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BY NILS HOLST
Problems in the ‘PUD
Controversy plagues local utility
S
omething is going on at Emerald
People’s Utility District (EPUD).
Political intrigue, disgruntled
former employees and allegations of
shady fi nancial dealings have hounded
the utility for the past several months.
EPUD’s General Manager Frank Lambe
is under fi re, the organization is embroiled
in controversy, and the longest serving
board member, Katherine Schacht, is
accused of abusing her position.
EPUD started in October of 1970
when a small group of dissatisfi ed Pacifi c
Power and Light customers got together to
talk about their ever-increasing electricity
rates, at times almost twice as much as
that charged by publicly owned utilities in
Lane County. That marked the beginning
of a 13-year legal battle that ultimately
ended in 1983 with PP&L agreeing to
sell its facilities to EPUD and hand over
control of the territory.
In the years since then, EPUD gained
a reputation for taking on controversial
issues and providing superb customer
service. For many years Emerald ranked
among Oregon’s top 100 workplaces and
was considered a model public utility.
Employees characterized it as a family,
one of the best places to work in the entire
state.
But the glory days of old have come to
an end, or so it seems.
In the past several months Emerald has
come under scrutiny from all sides: for
sanctioning the longest serving member
of its board, for the failed annexation of
another board member’s property, for
accusations of low employee morale
and a toxic work environment, for the
competency of its general manager and
a laundry list of other issues. One former
employee even formed a watchdog group,
Ratepayers for a Responsible EPUD
(RREPUD), and has contested just about
every move the utility has made in recent
months.
In turn, the utility claims that a handful
of disgruntled employees, terminated for
performance and behavior issues, have
been dragging its name through the mud,
opposing everything the utility does and
refusing to listen to reason, even when the
evidence is right in front of them.
Our story starts on July 12, when the
EPUD board voted to sanction their vice
president, Katherine Schacht.
Schacht has served on the EPUD board
for 23 years, the longest serving member
by a long shot. Although characterized
as a respectful professional by former
employees, board minutes show she was
also not afraid to ask tough questions and
demand answers.
The report compiled in May by
Eileen Eakins, an attorney for the
Special Districts Association of Oregon,
described Schacht slightly differently:
“Board member Katherine Schacht is
generally feared and mistrusted. No
one that I spoke with mentioned having
witnessed someone being terminated due
to Katherine’s infl uence, but nearly every
senior staff member lives in fear of this
occurring.”
“Board member Schacht appears to
be in an ongoing power struggle with
(General Manager) Frank Lambe,”
the report adds. “And will bully him
or undermine his authority … several
of those interviewed have witnessed
Katherine Schacht ‘yelling, screaming,
and cursing’ at Frank, particularly after
drinking.”
The report was instigated by Lambe,
who requested that the SDAO investigate
the allegedly hostile work environment
created by Schacht, as well as potential
ethics violations stemming from her
alleged attempts to advance the career
of her daughter, Sandy Marr, an EPUD
employee currently working in the
customer service department. Schacht has
denied the allegation.
The report ultimately led the board to
sanction Schacht and strip her of her vice
presidency during the July 12 meeting.
Lambe also fi led a complaint with the
Oregon Government Ethics Commission
regarding Schacht’s interactions with
employees about her daughter. Not
everyone agrees with these accusations
however.
“I supervised Katherine’s daughter for
10 years, and interacted with Katherine
for most of the 18 years I was there,” said
Joe Savage, a former Energy Services
supervisor who retired from the utility
in April 2009 after his department was
consolidated. “I found her to be very
professional, never asking for any
special favors for her daughter, whom I
supervised.”
“I never felt any hostility from
Katherine in any way,” he said. “It was a
very straight-up relationship.” He added,
“In my opinion, if there’s a hostile work
environment at EPUD, it’s not from the
board.”
The utility’s turnover history makes
for an interesting read. From January
2001 (when Lambe was hired) to 2011, 17
employees retired, seven resigned and 16
were terminated (the utility claims four of
the terminations were drug-related). This
is in contrast with the time period from
1992-2000, when three employees retired,
seven resigned and one was terminated.
Utility offi cials have expressed
frustration that nobody asks current
employees what they think about working
at Emerald, instead focusing their attention
on a small group of former employees
who they claim have a personal vendetta
‘As far as I’m concerned,
the place is corrupt.’
— D AN Y ARR , FORMER EPUD LINEMAN
“They’re pointing the fi ngers at the
people who are asking the questions,”
said Pam Hewitt, a former employee and
the creator of RREPUD, the watchdog
group. “[Schacht] was concerned
about fi nancial decisions, [Lambe’s]
competency, customer’s interests, and
she went into protection mode when she
realized, ‘Wow, these people are really
out to get me.’”
Hewitt was referring to the often
tenuous relationship between Schacht
and Lambe, as the two were regularly
at odds regarding policy decisions, with
Schacht frequently questioning Lambe’s
recommendations and wanting more
information.
“(Lambe) is the main one creating a
hostile work environment there,” said
Dan Yarr, a former EPUD lineman who
was terminated in 2006 for violating
safety regulations, charges he says were
exaggerated. “All my friends there are
saying they hate it there, but they’re afraid
to speak out … as far as I’m concerned,
the place is corrupt.”
against the organization.
“I fi nd it ironic that the media has only
focused on reports from past employees
and past Board members,” said Hillary
McBride, EPUD community relations
offi cer, via email. “If you talked to current
staff, you would hear something quite
different.”
In a letter published in The Register-
Guard July 18, Sandra Anderson, a
business analyst for Emerald, attests that
EPUD is actually a nice place to work:
“Because of General Manager Frank
Lambe and the other managers at EPUD, I
have always felt empowered. I have been
able to grow my career, and I hope to
retire from EPUD … if someone took the
time to talk to current EPUD employees,
they would fi nd a positive, dedicated
group of people.”
Others are not convinced.
“It smells; it stinks,” said Jim Weaver,
a former Oregon congressman and one of
the founders of EPUD. “The whole thing
stinks … I think there’s something rotten
going on in the state of EPUD.”
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EUGENE WEEKLY
AUGUST 11, 2011
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