Board Members present: Susie Smith, Mike Dyer, Sandra Bishop, Dorothy Anderson, and Peter Bartel.
Others present: Randy Berggren, Tom Buckhouse, Sandra DeLuna, Dick Helgeson, Garry Kunkel, Roseanna McArthur, and Jim Origliosso, Executive Management Team; Dick Varner (Saturday only), and Krista Hince, of the EWEB staff; and Daniel Lindstrom, Minutes Recorder.
General Manager Randy Berggren welcomed Commissioners to the Planning Session at 7:40 p.m., following an informal social time and dinner. He outlined activities planned for the session, and said that the goal for the experience was to enable good collaboration between the Board and staff.
Human Resources Manager Sandra DeLuna stated that she had been asked to serve as facilitator for the Planning Session. She said she believed it could become the foundation for increased effectiveness in the work of the Board. She proposed ground rules and suggested that staff and participants use the time to get to know one another.
Ms. DeLuna posed a series of questions. A representative sampling of answers follows.
Commissioners took a short recess at 8:45 p.m.
Ms. DeLuna asked Commissioners to identify if there were surprises in any of the responses to the questions she had asked.
President Smith said that she was surprised at the fears expressed by a Commissioner related to being able to fully participate in Board membership and leadership. She said she was committed to welcoming and encouraging the participation of all Commissioners and to never engaging in behind-the-scene decision making. Each of the Commissioners agreed. Mr. Berggren was asked to prepare a written description of how the "rotation system" of electing Board officers had worked in the past.
Commissioner Anderson said that she was surprised at the proposed apprentice program. Commissioner Bartel said the basic idea of the program was to encourage the development of employment skills of youth and to identify future potential EWEB employees.
Ms. DeLuna suggested that Commissioners develop an agreement of how their working relationships could be improved, based on their answers to the questions she had asked. Commissioners discussed the topic at length, posted and revised their suggestions, and came to a consensus that the following summary statements contained the identified needed commitment.
Ms. DeLuna suggested that a great deal of what the Board had considered in its discussions had revolved around trust. She shared a diagram which illustrated her comment that trust was built on candor, time spent together, and the quality of past relationships.
The Friday Evening Session adjourned at 9:50 p.m.
Mr. Berggren re-convened the Board Planning Session at 9:20 a.m. He said the staff was prepared to join in a continuation of the Board's discussion during the evening session. He reviewed presentations planned for the morning and remainder of the day.
President Smith requested that time be spent during the Planning Session on prioritization of Board work for the coming year. Mr. Berggren said that a high-level "milestone" discussion would be included and that additional Planning Sessions to guide the work of the Board were proposed to be held throughout the year.
Ms. DeLuna suggested that Executive Management Team staff respond to questions similar to those presented to Commissioners during the Friday Evening Session. A representative sampling of answers follows.
Commissioners and staff agreed to discuss concerns raised as a group.
Commissioner Bartel said that it was disturbing to hear staff concerns about their relationship with the Board and that the Board might be interested in what they considered to be unimportant matters. He said he was disturbed, but pleased that the comments had been made because he believed there needed to be "tension, but not an edge" to the relationship between the Board and staff and that it was important that such concerns be identified.
Commissioner Anderson said she had also been surprised by the reports that there was a lack of trust between the staff and Board. She asked whether the feelings had resulted from critical attitudes expressed by a former Commissioner or from positions taken by the Board on specific issues.
Mr. Berggren said he believed both suggestions of Commissioner Anderson were involved because the former Commissioner had created an "overlay of disfunctionality" to the Board and prevented honest discussion between the Board and staff about significant issues.
Director of Corporate Services Roseanna McArthur agreed and said that she believed the Board and staff shared similar commitments. She reviewed what she described as an evolution of trust of elected officials by staff regarding utility issues.
Mr. Berggren said he appreciated that Commissioners had heard the concerns of staff, but that he was worried they had not heard the concerns balanced with appreciation for the Board. He suggested that the issue might be emphasizing a short-term, versus a long-term evaluation.
