PUD seeks sixth CFO

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The Jefferson County Public Utility District is seeking its sixth chief financial officer since becoming an electric utility in 2013, in addition to looking for a new general manager. PUD officials are using a national recruiting firm to find both.

Susan Carter, who took the helm as CFO April 3, left in October to return to her home in Georgia, according to Ken Collins, PUD commission president.

Collins said her announcement to return home because of the birth of a grandchild was not totally surprising, “knowing how different both the climate and culture here is from the suburbs of Atlanta.”

“Susan was an extremely well-qualified and did an excellent interview, so we all took a chance, knowing that the adjustment might be difficult for her,” Collins wrote in response to questions.

Because a contract with the recruitment firm that recommended Carter guaranteed her placement for one year, Collins said they will do the next search for a CFO at no cost to the PUD. That firm is National Rural Electrical Cooperative Association (NRECA).

Consultant Tammy Lehman, who previously had filled in as CFO in 2016 and 2017 when the PUD was between CFOs, has been rehired to fill in as CFO.

Carter was earning $127,000 a year; Lehman had been earning $165 an hour to get the PUD’s books in shape and is to receive that same amount this time.

In the meantime, the PUD hired a utility industry management firm, Mycoff, Fry & Prouse, to search the nation for a new general manager, who would be hired in the spring of 2018.

Collins estimated the cost of that search to range between $40,000 and $60,000.

PAY RANGE

The PUD previously announced that the pay range for a CFO is $120,000-$140,000; former manager Jim Parker, who left in September, was earning $128,000.

Parker left eight months earlier than the date he had announced he intended to leave. Parker, who had been manager for almost 24 years, received a lump sum of $70,000, which represents six months of his current salary, as well as other benefits, including insurance. Added up, Parker’s severance package was valued at $100,000.

Current general manager Kevin Streett, who was hired as the electrical superintendent when the PUD took over the electric grid in East Jefferson County from Puget Sound Energy in 2013, has been running the system since Parker left in September.

Collins praised Streett, saying he is “providing solid leadership for the organization, and will very effectively bridge between Mr. Parker and the next general manager.”

OTHER MANAGERS

Parker and Carter are not the only top managers the PUD is losing this year.

Comptroller Kim Younger is set to retire in mid-November, and Mike Bailey, current financial services manager, is to take over some of Younger’s duties in the interim, according to PUD communications manager Will Donnell, who was hired in October.

O’Donnell said that Lehman believes “our books are more in order than ever before” and that Streett concurred with that assessment.

O’Donnell said in a press release that Streett credited Lehman, who worked in electrical utility finance for 35 years, with getting the district in financial shape. In turn, Lehman said that Carter also made advances during her seven months with the district.

The USDA’s Rural Utility Services, which holds a $115 million note for the PUD’s purchase of the system from Puget Sound Energy, performed a loan fund and accounting review of the PUD in 2017 and found “all construction fund receipts were accounted for,” O’Donnell wrote of strides made this year.

Streett noted in the press release that the next CFO and general manager won’t need to rebuild any of the accounting infrastructure that now is in place.

The next general manager needs to be someone who has electric utility experience, Streett suggested. Parker was hired more than two decades ago when the district was a water district only. He stayed on when the PUD took over the power grid.

“We need someone who understands the utility business, but also knows how to engage with the community,” Streett said. “We’re looking for a leader, really, and if anyone can find them, it’d be Mycoff.”

PREVIOUS CFOS

With Carter’s resignation, the PUD has gone through four permanent CFOs and one interim CFO since it took over the power grid from Puget Sound Energy in April 2013.

Carter succeeded Bob Caprye, who took the job in early 2015 and was terminated in May 2016 while the state Auditor’s Office was auditing the district’s books for 2012-2014, before Caprye had been named CFO.

Caprye threatened to sue the district and was paid $87,500 in a settlement in August 2016.

Caprye had replaced Michael Legarsky, former financial director for the City of Port Townsend. Legarsky had replaced David Papendrew, a contracted auditor when the PUD bought the electric system.

And between Papendrew’s and Legarsky’s tenures, the PUD also had hired Greg Kester, who worked for Mason County Public Utility 1, as an interim financial auditor.

“There were individual reasons why each CFO left,” Collins wrote, when asked why the PUD was going through so many CFOs. He said the first two left before he became a member of the board.