Council changes GSU board structure

BY JASON THOMPSON

City council has cut the Greater Sudbury Utilities (GSU) board of directors down to size in terms of composition and remuneration.

The board itself has been reduced to seven directors from nine, including the mayor and a pair of councillors, and total remuneration has been cut to $26,000 for an annual savings of $80,000.

Ward 9 Councillor Doug Craig and Ward 9 Councillor Frances Caldarelli were named to the board for two years.

Mayor John Rodriguez told council in December he thought the number of GSU board members should be reduced to three or four and that they should not be paid for their time. He estimated the changes would result in a saving of more than $100,000 a year.

A staff report was prepared and the issue was debated at Wednesday's city council meeting. Staff recommended between five and nine board members. Seven was seen as a fair compromise. But whether or not the reductions will negatively impact the GSU’s productivity, as some councillors have suggested, remains to be seen.

The recommended changes are comparable to other Ontario municipalities. It’s very important the public “see council do this," said Rodriguez.

Taxpayers won’t see the savings reflected in their monthly hydro bill. Instead, the mayor said the money would be invested back into GSU.

The decision to move to seven directors, who will oversee GSU and its subsidiaries, was made by a vote of nine to two.

As for remuneration, council was given four options to choose from, or a combination thereof.

Ward 1 Councillor Joe Cimino recommended the second option that called for a reduction of annual payments to citizens and councillors from $8,500 to $4,000, reducing the additional annual honorarium paid to the board chair by $1,500 to $2,000, and eliminating both per diem meeting payments of $150 and payments to the mayor. It was accepted by a vote of 10 to two.

The first option was to stick with the status quo, the third was to pay citizen appointees their current rate while council members received nothing and the fourth option was to make the board a volunteer position.

Gasparini and Craig were vocal in their support of the status quo but voted in favour of option two nonetheless.

Craig, who is a longtime member of the board, said if the city was looking for savings, there are other areas of GSU where they could be realized rather than risk not being able to find citizen board members with a wide range of expertise.

“The track record there over the past four years shows a remarkable increase in revenue,” Craig said, adding 2006 was the utilities most productive year paying a $3.8 million dividend to the city.

“It’s my belief we’ll surpass in 2007 the year we had in 2006," he said.

Gasparini stated council shouldn’t “nickel and dime” the only  corporation that generates revenue for the city.

Rodriguez responded by saying while $80,000 may not seem like much compared to the multi-millions being allocated in the budget, it’s a lot of money to people whose power has been disconnected because they’re unable to keep up with payments.