BPU member Jones seeking freeze? Redemption?
Am I in an alternate reality? I asked that question to another reporter last night as BPU board member Mark Jones (pictured at far left) called for a wage freeze for management and nonunion employees. The other five board members and General Manager Don Gray looked like they were choking on their tongues as Jones talked about freezing wages to avoid layoffs.
Jones said a couple of
customer service employees told him they’d never heard so many
complaints from people unable to pay their bills. Other employees told him that they’d rather have no raise than no job. He said a 4 percent freeze could save the utility $800,000 or more.
“I
just think it’s fair to the utility as a whole, to the people that work
here and to the ratepayers that we consider freezing management’s and
staff wages temporarily, till we determine what the economy is going to
bring,” Jones said.
Jones made his motion. The room sat silent for a couple of seconds. No one seconded. The motion died.
The budget passed 5-1; Jones cast the only “no” vote.
The
freeze would have been a token move in a $303.3 million budget. Still, it would have been the board’s best
PR gambit. Colombel
said the utility avoided “drastic measures” because the utility
decreased its budget. She said Gray would be evaluating benefits and
salaries utility-wide in 2009. Instead, Colombel wished everyone
During board comments, Jones didn’t pass. “I do think it’s a slap in
our customers’ faces to give ourselves a $1 million raise when there’s
so many people unemployed in this country, in this city that we live
in. I think everyone could have given in a little bit and done their
part since the community and the board has done so much for them.
That’ll be all.”
This is the same Mark Jones who rarely — if ever — speaks at
meetings. The same Jones who just a couple weeks ago attended a
fundraiser for indicted BPU official Marc Conklin. The same Jones who
motioned to raise board member pay in March 2004 (the only motion many
board watchers could recall him making). Had Jones come to Jesus? Or
was he just angling for another term on the board?
I spoke with Jones for the first time after the meeting. He seemed
disappointed in his colleagues. He also
said a cut in board-member wages was an option. I was frozen in my tracks. — Justin Kendall
