September 21, 2000

Editor:

The fact that the LPEA board should give even a moment's consideration to hiring and outside public relations (PR) firm is, in my opinion, an abject admission of failure by the leadership at LPEA. Effective PR should come from the board and from the LPEA management team, sometimes following consultation with legal advisors.

The recent LPEA snafus could not have been avoided by using outside PR people. Business, or not, no member of the LPEA management team should ever spend much time on the golf course during business hours; that is poor business practice, anyway you swing it, slice it, or putt it. The failure to allow the members (and others) access to the board's minutes, within the letter and spirit of the law, was an extraordinary gaff. LPEA was never supposed to be a utility where secrecy reigned. The release to the press of the REANET story, just prior to the annual meeting, looked like a clumsy attempt to put a positive spin on the annual meeting, no matter what anyone says. The announcement could have been delayed a few hours, precisely because the negotiations had been under way for a long time and because the truly crucial factors affecting the sale will not be known for some time. Just plain common sense would have avoided these problems; that is what is needed at LPEA, not some out-of-town PR firm's advise.

The business decisions surrounding REANET and the board's other diversification efforts are, first and foremost, immediate concerns for all LPEA members. The board may or may not have been correct to move swiftly into these radical new areas. But the board should not have shut the door on public awareness of and a full debate of the issues. The board cannot hide behind the argument that the negotiations required secrecy. Secrecy about what? About the risks? About the amount of money that was needed to start and to run the new entities? About what is being lost and gained in the total LPEA picture?

A number of years ago, the LPEA board (at that time) fell out of step with the membership. Glaring errors of judgment were made. Several board member were out of their element; how to effectively serve was beyond them. In the following elections all but one of the incumbents standing for reelection were defeated. The new board members - almost all of whom are now old board members - were sensitive to full member participation and to the need for effective PR. How soon we humans forget who we are, how we got there, and why we got where we are.

The defeat of the sitting LPEA board chair appears to have been a much needed wakeup call to the entire board. Davin Montoya, the board's new chair, is to be congratulated for opening up the September meeting to full member (and public?) participation. It's a step in the right direction, but not nearly enough.

Any board member who cannot effectively communicate with the members, the media and the wider public should resign, immediately; the same goes for any member of the management team. By running LPEA like the public utility is, outside PR help will not be needed; in fact, such outside help - by removing the board and the management one step away from the members - would be a step away from good PR. Forget it! Do your jobs well and the PR will take care of itself.