Rob Rogers
Posted: 06/27/2009 10:10:09 PM PDT
Updated: 06/27/2009 10:10:09 PM PDT
Marin's civil grand jury wants to know why the members of the Central Marin Sanitation Agency can't just get along.
A new report by the grand jury says the agency's commissioners - who represent the Corte Madera, Larkspur, Ross Valley and San Rafael sewer districts - engage in "petty, unacceptable and counter-productive behavior" that includes micro-managing agency staff, squabbling over resources and refusing to respond to questions from the public.
"The board is not behaving in a manner expected of public officials," the report says. "It is time to end the infighting and concentrate on serving the needs of the citizens. The public deserves it."
Board President Robert Sinnott said he disagrees with the report, arguing that the commission's disputes stem from a feud between Ross Valley Sanitary District representatives and the other members over the issue of merging the four agencies.
"Four of the six board members work collectively (and) thoroughly, strongly support the CMSA operation, and have in the past, supported a formal study to explore consolidation," Sinnott, who represents Larkspur, said via e-mail. "In my opinion, certain board members who represent one of the member agencies do not support regionalization and have created significant turbulence to knock any study process off its tracks. At the same time, these board members have caused turbulence in other areas of business that comes before the board and hardships for the general manager and his staff."
As the county's largest sanitation provider, with an annual operating budget of $9 million, the Central Marin Sanitation Agency treats an average of 11 million gallons a day, handling 10 times more wastewater than that during major storms.
"By most accounts, it runs smoothly and efficiently, to the point of winning numerous industry awards for its operations and financial practices," the grand jury report says.
Yet the agency board remains divided between the commissioners from the Ross Valley Sanitary District - who feel that because their district contributes more money, and wastewater, than any other member they should have a larger role in the board's decision-making - and the other members, particularly San Rafael, whose commissioners prefer to share power equally.
"We're giving them 54 percent of their funds, and we have a minority voice," said Marcia Johnson, a Ross Valley representative on the agency board. "That belies what this country was founded upon: one person, one vote. It's not apportioned representation, like what we have in the House of Representatives."
According to the grand jury report, the Ross Valley representatives have responded to perceived slights by attempting to re-write the minutes of the commission, badgering agency staff with questions and videotaping each meeting.
The district has even filed public records requests to receive agency documents its representatives wish to review, even though the Ross Valley and Central Marin offices are at the same location.
"I am astounded at (the grand jury) questioning the right of the commissioners to ask questions, to correct minutes and videotape meetings, all things that are clearly defined in state law as being part of the normal course of business at a public meeting," Johnson said. "Is asking questions not something we should be doing? Isn't that what public meetings are for?"
San Rafael Mayor Al Boro and other board members say Johnson and fellow Ross Valley Commissioner Sue Brown have attempted to micro-manage the district's operations. At the board's March 10 meeting, for example, Johnson challenged General Manager Jason Dow on multiple aspects of the district's capital bond program, and told him she believed the board, not its general manager, should set budget priorities.
"The commissioners are policymakers, not operations people," Boro said. "To have someone think they know more than professionals is a problem. It would be one thing if our financial records were messed up, but our staff is very professional, very good, winning award after award."
Johnson, however, believes she has a responsibility to maintain a careful watch over complex operations.
"It always sounds like things are going well, but when you have a $50 million to $60 million project going on, there are always problems, always crazy things that happen," Johnson said. "And we don't hear about any of that."
Johnson also counters that the Ross Valley commissioners have taken their share of harassment from the other board members.
"I have personally been the victim of numerous attacks," Johnson said. "At one point, one of the commissioners from the other side grabbed my arm when he was upset with me and hurt me."
Adding to the dysfunction, the grand jury notes, is the fact that the agency board has no official bylaws and only two policies. The commission has no standards on how to respond to public queries, spend excess funds, post its minutes or agendas or provide access to public documents. In fact, the report says, "the public has been told that the board will not reply to questions posed by the public even on agendized items."
To address these issues, the grand jury recommends that the board hire a professional facilitator to "assist in establishing procedures for orderly, efficient and productive public meetings." Both Boro and Johnson, however, believe the commissioners' antipathies may run too deep for any facilitator to fix.
"I dread going to (agency) meetings," Johnson said. "But I go because I'm serving the public, and my personal dread should not come into play."
Sinnott, for his part, believes the best solution is to consolidate the agency.
"I personally believe that there are too many independent governmental units that exist in Marin County," Sinnott said. "Particularly in this current economic crisis, the public should push to regionalize where it makes sense and where public benefit is obvious. In this case, those multiple agencies that transfer sewage, I believe, should merge with the agency that treats the sewage simply to ensure coordination and to remove organizational seams that can lead to operational errors."
http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_12706780?nclick_check=1
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