President Smith said she believed the relationship between a public organization, its community, and its staff had changed in the last 15 or more years--from one which always deferred to staff decision-making, to "community-based governing" in which there was higher expectation for involvement of citizens. She suggested that the concerns of staff reflected the change to reliance on decisions based on community involvement. She said such a change did not reduce the importance of staff work, but heightened the need for an awareness of the need for Board and staff collaboration .
Treasurer Jim Origliosso said he believed the unique role of the Board was to provide access to community values not available to staff and that the unique role of staff was to use its education, experience, and daily involvement in the work of the utility to help the Board set policy and principles.
President Smith said she believed staff was concerned that the Board became involved in "micro-managing" EWEB. She said the concern was parallel to that of Commissioners' not feeling adequately prepared to set policy. She suggested that a future discussion be held on the subject to define appropriate Board involvement.
Water Division Director Dick Helgeson said he did not agree that staff believed the Board tended to "micro-manage," but that the issue was that there was not adequate trust between Board and staff that it would not happen.
Electric Division Director Garry Kunkel said that he agreed with Mr. Helgeson and that he was worried that too much weight could be placed on community assessment. He said he believed the job of staff was to bring all appropriate information about a recommendation, even information the Board might not want to hear. He said he would support any decision of the Board, but that he needed the freedom to bring all pertinent information to the decision making process.
President Smith said she believed additional discussion was needed on what should trigger staff to bring an issue to the attention of the Board.
Commissioner Bishop said she appreciated the honesty of staff in bringing its concerns to the Board. She suggested that the concerns were based on a lack of trust between Board members. She said she believed unproductive patterns of Board action had developed which allowed Commissioners to make "dark assumptions" which were reflected in reducing the staff's trust of the Board. She said the Board needed to take responsibility for the concerns of staff. She said she was committed to clearing the issue and that she believed it could be best accomplished by looking at "structures" of the organization and expecting disagreement.
President Smith characterized a trait needed by staff and Commissioners as "thick skinned trust."
Mr. Origliosso suggested that both personalities and power were involved in the concerns being discussed. He said he believed that, with time, it would be possible for both the Board and staff to become comfortable with each other.
Commissioner Bishop said that she had a need for information to be provided to her which she could use in discussions with average citizens. She said she would also appreciate if staff recommendations were presented more clearly and forcefully.
Mr. Helgeson said it was helpful to know that requests for additional information were to translate staff knowledge into understandable terms.
Commissioner Bartel suggested that staff information provided to Commissioners would be more helpful if a standard format was followed, such as
He said such a format would facilitate Board consideration of issues.
Commissioner Bartel also suggested that the physical arrangement of the Board's meeting room did not encourage dialogue on which trust was built--the Board is separated from staff, and overhead projector slides are not clearly visible. He suggested that consideration be given to using a Board Table arrangement.
Commissioners Anderson, Commissioner Bishop, and Commissioner Dyer said they agreed with the suggestions of Commissioner Bartel.
President Smith suggested that Board Work Sessions be held in a conference room setting, but that Regular Meetings of the Board continue in their present location and with the same physical arrangement. Commissioner Dyer said he agreed that Work Sessions should be conducted more informally.
Mr. Berggren suggested that the room in which meetings were currently held could be redesigned to provide the advantages suggested by Commissioners.
Commissioners took a short recess at 11:10 a.m.
Ms. DeLuna suggested that Commissioners might want to explore a statement by Mr. Berggren that he did not feel he had the confidence of the Board.
Ms. McArthur said she believed a public meeting comment by President Smith that she had observed EWEB moving toward being a model business organization and away from meeting its public purpose was aware of the feeling expressed by Mr. Berggren.
President Smith said she believed her comment was correct, but that the evidence did not come from Mr. Berggren or members of the Executive Management Team. She said, over time, that there had developed an element of those responsible for the success of EWEB who believed that operating in the most business-like way was best for the community. She said she agreed that EWEB should operate as an effective business, but that it should also be viewed by the community as part of it. She said her concern created no loss of trust in staff, but caused her to become assertive and feel frustrated.
