PROPOSAL:
Approve Compensation Packages for Designated Deputies
SYNOPSIS:
The Executive Management Agreements of several Designated Deputies
expire February 29, 2000 and July 31, 2000. In addition, recruitments have been
completed for two Designated Deputy positions. This action is to approve the
compensation package for several Designated Deputies.
COMMITTEE:
None.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Approve the compensation package for the following Designated Deputies:
Barbara Baird, LaRonda Bowen, Jack Broadbent, Dr. Elaine Chang, Peter Greenwald,
Lee Lockie, Larry Rhinehart, Lupe Valdez, Dr. Barry Wallerstein, and Mel Zeldin;
Chris Marlia and Eudora Tharp, as set forth below;
Approve a salary adjustment for District Prosecutor Peter Mieras to provide
parity with District Counsel; and
Authorize the Chairman of the Board to execute Executive Management
Agreements with the Executive Officer and General Counsel.
Dr. William Burke
Chairman of the Board
Background
In 1987, the District established an at-will form of employment whereby
senior management employees serve at the pleasure of the Executive Officer1 under
an Executive Management Agreement. Several Executive Management Agreements
between the District and its Designated Deputies expire this year: February 29,
2000 for Ms. Baird, Ms. Bowen, Mr. Broadbent, Mr. Eichhorn, Mr. Greenwald and
Mr. Zeldin and July 31, 2000 for Dr. Chang, Ms. Lockie, Mr. Rhinehart, Ms.
Valdez, and Dr. Wallerstein. In addition, the Executive Officer has completed
the recruitment for Assistant Deputy Executive Officer for Administrative &
Human Resources and Assistant Deputy Executive Officer for Information
Management, both in the Office of Administration.
1except Executive Officer and General Counsel who
serve at the pleasure of the Governing Board pursuant to statute (H&S Sec.
40480(b) and 40483, respectively)
CONTRACT RENEWALS:
Barbara Baird
Barbara has been employed at the District for ten years and currently serves
as District Counsel, a position she has held since 1995. She previously served
as Principal Deputy District Counsel from 1990-1995. Before coming to the
District, she served for nine years as Deputy County Counsel in San Diego,
primarily handling litigation, including representing the San Diego Air
Pollution Control District in all enforcement matters.
Barbara is able to handle complex and difficult issues while remaining
sensitive to the concerns of all AQMD stakeholders, including environmental and
community groups. This is demonstrated by her ability to draft and obtain
stakeholder support for AQMD’s comments on EPA’s Interim Guidance on Title
VI (Environmental Justice) challenges to permit decisions. These comments were
described by an EPA attorney as among the most constructive comments received by
the agency. Barbara also played a critical role in the AQMP lawsuits as well as
many other items.
Under her leadership, Barbara’s office provides timely, knowledgeable, and
responsive advice and representation in all areas of District operations. A key
accomplishment under Barbara’s management has been bringing in-house a
significant part of employment and labor law matters, which has resulted in
significantly reducing legal bills in this area since FY 94-95. As District
Counsel, Barbara advises a number of Board and advisory committees. Her
knowledgeable and helpful input into nearly every major legal issue arising at
the District has made her a key member of the management team, and her
objective, well-thought out advice provides reliable guidance to the Board and
staff.
LaRonda Bowen
LaRonda Bowen has been with the AQMD for ten years, and has served as Public
Advisor since 1993. During the past three years, she has developed initial
program implementation guidelines and mechanisms for tracking and reporting on
the Board's Environmental Justice Initiatives; and she has helped implement the
Inland Empire Initiatives as well as the Children's Air Quality Agenda,
resulting in various important conferences and outreach efforts.
She sought and gained support for AQMD Governing Board legislative
initiatives by securing letters of support for bills to reauthorize the clean
fuels bill in both 1998 and 1999. She secured a $100,000 grant from USEPA to
implement a multi-state project to demonstrate emissions reductions from
education and outreach; designed and implemented the Clean Air Ambassadors
program in concert with Assemblywoman Martha Escutia’s office; oversaw the
automation of the small business assistance workload; and enhanced outreach to
building departments. As Chair of the Air & Waste Management Association's
Environmental Management Group of the Technical Council and as the Vice-Chair of
the local West Coast Section, La Ronda has represented AQMD at meetings with top
EPA executives related to small business and has made presentations at national
conferences and to local organizations on small business.
