Why? Apparently because he COULD!
Here's the letter dated 21 May 2014 sent to Heber City Council members Heidi Franco and Kelleen Potter
After the three new Council members took their elected positions in January. The meeting of 16 Jan began some of the controversy of HL&P Board appointments: (incumbent members felt the need to remain on the board, Mayor McDonald disagreed) "Mayor McDonald indicated he spoke with Blaine Stewart who felt new members would adjust fine. Also, the Heber Light and Power Board bylaws indicated that the Mayor didn’t need the consent of the Council in order to assign other Council members to the board. Council Member Rowland asked to seek clarification on that section of the bylaws. Mayor McDonald read from the bylaws. Mark Smedley stated that language would hinge on
what the rules of the City Council were with regard to committees. Smedley indicated he would like to review that before giving his opinion."
By the 6 Feb meeting, McDonald solidified his position and declared he could appoint whomever he wanted: Mayor McDonald agreed it would be nice to have the consent, but his choices for the appointments would not change. He asked for consent for Council Members Franco and Potter. Council Member Potter moved to approve Council Members Franco and Potter to the Heber Light and Power Board. The motion failed for lack of a second. Mayor McDonald stated as chairman of the Heber Light and Power Board, he would still proceed with appointing Council Members Franco and Potter as members of the board.
On 26 Feb Franco and Potter were active Board Members Franco and Potter took their assignment seriously, asking questions, investigating and as they had campaign worked to find solutions to the recent managerial difficulties - credit card fraud, firing of the CFO, faux Health pay, et al They also discovered the high managerial salaries and released the information to the public.
Mayor McDonald also approved the release of the info on the Heber Power website, without designating any names. During his campaign, Mayor McDonald expressed this on his website:
"With this upcoming
election comes an opportunity
for reforms to be made not only with the city
council, but at Heber Light & Power itself since the mayor of Heber is also
appointed the chairman of the board of the power
company. Your vote for mayor of Heber also
determines who will be the chairman of the board
over Heber Light & Power. As
chairman of the board I will consult with the
company attorney regarding sending a bill to
the individuals who still have not refunded
the money they received under this policy, and
I will call for any legal action necessary to
collect on the debt.
As
rumors circulate once again surrounding the
impropriety of certain individuals employed by
the company, Heber needs a representative with
integrity who will
make significant changes to the company and
bring it back to sound and transparent
government.
I
remain committed to such reforms, and
as mayor and chairman of the board over Heber
Light & Power I will involve the public
in every step as we bring the company back to
sound governing principles."
Mrs. Franco proposed a series of solutions to the Heber Light's problems.
With those proposals and resolutions in a recent Council meeting (videos here) to allow Heber City Manager to audit HLP and questioning Council board salary distribution, and after comments that his appointees were 'politically self-serving' while he was promoting the proposed Rate Increase, it appears the Mayor felt his appointees were going too far and summarily dismissed them.
(Apparently the Mayor reappointed Councilmen Patterson and Bradshaw to the Board.)
1 comment:
Heber City is managed like a third world government.
Really do you fire HLP board members just because they disagree with you? Has the oversight and management of HPL been so outstanding that voices with new new ideas should be silenced? If I was a shareholder in an organization like this I would sell immediately. Mayor McDonald should be ashamed of his actions.
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