Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities chief Doug Bean, who has been in the spotlight recently amid complaints about high water bills in the county, plans to retire March 1, the city of Charlotte announced Tuesday.
Mr. Bean, who is 59, has overseen the utility since April 1994. Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities now has 800 employees and a $250 million annual budget, and serves 775,000 citizens in the county. His oversaw the utility’s response to the drought two years ago and has been the utility’s public face recently amid a rash of customer complaints about unusually high water bills.
In a press release Tuesday, he said he wanted to step down in advance of budget planning for next year.
“This schedule makes sense, both for me and for the organization,” he said in the statement. “The budget process will begin in March, and it seems sensible to make room for others to review past budget approaches and decide how to provide resources for the future.”
Mr. Bean also said the change will give him time to focus on the high-bill issue. Last week, the utility announced it was shifting 10 employees to study the issue. The city of Charlotte said in its announcement Tuesday that Mr. Bean “will deliver additional findings and recommendations to the City Manager prior to his departure.”
Mr. Bean said Tuesday that he had been contemplating retiring for some time.
But some think Mr. Bean’s departure is directly related to the high bill issue. Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte told WFAE-FM he thinks Mr. Bean is taking the fall. “I would definitely describe it as completely unfortunate,” says Tarte. “I think he’s a good person. It’s just that, you know, somebody’s being held accountable.”
In 36 years in public service, Mr. Bean also served as city manager in Morganton and Asheville.
RELATED LINKS
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities announcement of Doug Bean’s retirement.
See DavidsonNews.net’s past coverage of the water bill issue under the “water bills” tag.
Feb. 3, 2010, Julie Rose, WFAE-FM, “Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities chief stepping down.”
Feb 2, 2010, Susan Stabley, Charlotte Business Journal “Going Green” blog, “Doug Bean, On His Retirement.”
Does it really matter if Mr Bean takes the fall for the spike in water bills, shotty equipment, and poor management.
-Are we going to see a repeal of the 15% rate increase that was instated for the drought?
-How long are we going to pay for the drought of 2007?
As I recall the statements made by the Charlotte City Council, we were paying the 15% increase because we as residents and business owners did our part and conserved water, so we had to pay 15% to keep the CMU from firing or laying off any employees.