I have been listening for years to residents complaining about their electric bills. I listened to the complaints before I went to work for WAPA. I listened to the complaints while I worked for WAPA. And I still listen to the complaints now that I have left WAPA. I have attended meetings of the Public Service Commission. I have even taken the time to join SCAPUR, St. Croix Alliance of Public Utility Ratepayers.
My conclusion? Well one is that WAPA is a perfect example of the dangers of using poltical patronage as the basis for filling vacancies on government boards and commissions. Appointment to the WAPA board has traditionally been a way of rewarding loyal political supporters. In the past, the board has been composed mostly of retirees and political hacks. A prime example is the current chairman of the board, Daryl Lynch, a crony personal friend of Lieutenant Governor Vargrave Richards. His appointment had more to do with his support of the Turnbull/Richards campaign than his managerial skills.
Then there are the governor's political appointees like Commissioners Ira Hobson of Housing, Parks, and Recreation. The Government of the Virgin Islands is the largest debtor to WAPA, with DHPR being one of the worst offenders. Do we expect Commissioner Hobson to suggest that nonessential government facilities should be disconnected for nonpayment? How long did it take him to set aside a line-item in his budget for utility payments?
Most appointments to this board are ceremoniously approved by the Legislature instead of being properly vetted. Although the utility industry is a complicated business, very little attention is paid to the managerial abilities of these individuals. That is why administrative tools such as stategic planning and performance measurement seem like foreign concepts to them. That is why they allowed Executive Director Alberto Bruno-Vega to drastically cut WAPA's training budget, resulting in a larger yet poorly skilled and inefficient workforce. Instead of a leaner but highly trained and efficient workforce. Tell me, who within WAPA is being groomed to replace Mr. Bruno-Vega when his contract expires. Basic fundamental management principles.
I must admit that some of the more recent board members show considerable promise. Yolanda Deterville, a certified public accountant, was a nice addition. But I really have to wonder if it is too little too late. WAPA is showing signs of years of mismanagement and poor oversight by the WAPA board. And the PSC for that matter. The consumers are feeling the net effect. The sham is to blame it all on rising fuel prices, as if problems did not exist before the fuel prices started to rise.
I have done my best to avoid the topic of WAPA. To criticize WAPA is to criticize many of my former co-workers whom I consider friends. To criticize WAPA's management is to criticize a management that I was a part of right up until May of this year. To criticize the WAPA board is to criticize people like Alphonso Franklin whom I have a great deal of respect for as an individual. But there is nothing I have to say now that I haven't told them many times to their face. As a former WAPA engineer and business manager, and as a ratepayer, whose two-person household has recently entered the realm of $100-plus monthly light bills, I feel I have some constructive enlightenment to share on WAPA's operation.
Come on! You knew the gloves had to come off eventually.
