'Oversight" is an interesting word in that it's defined as "supervision," but also as a "failure to do or notice something."
Too bad residents and taxpayers in the Grand Traverse area witness far too much of the latter from oversight boards charged with protecting the public's trust while governing in a responsible, sustainable manner.
The Traverse City Light & Power board's recent decision to seek new management after various missteps by its executive director was a rare decisive, positive move by a local body. The board acknowledged the utility lost its way, and realized significant steps were needed to regain public confidence.
It's not easy making a change at the top, especially in this town. Look around: Fiascoes that waste public time and money usually result in little more than a circle-the-wagons mindset designed to insulate decision-makers not only from public scrutiny, but from accountability for their errors.
The water and sewer committee of Grand Traverse County's Board of Public Works had every reason to demand that heads roll after a costly septage plant debacle that still hasn't been adequately explained. Instead, the principals went into "don't ask-don't tell mode" and allowed the insiders who dreamed up the boondoggle to "fix" it. Of course, that fix allowed some of those very insiders to again dip their bills into the public trough for more consulting and legal fees.
It also appears the Downtown Development Authority didn't learn much during its dogged pursuit of a public parking project at 145 W. Front St. in downtown Traverse City. That politically stoked, ill-conceived plan crumbled when city residents in August 2006 refused to back the project by guaranteeing millions of dollars in public bonds. But instead of truly reflecting on what went wrong and why, the DDA simply shifted gears and motored a new public parking model to another site, this time in Old Town.
More examples? The Bay Area Transportation Authority's longtime executive director is fading into retirement just as the two-county bus system's board members acknowledge perpetual operational and management shortcomings highlighted in recent Record-Eagle reports. Maybe less pizza-noshing and more questions (you know, oversight) at BATA board meetings could have unearthed problems sooner.
Even the revamped city commission seems somewhat reluctant to effectuate real change. Widespread discontent among voters swept a new-look commission into office last fall, but some commissioners appear reluctant to ruffle feathers at city hall, despite voters' mandate to remake local government.
Finally, back to Light & Power: The utility's poorly plotted effort to help back-door a substation in Elmwood Township won't be soon forgotten. There's plenty of anger among area residents over the utility's recent actions, and potentially much more, depending on L&P;'s proposed expansion into costly ventures as coal plants and a sprawling wind farm. And don't forget the accompanying rate hikes.
But at least L&P;'s board sent a message that top administrators' boorish behavior and a bull-in-a-China-shop mentality won't be tolerated by a publicly owned utility. There's at least a little solace in that, and the hope is that will inspire other oversight boards to take their public trust a little more seriously.
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