PG-Politics: WSSC

Showing posts with label WSSC. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Johnson nominates Antonio Jones to replace Juanita Miller on WSSC board

Owner of consulting firm nominated to WSSC board;
Jones would replace Miller, who was seen as divisive member.
Gazette, 22 Jun 2009 (Hyslop & Tallman).

Antonio L. Jones of Largo, co-owner of a management training and consulting business, has been nominated to succeed Juanita Miller as one of three Prince George's representatives on the six-member Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission governing board.

Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) named Jones, who manages his company P3 Consulting, in a letter to County Council members dated June 22.
[More]

(Posted 23 Jun 2009)

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Troubled WSSC Selects Troubled Leader

Troubled Water Agency Selects Troubled Leader; WSSC, Which Has Faced Spate of Burst Pipes, Hires Man Who Oversaw D.C. Water During High Lead Levels.
Post, 18 Jun 2009 (Shaver & Leonnig).

Jerry N. Johnson, who oversaw the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority when high levels of lead were found in the city's water, was chosen today for the top post at the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, the troubled Maryland utility whose underground water pipes have been breaking in record numbers.
* * *
Johnson, WASA's general manager for 12 years, is set to resign from WASA this summer. WASA's board of directors voted in April to buy him out of his $230,000 annual contract a year early, a decision that one District council member said was aimed at restoring public confidence after the way the lead discovery was handled five years ago.
[More]

(Posted 18 Jun 2009)

New general manager for WSSC

New general manager tapped for WSSC, source says; Jerry Johnson pressured to resign from D.C. utility after lead contamination uproar.
Gazette, 18 Jun 2009 (Hyslop).

The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission's governing board has picked D.C. Water and Sewer Authority General Manager Jerry Johnson to lead the utility that supplies water and sewer service to most residents of Prince George's and Montgomery counties.

According to a source familiar with the commission's actions during a closed-door conference call meeting Thursday, Johnson was hired pending a background check and salary negotiations.

Johnson announced in April that he would be leaving the Washington, D.C., utility, but he had been pressured to leave after reports surfaced that residents were exposed to lead contamination during his tenure.
* * *
Johnson, who headed D.C. WASA for 12 years, was blamed for failing to tell D.C. residents that lead contamination had been found in their water in 2004 and that the health of hundreds of children was put at risk by lead exposure.
[More]

(Posted 18 Jun 2009)

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Mike Miller Pushes for Changes in WSSC Leadership Following 2 Sewage Mishaps

WSSC: Miller, Citing 'Incompetence,' Wants Overhaul.
Post, 16 Jun 2009 (Wagner).

Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. raised the prospect yesterday of a state overhaul of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission if local leaders cannot address what he called "total incompetence" at the agency before the legislature reconvenes in January.

In a tartly worded letter to Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D), Miller (D-Calvert) cited two recent spills of raw sewage in making a case that major changes are needed at WSSC, which provides water and sewer services to 1.8 million people in Prince George's and Montgomery counties.

"These recent events confirm that WSSC has sunk to levels of incompetence that we should all be embarrassed to see," wrote Miller, whose district includes part of Prince George's. "The needs have been well-documented and yet WSSC commissioners representing our county have sat idly by, while pipe after pipe has burst. . . . We cannot simply shrug our shoulders and accept delays and excuses for such things as raw sewage flowing into sensitive environmental areas again and again."
[More]

(Posted 16 Jun 2009)

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Post: Parochialism on the WSSC Board (Letter from Jeffrey Smith)

Post, 25 Feb 2009

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

More on the dysfunctional WSSC board

On WSSC Board, a 'Pathetic' Stalemate; Feud Between Pr. George's, Montgomery Members Holds Up Manager Choice.
Post, 18 Feb 2009 (Shaver ).

Decades of acrimony between the Montgomery and Prince George's county commissioners who oversee suburban Maryland's beleaguered water system have come to this:

The three Montgomery members say they so distrust their Prince George's colleagues that they now boycott monthly meetings to prevent a quorum unless all of them can attend.

