Ms. Willey's Contributions To The ECP Board

Late last week we learned that Ms. Willey is resigning from the ECP board.

On Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:57:31 -0600 - "Willey, Dawn"

I can make the 11th and most other dates after that. Just as an FYI, I will be submitting my resignation to the board and city commission effective Sept 1. This is not my preference, but I have obviously become a target and it is impacting my effectiveness on the board as well as with my employer. It continues to surprise me how nasty individuals and groups can get if they don't agree with your position on an issue. Unfortunately some in our community have made this an issue about attendance, rather than a debate about the issues.

Well, in light of her comments, I thought it would be interesting to learn just what her position has been and how effective she has been on the board as well, so I reviewed all of the ECP board minutes from the time of inception through June 2008. (The July 2008 minutes are not posted).

Here is the summary of what I found with regard to comments made or questions asked by Ms. Willey:

2006 - Missed the May and November meetings. I did not find any reference to any comments made or questions asked.

2007 - Missed June, July, August and October meetings. She made the following comments:

January - Made a motion to amend the December 2006 minutes
April - Asked who had prepared the Development Draft agreement between the City and SME
September - Asked a question pertaining to ECP Customer Contracts

2008 - Through June, missed the February and April meetings. She made the following comments:

March - Asked Coleen Balzarini a question about preparing graphs of ECP individual customers; responded to a comment made by Aart Dolman

June - Indicated that the ECP bylaws needed to be looked at with regard to a designated representative on the SME board

Ms. Willey stated how she continues to be surprised at how "nasty" folks can become when they don't agree with one's position on an issue.

What exactly is her position? She never did give any board member report or state an opinion that found its way into the minutes. As an employee of one of ECP's largest customers, Benefis, I would have thought she would have had plenty to say. Not according to the minutes.

And as far as her comments about folks being "nasty", it's so juvenile that it does not warrant a response.

Ms. Willey also made reference to this being "an issue about attendance, rather than a debate about the issues".

Well, I am not too sure Ms. Willey could debate the issues even if she wanted to. Again, the minutes don't reflect that she ever made a substantial response to questions and comments posed from the public. And believe me, after reviewing the minutes, she had plenty of opportune times to do so.

And as far the attendance issue goes, she didn't indicate her absences were due to medical reasons, so therefore, she is in violation of the city charter and should resign.

Thank you Ms. Willey for doing the right thing.