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| | Wednesday, April 23, 2014
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Newport Utilities gets Ray ouster protests
The Newport Utilities Board met Tuesday and heard from a number of residents who are unhappy with the way former General Manager Glen Ray was removed from his post on March 31. Ray had been in the post for a year and following an annual review reportedly was given an option to resign or be terminated. The audience consisted of about forty individuals who attended to express their displeasure with the situation. As the meeting got underway, Chair Kenny Morgan laid out the ground rules for comments from the audience. Saying the board was acting on legal advice. "We cannot publicly discuss personnel related issues in public. I realize alot of the people here want to ask questions. You do have five minutes to speak and to make comments. I would prefer if you have a question that you submit it in writing,because today we won't be able to answer questions." Tim Abramson questioned the dismissal saying," just because you have the power doesn't mean (the dismissal) is ethical." Retired NU employee Dennis Williams said in the past the utility has been "a well-oiled machine" but he went on to say the board didn't give Ray a chance to prove his skills. "He was dismissed because of requests that were against board policy...and there are thousands who are mad." Williams suggested the board has a secret agenda, but he called on the body to "take the politics and personal agendas off this board." Mike Proffitt a former board member asked what Ray had done which led to his dismissal. He said the former general manager wants to know if all the board members were involved in the ouster decision, and he suggested Ray "should have been counseled instead of terminated." Mike Hannon called for transparency saying if the removal of Ray came because of a conflict with a board member, that should be addressed. "The board owes an explanation to the community," Hannon said. And that comment was echoed by School Board Member Pat Proffitt who said "the community needs to know what happened". Robert Mathis, Sr., saying he doesn't know Ray argued for the utility to implement an ongoing performance review with checks and balances, in which an employee is continually counseled"so people have a consistent understanding of where they are." April Clevenger charged the board with violating the state's Sunshine Law saying decisions with regard to ray's termination were made through "secret votes" during the decision making process. Sherry Frisbee, who was appointed Interim General Manager, reported that sewer revenue is down because of reduced use by industrial customers "and a rate increase may be required next year." Otherwise she said the utility has a good balance sheet. Curtis Atkins also reported that the utility now is posting it's water quality report on it's website. Morgan said the utility will soon advertise the general manager position but it likely will be several months till the vacancy is filled.
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