— The
on Monday approved the bylaws for the
Commission, which were approved by the Utilities Commission on Nov. 21.
Utilities Commission President Shawn Mueske, along with the governance committee, spent several months writing the bylaws, which will govern the roles, responsibilities and conduct of the commissioners.
“I’d like to start by thanking Commissioner Shawn Mueske for all the hard work he’s done throughout the entire year. And one of the fruits of the work, where he’s gone over and above expectations, are the bylaws that we have in front of you tonight,” said Utilities General Manager Jeron Smith when introducing the topic, noting that he reports to the Utilities Commission.
Mueske presented the bylaws to the City Council, noting that the Utilities Commission watches onboarding videos and other training videos from the American Public Power Association, which guide the commission in effectively managing a municipal utility.
“They have a thing called ‘policymakers handbook.’ It’s a 40-page guidebook on how to do good governance,” Mueske said. “And they also come out with about a dozen videos that we watch in training about every other year, and I’ve seen those videos three times. … They talk about what is good governance and what is not, and they often reference bylaws.”
However, the Utilities Commission has never had bylaws so there was nothing to check, Mueske commented.
“We think we do a good job at the Utilities Commission, but we think we can do a better job and we’re always trying to improve,” he said. “Having bylaws seems like a pretty good idea, particularly when we get … turnover — whether that’s turnover on the commission itself, or turnover in the general manager — there’s a learning curve. And without those bylaws, we find that there’s a moment of chaos when we do those transitions.”
Some commissioners are ending their terms on the Utilities Commission, and being able to give new commissioners a set of bylaws will help to acclimate them to their new role and avoid some of the chaos that typically takes place, Mueske added.
Included in the handbook with the bylaws will be effective governance documents, things that are referenced throughout American Public Power Association training series, such as the Municipal Utilities mission statement.
“When new commissioners come on board … we can hand them, hopefully, a set of bylaws and a set of governance documents so that transition will be easier,” Mueske said. “If they need any answers to questions on how we operate, they’ll be in one spot.”
He pointed out different sections of the bylaws, noting most were directly from the power association’s trainings and some were added under the direction of the Utilities Commission legal counsel, which is City Attorney Robert Scott of Flaherty and Hood.
Directing the council to one particular area, Mueske pointed out “duty of care, duty of loyalty, duty of obedience” — terminology that comes from the American Public Power Association — and he outlined what each means as written in the bylaws.