The six-member board of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission has been stalemated, 3 to 3, for a year on the choice of a general manager. One Prince George's commissioner has filed a state ethics complaint against two Montgomery commissioners, accusing them of racial bias in the search.

And the board became so bogged down in minority contracting and other matters at its 12-hour January meeting that it has yet to scrutinize the Dec. 23 rupture of a 66-inch water main beneath River Road in Bethesda, which forced firefighters to rescue stranded motorists from the resulting torrent.
* * *
In the past eight months, four huge pipes have burst, some decades short of their life expectancies. The larger breaks have led to advisories to boil water, shut down schools and restaurants, left hospitals scrambling for fresh water, snarled roads and left some homes and businesses without running taps or flushing toilets. Last month, WSSC officials blamed 611 breaks and leaks -- the largest monthly total in the utility's 90-year history -- on old pipes and freezing temperatures.
* * *
The board will consider the utility's $1 billion capital and operating budgets today. WSSC officials have proposed a 9 percent increase in water rates, which would add about $4.50 a month to the typical residential bill. While some of that money would fund increased pipe inspections, WSSC officials said, it is far short of the 15 percent rate increase needed for "critical proactive maintenance."
* * *
The budget does not include additional fees for longer-term infrastructure renewal. Commissioners deadlocked last year on how much to charge, and members from both counties say they won't try to impose such a fee now that the economy has soured.
* * *
Relations between the two counties hit a low point this fall, when Counihan said the Prince George's commissioners tried to "ram through" their candidate for general manager. He said Starks, the board's chairwoman, unexpectedly called for a vote after Moore, his Montgomery colleague, had to leave the meeting early.

Moore said he had told Starks at least twice that he had an appointment he couldn't reschedule. He said it's "obvious" that Starks waited for him to leave before calling for the vote. "That's the kind of nonsense that goes on," he said.
* * *
Legislation has been introduced to appoint a seventh commissioner to break tie votes. But WSSC-related bills typically die because they are difficult to bring to a floor vote without both Montgomery and Prince George's delegations approving them.
* * *
[Full report]

See:

WSSC sets dubious record: Most main breaks in a month, 4 Feb 2009
Maryland Politics Watch reports on the WSSC

WSSC Commissioner Raises Money - and Eyebrows, 11 Feb 2009
Who Will Call the Question on WSSC?, 3 Feb 2009
WSSC Put To Shame By Others In Response To PCCP Crisis, 30 Jan 2009
Can Anyone Believe What WSSC Says About Its PCCP?, 29 Jan 2009
More Chaos at WSSC, 28 Jan 2009
Former WSSC Commissioner Responds to MPW, 28 Jan 2009
Johnson Appointees Run Amok at WSSC, 22 Jan 2009
WSSC Endangers Us By Failing To Confront The PCCP Problem, 8 Jan 2009
Crisis at WSSC, 24 Dec 2008
WSSC Needs to Get Flushed, Part Two, 21 Nov 2008
WSSC Needs to Get Flushed, Part One, 20 Nov 2008

(Posted 18 Feb 2009)

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

WSSC sets dubious record: Most main breaks in a month

WSSC sets dubious record: Most main breaks in a month.
Gazette, 4 Feb 2009 (Hyslop).

It's official. A record-breaking 611 breaks and leaks beset the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission's 5,500 miles of water mains in January. . . . Last week, reacting to reports that the bi-county utility's governing board did not discuss a manager's report on the breaks during a daylong meeting, Montgomery County Council members condemned the WSSC's board as a six-member authority that "no longer works." [More]

For more on WSSC problems, see the ongoing series of reports by Adam Pagnucco and Wayne Goldstein at Maryland Politics Watch.

