Marina Peterson said the BCWA board of directors told ratepayers that the last two interviews for the new executive director would be held in an open session.
EAST BAY — Just days after the Bristol County Water Authority board of director named the agency’s new executive director, some people called into question the hiring process.
During recent interviews, Bristol resident and local watchdog Marina Peterson and Warren Town Council member Davison Bolster both challenged parts of the hiring process used by the water authority during its search for a new executive director. (The BCWA board of directors eventually named Pamela Marchand to the post.)
Ms. Peterson pointed to the board's private interviews of the final six candidates: “A lot of people are upset about that. We were promised that the last two interviews were going to be open to the public.”
Ms. Peterson was apparently referring to a comment made by Allan Klepper, a member of the BCWA board of directors. During a Barrington Town Council meeting, Mr. Klepper told the council that the water authority board had planned to conduct candidate interviews in open, public sessions.
On Monday morning, Mr. Klepper said that the interviews of the final six candidates were done in executive session (closed to the public).
“I thought we’d come down to two, that the last two interviews would be in public,” he said. “We didn’t need to. It became obvious (the final selection) with the rating system.”
Mr. Klepper said all nine members of the board of directors had individually ranked the final six candidates during the interview process and that all nine members had ranked Ms. Marchand at the top.
“The numbers turned out to be for Ms. Marchand,” he said, adding that the final vote to hire Ms. Marchand was 8-0 because he was out of town for that meeting.
That answer might not be sufficient for Ms. Peterson and Davison Bolster, a member of the Warren Town Council, who said “My question is [was] the process to find this executive director done in an open and legal fashion?”
Mr. Klepper said he was frustrated with those who have criticized the hiring process, especially considering that the new executive director had not yet started working with the authority.
“If eight of us are wrong, fine, crucify us,” he said, “but do eight members — nine of us, really — who felt that she was the right person for the job, have any credibility?”
Mr. Klepper added that the board enlisted assistance from the town managers of Bristol, Warren and Barrington and a member of the East Bay business community during the initial review of candidates’ applications. He said the final vote to hire Ms. Marchand was done in a public meeting.
Comments
JackBaillargeron 3 months ago
After doing some research on the new director's early career in the 80's after college, I found that her first job was at a water authority that went back to the 1800's like the BCWA. Reading their web site, the similarities to the BCWA are amazing. I do not know the extent of her hand in the revitalizing of the authority, but it seems to be doing very well and makes the BCWA look like people going to the river with a bucket. In any case interesting read. Here is the link.
http://www.ocwa.org/o14.html
Let’s hope she believes in transparency, and if she should find shady dealings from the past, that she will expose them and bring in the proper authorities. I also hope she demands a forensic audit, to cover her self as well as to get the trust of the ratepayers and taxpayer back. For me that’s the only thing that will accomplish that. Too much unexplained money shenanigans over time At the BCWA unexplained to this day.
For now it is what it is and we have to wait and see. Her qualifications seem quite in order to me anyway, her management skill will become apparent in her employee dealings and the contracts.
Let’s hope the ratepayers finally get respect from the BCWA.
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