The Little Rock Sanitary Sewer Committee approved a temporary pay increase for three Little Rock Wastewater Utility employees who have taken over extra duties during an interim period after the committee fired its chief executive officer last month.
John Jarratt, director of administration and community outreach, has handled administrative duties of the CEO position since Dec. 10 when the committee placed then-CEO Reggie Corbitt on administrative leave.
The committee fired Corbitt on Jan. 29 after a Little Rock Police Department report confirmed Arkansas Democrat-Gazette articles detailing how the executive authorized Operations Manager Stan Miller to use public funds to live on utility property in his mobile homes and allowed Miller’s girlfriend, a nonemployee, access to the secure grounds.
Issues of Corbitt and Miller allowing an acquaintance to take utility-owned pipe at no cost and employees bringing and shooting guns on utility property also were investigated. The utility fired Miller on Jan. 30.
Stan Suel, director of environmental assessment, filled in for Miller for about a month. Now Walter Collins, the former superintendent of the Fourche Creek Treatment Plant, is taking over that role until a permanent hire is made. The position should be advertised next week.
The sewer committee initially designated Howell Anderson, the director of collections system maintenance, to oversee the operations side of Corbitt’s and Miller’s duties. Anderson then delegated those responsibilities to Suel.
The sewer committee decided to follow city of Little Rock policy for increasing pay of employees serving in an interim position. It states that for the first month the employee will be paid an extra 5 percent of his monthly salary and then thereafter receive an additional 5 percent or the minimum of the salary range set for the position.
The committee approved to pay Jarratt $2,000 of back pay and an additional $5.76 per hour while he serves as interim CEO. Members approved an extra $192 payment to Collins and an increase of $5.34per hour. They also approved a one-time payment of $1,080 to Suel. An executive search firm has been hired to look for a new CEO, with a deadline of September set to make a hire.
Another change recommended by utility staff and approved by the committee Wednesday was a reorganization of other employees in the Operations Department. Anderson noted that funding for two treatment plant superintendents was not included in the 2014 budget, but that the positions had been around as long as he could remember and department employees were adamant that superintendents are needed.
Anderson recommended switching around jobs withing the department to include the two superintendents, but still keep the same number of total employees.
The changes will cause an increase in the salary budget for the Operations Department by between $60,000 to $85,000. But that will be offset by vacant positions across all the utility departments and the committee won’t need to approve a budget change, Anderson said. The committee approved the reorganization.
Arkansas, Pages 16 on 02/20/2014