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Ann gets a hand
Secretary Bill Richardson talked about the high quality of DOE employees during his visit to BPA. He said BPA employees are a good example of dedicated federal servants. And he picked out long-time public affairs clerk Ann Skalicky for recognition. Skalicky retired from BPA on March 31, 1996, and the next Monday “reported” back to work as a volunteer in the public affairs group. When she retired, Skalicky had 51 years of federal service – 31 of them with BPA. Employees gave Skalicky a standing ovation. Following his talk and questions and answers, Richardson hugged Skalicky and the two posed for photos. |
Department of Energy Secretary Bill Richardson marked a couple of firsts when he visited BPA in September. Richardson said his stop at BPA was his first visit to a power marketing agency. It was also the first visit to BPA by a DOE secretary since former BPA Administrator Don Hodel became DOE head.
Richardson had a whirlwind schedule for his Sept. 8-9 visit. On Sept. 8, he toured the Dittmer Control Center and then took part in the national drill on Y2K readiness from Dittmer at midnight. Early on the morning of Sept. 9, Richardson flew over the lower Snake River dams, accompanied by Administrator Judi Johansen.
On his return to Portland, the secretary spoke at an all-employee meeting at BPA – he calls them “all hands” meetings. He then answered employee questions before going to a meeting with Northwest community leaders, including BPA utility customers and public interest groups. Finally, he wrapped up his stay with a lunch hosted by BPA’s Pluralism Council.
Regional news media covered Richardson’s visit for the Y2K test. Clocks at the Dittmer Center rolled over at midnight to the date 9/9/99 without a hitch. Richardson told employees that morning that BPA passed the second national Y2K test easily.
The secretary told a packed auditorium at BPA that he was happy to be visiting “the crown jewel of our federal power system.” He said, “BPA is critical to the everyday lives of millions of people.” He drew a long round of applause when he said BPA would not be privatized. “You are going to stay as part of the federal family as long as I’m secretary,” he said.
Richardson said that BPA will continue to have challenges to compete, and he felt confident BPA would continue to offer low-cost power with many other benefits. He said he didn’t want to prejudice decisions about whether or not the federal government should breach Snake River dams. But he said, “I’m proud that BPA is paying for so much of the effort to restore fish and wildlife.”
Gerry Meaney had to take off his apron to make an “emergency” run to the store. He returned in a few minutes with a load of dozens more of frozen hamburgers. And the executive chefs resumed their grilling for a waiting line of hungry BPA employees.
The event was the late September Power Business Line picnic to celebrate a year of many successes. PBL employees turned out en masse at the Carousel Courtyard near Portland headquarters. So much so that the executive chefs ran out of hamburgers.
But, when Meaney returned with the new supplies, Senior Vice President Paul Norman and vice presidents Allen Burns, Greg Delwiche and Terry Esvelt fired up the grills once more.
During the picnic, customer account executives and work group managers staffed serving lines. And other PBL folks like budget analyst Meaney, executive assistant Cheryl Larson and communications coordinator Jenny Roehm ran errands, took door prize tickets and filled in where needed.
With most staffers’ plates or stomachs full, Norman took the center stage mike for a short program. Volunteers picked several names of employees for door prizes. And Norman thanked and congratulated everyone for an outstanding year for PBL.
Seeds planted at February’s strategic planning session have sprouted. BPA plans to beef up its rewards and recognition program to start the new fiscal year. And, in January 2000, most managers will be under a new performance appraisal system.
At the Sept. 14 executive board meeting, BPA leaders decided to go forward with the initiatives that were recommended by headlight teams in February. They focus on BPA’s high performing organization (HPO) goals. One gives more weight to HPO values in performance appraisals and contracts for managers.
Executive board members agreed that change must start with them. So the new system starts with the vice presidents and the managers who report to them. In the new appraisal process, at least 51 percent of a manager’s evaluation will be based on the seven elements of the HPO vision.
Chief Operating Officer Steve Hickok says managers must focus on the HPO initiatives. “They could address potentially 80 percent of the issues raised in the employee survey,” he says.
The contracts will spell out two expected results. One is changes in the workplace environment. The other is improvement of the manager’s competencies.
A technical team is now working with Hickok and other board members to develop a prototype contract. BPA wants the contract to include performance measurement and ties to the rewards program. The system should be in place by the second quarter of this fiscal year and it will govern performance ratings and awards for this year.
