Small Town News

PEC officials address Garza firing

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The general membership meeting of the Pedernales Electric Cooperative this weekend was really an introduction of the newly elected members of the board. But the actions taken by the board last week, which still included the two outgoing members, hung over the meeting.

PEC President Larry Landaker and newly fired General Manager Juan Garza both gave statements at the meeting. While the two statements are too long to print in total, relevant passages from their statements are reprinted here for our readers.

LANDAKER:

I wish I were at liberty to share some of the many and varied reasons for this action, but for reasons of confidentiality, I cannot. I can tell you this decision was carefully considered by the Board. It was not made rashly or impulsively. It was not made in anger. The debate was respectful and considerate at all times... Our decision was based on information, reasoning and judgment...

Some have suggested that this action lacked transparency, that the board met in secret. In truth, the word secret is not appropriate. The appropriate word is confidential... Even with PEC's Open Meeting policy, personnel matters are explicitiy addressed in private....

Some have made this out to be the vengeful act of two departing directors and that we should have waited for the new board members to decide.....The fact of the matter is that the initiative to terminate Mr. Garza began with me. I introduced this action based on my firm conviction that our cooperative needed new leadership to meet its challenges....

I am sorry things did not work out with Mr. Garza and the Board. The Board must accept' its share of the blame in that failure. Juan is an honorable man with a human touch. With his own unique leadership style, he guided the cooperative over some very troubled waters and his work is truly appreciated....

The Board acted in what it considered the Cooperative's best interests. When the Board considers the best interests of the cooperative, we are considering the best interests of our members and our employees....

The duty of the Board is to insure that PEC will survive so that our employees have jobs - now and in the future. Our task is to take steps to make sure, we are not gobbled up by a giant Wall Street public utility interest....

Change is coming and it is coming faster than many of us are moving. Yesterday, someone suggested to me that it could take 5-7 years to bring about change in an operation like PEC. Ladies and gentiemen, we do not have 5-7 years. The wolf is on his way to our door and our challenge is to get our financial house in order now...

We value our labor force - from the linemen to the IT department to the call centers... We have never engaged in any discussion of layoffs - ever... We have never discussed changing our basic benefits package - ever... We are committed to maintaining exceptional customer care. We are committed to sustaining the same high standard of providing safe, reliable electricity to our members... We intend to continue supporting the local communities we serve and helping those who can least afford electricity... If we are to sustain all of these things, we must find smarter and better ways of operating. We must be innovators and we must be creative....

PEC must not be imprisoned by its circumstances or its history. The path to our good health lies within our own hands. We must control our own destiny....

This is a detour, not an abyss. Change is good for the soul. Don't fear it. Change tests us and breaks us from our comfort zone. In doing so, change can free us....

GARZA::

I would like to respond to some of the allegations and criticisms I have heard over the past week... When I first applied for a CEO position in 1983, a good friend of mine told me; "remember Juan, you always go into a CEO job the same way you go out.. fired with enthusiasm!" As a CEO it is a fact that you go to work every day knowing that you can be fired.

This past Monday, the Board exercised its right to make a change in leadership. They deserve to have someone working for them that supports them and that they support. I respect that.

I heard that I did not run fast enough or jump high enough. For that, I accept the responsibility, but I assure you it was not because of brain surgery or my age.

I know of no directive that this Board has given me that I have not responded to or taken action to address. It is the Board's responsibility to define what reforms need to be made, not the CEO's. I implement, the Board initiates.

My role as a CEO is to create a safe environment where people can operate with judgment and discretion and who go home knowing they have made a difference in people's lives.

I criticized an audit that accused my managers of resisting change without any facts to back up such a damaging claim. I stand by my criticism of that audit, even though I fully support and acknowledge the crucial role an internal auditor plays in effective management.

I have been criticized for not firing enough of the man agers who were around during the Fuelberg era. In fact, I have been given instructions by individual Board member; to fire 3 to 5 managers just to show some blood. That is how it was presented to me.

I am not in the firing business. I am in the education and motivation and accountability for actions business...

The employees here at PEC, including the managers, have embraced this new culture of Servant Leadership. They are seeking more opportunities to learn how to use these principles more effectively in the day-to-day management of the organization.

There is no crisis at PEC... just the opposite. We are a very successful and strong company. We have a secure power supply from the LCRA, we have a rate structure that has transparency in our costs we are reshaping our website and we are improving our financial controls...

The work of reform is not done at PEC and I regret that may not have an ogportunitv to continue to lead it. But I am proud of what has been achieved here. Mostly, lam confident in the people who work here. I am confident that they will continue to do what they do best, provide outstanding service to our members.

Now, I am compelled to say a few words about the employees of PEC. I have not made any efforts to encourage or discourage the employees from taking the action to support me here today. I have never in my professional life been supported like I have today and I am deeply gratified...

Let me say that my time here at PEC has been the joy of my life.... This is perhaps the most exciting time in our history to be part of the electric utility industry.

This is not just a collection of exceptional professionals. This is a family, a real family that is ready to help whenever and wherever help is needed.

Over the years, we all face hardships, but when you're a member of the PEC family, you never face them alone. Ask any employee who has gone through a family crisis how much the support of the PEC family means to them.

That's what PEC is. It's not a building, or our trucks, or our lines, or even electricity. PEC is the membership, but it is also to a great extent the employees. It is the partnership that has been built between our members and our employees that makes us who we are, I am confident that the employees of PEC will continue building on that partnership and strengthening our bond with the communities we serve.



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© 2010 The Free Press Buda, Texas. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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