Good leaders must give clear message

Smart people like those on the Bristol Virginia Utilities board and its staff should not be surprised by the public outcry that BVU’s spinoff decision is a rush job.

That’s what happens when you create plans regarding public services outside the public spotlight, giving stakeholders barely a month to weigh in.

BVU’s plan to create its own authority first saw public scrutiny at a BVU Board of Directors meeting just 25 days ago. And on Tuesday, the council passed the measure in a 3-2 vote, mirroring the split from the first-reading approval.

Councilmen Guy Odum and Jim Heaney, the two council members who oppose the plan, tried to table the measure, at least until the council’s next meeting, but were rebuffed. Critics in the audience would have just liked to see the measure killed. No amount of explaining would change their minds.

Many speakers Tuesday said they have faith in BVU and its leaders. They cited multiple examples of strong leadership, good service and advance planning. But their understandable gripe focused on the speed of the effort – and the fact that it first saw public discussion at the Oct. 5 BVU board meeting.

Walt Bressler, the attorney for the BVU board, and Wes Rosenbalm, the utility’s CEO, maintained that the change has been considered for years. Obviously. But that doesn’t erase the fact that it was not discussed openly with the public until Oct. 5. Bressler said he spent more than a month this summer working on the language for the change, after being instructed to do so by the BVU board. Again, this was not announced to the public.

Compounding matters, the council on Tuesday was still asking for changes to that language, and the BVU board was willing to make them. Bressler pulled out a pen to ink a few adjustments following the council’s questions, obviously aiming for a better than 3-2 split vote. Yet those offers on the night of the measure’s second reading only fueled the critics who said BVU was rushing the change and lacked a solid plan.

To be clear: This newspaper supports BVU becoming a separate authority and outlined the reasons for that support in an editorial published Oct. 23. We are not wavering. But that editorial was based on access most citizens do not have – a sit-down meeting with the BVU leadership in which they explained their decision in detail.

Where BVU failed is in providing a similarly detailed and convincing explanation to the public on the front end.

We received access beyond what most citizens could hope to have and we shared that information as quickly as we had it. As we said then, and reiterate today, the plan to create a separate authority benefits Bristol in a variety of ways. The biggest is growth – as BVU has spread to offer broadband Internet service in other locations, it no longer makes sense for the debt for future projects to be based on Bristol’s tax base. BVU should grow based on the revenue it generates by all of its utilities and in all of the locations it serves. Plus, adding customers helps keep rates low for everyone.

BVU has done a praiseworthy job of developing a reasoned plan. Where it stumbled was in selling that plan to the broader public. Our first charge to the board in an editorial published earlier this month addressed just that: Convince the public that this benefits them. Sell them on this plan.

Instead, some citizens have become so angry and frustrated that they have sought out at least one attorney to fight the change. They wanted a referendum on the issue and several muttered that anyone supporting the spinoff would be voted out of office.

Several speakers at Tuesday’s council meeting called a referendum the most democratic way of deciding issues. Frankly, it’s not. It is mob rule dressed up in moral indignation. No government entity can decide matters by referendum. We elect leaders to the council to make decisions. Our referendum comes each Election Day.

But the truth is that the second reading appeared amateurish, rather than the professional job one would expect from people who had prepared for months. And if the plan had been discussed extensively with the public, and garnered broad support, last minute changes would not be needed.

There is overwhelming support for BVU becoming a separate authority from the Bristol business community and the local chamber of commerce. That support was quickly sought and touted at the meeting. But some members of the public understandably are still left feeling bypassed.

The BVU board had a goal, saw an opening and sprinted to meet it. The board, with the knowledge of Mayor Jim Rector and Councilman Fred Bowman who also serve on the BVU board, aimed to get the measure passed before a December deadline, so it can be introduced to the Virginia General Assembly next year.

BVU has been well-managed and we expect continued good leadership. But good leaders do not charge ahead and leave others behind. They ensure that those who are following understand where they are going and why.