Who Will Call the Question on WSSC?, 3 Feb 2009
WSSC Put To Shame By Others In Response To PCCP Crisis, 30 Jan 2009
Can Anyone Believe What WSSC Says About Its PCCP?, 29 Jan 2009
More Chaos at WSSC, 28 Jan 2009
Former WSSC Commissioner Responds to MPW, 28 Jan 2009
Johnson Appointees Run Amok at WSSC, 22 Jan 2009
WSSC Endangers Us By Failing To Confront The PCCP Problem, 8 Jan 2009
Crisis at WSSC, 24 Dec 2008
WSSC Needs to Get Flushed, Part Two, 21 Nov 2008
WSSC Needs to Get Flushed, Part One, 20 Nov 2008

(Posted 4 Feb 2009)

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

WSSC problems/failures/dysfunction in the news

(Posted 28 Jan 2009)

Council head: WSSC "no longer works" Montgomery lawmakers angry over failure to discuss main breaks.
Gazette, 28 Jan 2009 (Hyslop).

The head of the Montgomery Council this week called the bicounty Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission a six-member authority that "no longer works."

Council President Philip M. Andrews joined with five others on the nine-member council Tuesday in expressing their disgust that the WSSC never talked about a manager's report on troubling water main breaks during its nearly 12-hour meeting last week.

Spectacular ruptures in water mains have occurred over the past eight months, including one in late December on River Road in Bethesda that made national news. Motorists had to be rescued from their vehicles. Other water main breaks have forced businesses to shut down and have necessitated thousands of residents to boil water for use. Also, there have been a record number of smaller breaks, including hundreds this month.

The WSSC agenda is set and run by commission chairwoman Joyce Starks, one of three Prince George's County members on the utility's governing board, which also includes three members from Montgomery.

"There is now a real safety threat because of the lack of sufficient infrastructure replacement," said Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg. "It's partly money [but] there also has to be a way to get decisions made by the commission."

Commissioner Gene Counihan of Montgomery, the WSSC vice chairman, was asked what the commission discussed at its Jan. 21 meeting.

"A significant amount of time was spent on the minority business enterprise program," Counihan said, responding to a question from Nancy M. Floreen (D-At large), chairman of the Montgomery County Council committee that oversees the utility.

"Given how commissioners are spending their meetings, how can we have confidence that these inspections, monitoring and maintenance issues are going to get attention?" said Floreen of Garrett Park.

Requests for comment from WSSC commissioners from Prince George's County, County Executive Jack B. Johnson and the Prince George's County Council were not returned by press time.
[More]

Divided WSSC has local leaders steamed.
wtop.com, 28 Jan 2009 (Ryan ).

. . . the WSSC needs billions in infrastruture repairs, and it recently had to deal with two massive water main breaks, one that required dramatic helicopter rescues on River Road.

Counihan says the break on Jan. 20 in Temple Hills that left 90,000 people without water was never discussed.

"We did not get to that item on the agenda"

When hearing about this, Floreen was floored.

"You mean you had a whole-day meeting and you didn't talk about this? You have got to be kidding."
[More]

Johnson Appointees Run Amok at WSSC.

Maryland Politics Watch, 22 Jan 2009 (Pagnucco).

Former WSSC Commissioner Responds to MPW.

Maryland Politics Watch, 28 Jan 2009 (Pagnucco).

More Chaos at WSSC.

Maryland Politics Watch, 28 Jan 2009 (Pagnucco).

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Johnson Appointees Run Amok at WSSC

(Posted 22 Jan 2009)

Johnson Appointees Run Amok at WSSC.
Maryland Politics Watch (Liberal Blog), 22 Jan 2009 (Pagnucco)

The dysfunction of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) continues to be a big story, with pipe breaks sending a 75-foot wide river to engulf residents in Temple Hills and forcing guests at the Gaylord National Resort to avoid tap water. But our informants have tipped us off to one of the biggest reasons for WSSC’s collapse: the abysmal behavior of Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson’s appointed commissioners.

[Full post (long)]

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