After the Burbank City Council voted on February 15 to relieve Paul Herman of his duties on the Water and Power Board, a second board member has now resigned in protest.
Jordan Smith, who was appointed to the board in 2011 and has been reappointed twice said in an email to the Council on February 18 that he because of “…recent actions by the Burbank City Council that not only conflict with my values, particularly the values of integrity and respect, but also the values and responsibilities of the BWP Board.”
After the removal of Herman, fellow board member Ryan Ford submitted his resignation to the council for, “Requiring his vaccination as a condition for volunteering on a Board or Commission, when meetings are online, is indefensible. It doesn’t matter if Mr. Herman’s medical privacy arguments are accepted or rejected. Your position is without merit.”
When the item went for discussion at the Council meeting, things got a little contentious amongst councilmembers and at one point Frutos accused Mayor Jess Talamantes of trying to silence him.
Frutos had said In the past that ‘the rules are the rules’ when it came to the removal of board members which Talamantes reminded him of. Frutos explained that was because of attendance or residency and this was a special situation.
When the Council ultimately voted, the vote was 3 to 2 to remove Herman from the board. Both Frutos and Councilmember Springer voted to keep him in place.
After his removal, Herman commented that “I took a stand that went against the grain of their perceived authority and cast a light on the absurdity of their policy.
I pointed out how absurd it is to compel an individual to provide evidence of their vaccination status in order to attend a virtual meeting, and they punished me for it. I appreciate Councilmembers Springer and Frutos for supporting me and pointing how the decision to remove me defied logic and common sense,”
With Smith’s resignation, the Board is now down to four of the appointed seven members with Justin Bardin, Robert Brody, Cynthia J. LaCamera, and Philippe Eskandar remaining. As a seven-member board, four members still make a quorum to hold meetings and are able to pass items with a 3 to 1 vote unless there are special circumstances, according to Burbank City Clerk Zizette Mullins.
When reached after the second resignation, Herman was very surprised by both decisions.
“None of this was orchestrated and I’m personally shocked by both resignations. I’m concerned because the BWP board has now lost a combined 28 years of experience. The BWP board requires a steep learning curve to get up to speed on relevant issues. Both the water and power industries are unique and complex and require a lot of institutional knowledge. You can’t just plug in three new board members and move on business as usual.
The BWP board is unique on Burbank boards and commissions for its ability to approve contracts and set policy. We are now at a critical juncture regarding the budget approval process and I’m deeply afraid the board may not be adequately resourced to review and recommend a budget for Council.”
In his resignation letter, Smith said that “Paul Herman presented no danger to anyone. Even if he were unvaccinated (he is not and declared this publicly) he could not possibly harm anyone in the city in his duties as a Board member, because none of the Board members or staff gather together – an essential requirement to spread an infectious disease. Rather than making a simple accommodation, Misters Schultz, Konstantine, and Talamantes wished to press the full weight of power arbitrarily and fired him. This is unacceptable.”
Herman is worried about the board with the need to now appoint three new members. “I’m concerned because the BWP board has now lost a combined 28 years of experience. The BWP board requires a steep learning curve to get up to speed on relevant issues. Both the water and power industries are unique and complex and require a lot of institutional knowledge. You can’t just plug in three new board members and move on business as usual.
There is a much larger conversation we could have about BWP’s upcoming budget and the impacts from inflation, labor costs, and operating expenses. BWP is at the most critical juncture it’s been in decades and we are looking at radical increases in utility rates for a variety of reasons.”
