Bill Johnson, Board of Public Utilities’ general manager, will be receiving a two-year contract extension and a raise.
The BPU board voted 4-2 to approve the contract extension Wednesday.
It will go into effect Jan. 1, 2023.
David Haley, a board member, said Johnson currently is thought to be the highest paid public employee in Wyandotte County, at upwards of $300,000 a year currently plus perks, with the raise around $35,000. The original proposed raise was 8 percent, with some board members advocating 5 percent.
Jeff Bryant, board member, at the meeting moved to extend the general manager’s contract for two years, effective Jan. 1, 2023. The vote was 4-2 with David Haley and Rose Mulvany Henry voting no.
The board did not discuss the issue in open session, but went into a closed executive session to discuss it before voting in open session Wednesday.
Haley explained his vote after the meeting by saying the amount of the increase approaches what the average Wyandotte County resident makes in a year. He said he hears from customers who say their utility bills are too high.
While he values Johnson’s work, Haley said it was not a good financial fit for the BPU.
Johnson has been with the utility 43 years. He became general manager in April 2019. He was manager of electric operations and technology prior to becoming general manager. In September, Johnson was named to Ingram’s Magazine list of the 250 most powerful business leaders in the Greater Kansas City area.
This is ridiculous!!!! There is no way this person is deserving of this kind of raise in these economic times!!! Just pass this along to the citizens and screw them some more!!!!
Joe this is why voting matters. Since this board isn’t working As a municipal utility, the commissioners need to force a vote to change the charter now to make them accountable for their actions or lack thereof. The actions need to reflect the good of it’s citizens.Or we need to force the change and fire the board, fire the general manager and move Bpu as a dept of the government where people have input on these decisions. When we have board members not returning calls or correspondence refusing to help their constituents while vacationing out of country as they are getting paid. FIRE THEM! When the general manager continues to up his salary as people are struggling with cost of their utilities. And he admits not knowing policies of his utility programs. We need to fire him! We need to fire anyone not acting to support the people. Especially those who only act to be on the side of the people when elections are near…need to be replaced..We are uniting!reach out to me at [email protected] or leave a message at 913.605.4070. We are the conscience of the community. Together we can make change happen now for all of Wyandotte. Not just for a few.
I have said for years that BPU is corrupt, and now we see the proof.
Johnson has a Federal Court judgement against him for employment discrimination, yet this board not only hired him to have the final say in hiring and firing decisions but they vote to retain him and giving him a raise higher than the rank-and-file BPU employees.
Bryant, Milan, Gonzalez, and Groneman need to go – will the PUBLIC (who are supposed to OWN BPU) finally get tired of all this? Time will tell.