Executive administration contracts, ethics and more are set to be discussed today at the local utility district.
A lot is scheduled at today’s Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors meeting with 23 informational items, including delegating authority to the general manager to hire and terminate executives, reviewing the bidding policy and the district’s ethics policy. However, it’s no longer an evening meeting.
The meeting was originally scheduled for 5 p.m., but was rescheduled for 1 p.m. because it conflicted with the Imperial Valley Renewable Energy Summit and Expo opening reception this evening.
The first informational item up for discussion is whether to allow the general manager to have the authority to hire and terminate executives with the district.
The resolution would delegate power to the general manager to hire and fire executives at the IID. The general manager can also enter into multi-year contracts within his discretion as long as the positions are at-will employees, not include any severance payments, last for no more than three years unless an exception is granted by the board, and have a salary not greater than 90 percent of the general manager’s total salary.
It’s a move to make the executive contracts uniform, said General Manager Kevin Kelley, who is set to present the item before the board today.
The positions included in the backup information are assistant energy manager of system trading and operations, chief administrative officer, chief financial officer, chief internal auditor, chief information officer, executive program manager for the water department, government affairs officer and water manager.
While the board memo includes certain positions, it is not limited to them, Kelley said. For example, when the district hires a new energy manager that position would fall under this policy if approved, he said.
There are some anomalies in the contracts that some employees currently have, he said. They have different anniversary dates and severance periods.
“There were provisions in them that were a problem for the district, for the organization,” he said. “As a result of this action, when the board takes it, all these contracts will be executed uniformly.”
They will all be Jan. 31 through Dec. 31 contracts with the same six-month severance provisions and the same terms, he said. Any deviation from that would have to go before the board for approval.
The item is up for review only and is expected to be brought back next week for a vote.
In addition, the board is set to look at revisions to the district’s ethics policy, with more information based on the ethics workshop held last month. Since October the district’s ethics officer has been expanding the draft policy to include additional information from the training and regulation issues by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
Another much-talked-about policy up for discussion is the procurement and bidding procedures, which local business leaders have taken up, saying IID has wasted millions through the past few years by overbidding.
The policies were initially presented to the board in February, and public comment is being sought, with a proposed vote next week. Comments and suggestions can be sent to Purchasing Agent Donna M. Gray at purchasing@iid.com to be reviewed in a procurement committee meeting, according to the district’s Web site.
Staff Writer Elizabeth Varin can be reached at evarin@ivpressonline.com or 760-337-3441.
If you go
What Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors meeting
When 1 p.m. today
Where W.R. Condit Auditorium, 1285 Broadway, El Centro
A lot is scheduled at today’s Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors meeting with 23 informational items, including delegating authority to the general manager to hire and terminate executives, reviewing the bidding policy and the district’s ethics policy. However, it’s no longer an evening meeting.
The meeting was originally scheduled for 5 p.m., but was rescheduled for 1 p.m. because it conflicted with the Imperial Valley Renewable Energy Summit and Expo opening reception this evening.
The first informational item up for discussion is whether to allow the general manager to have the authority to hire and terminate executives with the district.
The resolution would delegate power to the general manager to hire and fire executives at the IID. The general manager can also enter into multi-year contracts within his discretion as long as the positions are at-will employees, not include any severance payments, last for no more than three years unless an exception is granted by the board, and have a salary not greater than 90 percent of the general manager’s total salary.
It’s a move to make the executive contracts uniform, said General Manager Kevin Kelley, who is set to present the item before the board today.
The positions included in the backup information are assistant energy manager of system trading and operations, chief administrative officer, chief financial officer, chief internal auditor, chief information officer, executive program manager for the water department, government affairs officer and water manager.
While the board memo includes certain positions, it is not limited to them, Kelley said. For example, when the district hires a new energy manager that position would fall under this policy if approved, he said.
There are some anomalies in the contracts that some employees currently have, he said. They have different anniversary dates and severance periods.
“There were provisions in them that were a problem for the district, for the organization,” he said. “As a result of this action, when the board takes it, all these contracts will be executed uniformly.”
They will all be Jan. 31 through Dec. 31 contracts with the same six-month severance provisions and the same terms, he said. Any deviation from that would have to go before the board for approval.
The item is up for review only and is expected to be brought back next week for a vote.
In addition, the board is set to look at revisions to the district’s ethics policy, with more information based on the ethics workshop held last month. Since October the district’s ethics officer has been expanding the draft policy to include additional information from the training and regulation issues by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
Another much-talked-about policy up for discussion is the procurement and bidding procedures, which local business leaders have taken up, saying IID has wasted millions through the past few years by overbidding.
The policies were initially presented to the board in February, and public comment is being sought, with a proposed vote next week. Comments and suggestions can be sent to Purchasing Agent Donna M. Gray at purchasing@iid.com to be reviewed in a procurement committee meeting, according to the district’s Web site.
Staff Writer Elizabeth Varin can be reached at evarin@ivpressonline.com or 760-337-3441.
If you go
What Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors meeting
When 1 p.m. today
Where W.R. Condit Auditorium, 1285 Broadway, El Centro