La Ronda has advised that she will be relocating to the Sacramento area and
has requested only a six-month contract. Therefore, this action is to enter into
a contract for a period ending July 31, 2000, with no compensation change. Since
La Ronda has indicated she will voluntarily resign at the end of six months, the
standard contract provisions regarding severance pay and outsource benefits have
been deleted.
Jack Broadbent
Jack Broadbent has been with the District for over ten years, serving in
progressively responsible positions, and currently serves as Deputy Executive
Officer for Planning, Rule Development and Area Sources. In this position, he is
responsible for providing direction for the AQMD's plans and policies, rule
development, and permitting and compliance activities for area sources. During
his current contract, Jack has continued to make significant contributions to a
number of air quality programs. Most recently, he directed the office in several
important policy efforts including the development of the 1999 Amendment to the
1997 Air Quality Management Plan and, in coordination with the Office of Science
and Technology Advancement, the Multiple Air Toxics Exposure Study II (MATES II)
program.
Jack has successfully developed many rules/rule amendments to implement the
Air Quality Management Plan such as amendments to Rules 1113 (Architectural
Coatings), 1121 (Water Heaters), and 1171 (Solvent Cleaning), and rules on
sources previously unregulated such as Restaurants (Rule 1138) and Small Boilers
and Large Water Heaters (Rule 1146.2). Jack led the staff's efforts to amend
Rule 1401 under the Board's Environmental Justice Initiative #10.
During the past three years, Jack also served as an Assistant Deputy
Executive Officer for the former Office of Stationary Source Compliance. In this
position, he was responsible for permitting and compliance activities for small
sources. Jack successfully streamlined permit procedures and eliminated
unnecessary permit requirements. Jack was also responsible for designing the
permit and compliance procedures to implement Environmental Justice Initiative
#9, which assists in protecting sensitive receptors in the Basin from emissions
from portable equipment.
Melvin Zeldin
Mel has been with the AQMD for ten years and currently serves as the
Assistant Deputy Executive Officer for Science and Technology Advancement, with
primary responsibilities for the operation of the agency's air monitoring
network, laboratory, and source testing functions. He is a nationally recognized
leader in air quality measurement and research programs, serving on several key
state and local panels.
For the past 11 years, Mel has served as a member of the California Air
Resources Board's Research Screening Committee, which oversees the ARB's
extramural research program; he was recently appointed to EPA's prestigious
Clean Air Science Advisory Committee (CASAC) as a member of the Fine Particulate
Subcommittee; he has served, for the past year and a half, as co-chair of the
STAPPA/ALAPCO Monitoring Committee; and in 1997, he represented the AQMD at
EPA's FACA Subcommittee on the new fine particulate standards.
During the three years of his current contract, Mel has been instrumental in
the design and successful completion of several key studies. First and foremost
is the landmark MATES-II study. Mel directed the field and laboratory effort
from inception to its conclusion, and has served as the AQMD's lead spokesperson
for this study. With the development of the new fine particulate monitoring
network, he has been at the forefront of dialogue with EPA to assure that
sufficient federal funding is available for the establishment and operation of
the PM2.5 network, and that the network satisfies federal requirements. Under
his leadership, the AQMD instituted the TEP-2000 program, collecting speciated
fine particulate samples to support the upcoming 2001 AQMP; established an
appropriate particulate monitoring program for the harbor area in support of the
AQMD's adoption of Rule 1158; conducted a mountain area summer ozone study;
implemented a special study to determine the effectiveness of an ozone catalyst
at schools in the Inland Empire; embarked on a special research program, with
EPA funding assistance, to determine a laboratory technique for directly
measuring diesel exhaust in ambient air; and designed and conducted special
sampling in and around LAX.
