Outgoing members reflect on board tenure

by Karen E. Culp

SBJ Staff

The four men who are leaving the Board of Public Utilities have seen a few changes in six years.

Some of those changes have been with regard to the board itself.

Gordon Elliott, one of the four whose commissions expire in November, said the group he worked with on the board grew into a cohesive policy-making unit.

"I haven't seen a bad board member yet, but I think we were able to develop a cohesive board with this particular group," Elliott said.

One of the major changes he lists regards personnel at the utility.

"We were faced with the downsizing and so forth of many personnel during the course of the years. We've faced the utility's restructuring itself to place itself in a better position for competition," Elliott said.

Elliott joined the board after having served as a founding member of the Citizens Advisory Council, an advisory group to CU and the board.

"I was on the advisory committee even before Robert Roundtree was hired. Then he was hired and wanted me on the board, and so I finished up some of my other commitments and that allowed me to go on the board," Elliott said.

Dan Chiles, who is also leaving the board, said he came on amid "acri-monious circum-stances."

City Council had ap-pointed a committee to investigate the utility following a council meeting in which both a rate increase and the first industrial park were proposed.

Chiles served on that committee, and then applied for a board opening in 1993.

"I'm told over a hundred people have applied for the new board positions (since that time), but back then it looked like combat duty," Chiles said.

Among the things Tom Barr, another outgoing member, is most proud of is the agreement the utility struck with The Energy Authority, a marketing company, to sell its off-system electric generation.

"I'm also proud we were able to enter the telecom field in some small manner," Barr said.

The utility is limited to its activities in the telecommunications industry under state law, passed at the behest of Southwestern Bell.

Bill Reser, who is now chairman of the board, said he recalls the addition of a gas pipeline into Springfield and the implementation of the Stockton water line as the major projects of his tenure.

"I don't think people understood how important that water line would be when we first undertook it, but this summer, when we had such dry conditions, we had no concerns about our water supply," Reser said.

All four pointed to pending restructuring of the electric industry as one of the biggest considerations for new members of the board, and Barr and Elliott also mentioned power supply.

"Within the next several years, the utility will have to make some decisions, as the peaks get higher and higher, whether we will need additional sources of electric generation," Barr said.

Barr and Reser said they made their decisions to join the board because of a desire to volunteer in the community.

Both had been active in other civic activities, and both said that activity will remain.

"I don't know what I'll do next, but I've got many, many interests in this community, and I plan to continue to develop more," Reser said.

New members will need to plan to spend about one year getting up to speed on utility issues, Barr said, and he estimated he spent 10 to 20 hours a week on CU business.

"There's a great deal of preparation involved, but there's also fluctuation depending on what is being decided. You can spend a lot more time as chair, for example," Barr said.

The new chair of the board will be selected in November, prior to the new members' joining the board.

"We seek the board's leadership from among those who have spent the most time on the board," Reser said.