Commissioner Bishop suggested that the concern of President Smith might be created by a style of communication, because she believed all staff were committed to the community purpose of EWEB.
Commissioner Dyer said he did not believe EWEB had become as business-like as it needed to be. He said corporations tended to better understand and seek to meet the desires of customers, were more fiscally responsible, and spent less on public purposes than EWEB.
Commissioner Bartel said that he agreed with Commissioner Dyer. He suggested that current business-like values included positive customer relations and being sensitive to the desires of the community and employees.
President Smith said that she believed it was most important that an example be set which would lead customers to choose EWEB to continue to be their electric service provider, and that EWEB's customer ownership is what would set it apart from other service providers..
Commissioner Anderson said she believed that EWEB employees responsible for wholesale power purchases and sales could be misinterpreted in their zeal to bring financial benefit through their efforts. She suggested that the Board needed to be responsible to evaluate and set parameters on their work.
Mr. Berggren said that he did not believe there was a reduction of commitment to public purposes in EWEB's business plan.
Ms. DeLuna summarized what she had heard discussed by Commissioners and staff, as follows:
Ms. DeLuna said the Commissioners and staff seemed to be "in the same boat." She said that it was a surprise to hear staff express feelings of being mistrusted and under valued. She said similar themes had been expressed by Commissioners and their desire to work in partnership. She said that no "set of principles" to deal with the concerns had been raised, but that there was value in having opened the discussion. She said she believed there would be value gained from holding meetings similar to the Planning Session on a quarterly basis.
President Smith said she would like to continue to work on the format of staff reports to the Board. She suggested that it might also be helpful to determine a way for staff to point out when it believes communication/trust with the Board was about to break down.
Commissioner Bartel said that he would like to have an additional conversation about how staff believed it could better communicate with the Board.
The Saturday Morning Session adjourned at 12:10 p.m. for lunch.
Ms. DeLuna re-convened the Board Planning Session at 1:00 p.m.
President Smith reported that a format for staff reports to boards she had found helpful included the following.
Commissioner Bartel said that he believed the use of "bulleted" items in staff reports was helpful in providing clarity.
Commissioner Bishop suggested that all staff recommendations should include a "time element" which clearly identified when a decision needed to be made or other action taken.
Commissioner Anderson said that she did not believe the length of staff reports was a problem, but that more clarity in their outline was needed.
President Smith suggested that lengthy staff reports should have a preliminary summary page attachment.
Ms. DeLuna said staff members would likely need coaching to follow recommended report format and suggested that Division Directors review protocols and monitor whether material presented to the Board met the standards.
Mr. Origliosso suggested that the proposed report format was an evolution from previously designed "backgrounder" presentations to a better format to utilize the time and effort of the Board.
Commissioner Bartel said he hoped something could be done to improve the use of overhead projection of charts and diagrams at Board meetings.
Ms. DeLuna determined there was consensus that all overhead presentations would be accompanied by a printed handout giving the same information.
President Smith said she believed it would be helpful if the Board and staff agreed on a procedure to be used when a subject was not being clearly presented or when discussion seemed to be concentrating on elements unessential to the decision to be made.
Commissioner Bishop said that she did not share the concern of President Smith.
President Smith suggested that it was the responsibility of the General Manager to be a "clearing house" for concerns such as she had raised.
Ms. DeLuna suggested that it would be possible for Commissioners or staff to raise concerns such as identified by President Smith by expressing a sense that agreements about operating principles were not being met.
Commissioner Bartel said he wanted assurance that it was appropriate for Commissioners to approach staff for information about concerns.
Ms. McArthur said that staff had a responsibility to provide information to Commissioners needed for Board work. President Smith added that she did not believe staff should be expected to contact all members of the Board.
Mr. Berggren said he believed contact between Commissioners and staff was appropriate, but that it was possible for the time of staff to be overly occupied by Board concerns. Mr. Helgeson added that it was also possible for an inappropriate alliance to be established between a Commissioner and a member of the staff.
Vice President Dyer said he believed that increased adherence by staff to agenda time limitations had made for better meetings.