In addition to all these targeted programs, Mel improved the overall
efficiency of the Monitoring and Analysis Division. This includes streamlining
processes to review facility data reports on Continuous Emission Monitors (CEMs);
updating field monitoring equipment and data recording methods to take advantage
of recent technological advances; and improving field site security. During the
most recent complete year of monitoring data, 1998, the data valid rate exceeded
98% -- the highest level in four years.
Elaine Chang
Elaine has been with the AQMD for over ten years, serving in progressively
responsible positions, and current serves as Assistant Deputy Executive Officer
in the Office of Planning, Rule Development & Area Sources, with primary
responsibilities for the development of air quality management plans and
policies, and rule development. During the period of her current contract, she
has provided critical technical and policy support to the SIP litigation and
settlement discussions. She was also instrumental in the successful development
and adoption of the 1999 Amendment to the 1997 AQMP. These projects demonstrated
her ability to manage complex technical and policy issues in an innovative and
effective manner and to seek solutions satisfactory to all stakeholders,
including state and federal agencies, and the business and environmental
communities.
Elaine directed the Planning staff effort in the development of comprehensive
toxic inventories and modeling analyses as part of the Multiple Air Toxics
Exposure Study II (MATES II) program. She was also responsible for the
development and implementation of a technical enhancement program, specifically
in the areas of emissions inventory and air quality modeling to provide a sound
technical foundation to support the upcoming 2001 AQMP.
Elaine has led the staff effort in streamlining the AB2588 program, resulting
in the completion of over 60 Health Risk Assessments last year, exceeding any of
the previous years, and with fewer staff resources. She has also successfully
amended several rules to address regulatory concerns or to implement the AQMP,
such as Rules 1121 (Residential Water Heaters), 1130 (Printing Operations), 1104
(Wood Flat Stock), and 1106.1 (Pleasure Craft).
Larry Rhinehart
Larry Rhinehart has been with the AQMD for over 9 years and currently serves
as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, responsible for Local Government
Programs in Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Larry is responsible
for working interactively with local government officials in response to their
local air quality concerns and problems. Larry’s major activities have
included listening to and understanding local government needs and
sensitivities, educating and helping local officials address various air quality
issues that confront their communities, and influencing AQMD actions and
programs that acknowledge the efforts, role and importance of local government
in the overall effort to achieve clean air in the region.
During the period of Larry’s current contract, he has effectively provided
information and assistance to local elected officials on such important issues
as the Governing Board’s "Environmental Justice Initiatives", the
"Children’s Air Quality Agenda" initiatives, Rule 1186
implementation, the Mates II Study, and the 1997 AQMP/EPA actions including the
1997 Ozone SIP Revision. He has met with mayors and council members in Orange,
Riverside and San Bernardino counties and helped obtain their support in the
successful campaign to obtain reauthorization of AQMD’s "Clean Fuels
Program" through the legislative adoption of SB 98. He also has provided
assistance and information to local governments regarding the CARB "EV Loan
Program," the Carl Moyer Program, the AB 2766 Discretionary and Subvention
Fund Programs, and other funding opportunities that would allow cities to attain
their air quality goals.
Lee Lockie
Lee has been with the AQMD for eleven years, and currently serves as Director
of Area Sources in the Office of Planning, Rule Development & Area Sources.
She previously served as Director of Small Business Assistance in the Office of
Public Affairs & Transportation Programs. As Director of the newly-formed
Area Sources Group, she has completed an aggressive work plan for the group. An
important milestone for the new group was the recent amendments to Rule 1171,
Solvent Cleaning Operations, which had industry support for the emission
reduction measures found in the rule.
Her approaches in the last year have led to some successes in achieving
cooperation from businesses and suppliers many of who previously distanced
themselves from involvement in identifying and promoting low-VOC and aqueous
solutions. In addition, the car scrapping program has been actively monitored
and enforced and its credibility continues to be enhanced through improved
cooperation from the scrapping companies.
