There is a new member on the five-person MUS Board of Commissioners.
After councilmembers rejected the first two mayoral nominations (Max Biery and Jim Sexton) to the Morristown Utility System Board of Commissioners, Mayor Thomas made a third pick yesterday, and the full council then approved his appointment of Bryan Dickerson to the MUS Board in a 7-0 vote.
Dickerson will take the seat currently held by Max Biery who was nominated by the Mayor from a list of three persons provided to him by MUS but whose re-appointment to the MUS Board was rejected by a majority of councilmembers (Garrett, LeBel, Alvis, and Bivens) on July 16.
The MUS Board of Commissioners met last Friday, August 16, to prepare a third slate of names to submit to Mayor Danny Thomas for his recommendation of one of those individuals to the full council to replace MUS Commissioner Max Biery. [Biery's re-appointment to the MUS Board by the Mayor was rejected on July 16 by the council.]
The five MUS Commissioners recommended that the names of Bryan Dickerson, Steve Isaacs, and Wally Long be submitted to the Mayor.
BACKGROUND
The Mayor nominated Biery for re-appointment back on July 16, 2013, but four members of the council voted to reject the re-appointment. Those opposed to Biery's nomination were councilmembers Bob Garrett, former head of the MUS Water Department; Paul LeBel; Dennis Alvis; and Chris Bivens. The video and vote is here.
MUS submitted another list of three names, and five councilmembers then rejected the mayor's nomination of Jim Sexton of MAHLE to the MUS Board on August 6, 2013. Voting to reject Sexton's nomination were Bob Garrett, former head of the MUS Water Department; Dennis Alvis; Chris Bivens; Kay Senter; and Gary Chesney. The video and vote is here
There is a power struggle for control of the MUS Board of Commissioners--especially with steps being taken ever more rapidly to transfer city sewer operations to MUS.
On July 26, the five-member MUS (Morristown Utility Systems) Board chose a (second) slate of three individuals for appointment to the Board of Commissioners and sent the list to the Mayor. The list was comprised of Bryan Dickerson, Jim Sexton, and Glenn Thompson.
As the law requires, the Mayor presented the name of one of the MUS nominees to the council yesterday--Jim Sexton of MAHLE.
Bob Garrett immediately made a motion to reject Sexton. Garrett is a former longtime employee of MUS and headed the Water Department for many, many years.
The vote to reject was 5-1. Garrett, Kay Senter, Chris Bivens, Dennis Alvis, and Gary Chesney voted to reject Sexton (Paul LeBel was absent). Mayor Danny Thomas supported Sexton.
No one said anything during the public portion of the meeting as to why he or she opposed Sexton.
All that is publicly evident at this time is the power struggle to control the MUS Board and that a majority of council do not want Max Biery or Jim Sexton on the Board or maybe they just don't want anyone that the Mayor nominates---even though the Mayor is simply selecting from the list provided to him by the MUS Board of Commissioners.
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Back on July 16 four councilmembers (Garrett, Bivens, Alvis, and LeBel) voted to reject the mayor's nomination of sitting MUS commissioner Max Biery---who was on the previous slate of three individuals recommended to the Mayor by the MUS Board of Commissioners.
Click here to go to the post with video of the rejection of Biery by council.
Max Biery, former head of JTEKT, has served as a Morristown Utility Commissioner for about 12 years.
His current term on the MUS Board expires this year. In June, the MUS Board prepared a slate of three nominees, including Biery, for the Mayor's selection and council's confirmation or rejection in July. That slate consisted of Biery, Steve Isaacs, and Terry Brimer.
On July 16, 2013, the Mayor nominated Biery from that slate, but the Morristown City Council in a 4-3 vote rejected Biery's nomination for another term as a utility commissioner. The votes to reject Biery's nomination came from Dennis Alvis, Bob Garrett, Paul LeBel, and Chris Bivens.
On July 26, 2013, the MUS Board met and Biery, leaving off the names of Isaacs and Brimer, proposed a completely new slate of three nominees to send to the Mayor: Bryan Dickerson, Jim Sexton, and Glenn Thompson.
That video is here:
Earlier in the same meeting, Biery alluded to the fact that this meeting could be his last when he asked Clark Rucker for one "last" explanation of a degree day.
The Mayor's nomination of an individual to take Biery's place followed by a "yes" or "no" vote by the full council will likely take place at the Council's August 6, 2013, meeting.
Married. Three grown children. Taught school 11 years. Entered law school in 2001. Graduated and passed the bar in 2004. Licensed attorney in Tennessee. Hamblen County Commissioner (2002-2006). Focused on accountability, ethics, and openness in government at all levels.
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