DuPage Water Commission likely to pick new leader Thursday
After seven months without a leader, the DuPage Water Commission is expected to pick a new general manager at its Thursday meeting.
The agency responsible for delivering Lake Michigan drinking water to more than two dozen municipalities has been without a top administrator since March. That's when former General Manager Bob Martin resigned as part of the fallout from the commission's accidental depletion of its $69 million reserve fund. An audit concluded that was due to accounting errors and lax oversight of the accounting department.
The commission had sent the names of three finalists from a pool of nearly 30 applicants to the DuPage County Board expecting to have the board name their favorite. But board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom said a special committee sent all three names back to the commission with “notes.
“We didn't necessarily choose anybody, Schillerstrom said. “We commented and listed their strengths and weaknesses.
Water commissioner and Carol Stream Village President Frank Saverino expected the county board to identify a specific choice before the 13-member commission made its pick. That's because the county board has final approval over appointment of the general manager now thanks to a new law that was passed to create more oversight of the embattled agency. However, Saverino said it won't be a problem for the commission to make a pick.
“All three choices are more than qualified, he said.
Interim General Manager Terry McGhee, who has worked with the water commission for nearly two decades, is the only known finalist for the post. Commissioners have refused to release any information about the other two finalists, except to say they are Illinois residents.
In the wake of the agency's fiduciary mistakes, the water commission has spent more than $2 million to get the agency on stable financial footing. Some of those costs were associated with audits of the agency's 2009 finances. The commission paid its former auditor, McGladrey & Pullen, $41,000 for work on an audit that was never completed. Then they hired Aurora-based Sikich to perform the 2009 audit for $43,750. Water commission officials said Sikich representatives are expected to present preliminary results of the overdue audit at Thursday's 6:30 p.m. meeting as well.
Saverino said he doesn't expect any surprises in that audit.
“It's like we've said all along that we spent the money on projects that benefitted the commission's customers, he said. “It was money we thought we had, but didn't.