BPA’s rewards and recognition program has several proposed changes that will go to the bargaining units for review. All the program money would come from a common pool. More of the money would be disbursed at the business line level and lower. And BPA would provide a higher overall level of funding. BPA will publish a personnel letter that gives the details once they are final.
The major complaint about the old rewards and recognition program was that it hadn’t been applied uniformly. Employees perceived that some managers used the system generously and some didn’t. So the workgroup one belonged to appeared to be as important as the work one did when it came to awards. BPA plans to have a rewards and recognition council to monitor use of the program and help assure its broad and fair application.
The executive board will focus on three more HPO initiatives at its October meeting. Those are employee recruitment, the selection/promotion process, and training and certification of supervisors.
Ian Templeton contributed to this article
Readers can relax because this is not another survey. Rather, it’s about the variety of people who read the Circuit and of readers who write or comment.
We wrote about some of the BPA employee comments in recent months. Now let’s look at some of the mail or e-mail we’ve received from people outside of BPA.
Alan Rolston of Billings, Mont., sent an e-mail in mid-March to ask for information about BPA’s fuel cell. “I saw a blurb about the cell in the Circuit magazine that you send to Northern Plains Resources Council,” he wrote.
Substation check -- Substation operator Terry Pantona checks the cooling system on a transformer bank at Ross Substation. |
In April, after a report on BPA’s surplus computer donation program, we got an e-mail from Patrick Rogers of Deer Lodge, Mont. He is with the school district there and was interested in BPA’s program. “One of the local BPA employees shared the Circuit article on this topic,” Rogers said.
In June we heard from an engineer at Hewlett-Packard in Boise, Idaho. Paul Spencer wanted to contact an old college chum, and he saw an almost identical name of a BPA employee under the Circuit anniversary listings. Could that be the same person?
We responded to these and several other outside requests in the past year. We sent the information directly or got the right person at BPA to follow-up.
While we produce the Circuit primarily for employees, the paper goes to outside audiences as well. Our distribution is split about 50-50. We deliver 3,200 copies inside and mail 3,100 copies outside.
The inside copies go to all BPA and contractor employees. The outside copies go to people in different groups. About 1,700 are retirees, 100 are BPA customers or other agencies, 270 go to Northwest news media, and more than 1,000 go to other individuals and businesses that request the paper.
BPA produces other more frequent and specialty newsletters that people outside the agency can get over the Internet. Still, many folks like to receive the Circuit.
Some have shared their reasons in the past. Retirees like to keep up with fellow workers and friends at BPA. Some like to know about agency events and progress, without too much detail. Others still take part in programs such as blood drives, holiday affairs and other Associates events.
Some customers find the features on work groups and BPA projects of interest. And they get to know the BPA people who work on programs they use. Other people outside just like to follow BPA’s work in general. And once in a while, we get a news media call about something that we had in the Circuit.
The Circuit will continue to be a publication primarily about, by and for BPA employees. But we should be aware of the outside audiences as well. BPA retirees are often goodwill ambassadors among their family, friends and neighbors.
Customers may get to know BPA better. Other businesses may better appreciate BPA’s presence and service. The news media and local governments may get a better idea about how BPA employees contribute in their communities.
And then there are people like those mentioned above. They may see the Circuit at their utility, a business or a person’s home. A friend or neighbor may give them an article. Or they may hear someone talking about an article from BPA.
You just never know who might read the Circuit sometimes. Or when it may help put BPA’s best foot forward.
Jack Odgaard, editor
BPA’s Photogrammetry group does a lot of plotting for the agency. It’s not the clandestine type of international espionage of modern spy thrillers. This plotting is good for the agency and the Northwest.
The pictures the Photogrammetry group produces are worth a lot more than a thousand words to BPA.
What is photogrammetry? “We plot maps and produce engineering data from aerial photographs,” explains supervisor Ray Ronald.
The amount of detailed information in the maps may be surprising. For example, a transmission line map shows the number of barns and other structures and the exact location of each one. Maps show the location of brush, trees and other vegetation and their height above the ground. They also show the exact location of streams and access roads as well as the precise location of transmission towers and lines.
BPA engineers use some of the maps to make engineering drawings. BPA line crews use others to do their maintenance work. But the Photogrammetry group also plots maps requested by outside organizations.
The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, for example, requested a map showing the number of Caspian terns on islands in the Columbia River estuary (see the December 1998 issue of the Circuit). The Bureau of Indian Affairs requested a map to estimate the amount of material removed from an open-pit uranium mine.
