By Tom Owens
Orcas Island
The members, board of directors and staff of the Eastsound Water Users Association have endured a thousand days of chaos. The origins of this chaos are well-documented in our island publications and need not be revisited. However, the ongoing consequences of the chaos must be known to all:
• A growing number of members question the board of directors’ approach to governing the Association. This manifests as increased attendance at monthly meetings, more public comments all advocating change and more discussions in the coffee shops with the theme “What the heck is wrong with Eastsound Water”?
• Some of the current board of directors have expressly said in recent public meetings that they are tired of the time and emotional demands of their volunteer positions. Others appear to me to be disengaged at these meetings. We are all sympathetic to the time commitment and, as was noted at the January meeting, this is the third incarnation of the board, with minimal overlap since the chaos began. Reestablishing Eastsound Water as an institution for which serving on the board is both attractive and fulfilling is critical.
• The Association has lost nearly a third of its staff in the last few months, and polling of the remaining staff, presented at the January meeting, indicates that most are looking for other employment. Eastsound Water used to be viewed as one of the better jobs on Orcas Island. Not anymore, and the emotional and economic toll on the staff is devastating.
Characterization of this situation as a major crisis is not hyperbolic.
At the January public meeting, one board member indicated that the current atmosphere is the worst that she has experienced in many decades of volunteer work on the island. I have no reason to doubt that, and it is truly unfortunate.
The focus of my thoughts is how to fix this sad situation and allow Eastsound Water to emerge from this crisis as an organization that respects and supports its employees, operates efficiently and transparently, and as a result is respected by its members and the island community.
My decades as an elected, volunteer member of governing boards span organizations as small as dog training clubs to as large as a global scientific research consortium with an annual budget of tens of millions of dollars.
The path to Eastsound Water’s transformation became clear when I realized that, in my experience, no organization has ever recovered from a major crisis through continuing, or making only minor tweaks to, “business as usual.” Major crises require major changes; the kind of changes that are uncomfortable and difficult for volunteer boards to recognize and even harder to make. In these situations, board members must be wise enough to recognize what must be done, then brave enough to make the change. Organizations with boards that can do that will emerge stronger. Organizations that cannot find a way to make major changes will continue to falter and will likely be rendered incapable of fulfilling their core mission.
Most often, when organizations face a prolonged crisis, the change they ultimately confront is at the level of executive leadership. In Eastsound Water’s case, that responsibility rests with the general manager, whose role is the primary accountability for the institution’s operations, internal systems and the conditions that support both employees and members. It is easy to understand how difficult and uncomfortable this assessment is for the board, given the close and ongoing working relationship they maintain with the general manager.
The current general manager deserves recognition for identifying the value of a more unified operational model across the island’s water systems, a vision that has real merit. At the same time, the general manager is also responsible for ensuring that the organization has the structures, resources and leadership capacity necessary to protect its employees, stabilize operations and maintain the confidence of its membership. Where those systems have not been put in place or do not operate effectively when needed, the consequences have accumulated at the institutional level, impacting staff and membership trust.
From that perspective, the issue before the board is not one of blame, but of accountability. The role of general manager is ultimately accountable for the health of the organization and its processes, and when an organization remains in sustained crisis, it is appropriate, however difficult, to evaluate whether a change in leadership is necessary to restore stability and trust. I believe the board has the collective wisdom to make that assessment. I hope they feel supported by the membership in taking whatever steps are required for Eastsound Water to emerge from the current crisis to once again become an organization that its members view with trust and pride, its board members feel appreciated and its staff feel respected and supported.
