MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS' SPECIAL MEETING

LANSING BOARD OF WATER AND LIGHT

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Tuesday, May 6, 2003

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The Board of Commissioners met in a Special Meeting in the Boardroom of the Administrative Offices, 1232 Haco Drive, Lansing, Michigan.

The Secretary declared a quorum present.

Chair Callen called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m. 

CLOSED SESSION

Moved by Commissioner Wonch, seconded by Commissioner Marin, that the Board convene in Closed Session to discuss a confidential written legal opinion (4:30 p.m.)

Action:  Adopted by roll call vote:

OPEN SESSION

The Board returned to open session at 5:30 p.m.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

THE CHAIR ANNOUNCED THAT MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE WELCOME TO SPEAK TO THE BOARD ON THE SUBJECT OF THE SPECIAL MEETING.

No persons spoke.

NEW BUSINESS

SEARCH FOR A NEW DIRECTOR & GENERAL MANAGER

Chair Callen announced that search consultant Charles Blockett would be facilitating discussions as the Commissioners narrow the candidate field for a permanent Director and General Manager from 114 applicants to five finalists.  Chair Callen thanked Mr. Blockett and the internal BWL executive search team comprised of General Manager John Elashkar, Acting Human Resources Director Mary Dwyer, Director of Metrics & Audits Kellie Willson and Corporate Secretary Mary Sova for their assistance in coordinating key search activities over the past six months. 

Chair Callen summarized the resume evaluation process.  He reported that Mr. Blockett and the internal BWL team independently read and evaluated all 114 resumes based on requisite qualifications stated in the job announcement and identified the top ten candidates.  The candidates were placed in alphabetical order and the names and addresses of the candidates were blanked.  An important part of the search process included several opportunities for input from employees, retirees and customers throughout the search.  A week before this meeting, the Commissioners were provided with a notebook containing the following information: 

·          Resumes of the top 24 candidates and summaries of the remaining 90 candidates;

·          An Evaluation Matrix to be used by each Commissioner in their final evaluation of the candidates;

·          Input Forms received from employees, retirees and the public;

·          Results of the recent employee satisfaction survey, which included comments by employees about the qualities and priorities they would like to see in the new Director & General Manager.

Mr. Blockett announced that many of the candidates requested confidentiality until such time that finalists are selected.  To honor this request, the names of the candidates were not revealed to the Commissioners.  The five finalists would then be contacted to confirm their continued interest in the position and to secure permission to release their names over the next 24 hours.  At that point their names would become public information for release to the media on May 8th and they would be interviewed in a public forum.

Mr. Blockett explained the process for narrowing the General Manager field to five candidates.  He asked each Commissioner to identify, by an assigned number, their top five candidates based on their independent review of resumes and summaries.  Candidate numbers that appeared on all the Commissioners’ list were automatically included on the final list.  The candidates were then arranged in descending number from the maximum to the minimum as they occurred.  The Commissioners began discussion starting with the candidate with the maximum number of occurrences.  Discussion continued until consensus was reached.  A vote was called by Chair Callen to either include or exclude a candidate from the finalists’ list.  The discussion process was repeated until the top five finalists were chosen plus one additional finalist as a contingency in the event one of the five candidates drops out of the process.

Special Note:  As a result of this process, the five finalists were identified on May 8^th, after they confirmed their continued interest in the position.  The Finalists are:

Chair Callen summarized the activities that will transpire up to the date of the final selection:

·          June 5 - Finalists will be available to meet employees, retirees, officials and citizens at a public reception at the Lansing Center from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 

·          June 6 - A BWL committee consisting of non-bargaining and bargaining employees and retirees will conduct separate interviews with each finalist.  Commissioners will receive information regarding feedback and observations from the public and employees’ committee meeting prior to the final interviews with the Board. 

·          June 7 - Final interviews with the Board of Commissioners will be held in public session between 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Board Room. 

·          June 10 - A Special Board Meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. to select the finalist and authorize the negotiation of an employment contract and the starting date of the future Director & General Manager.

PUBLIC COMMENTS

THE CHAIR ANNOUNCED THAT MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE WELCOME TO SPEAK TO THE BOARD ON ANY BOARD OF WATER AND LIGHT SUBJECT.

BWL employee Joe Davis, President of IBEW, Local 352, announced that the union will have a booth this year at the Chili Cook-Off on June 6^th.  He asked about the timeline for the Employee/Retiree Committee interviews to assure smooth coordination between that important responsibility and the Chili Cook-Off activities.  Mr. Davis applauded the Board for the open nature of the selection process and particularly for placing emphasis on the candidates’ personal characteristics that influence their relationships with others as compared to focusing entirely on technical ability.

EXCUSED ABSENCE

None.

ADJOURNMENT

On motion by Commissioner Smith, seconded by Commissioner Wonch, the meeting adjourned at 7:16 p.m.

/s/ Mary E. Sova, Secretary
Filed with Lansing City Clerk
May 16, 2003