In addition, Lee and her staff have completed on schedule the following
programs: implementation of the boiler and water heater certification program by
January 1, 2000; revival of the dormant Rule 1415 Registration Program estimated
to bring $240,000 in additional district revenue this year; implementation of
the various locations permit program; and development of a more effective
working relationship with local fire departments in administering and enforcing
the open burning program. To more closely align her compensation with current
responsibilities and mindful of the District's tight economic circumstances, Lee
has agreed to a reduction in compensation from $104,481 to $100,460.
Lupe Valdez
Lupe has been with the AQMD for two and one-half years, serving as Deputy
Executive Officer for the Office of Public Affairs & Transportation
Programs. During the period of her current contract, she has successfully
coordinated and implemented the Environmental Justice Initiatives which included
establishment of the Town Hall meeting process, participation in City of Los
Angeles Environmental Justice Forum, and hiring an Environmental Justice
Coordinator; several Inland Empire Initiatives, and the Children's Air Quality
Initiatives which included launching the Children’s Advisory Task Force.
In addition, she has externalized the function of our representation in
Sacramento and Washington, D.C. and established the in-house assistant
legislative staff function; staff the Local Government & Small Business
Assistance Advisory Group, coordinate increased liaison work with local, state,
and federal elected officials. She has realigned the Transportation functions
upon addition of the transportation unit to Public Affairs, and reorganized and
merged radio/communications staff with transportation staff. She has expanded
outreach efforts to successfully incorporate local government support of the
Clean Fuels Technology Program leading to reauthorization of the enabling
legislation, increase communications with Sacramento and Washington staff, and
streamlined outreach materials and reformatted quarterly sessions for Rule 2202
regulated businesses.
Peter Mieras
Peter Mieras is the District Prosecutor, with responsibility for the full
range of prosecutorial functions and representation of the District before the
Hearing Board. To ensure compensation parity with the District Counsel, and in
recognition of outstanding performance, the Executive Officer proposes to adjust
Peter Mieras' salary to be the same as the salary for the District Counsel.
Barry R. Wallerstein
Barry Wallerstein has been with the AQMD for 16 years and during the period
of his current contract he was promoted by the Board to Executive Officer from
the position of Deputy Executive Officer for the former Office of Planning,
Transportation & Information Management. During his tenure as Executive
Officer, Barry has managed the full range of operational functions of the AQMD
with great leadership, including the adoption of SIP rules, and implementation
of many innovative Board directives. He has worked diligently to improve air
quality and protect the health of individuals who live and work in the region,
while being sensitive to the concerns of the area's businesses.
He successfully managed negotiations with employee bargaining units to
achieve a three-year agreement with union-represented employees, thereby
providing workforce stability over an extended period. He reorganized the
internal structure of AQMD to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness
and enhanced the compliance and permit processing functions. He has overseen
policy matters related to several landmark rules, e.g., architectural coatings
(1113) and petroleum coke dust at area ports (1158), and played an active role
in improving agency relations with the California legislature and the U. S.
Congress.
Significant achievements also include the settlement of the litigation
relating to the 1997 Air Quality Management Plan and adoption and pending
federal approval of amendments to that Plan, passage of legislation
reauthorizing the Clean Fuels program, completion of the comprehensive MATES II
report analyzing community cancer risk, and significantly improved community
outreach.
Several Board initiatives have been implemented in a progressive and
innovative manner by the Executive Officer, including the Children's Air Quality
Agenda, the Ad Hoc Inland Empire Committee recommendations, the Environmental
Justice Initiatives--and the ongoing Town Hall meetings with various
communities, the Permit Streamlining Task Force, and the Air Quality Investment
Program to fund emission-reduction projects. Mindful of the District’s tight
economic circumstances, Dr. Wallerstein has not asked for any adjustments to his
current contract.
Peter Greenwald
Peter Greenwald has been with the AQMD for nineteen years and currently
serves as General Counsel. During the period of his current contract, he has
served the Board and staff in an outstanding manner. His leadership has guided
both the District Counsel’s Office and the District Prosecutor’s Office to
effectively carry out their missions. He has provided knowledgeable, prompt, and
thorough advice to the Board and District staff in all areas of legal
representation.
