MINIMIZING POLITICAL INFLUENCE ON UTILITY MANAGEMENT

摘要

One of the biggest management challenges facing water and wastewater utilities today is theneed for more funding to meet current and anticipated infrastructure expenditures. The forcesdriving the need for increasing expenditures are new regulations for enhancing and protectingwater quality and the need to replace or rehabilitate decaying infrastructure.The need for increased revenue to properly fund utility maintenance and upgrades, in addition tothe changing role of the utility in many communities has fostered greater political participationand demands for more input in utility policies and practices from interested stakeholders.Increased participation affects the way utilities are managed and who is selected to lead them.The political environment in which some utilities find themselves can be hostile andantagonistic. This paper explores, through discussions of current issues and anecdotes fromutility executives, the role of politics in utility management, why utility management isbecoming more political in some communities, and possible means of managing politicalinfluences.