame the Public for holding the Board back from their work.
Water Board, if you are so tired of the new people asking questions, answer them in a meaningful way, in writing, where everyone can find the answers! Be willing to educate, rather than berate. They say they don’t want to re-explain this at every meeting and it is WE who are holding them back from doing their jobs. Does anyone think that new people should NOT be welcomed at meetings or welcomed with their questions? Does the Board itself admit what a closed opague system this creates? Is it any wonder why resistance continues to happen?
7. There is talk that the Water Board may change meetings to 3 pm instead of 5:30, effectively removing the voices of working people. Is that the Board’s aim? I have heard this complaint before by boards: no one shows up at meetings so we may as well make it to suit our schedule at mid afternoon. But instead, maybe you should wonder WHY no one shows up at meetings. Is an empty room what they want? If not, how to create an environment of mutual listening and respect? I’m asking this sincerely.
Also, a suggestion that works:
Any board that claims transparency and wants to work with the Public would opt to have public access at both the beginning and end of a meeting – because it’s the right thing to do to gain trust of the Public, if you are sincere. A lot happens and is said and decided in meetings. An informed membership would have a chance to weigh in on what is said and done during the meeting, rather than wait an entire month to speak to old news. Even if the board continues on its current path, explain your rationale and the practical reasons why no alternatives are considered. In other words, convince us,. Don’t berate us.
I could go on. Tom, you do have it right that this entity will not recover if it continues on this path.
IMO and in others’, there’s only one solution for the members and the Public concerning both OPALCO and EWUA: become Public Utilities. Yes, it will be expensive because we have been paying all along and this will double the burden. But look at what all this is costing us now – not only money, but peace in our community and trust, since we have no say in governance of utilities that never should have been privatized in the first place. We here on Orcas were way ahead of the push for privatization. Not that that is anything to brag about.
Tom, you make a disturbing statement that this all ‘need not be revisited.’ I argue that everything on the table needs to be revisited and gone over with a fine tooth comb and magnifying glass. Investigations should follow. Questions need concrete answers, in writing. The State auditor, which has sway over taxing district entities, should be contacted to ask questions about our recourse concerning private utilities, as should the State Attorney General. We need to get to the bottom of all of this unless major changes are made and listening starts to happen. If the Water Board won’t cooperate with the Public, it is in the Public’s best interests to take the next steps to assure that it happens. It makes me sad to say this in these times, where even Legal Standing may be wiped out. But I still think it may count in the future. We have asked that things be done voluntarily and in good faith. We’re still waiting.
Is there any reason why EWUA meetings are not Zoomed and (well)recorded for future listening, especially if the Water Board decides to change to the earlier time?
Are OPALCO’s?
thanks.