Peter has assured the legal adequacy of major Board actions including the
architectural coatings amendment (Rule 1113), the solvent coatings rule (Rule
1171), and the 1999 SIP amendment and many others. He was instrumental in
revising the District’s BACT Guidelines and played an important role in
resolving cases with EPA involving alleged BACT violations. Finally, he played a
key role in achieving the recent settlement in the SIP litigation, which
provides a reasonable path to achieving clean air, while achieving unprecedented
flexibility implementing SIP requirements. In supervising the District’s
prosecutorial function, Peter has adhered to a philosophy of enforcement that
provides an adequate deterrent to future violations, fairness to regulated
sources, and prompt resolution to enforcement matters.
Since Mr. Greenwald is currently on sabbatical, and a revised salary needs to
be negotiated which is consistent with the salary revisions proposed above for
his deputies, an adjusted salary recommendation will be brought to the Board
just prior to his return. In the interim, his current contract will be extended
until October 1, 2000 without changes.
ASSISTANT DEPUTY EXECUTIVE OFFICER RECRUITMENTS:
Promotional recruitments were held for two Designated Deputy
positions--Assistant Deputy Executive Officer for Administrative & Human
Resources and Assistant Deputy Executive Officer for Information
Management--both in the Office of Administration. The Executive Officer has
selected the most highly-qualified candidates and recommends the Board approve
the compensation package for them, as follows:
Eudora Tharp
Eudora Tharp, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer for Administrative and Human
Resources, at the Assistant DEO salary of $105,153, effective February 21, 2000
for a term ending January 31, 2003.
As Acting Director of Administrative and Human Resources for the past year,
Eudora has been responsible for directing human resources and business and
building services operations. This past year’s responsibilities have included
bargaining labor contracts with three bargaining units, overseeing human
resources’ conversion to new PeopleSoft information management software to
meet a Y2K compliance deadline, and providing administrative support regarding
staff assignments and physical relocations relating to reorganizations and
leasing of headquarters space. Since joining AQMD in 1988, Eudora has served as
Human Resources Manager and Human Resources Analyst. She has a bachelor’s
degree in chemistry and biology and an M.B.A. in management. Her experience
before coming to AQMD includes personnel work at San Bernardino County and work
in laboratory research, as a college instructor, and as an editor.
Christopher Marlia
Christopher Marlia, Assistant Deputy Executive Officer for Information
Management, at the Assistant DEO salary of $105,153, effective February 21, 2000
for a term ending January 31, 2003.
Chris brings over 16 years of scientific and information technology
experience to this position. During this tenure, he has held progressively
responsible positions in both the Planning and Information Management divisions.
Joining the AQMD in 1983, he was promoted to Planning supervisor in 1987, and
manager in Information Management in 1992. He has served as Acting Director in
Information Management since March 1999. Throughout these assignments, Chris has
demonstrated the ability to implement strategic information technologies and has
cost-effectively automated and streamlined enterprise-wide activities.
Chris has been responsible for supervising several modeling projects related
to AQMP development, as well as the District’s Point Source Modeling unit; in
addition, he has supervised many modeling projects for rule-development and CEQA
analyses. With the adoption of the RECLAIM program in 1995, he was promoted to
Technology Implementation Manager in IM. Chris oversaw the migration of the
District’s mission-critical data and software programs from the existing
legacy system to a client-server open-relational database system and managed the
development of new software programs to support business processes of RECLAIM.
He successfully guided the District’s systems through a smooth rollover of the
Y2K transition; migrated Banyan VINES network to the new MS Windows NT network;
and implemented several other mission-critical software systems.
Chris’ strong scientific air quality background, extensive knowledge of the
AQMD’s core programs, and in-depth experience in managing and implementing
information technology-related functions provide him with unique qualifications
for this assignment.
