NOREEN: Bach is right to question Springs Utilities
Colorado Springs Utilities, a giant steamroller of an organization that overcomes immovable objects with irresistible force, was stunned recently when someone uttered a word it never hears: “No.”
Mayor Steve Bach refused to sign off on a $125 million line of credit for Springs Utilities. He said the document arrived at his office with “no advance discussion,” adding that “I don’t just sign (multi-million-dollar) contracts every day and I’m not comfortable doing that without understanding the terms and conditions.”
The average person on the street can relate to that.
Bach has been criticized in this space before and it’s likely he will be again — but not today. He pointed out that the utility has paid out $560,000 in fees to maintain the line of credit during the last four years, even though the line of credit has never been used.
Utilities officials say they need to have the line of credit in case of big emergencies. It may be that after they plead their case with Bach, he will do as they ask. But make no mistake: What happened last week is that Bach fired a warning shot across Springs Utilities’ bow.
Under the strong mayor system, Bach wants to exert some leverage over the utility and its billion-dollar budget. City Council members grumbled that the strong mayor ballot measure approved in 2010 kept utilities away from the mayor, but they know the same measure calls for the mayor to sign city contracts.
Council President Scott Hente said the solution is a city charter amendment to keep the mayor from vetoing utilities deals. For that idea, let’s use that handy word again: “no.”
The city should go in the other direction, taking the council, which sits as the Utilities Board, out of the loop on utilities matters.
A charter amendment overhaul of utilities governance should look something like this: The Utilities Board consisting of City Council members would be replaced with a group of five or seven experts appointed by the mayor, with confirmation by the council.
The panel, paid for by Springs Utilities, would include someone with knowledge of water, including water rights; someone with experience in the bond market; at least one consumer advocate; perhaps an auditor. The members would be paid out of utilities’ budget. No member would be required to be a resident of the city, and anyone who ever worked for Springs Utilities as an employee, a consultant or a contractor would be disqualified from being a member.
Then we would have experts overseeing these nine- and 10-figure deals instead of council members whose knowledge of utilities issues is no keener than that of ordinary citizens.
In the interim, it’s great Bach is forcing Springs Utilities to be accountable.
—
Listen to Barry Noreen on KRDO NewsRadio 105.5 FM and 1240 AM at 6:35 a.m. on Fridays. Look for blog updates at gazette.comblogs
barrysblog and his videos at gazette.com/barry