How does Photogrammetry perform this magic? Ronald says BPA contracts with several companies in the Northwest to do the aerial photography. The companies use aircraft equipped with special cameras. They fly over areas and shoot a series of photographs. Each photo overlaps the previous one in the series by about 60 percent.
Once the film is processed, the real work begins. Civil Engineering Technician David Babbitt demonstrates by placing two overlapping photographs from a series into a stereo plotter. This $340,000 state-of-the-art machine combines the images from the two photographs into a single three-dimensional image. Operators can view it through a pair of lenses in a viewfinder.
The plotter operator sees the 3-D image and a small white dot of light, or floating mark. The operator uses a large mouse with a 10-button keypad to move the floating mark. This “P-cursor” allows the operator to designate objects in the 3-D image and translate them into numerical data. A computer program then converts the data and plots it on a map.
“Depending on the scale we are using,” says Ronald, “our maps can be accurate to one-tenth of a foot. And, because each object in the map is uniquely identified by the computer program, we can extract much useful data.”
Data such as the number of terns on Rice Island. The job of analyzing the aerial photos of Rice and East Sand islands last year fell to Babbitt. He spent three days designating all of the terns, gulls and cormorants he could find in the stereo plotter’s 3-D image. But he didn’t physically count them. That task fell to map editor Kim Salarzon. She used the computer-mapping program to count the terns.
While the high-tech electronic and computer mapping programs are impressive, it still takes skilled operators with sharp eyesight to make it all come together. The photogrammetry folks say their work sometimes follows them home. During his three days of identifying terns, Babbitt says he saw Caspian terns floating before his eyes on his drive home from work.
Hugh Moore is a writer in the communications group
Detailed map and photo work – The Photogrammetry group turns out detailed maps and photos for BPA. (Top right) Ray Ronald watches as David Babbitt runs numbers on the stereo plotter. (Left) Kim Salarzon checks a final map legend proof with Ronald and Babbitt. (Bottom right) A map strip showing three BPA power lines in a coridor between Chehalis and Longview, Wash.
Four administrators had come or gone since 1983 when Jack Robertson came to BPA under Peter Johnson. In August 1987, Jim Jura named Robertson deputy administrator after Bob Ratcliffe retired. Since then, Robertson kept a tradition going of deputy administrators serving longer terms than administrators.
Robertson stayed on through Jura’s five years and then five years with Randy Hardy. He did get a nine-month break from 1997 to June 1998. After Hardy retired, Robertson served as acting administrator until Judi Johansen was named to fill the top BPA post.
After 15 months under his fourth administrator at BPA – third as deputy – Robertson decided to call it quits. He took the Voluntary Separation Incentive at the end of September.
Robertson said he enjoyed his years at BPA, but he wanted to now do something special and unusual with his family – spend a year to travel around the world. So in mid-October, Jack, Debra and son Nicholas head off on their new adventure.
And just before he left BPA, Robertson shared some memories with employees who gathered to say goodbye and share a last laugh. Roast-master Steve Hickok kicked off the program that brought more laughs and smiles for Robertson to take with him.
Roasts and smiles – Retiring Deputy Administrator Jack Robertson had lots of memories and anecdotes to laugh and smile about. Chief Operating Officer Steve Hickok made sure of that. He and Administrator Judi Johansen led a “light roasting” at the Sept. 29 farewell coffee at headquarters.
Speaking of performance! BPA has its share of people who are into high performing outside of the workplace as well as at work. You might say it’s even outside of their personal lives. For this performing is anything but private. It centers on and around the stage.
More than two dozen employees across the region are part of BPA’s off-Broadway scene. They act in community theaters, help produce local playhouses and perform on stage – and off – in a variety of acting forms.
Three headquarters employees have one acting form in common – improvisational theater. They talked recently about their acting and what they like about performing. And they shared some “improv” moments together near the Carousel Courtyard in Portland.
Doug Untalan is a public utilities specialist in Energy Efficiency. This summer he played Prince Escalus in Romeo & Juliet for Portland’s “Shakespeare in the Park” program. That was his first role since graduating in July from the Portland Actors Conservatory two-year professional program. Although he did some acting at Lake Oswego High School (Ore.), Untalan said he didn’t have time for it in college where studies and work took up his five years at the University of Oregon.
But in 1996 he got back into acting with classes at the Portland conservatory. Untalan said he acts because he enjoys it. “But it also fulfills an inner passion. You get to use your imagination and be creative and take risks,” he said. “And, of course, there is the exhilaration of being on stage.”
