by Mary Rupert
Candidates for the Board of Public Utilities are taking sides on whether to sell the utility this election.
Murray D. Anderson Sr., one of four candidates for BPU, at large position 3, has stated at a recent candidate forum that he would favor selling the BPU, while some other candidates are in favor of keeping it as a public utility. There is no incumbent running for the BPU seat. The election is Tuesday, March 3.
“I intend to privatize the Board of Public Utilities,” Anderson said at a recent forum. He added he is in favor of a BPU employee stock ownership plan.
Some of the other candidates differ.
“The BPU is a community asset, it belongs to all of us, and I will oppose all efforts to privatize what is a critical public service,” said another candidate for the office, Norman D. Scott. Scott also is the chair of the Wyandotte County Democratic Party.
Thomas H. Gordon, also a candidate for the BPU position, said at a forum that he echoed what Scott said about the BPU. However, today he clarified his statement and said that presently, he does not know all the dynamics of what the BPU does for us, and until he examines the pros and cons, he would not make a decision.
Chris McCord, also a candidate for the BPU position, is against selling the utility. He said there did not seem to him to be any advantage to selling the BPU. He said utility rates are fairly comparable to private rates, and he isn’t sure that there would be any rate differences for homeowners if it was sold.
A lifelong Wyandotte County resident, Scott graduated from Wyandotte High School and attended Kansas City Kansas Community College.
He has worked in the construction industry his entire career, retiring as a business agent for a union, IUOE, Local 101. Since retirement, he has been a volunteer in his neighborhood association, his church and at Cross-Lines.
He said he decided to run for the BPU after discussing it with friends and neighbors, not to launch a political career.
“I’m running to represent the citizens of Wyandotte County,” Scott said.
Keeping rates as low as possible and delivering customer service as best as possible are two of his goals.
“I’m a strong supporter of labor and I know they have contributed to BPU’s success,” he said. “I want to assure we continue to strengthen that relationship.”
Gordon, a native of Kansas City, Kan., and a U.S. Marine Corps sergeant, said he believes in order and efficiency.
A graduate of Sumner High School and Donnelly College, Gordon said his main platform is bringing unity to the people and the BPU. He said he means to represent all of the people.
He developed some goals after talking with customers of BPU.
Gordon’s platform lists goals including live televised BPU meetings; the power to ask questions during the live meeting via media connections; to focus on the utility needs of the customers; clear and comprehensive billing; free annual audits of the energy efficiency of customers’ appliances; purchasing programs for energy-efficient appliances; and efficient delivery of utilities to customers by BPU with accountable negotiations when outside services or providers are needed for customers.
Anderson, originally from Arkansas, came to the area around 60 years ago. He grew up in the area and graduated from Rosedale High School.
“I intend to rebalance the power of the Unified Government, because our vote must have absolute value,” Anderson said at a recent forum. “We need commissioners who can represent our interests with or without the consent of the mayor-CEO.”
Anderson said the local government is not a functioning democracy, but is a monarchy masquerading as a democracy.
Anderson said he is a member of Teamsters Local 955.
“We need an opportunity to make intelligent, informed decisions to create capital that can be used or deployed to grow our own businesses,” Anderson said.
“I don’t expect to win, but I expect to fight so that others may win,” Anderson said.
McCord said his main reason for running is that “it is very important that we keep local control of our public utility. The primary mission of the BPU should be to provide reliable and affordable utility services to its customers while improving the overall quality of life in our community. I believe that we need to make customer service our number one priority, increase our reliance on renewable energy, work to maintain the long-term needs of our growing community and to keep our good jobs in Kansas City, Kan.”
McCord, an Army veteran, is a graduate of Washington High School who attended Kansas City Kansas Community College and graduated from Kansas State University. He has his own real estate appraisal business.
He serves on the board of Hillcrest Transitional Housing Services, which helps homeless teens, where he is currently board chairman. He is a member and past president of the Downtown Rotary Club, and past president of the Piper Optimist Club. He also is a volunteer for Hands to Hearts.
If there had to be cuts in the future, McCord said he would first look at the amount of outside contractors who perform duties that could be completed by employees.
McCord said he favored having as many of the jobs handled by BPU employees as possible, as opposed to having outside contractors do the work. He said he realized there are some specialized jobs that contractors may have to do.
He also said one of his goals would be to try to improve customer service at BPU.
The election is March 3. Advance voting has begun in Wyandotte County.
For more information about Election 2015, see https://wyandotteonline.com/information-offered-on-primary-election/.