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HomeNewsArchivesPOWER STRUGGLE DOMINATES WAPA BOARD SESSION

POWER STRUGGLE DOMINATES WAPA BOARD SESSION

April 20, 2001– It was probably a good thing that Joseph Thomas, the Water and Power Authority’s new executive director, sat in on the utility’s board meeting Thursday via a teleconference from Atlanta.
It allowed him to miss the heated and protracted exchange between board chair Carol Burke and member Claude "Tappy" Molloy. The melee between the two ended with Burke stripping Molloy of not only his chairmanship but also his seat on the board's finance committee.
For Burke, the debate revolved around whether Molloy was working for the betterment of WAPA during negotiations with financial rating firms. Molloy accused Burke of withholding correspondence and information from the board regarding the search for a replacement of Raymond George, who retired in February after 10 years as executive director.
And each accused the other of being on a "power trip" not related to the utility producing electricity.
Meanwhile, Thomas, who was recently hired on a three-year contract, said he will be in the territory over the weekend to begin familiarizing himself with the issues confronting WAPA and its workers. He is scheduled to begin work on June 4.
"I’ve only had limited exposure to some of the detailed information about the utility," he said over the telephone. "What I hope to do is work with the other members of the WAPA team … to figure out where we’re at and where we want to go."
The board also heard from John Miner of Covington Consulting, the firm hired to come up with a strategic plan for WAPA. His report is to set forth issues dealing with the utility’s "core values, core supports, emotional goals, mission, and market value proposals, and a narrative vision," according to Patricia Blake Simmonds, WAPA public information officer.
Thomas is currently president of J.R. Thomas Associates, a company formed in 1996 to provide competitive market assessment and business care development services to public utilities and telecommunications hardware providers.
Prior to forming the company, Thomas was corporate vice president in charge of the telecommunications implementation services business for A&C Enercom Consulting, a utility industry consulting firm based in Atlanta. He has also served as marketing and district operations manager at Wisconsin Electric.
Thomas has a bachelor of science in chemistry from Duquesne University and a master of business arts in marketing from the University of Pittsburgh.

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