Of improvisation, Untalan said, “It’s a great way to discover and explore your acting character.” He said improv, “also helps you find ways around roadblocks. It can be creative problem-solving in almost any environment.”
Jim Sapp is a risk analyst in Corporate. He’s also a veteran of improv with ties to Portland’s ComedySportz. He said he got into improv because “I like to try new things every couple of years.” That was almost six years ago when a friend was taking a ComedySportz workshop. “I called and took the workshop with him,” Sapp said, starting in January 1994. He’s been performing there ever since.
“Hacky” Sapp, as he’s known, now also serves as a referee at ComedySportz. That includes acting as emcee on stage and directing the pace and rhythm of the show offstage. He takes suggestions from the audience, helps keep the show moving and controls game time.
Sapp said he likes improv “because it stimulates spontaneity in a person. It promotes dynamic interchanges.” He said, “You don’t think out a script ahead of time and don’t try to verbally construct something.”
Sapp said, “You take the spontaneous images from your mind and act on them. Whatever is in your mind needs to come out quickly.” So what is a new flavor of ice cream that hasn’t been introduced yet? In less than five seconds, Sapp answers, “Broccoli-strawberry raccoon-grapefruit peach surprise.”
Don Carbonari is a financial analyst in Corporate. He also got his improv start at ComedySportz. And while he enjoys the improv, he said he doesn’t spend the time it would take to become a serious performer.
“The first time I went as a drop-in and ended up signing for an eight-week workshop,” Carbonari said. “I enjoy comedy,” he said. “I don’t like to take myself too seriously. I normally am a very serious person, but the paradox is that I like to have fun and make people laugh.”
Carbonari said the draw to improv at ComedySportz for him “is that it is spontaneous, a wholesome atmosphere and family oriented. It’s just good, local, amateur talent,” he said.
Hmmm! Wonder what that ice cream would taste like – broccoli-strawberry raccoon-grapefruit peach surprise.
Suzy Sivyer is an architect in Transmission
(Right) In costume – Doug Untalan is dressed for his part as Prince Escalus in Romeo and Juliet, during Portland’s “Shakespeare in the Park” production this summer. (Left) Improv in the park – Three BPA stage performers hammed it up on a sunny September day in Portland, all to demonstrate improvisational theater in the open. Don Carbonari grabbed the “wheel” to drive, Jim Sapp grabbed him on the curves and Doug Untalan was the back-seat driver – until the crash.
A two-year science apprentice at BPA will lead the student government of Oregon State University this school year. Melanie Spraggins of Troutdale will serve as student president her senior year starting this fall.
Spraggins and her vice president running mate, Joshua Stroud, made Oregon history last spring. They were the first African-American team to be elected to head a student government in any of the state’s public universities.
Spraggins is a general science and food technology major. She plans to attend medical school. She served two summers as a student apprentice at BPA under the Apprenticeships in Science and Engineering. ASE is a program of the Saturday Academy at the Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology.
As a junior at Reynolds High School in Troutdale, Spraggins in 1994 worked on a new warehouse management system at the Ross Complex. As a senior in 1995, she worked on forecasting financial information for BPA clients.
BPA is one of the charter mentor groups for the apprenticeship program. Since the program began in 1990, BPA has mentored 173 students, or 11 percent of the total 1,596 who have taken part.
Office managers from public utilities gave BPA high marks. Secretaries from investor-owned companies liked BPA’s program. Administrative assistants from other Northwest companies praised BPA’s effort.
What they all were talking about was a secretarial conference held in mid-September. The Power Business Line put the two-day program together for office staffs of BPA customers.
Forty office personnel attended from more than 30 customers across the region. They came from public and investor-owned utilities and from other companies in Idaho, Mont., Ore. and Wash.
Linda Palmer in power marketing planned the event with help from other PBL folks. She said this was “the first conference of its kind for BPA, and the idea for it came from a customer.”
Palmer was at another conference in Portland this spring when she visited with Nedda Nelson, a secretary at Western Montana Generation and Transmission. “Nedda said she wished we could see the Bonneville Dam area and BPA operations,” Palmer said. So she took the idea to the other PBL secretaries and they liked it.
“We didn’t waste any time and wanted to have a program ready right after summer,” Palmer said. The result was a two-day program that included a field tour day and a conference day.
