Board Members present: Dorothy Anderson, Susie Smith, Jeff Osanka, Mike Dyer, and Sandra Bishop.
Others present: Randy Berggren, Manda Bednarczyck, Ken Beeson, Deborah Brewer, Tom Buckhouse, Marty Douglass, Dick Helgeson, Krista Hince, Garry Kunkel, Jim Maloney, Roseanna McArthur, Kris Middlewood, John Mitchell, Jim Origliosso, Laurie Power, Dick Varner, EWEB staff; Moshe Immerman, member of the public; and Kim Kunkel, Minutes Recorder.
President Anderson called the meeting to order. Mr. Berggren noted that the Customer Survey Results item scheduled for that evening had been deferred.
ORGANIZATIONAL PURPOSE AND VISION
Referring to an October 16 memorandum included in the meeting agenda packet, Mr. Berggren reminded the Board that during his performance evaluation on October 7, he made brief mention of work he had begun toward developing a preliminary set of corporate goals. At that meeting, he made a commitment to provide to Commissioners a "straw model" which would lead to a set of goals the Board and staff agree upon.
Mr. Berggren explained that as he worked on the "straw model," it became evident that the goals needed to be connected to a set of guiding principles and could not simply be developed in a vacuum. He said staff members, facing the same realization as they develop policies, strategies, work plans, and other programs, have described their needs as a "roadmap" which contains essential information about EWEB's purpose, what it stands for, where it's going, and how it will get there. Mr. Berggren said that although this information may be known intuitively and over the years the organization has developed lists of values, key result areas, and mission statements, EWEB has never before attempted to capture all of these guiding principles into one comprehensive document and fill the identified gaps. Mr. Berggren said this work is an attempt to clarify EWEB's desired outcome, rather than simply identify existing problems.
Noting that he had researched EWEB's archives in a search for continuity with regard to the utility's original charge, Mr. Berggren said he discovered the following statement which is attributed to Eugene Mayor J.D. Matlock (1906): "In my mind, water is associated with health, and light with learning, and it is our aim that each child, however poor or obscure, shall have at the minimum of cost these two fundamentals of civilization." Noting that this statement speaks to EWEB's fundamental purpose of providing healthful water and power, Mr. Berggren said it is a relevant premise from which to strategically move forward.
Referring to overhead displays, copies of which were attached to the aforementioned memorandum, Mr. Berggren reviewed both a Guiding Principles document and diagram. Mr. Berggren explained that the Guiding Principles text is in part a compilation of work completed by the Board and/or staff in the past on this subject. He said it also includes some new work not yet reviewed by the Board and some proposed changes to existing work. With regard to the Guiding Principles diagram, Mr. Berggren explained that it attempts to depict how the various pieces will fit together and how they relate to both EWEB's citizen/owners and its customers.
Noting that he envisions the vision statement as a document that is revisited routinely in order to assess its applicability and identify elements requiring change, Mr. Berggren solicited comments and questions from the Board.
Given that EWEB has created missions, values, and other such defining documents during the past several years, Commissioner Dyer said he was confused regarding the purpose of the proposed vision statement. He said he thinks EWEB's purpose is to provide customers with EWEB products as effectively and efficiently as possible at the lowest possible cost and that many of the aforementioned documents simply reflect the strategies by which EWEB can carry that out.
Commissioner Osanka said he applauds Mr. Berggren for going through the process of drafting a vision statement. Commissioner Osanka said the process is valuable in terms of generating ideas; however, he is unsure as to whether it is necessary to extricate from the brainstorming exercise a new set of wordsmithed values. He said he wondered what argument would support EWEB's need for another set of principles that are similar to the Board Operating Principles and the Key Operating Results.
President Anderson said she was also concerned that in creating yet another set of principles, the Board Operating Principles and Key Operating Results might be lost. She said she does support Mr. Berggren's idea of focussing on the desired result as opposed to "the problem" and thinks that making clear the distinction between citizens and customers is important.
Vice President Smith said she thinks the proposed vision statement, as illustrated in the diagram, sets up an artificial dichotomy between citizens and customers. She said it is her opinion that pulling apart citizens and customers results in the loss of an important and real "grey area" that impacts EWEB's business strategy as well as its relationship with the public. Vice President Smith said the diagram, as a hierarchical model, suggests that EWEB is acting in the best interest of citizens; however, certain sections of society think that what is "good" for the economy is "good" for everything else and that is dangerous because what is economically beneficial may not necessarily be beneficial to the public. Vice President Smith said she can see the model inverting, thereby intensifying the polarity between issues of economic and public benefit which currently exists within the organization.
Vice President Smith said she views EWEB's mission, Key Result Areas, and organizational goals and values as being directly related to citizen's interest; however, the proposed model seems to present these as pulled apart from the citizens as customers. She said what is missing from the model is an acknowledgment of citizen/customers as a group possessing individual, community, and customer choice. Vice President Smith said she thinks the absence of cost-management from EWEB's organizational core values represents a failure to reflect the consciousness of this community and its concerns. She said EWEB should reflect its own, as well as the community's values by incorporating into its organizational values a balance between quality and cost management.
With regard to Vice President Smith's concerns that the proposed model may intensify the polarization between citizen and customer issues, Mr. Berggren said the intent of the diagram was merely to depict the interrelation between EWEB's business and public domains. Mr. Berggren said the Board's feedback was valuable in terms of gaining a better sense of what Commissioners want and said it was important that he consider why the Board read the diagram as being suggestive of polarization.
Commissioner Bishop said the proposed vision statement and diagram were exciting and she did not view this process as "reinventing the wheel." She said it is her opinion that EWEB has an inherent personality or vision and this is a process by which to reveal, demystify, and clarify that vision. Commissioner Bishop said she thinks the draft vision statement addresses a number of major points and stressed that EWEB is at a critical point and must change in the face of the future.
Utilizing a large display board, Commissioner Bishop redesigned the diagram as a triad, with the organization core values in the middle and the mission overarching. She said she thinks a balanced triad, composed of the
Vice President Smith said she would add to Commissioner Bishop's diagram arrows pointing toward the core values in order to clarify that all the other components of the diagram funnel into the core values.
Commissioner Bishop said the issues she would like addressed with regard to the proposed vision statement are
Commissioner Osanka expressed support for the triad model, stating his opinion that it is a "better fit" for EWEB than the diad.
President Anderson stressed the importance of maintaining citizens' concerns as the overriding factor in EWEB decisions.
The meeting adjourned at 7:27 p.m.