The search for a general manager continues at Austin Utilities, but Utilities Commissioner Jack Dunlop thinks he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Monday, November 01, 1999

The search for a general manager continues at Austin Utilities, but Utilities Commissioner Jack Dunlop thinks he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

From a pool of 12 applicants, the board has selected four to interview over the next two weeks. Dunlop didn’t want to release the names of the final four.

"We’re aiming to have someone announced on or before Dec. 1," Dunlop said. "At least selected and accepted, it may be longer before we can actually get them on board."

The board – or rather a search team hired by the board – has been looking for a general manager since Kevin Maynard left Austin Utilities in July to take a position with American Municipal Power-Ohio. In the interim, Technical and Support Services Director Jerry McCarthy has been acting as general manager and secretary to the board. McCarthy is a 21-year Austin Utilities veteran and was Maynard’s right hand man in his 27 months at the helm. He is also one of the applicants for the permanent position of general manager.

Maynard will be a hard person to replace. Praised by department heads and supervisors at Austin Utilities for "putting the municipal back in Austin Utilities", the list of accomplishments made under Maynard is three pages long. When he left, he stressed that those accomplishments were a team effort.

Before Maynard’s arrival, the top level of management was shared between two. Because of potential conflicts and other reasons, it was a board decision to look for a general manager who would oversee everything.

Also empty is the Human Resources position at Austin Utilities, previously held by Katie Larson, now of Hormel Foods Corp. A job description for a joint Human Resources person is currently being developed between the city of Austin and Austin Utilities, who shared the HR director before Larson moved to Austin Utilities full-time.

"We’ve already had several candidates, but we’ll have to look again once the city’s requirements are included," Dunlop said. "At this time the HR search is in the hands of management."