Proposal
Consistent with Board policy regarding compensation of Designated Deputies,
and to appropriately align Designated Deputy salaries, the Executive Officer
proposes to enter into the following Executive Management Agreements at the
compensation stated:
- with Barbara Baird for the position of District Counsel at an increase in
annual salary from $107,031 to $115,000, effective February 1, 2000, for a
term ending January 31, 2003;
- with Peter Mieras to adjust his salary to $115,000, effective with the
first pay period following Board approval, with no other change to his current
contract;
- with LaRonda Bowen for the position of Public Advisor at no change in
annual salary effective February 1, 2000, for a term ending July 31, 2000.
Because Ms. Bowen has indicated she intends to relocate to the Sacramento area
and to voluntarily resign as of July 31, 2000, the provisions of the standard
contract relating to severance and outsource benefits are omitted in her
contract;
- with Jack Broadbent for the position of Deputy Executive Officer for the
Office of Planning, Rule Development & Area Sources, at an increase in
annual salary from $103,686 to $109,448, effective February 1, 2000, for a
term ending January 31, 2003;
- with Melvin Zeldin for the position of Assistant Deputy Executive Officer
for the Office of Science & Technology Advancement at an increase in
annual salary from $101,456 to $105,153, effective February 1, 2000, for a
term ending January 31, 2003;
- with Larry Rhinehart for the position of Local Government Director in the
Office of Public Affairs & Transportation Programs, with no change in
annual salary (plus any across-the-board increase for management employees if
such should occur prior to August 1, 2000), effective August 1, 2000, for a
term ending July 31, 2003;
- with Elaine Chang for the position of Assistant Deputy Executive Officer in
the Office of Planning, Rule Development & Area Sources, at an increase in
annual salary from $101,456 to $105,153 (plus any across-the-board increase
for management employees if such should occur prior to August 1, 2000),
effective August 1, 2000, for a term ending July 31, 2003;
- with Lupe Valdez for the position of Deputy Executive Officer in the Office
of Public Affairs & Transportation Programs, at an increase in annual
salary from $103,840 to $109,448 (plus any across-the-board increase for
management employees if such should occur prior to August 1, 2000), effective
August 1, 2000, for a term ending July 31, 2003;
- with Lee Lockie for the position of Director of Area Sources in the Office
of Planning, Rule Development & Area Sources, at a reduction in annual
salary from $104,481 to $100,460 (plus any across-the-board increase for
management employees if such should occur prior to August 1, 2000), effective
August 1, 2000, for a term ending July 31, 2003;
- with Eudora Tharp for the position of Assistant Deputy Executive Officer
for Administrative and Human Resources, at an annual salary of $105,153,
effective February 21, 2000, for a term ending January 31, 2003;
- with Chris Marlia for the position of Assistant Deputy Executive Officer
for Information Management, at an annual salary of $105,153, effective
February 21, 2000, for a term ending January 31, 2003.
The Chairman proposes that the Board extend the following Executive
Management Agreements:
- with Barry R. Wallerstein for the position of Executive Officer, at his
current annual salary (plus any across-the-board increase for management
employees if such should occur prior to August 1, 2000), effective August 1,
2000, for a term ending July 31, 2003.
- with Peter Greenwald for the position of General Counsel until October 1,
2000, with no other changes to his current contract;
The Designated Deputies whose contracts are being renewed have been informed
by the Executive Officer that he is not recommending a performance payment for
them at this time, and he declines the same for himself, due to the agency's
overall financial situation and other considerations. Future cost of living
adjustments will be according to the standard contract provision in the
Executive Management Agreements and equivalent to that provided to other
Management employees.
Fiscal Impacts
The cost for the current fiscal year is approximately $7,615. Sufficient
funds for salaries and benefits are allocated in the current year's budget and
will be allocated in future years' budgets. The proposed salaries are generally
consistent with salaries previously approved by the Board and recommendations
from a consultant report on management salaries. This action will also maintain
salary equity within the designated deputy group by reflecting changes in
responsibility under the recently revised organizational structure.
Attachments
Proposed Executive Management Agreements
(The Designated Deputy class specification to be attached to each contract is
provided at the end of the package.)
|
