It was probably no real surprise that the Imperial Irrigation District board fired Hosken, the district’s general manager, on Wednesday. No surprise, but still an ill-advised move.
Even though we disagree with the decision, we understand that the board has the right and the power to decide who should be the general manager. If it feels Hosken was not doing the job he was hired to do, it had the right to let him go.
But as a public body, the board should tell the public why it fired Hosken. Board members must give their constituents an honest, specific reason why they felt the district would function better if Hosken were no longer at the helm, and what he did wrong to deserve to be fired.
And is the district any better off now than it was at the beginning of the week? The new acting general manager, Elston Grubaugh, who was a subject of the recent investigation over the failed natural gas hedging program, which cost the district millions of dollars, is also tainted by the scandal — rightly or wrongly. By all accounts Grubaugh is very capable, but will this instill confidence in the public? We doubt it.
And although Hosken was the sacrificial lamb in all of this, shouldn’t others be held accountable as well? Directors Stella Mendoza, who voted to remove Hosken, and John Pierre Menvielle, who was the one vote against it, were on the board when the hedging started and when the controversial energy cost adjustment was increased. Why are they not under fire as well? And if this is about how poor the entire structure of the organization is, why are other managers or workers not being fired? Is Hosken alone responsible for a work environment that has been in place for years?
Of course Grubaugh is simply a stop-gap general manager. He will ultimately be replaced by a full-time utility professional at some future date. But who would agree to a deal to manage the IID? We are concerned that the board would continue to make life difficult, to say the least, for any new general manager selected to replace Hosken. Would a top-notch manager willingly take the reins of an organization that just cut the legs out from under a general manager who was working hard to make improvements?
We hope the board will not seek a puppet to do its bidding or look to the past for a new leader. Instead, we hope the board hires a strong manager, gives him or her a solid, long-term contract and lets them do their job. All seem to agree on the fact that the structure at IID is broken. This is the chance to get someone on board to fix it.
" What about the IID Directors that gave approval to this hedging scheme? They also deserve the boot.....by recall or at the next election. Also what is being done for the customers that are paying higher rates due to poor management of the IID? "
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joselopez wrote on Jul 20, 2007 10:06 AM: