The City Council approved three new Lincoln Electric System board members appointed by Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird on Monday, despite concerns of two council members who said that while the nominees are qualified they felt the mayor was using the appointments to further her political agenda.
“There’s nothing personal against the nominee,†said Councilman Richard Meginnis, one of two council members who voted against the appointments. “It’s more about using the board as a political action group. I feel strongly about this.â€
Meginnis said LES has been able to provide cheap and reliable energy and to do that it’s important to bring all different voices to the table and that doesn’t appear to be what’s happening with the current administration.
The three new members are:
* Kate Bolz, Nebraska State Director of USDA Rural Development, who previously was Gaylor Baird’s economic development policy adviser and a state senator;
* Martha Durr, professor of climatology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, state climatologist and director of UNL’s Nebraska State Climate Office; former director of the High Plains Regional Climate Center and an applied climatologist for the Alaska Climate Research Center;
* Eric Schafer, president of Telesis, the umbrella company for Data Security, Lazlos, Empyrean Brewing Co., Telesis Holding and Avert Vertical Cultivations. Telesis owns the most geothermal wells and solar panels in the state, and he told the council LES was instrumental in helping the company achieve its sustainability goals.
Ken Winston, representing the Nebraska Sierra Club and Nebraska Interstate Power and Light, spoke in favor of the candidates and said visionary board members are part of why LES has been so successful at providing low rates and reliable energy.
"Although there is some opposition, it is not factually based and I think all the members would be good and I encourage you to vote for them."
DaNay Kalkowski, an attorney who works on development issues, was not asked to serve a third term on the nine-member board.
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The mayor has asked Karen Griffin, a geologist and former vice president and groundwater technical leader for Olsson, to serve another term. The council will vote on her reappointment at its next meeting Jan. 9.
The three new board members have expertise or interest in climate resiliency issues, which is one of the mayor’s priorities.
Meginnis said the decision not to ask Kalkowski to serve a third term creates an appearance of retaliation by the administration.
“There’s the appearance that if you disagree with us, you’re gone,†he said.
Councilwoman Tammy Ward also voted against the appointments, something she said was particularly difficult because Bolz is a friend. Like Meginnis, she said the candidates were qualified.
“Like my colleagues, I’m concerned about the philosophy of the administration when it comes to appointments,†she said. She also said having a diversity of opinion creates the best policy.
Ward said she was shocked to learn “on the streets,†and not from the administration, that Kalkowski wasn’t being reappointed.
Councilman James Michael Bowers said he supported the candidates, especially Bolz, who he has admired as a policymaker and whose style of leadership as a coalition builder he has tried to emulate.
Several other council members had expressed some concerns about the diversity on the board but voted to approve the appointees.
Members of the LES board are appointed by the mayor and approved by the council for up to three three-year terms.
In addition to Kalkowski, the new board members replace Layne Sup, who served three terms, and Kim Morrow, who was appointed by the mayor but is resigning because she is now the mayor’s chief sustainability officer.