A discussion of the value of the use of Consent Calendar consideration of business was inconclusive.
Commissioner Bishop said that she appreciated hearing reports in Board meetings from staff who were not top management. She also said she was frustrated by strict adherence to time limits at Board meetings.
President Smith replied that she felt Board Work Sessions should be spontaneous, but that Regular Meetings needed a different leadership style. She said it was not her intent to limit discussion in meetings and that it was possible for an individual Board member to seek an extension of time for consideration of an agenda item.
Commissioner Bartel asked how items were included on the agenda. He said he had the impression it was at the discretion of the General Manager. President Smith replied that the "Correspondence" item on the agenda of Meetings was intended to provide a review of what might be included on future agenda. She said it was an opportunity to offer suggestions and additions. Mr. Berggren added that the item included a "check-in" on the agenda of the next meeting and a long-range look at future agenda.
Commissioner Anderson said she appreciated her experience as a Eugene Planning Commissioner when schedules of agenda were published for every quarter.
Mr. Helgeson suggested that the limited availability of time at Board Meetings suggested to him that there was a need for discussion about prioritizing of potential agenda items. President Smith replied that the proposed quarterly Board Planning Sessions could be an opportunity for such prioritization.
Commissioner Bishop said that Board participation in agenda setting would remove a concern she held about Board Meetings.
President Smith suggested that Commissioners who had items they wished to include on an agenda should make their proposals during the Items from Board Members agenda item.
Commissioner Bartel said that he would appreciate consideration of a year-long calendar of items to be presented at Board Meetings. Mr. Kunkel said it would be possible to discuss the annual Work Plan at a Meeting and to identify Board actions needed in connection with it.
Commissioners took a short recess at 2:30 p.m.
Ms. DeLuna suggested that staff create a "working groundrule" statement about their relationship with the Board. Members of the Executive Management Team discussed the suggestion, posted and revised potential groundrules, and agreed that the following summary contained an agreement they supported.
Follow agreed upon protocol about
Treat each other with respect
Ms. DeLuna determined there was consensus among Commissioners and staff that if the statements of the Board and staff were combined, they could serve as a Board and Staff Working Agreement.
Ms. DeLuna asked for feedback on the Planning Session.
Commissioner Bartel said the experience had been valuable and should be repeated.
President Smith said she was concerned that the initial steps of budget planning had not been taken during the Planning Session, as planned. Mr. Helgeson asked and received permission for staff to "flesh out" information planned to be provided for the Board during the session. Mr. Berggren said it was possible that an additional Board Work Session could be planned.
Commissioner Dyer said that he had been encouraged by sharing which had taken place during the session. He said he believed it was healthy.
Mr. Berggren said he appreciated the risks taken by staff and the willingness of Commissioners to listen to what was said.
President Smith said she appreciated the flexibility of the agenda of the session and the facilitation style of Ms. DeLuna.
Commissioner Bishop said she was concerned that the session had concentrated exclusively on process and had not considered content. Ms. DeLuna said she believed the group had dealt with a great deal of content, but that it was not business content.
President Smith said the accommodations and food provided for the session were good.
Mr. Origliosso said he shared the concern of Commissioner Bishop about content being missing from the session because the Board had a great deal of work to accomplish.
Mr. Kunkel said that the Board's support of staff during the session had been helpful.
Ms. McArthur said she felt the pace and amount of structure had been appropriate, that the ambiance of the location had been positive, but that she was disappointed that the Board had not been able to begin to deal with issues related to the budget.
Ms. DeLuna said that she believed the pace of the discussions were slower than they needed to be, but that she felt uncomfortable suggesting any change.
Mr. Berggren said that he appreciated the opportunity to be engaged with issues he considered to be important and that it was the first meeting he had held with the Board in several years that was not ending with him feeling anxious. Commissioner Bishop said that she agreed that the insecurity of previous meetings had not been present in this meeting.
Mr. Helgeson suggested that future work of the Board could proceed more quickly because of the experience of the Planning Session.
The Planning Session adjourned at 3:35 p.m.