The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation board members on Friday unanimously approved the hiring of a new executive director from California.
THE Commonwealth Utilities Corporation board of directors on Friday unanimously approved the hiring of Christopher Theisen as executive director for two years with an annual salary of $200,000.
Theisen, a registered and licensed professional engineer in California, will also receive a one-year allowance for housing, vehicle, relocations costs, and standard benefits.
It was board director Allen Perez who moved to offer the position to Theisen, saying that CUC’s management “has engaged in the negotiations with the candidate, and the candidate and the management have reached acceptable terms.”
Besides Perez, board chair Janice Tenorio, members Donald Browne, Rufo Mafnas, Rebecca White and Francisco Rabauliman also voted in favor of offering the position to Theisen.
Tenorio, in a separate interview, said Theisen “met the minimum requirements with a master’s degree in business administration and holds over 24 years of senior management experience in a similar wastewater, drinking water, and/or power utility.”
Theisen is expected to report for work in the next 60-90 days from Friday, Tenorio said.
“It’s a hard position to fill because a person coming from a highly specialized field is not really going to move somewhere with a $130,000 salary — not really enticing. So the board decided to increase the salary. … It’s really the cost of living, too, and the applicant is relocating and starting a new life here. We want him not to come [and work] here for two years [only], but we’ll try to keep him for a while,” Tenorio said.
Theisen is among 20 applicants, all of whom underwent background checks and a vetting process.
“It’s critical — we want to make sure that the candidate has solid credentials,” Tenorio said.
Also on Friday, the CUC board of directors expressed its appreciation to acting Executive Director Betty Terlaje for “the many accomplishments and compliance with the federal stipulated orders.”
For her part, Terlaje thanked the board and CUC employees.
“This board gave great support,” she added. “We are all here to make decisions to move forward. Even it’s not the decision we wanted … we respect and supported each other,” she continued.
“CUC is where it’s at because of the staff and employees — I want that to be very clear. Without the staff we could never get to where we’re at … and I feel that in the last year [while we were] looking for a new executive director, amazingly we accomplished a whole lot more. Maybe it’s because everything is falling into place. Maybe … we really hired some qualified people help our staff grow and help them to be better at what they do — so I see CUC’s future really looking good,” she added.
CUC’s chief of administration, Terlaje was named acting executive director in April 2023 after the then-acting executive director, Dallas M. Peavey Jr., PhD., was fired “for cause.” Chretien T. Voerg, PE, the then-deputy executive director, was named acting executive director, but he resigned effective April 27, 2023.
As part of the federal stipulated orders, CUC is required to fill key management positions such as the executive director.
In a status report submitted recently to the federal court, attorney Elizabeth Loeb of the U.S. Department of Justice-Environmental Enforcement Section said, “CUC has vacancies in three of the required eight management positions. The Executive Director position has been vacant since February 22, 2023. The Chief Engineer position has been vacant since February 24, 2020. The Chief Financial Officer position has been vacant since May 21, 2023. These are critical positions that impact CUC’s compliance with the substantive requirements of Stipulated Orders One and Two.”
Designated Federal Judge David O. Carter has scheduled a status conference for Feb. 26, at 1 p.m.
Background
In November 2008, after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cited CUC for violating the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act, the federal court issued Stipulated Orders 1 and 2.
SO1 focuses on CUC’s management structure, drinking water and wastewater issues, such as requiring CUC to provide safe drinking water to residents on a 24-hour basis, maintaining adequate chlorine supplies, safely treating and discharging wastewater, developing long-term capital improvement and financial plans, and implementing the projects described in the Master Plan. SO1 also restructures CUC’s organization to reflect a typically functioning utility and requires that key employees possess appropriate education and experience levels.
SO2 focuses on oil issues and requires CUC to repair and replace oil storage units and operation infrastructure, manage tank and pipeline facilities, facility wastes, facility drainage and storm water runoff. CUC is also required to maintain infrastructure and implement spill and emergency response protocols.
