The BWL Board of Commissioners as currently configured does not provide effective governance. Too often it accedes without adequate investigation to proposals from management, including plans for spending tens of millions of dollars on new capital projects and setting rate increases. The Lansing city charter defines the role of the Board of Commissioners and the way rate increase proposals are considered, among other things. In order to make the Board of Commissioners more responsive to the community, more transparent, and more effective, the charter commission should consider the following:

​

• Make the process and selection of members to all boards and commissions more transparent and a joint responsibility of the city council and the administration. Currently, the process is opaque and does not serve the residents well. We believe that a more open process will ensure better representation on all boards and commissions.

• The Board of Commissioners of the Lansing Board of Water and Light (BWL) should remain an independent administrative board, as it is now. However, the Board of Commissioners should be restructured to include two city council members or designees. BWL is a $420 million a year company, and the owners, i.e. the residents of the city, deserve a governing board that will hold management accountable, not routinely approving their requests with no probing questions or independent analysis. The Model City Charter Provisions from the American Public Power Association describes under its “General Provisions” on page 1 a structure that includes representatives of the administration and/or city council. Our proposal does not hew too far from that model.

• Members of boards and commissions should serve no more than two consecutive terms. Appointed positions are not the same as elected positions. Unlike elected offices where experience has shown that term limits do not lead to better governance, the direct opposite is true for appointed positions. The Model City Charter document explicitly supports this position by unequivocally saying: “No commissioner shall serve for more than two consecutive terms.” (p. 1, “Organization of the Board”, (b) Appointment and tenure)

• The internal auditor should be appointed by the city council rather than the Board of Commissioners. This would ensure that the auditor can offer a truly independent opinion when investigating processes and controls within BWL.

• Reform the processes for rate setting and capital funding for large projects.

• Give the non-Lansing members of the Board of Commissioners a vote. It makes no sense to invite other municipalities to participate in the governance process but without a vote. That renders their presence nearly meaningless. At your November 26 meeting, you heard Bob Worthy, the Delta Township representative, express his frustration with the current situation. We strongly support his view that it must change.

​