Jones' 60-day report quashed

Dwayne Jones, general manager of the Holly Springs Utility Department, gave a partial report on his first 60 days on the job, but much of his report was quashed.

He said it is his responsibility to oversee all the electric, gas, and water services, including operations, maintenance, Human Resources, planning, organization, engineering, facility management, customer service, accounting, and public relations associated with the delivery of services to customers.

HSUD falls under the umbrella of the Tennessee Valley Authority and is subject to the rules and regulations of the Mississippi Public Utilities Commission. The service boundary covers Benton and Marshall counties and portions of Lafayette County, and Fayette and Hardeman counties in Tennessee.

He said leadership and technical competence are two essential skills necessary to manage a municipal utility. To be an effective manager, he said one must have sound decision making ability grounded in technical experience.

“It is evident to me that HSUD has not been led by effective technical management for the last three years and for a considerably longer time,” he said. “However, I prefer to focus on the solutions to our current predicament.”

He said a person is bound to make mistakes managing a municipal utility without technical engineering experience. Engineering and critical analysis and ability to concentrate and build relationships and complexities associated with risk analysis are essential.

“As a result, HSUD’s capability and equipment are not adequate to serve our customers in the way that we would like to because of the lack of technical expertise and leadership,” Jones said.

Mayor Sharon Gipson interrupted Jones.

Then Jones cited a lack of communications and was interrupted by both city attorney John Keith Perry Jr. and the mayor.

“Hold on Mr. Jones,” said Perry.

“We are currently in litigation,” Gipson said.

“This is not personnel,” Jones said.

“Oh, I thought that you…,” Perry said.

“No, no, this is not personnel,” Jones said.

Gipson cited potential litigation and Public Service Commission actions as concerns.

“The things you are saying now in your brief time period with us are things that are going to have ramifications far beyond this meeting,” the mayor said. “So I am going to insist this be done in executive session. For anyone who cares about this city and this department, you are doing a great job for those who sent you to us, Mr. Jones, as far as destroying this utility department. If you have it written out, provide a free copy of the report.

“I’ve never heard of anybody working for a company do such a thing.”

Perry called for a point of privilege in case the discussion related to Jones’ job performance, which would pitch the meeting into executive session.

“He’s been working diligently and trying to do, and there might be an honest disagreement regarding course, but as far as his capabilities and what he’s been doing, I think that is fair to say it (HSUD) is not where it should be right now,” Perry said.

Gipson disagreed saying discussion should take place in a different forum.

“Those are quite serious statements and accusations that he is making, and so I have a lot of concern regarding, especially with what we’re dealing with the PSC as well as TVA,” she said.

“So, he was called to present it out here,” said Ward 4 alderman Patricia Merriweather.

Perry said it would be OK to report on services or rightsof- way. He questioned whether there should be redactions in the report before going public with it.

“If it is criticism as far as his job performance, it does not need to be at this table,” Perry said.

Jones continued.

“I’ve got some asks and some requests for the mayor and board as far as the utility department is concerned that involves finding money and equipment, things like that,” he said.

“If it please this board, if you would include that in your budget report, because we need that report so we can go through it,” Merriweather said. “We’re in budget session, so if you would include those asks in your budget report and come before us to explain to us what the needs are.”

Jones continued.

“The current status of the utility department as far as the accounting is concerned and the money, I’m not going to have a budget until the books are reconciled,” he said. “That’s what the accountant told me. I asked them do I need to come up with a budget.

“They said, you don’t need to be making any budget, that’s what the accountant from TVA and the financial accountant from TVPPA (Tennessee Valley Public Power Association.”

“Both told me the same thing, that you, Sir, are not ready to make a budget because you don’t know where your funding is coming from. Your accounts are not reconciled and you have to take care of the accounting problems.

“So, Dr. Merriweather, I have no problem with that, but it is going to be after I get a budget. Like I said, we pay priority items as far as what gets paid from the utility department because of this.

“We are ready to pay half, 50 percent of the $900,000 that we owe to TVA because we missed the $2.1 million payment to TVA. We’re prepared to pay half of this by Thursday (Aug. 22). And we are going to make our payroll.

“I’m listening to the accountants as far as the budget is concerned. I intended to come here tonight and talk about my 60 days and as far as what I’m trying to do, what needs to be done, so that I can do the job that you hired me to do and pay me to do to manage the utility department.

“I don’t want to rehash the past. I just simply want to speak the truth - the integrity, the honesty, the commitment to this job. I have engineering experience. I have management experience. And I don’t mind working with the mayor and board or anybody else who wants to do this work.

“But I am not going to pretend to go along and to get along and do things that are incorrect, that are not technically sound. Unsound decision making is what got us here.”

He said people make mistakes at any job and that all a person has to do is ask for help and say, “let’s settle this, let’s figure this out.”

“But, you have to use facts. I have numbers. I have facts. I know how much right-of-way we’ve cut up to now. I know how much right-of-way in miles that we need to cut. I know where we’re not cutting enough. I know we have problems that need to be addressed. And pretending that everything is alright, how we got this way by people not working with each other. These problems are systemic throughout the utility department.

“It starts at the top with the leadership. If you don’t have the right leadership, then things fall apart, as far as the chain of command is concerned. The chain of command is non-existent, and the way that people work out there and the way they do things unsafely.

“But it’s all got to do with starting at the top and how they look at their management and how the management sees them self and how they see each other. I am trying to create a cultural change.”

Gipson defended the employees in accounting, saying they hold degrees from the University of Mississippi and “all are individuals who worked with integrity, worked with compassion. She said HSUD never failed to make a payment, even during the storms.

She said the payment was not missed until Jones allegedly failed to act.

Perry urged the meeting go into executive session.

Jones continued.

“I got numbers,” Jones said, citing 700 service orders that had not been completed.

He cited $3.5 million in unresolved interdepartmental accounts in the electric, water, sewer and gas departments.

The board stopped Jones from taking the discussion further in open session.