Water Manager, Board Members At Odds

Dispute over district management Grows

Last updated Wednesday, August 20, 2008 9:09 PM CDT in News

By Caleb Fort
The Morning News

Heated Meeting

At a heated July board meeting, board members Allen and Hartley brought up several issues with Borman, including:

• Borman's personal use of the district's lawnmower. He said he had occasionally taken the lawnmower home but would not do so again.

• The cost of a trip Borman took to a conference in Atlanta, which included a $290-per-night hotel room. Borman said that was the cheapest room he could get that was convenient to the conference.

• Whether he presented accurate water data to the board. He said he does, but could provide more specific data if the board wanted.

• An informal agreement between the district and Dlux Information Services, an Internet service provider, to provide a network for the district in exchange for being able to put antennas on the district's tanks. Borman has said he sees no problem with the arrangement but will formalize it if the board asks him to.

Borman said in an interview that Allen, Hartley and Kreeger are trying to micromanage him and the district.

All three said that's not the case.

"There's no micromanagement," Kreeger said. "I want eyes in, fingers out."

History Of Disagreement

This is not the first time Borman and Allen have butted heads. Borman said they were at odds almost immediately after Borman became general manager about six years ago.

Allen is district manager for the Benton County Water District and is an alternate to the two-county board. The water district and the two-county water district clashed over a 2003 rate increase.

"It's been pretty much downhill ever since that," Borman said.

But Allen said that dispute is in the past. He said he is just trying to fill the board's oversight responsibilities.

"I think (Borman) is mistaken if he thinks we've got something against him personally," Allen said. "I think I'm asking reasonable questions about the financials."

'A Matter Of Stability'

On Aug. 4, Borman fired Phil Bounds from the district. In a statement about that action obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, Borman said he asked Bounds about discussions with board members outside of work.

Bounds denied those claims in the statement, but in a brief interview he said he had spoken with Hartley about problems at the district. Bounds said he saw nothing wrong with the conversation.

He said he did not want to discuss the matter further for fear he would be denied unemployment benefits.

Hartley said he did talk to Bounds, his friend of 20 years, about problems at the district.

In his notes, Borman said he fired Bounds because of Bounds' poor work ethic and divisiveness among district employees.

At a special Aug. 7 board meeting, Chairman Larry Oelrich told board members that day-to-day operations are Borman's duty, not the board's.

"Whether or not you agree with the operational decisions he makes doesn't really matter, because it's his responsibility to make those decisions," Oelrich said. "It would be impossible to make every decision to the satisfaction of each director."

The board went into an executive session to discuss board members contacting staff members "secretly and inappropriately" and "recent harassment of staff," according to Oelrich's notes.

District employees said the disputes have lowered morale at the district.

"It's a matter of stability," said Steve Casteel, the operations manager. "It's hard to miss that this is going on."

Scott Bounds, the information systems and technology supervisor, agreed.

"Employees see the board as attacking our general manager," he said.

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