A Sonoran Truth Editorial, 9-14-14
Part of the power play which plunged Cave Creek into enormous debt was the acquisition of Cave Creek’s Water Company, WITH ABSOLUTELY NO KNOWLEDGE OR EXPERTISE INTO HOW TO RUN A WATER COMPANY. As we’ve said before, ignorance can be cured, but stupid is forever. As outsiders, we don’t see how anyone currently working for the Town would have any interest in making the water company function (let alone efficiently). Nonetheless, we applaud Vice Mayor Trenk’s attempt to incorporate accountability into a basic Town service. We love to see Jankowski show some balls and clean up Town Hall, rather than be just another political bureaucrat- another Usama.
From: Adam Trenk <ATrenk@roselawgroup.com>
Date: September 5, 2014 at 10:51:21 AM MST
To: “Peter Jankowski <PJankowski@cavecreek.org> (PJankowski@cavecreek.org)” <PJankowski@cavecreek.org>, “vfrancia@turfparadise.net” <vfrancia@turfparadise.net>
Cc: “atrenk@cavecreek.org” <atrenk@cavecreek.org>, “vfrancia@cavecreek.org” <vfrancia@cavecreek.org>
Subject: AGENDA ITEM REQUEST re: Utility Operations
Mayor Francia and Mr. Jankowski,
Over the last many months we have continued to make meaningful adjustments in the operation of the Town as well as policy changes that benefit our citizens. Notably we have adopted a budget representing over a Million Dollars in savings over that prepared by the previous administration, while dedicating more of the dollars we do spend to meaningful capital improvements and maintenance on our infrastructure. We have also passed ordinances reducing government interference in the mundane activities of private property owners, and will be contemplating an ordinance later this month to expand property rights related to keeping horses in Desert Rural areas, which if passed will add value to the those non-conforming properties under two acres in DR-89 zones. But our work is far from over.
As we wade through the capacity fee matter this past week other matters have come to the forefront regarding the operation of the water and wastewater utilities in my discussion with various members of the WAC. With that in mind I want to reiterate that, as we discussed this past Wednesday, our new utilities director David Prinzhorn, is a major asset to the town whose expertise should be supported and channeled with a competent assistant engineer to manage roads and administration, as well as clear instruction from top management to facilitate effective practices and oversight at the executive (council) level.
Unfortunately, though through no fault of David Prinzhorn’s, it seems that to date our water company has literally been run by the seat of its pants. We have already established that there was no preventative maintenance schedule in place which continues to cost the town money and man hours. Worse yet, we simply do not have a functioning system for monitoring performance levels and compiling meaningful data for policy makers to process and base decisions on going forward. Identifying the woeful management practices of the previous manager are one thing, but it is now time to implement meaningful correction on our watch or we will merely be carrying on a sad legacy.
The first six months of this administration was spent identifying new management, in you Peter we have found another asset and filled that role. The last six plus months have been spent with you, Peter, and David Prinzhorn concurrently getting your bearings within the Town’s operations. This time spent was necessary and will serve as a strong foundation upon which to build success. That said, the breaking in period should now be over. We need to get a handle on our infrastructure (which we own and for which will be paying off 60+ Million Dollars for years to come) and put in place systems to ensure it is run properly, run efficiently, and that policy makers and mangers have the tools they need to budget for the same.
By virtue of this email I am asking for an agenda item not later than the first October meeting for the council to direct staff to establish performance measurements for the efficient service, maintenance, and economic performance of the waste water and water utilities. This should involve monitoring water service outages, pump failure rates, energy usage, maintenance task compliance, water loss, employee training & safety, etc. There is industry data available to develop these categories and set benchmarks to measure against. Establishing these performance measures and adopting a policy requiring monitoring and reporting will help put operations on a predictable path, and consistent reporting will allow us to ensure efficiency both in terms of dollars and usage of water which is our most vital resource. I will ask for the draft performance measures to be presented not later than the end of November with a pilot program in place and a first report on those measurements not later than the end of this year. To that end, if we can get this agenda item scheduled for the next council meeting in September it may give staff a little extra lead time.
I recognize the proposed time frame may seem short, but without this framework being in place and functional for a few months it will not serve its purpose as an effective budgeting tool for that process which we will begin again in the Spring. I want to add that I anticipate there may be some resistance from staff who are set in their ways, but I am more than confident that this can and will be overcome. Moreover, ultimately this will result in better job performance and with any luck greater satisfaction emanating from working in a controlled environment where positive performance is readily identifiable and rewarded.
Thank you both, and I look forward to working with you to accomplish this task, which is of such paramount importance to achieving the level of efficiency our citizens deserve.
Best,
Adam Trenk