The first day the customer group visited Bonneville Dam and the Bonneville Hatchery. They toured the visitor center, powerhouse and fish ladders at the dam. Guides Don Funk and Anna Bates of the Army Corps of Engineers explained the Columbia River water and power operations. The group got a closer look at fish operations at the hatchery where Chinook salmon were returning.
On the second day, about two dozen PBL secretaries joined the group for the headquarters program. Administrator Judi Johansen and Senior Vice President Paul Norman welcomed them. PBL managers gave overviews of several groups and other staff talked about other BPA services, including public information and Web sites.
Bill Drummond, manager of Western Montana G&T, talked about the evolution of BPA. And the group saw BPA’s Columbia River hydropower video, River of Power.
Testimonials to the success and value of the BPA effort came from people during and after the event. Nancy McLaughlin of the Springfield Utility Board (Ore.) said, “It’s a great idea. I work in resource development and it’s important to know what the total operation of BPA is about.”
Barbara Andersen works for Raft River Rural Electric in Malta, Idaho. “I’ve never been to Bonneville Dam before,” she said. “It’s great. I’m excited about being able to come. I work with Bonneville all the time and now we get to see the operation.”
Helen Trammell is administrative assistant in power management at Tillamook People’s Utility District (Ore.). “I’ve worked for Tillamook for 17 years and never had a chance to do something like this. It’s fabulous,” she said.
Mary Zimmerman of Consumers Power Inc. at Philomath, Ore., said, “I learned so much. I was impressed with the employees, their knowledge and their support…” Nancy Schmith of Idaho Power Co. in Boise thanked BPA “for a wonderful educational time. I would love to see more of these types of conferences in the future as I feel all companies would benefit.”
Jan Johnson of Grays Harbor PUD in Aberdeen, Wash., said she has attended many conferences over the years. “This ranked right up on top,” she said. “We enjoyed the conference … field trip … and the opportunity to get to know some of the BPA people.” Nancy Gill of Power Resources Managers in Bellevue, Wash., thanked BPA and its employees. “It was a very successful event,” she said. “I learned a lot,” said Shelly Miesen, executive secretary at Midstate Electric Co-op in LaPine, Ore. “It seems like people in positions like ours get bits and pieces of the total picture,” she said. “Now I have a much better understanding of how the whole process works.”
And Lolanda Thomas of Lewis County PUD at Morton, Wash., said, “I appreciate BPA’s desire to keep their customers informed. I especially appreciate living in the Northwest where rates are low, and the efforts BPA makes to keep them that way.”
Text and photos by Jack Odgaard
(Top right) At Bonnneville Dam - A group of cumstomer secretaries views the Columbia River below Bonneville Dam. (Top left) Power plant – Linda Palmer of PBL stretches to touch the top of a turbine blade laid on its side. The model is the real thing and sits in the visitors gallery at the Bonneville Dam main powerhouse. (Middle left) Visiting secretaries viewed a rotor and generators from the gallery inside the main powerhouse. (Bottom right) Guided tour – Army Corps of Engineers guide Don Funk (middle, hat) briefs customers on Columbia River operations. (Bottom left) Fish viewing – BPA customers’ staff viewed fish in ponds at the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. This viewing pool had large white sturgeon, steelhead, rainbow trout and several species of salmon.
BPA’s Kids in the Creek program continues to draw school classes to examine the health of Northwest streams. The program is the most popular activity at most salmon and water resource events each fall. Teachers, fifth and sixth grade students, and par-ents all praise the program that BPA began several years ago.
Several Spokane employees volunteer at salmon festivals and other outdoor resource programs each fall in Washington and Idaho. BPA is a founding sponsor of the Wenatchee River Salmon Festival at Leavenworth, Wash.
The Wenatchee festival took place in mid-September. It drew several thousand students from dozens of schools across the state. Rob Swedo said Kids in the Creek, “was the most popular and most sought-after event by teachers for the sixth year straight.”
BPA employees also volunteer to work at agency exhibits around the region during the festivals. Besides the exhibits and outdoor classrooms volunteers handle, BPA leaders have trained teachers, high school students and folks from other agencies to conduct the Kids in the Creek program.
Boots on and ready to go – Two classes of fifth graders have their boots on and Tom Hannon (right) and Andy Thoms (left) get ready to lead them into Icicle Creek at the Leavenworth Salmon Festival in September.
One day, five events, 12 competitors. The thrill of victory. The agony of the feet — or hamstrings — or groin — or whatever body part gets strained, pulled or bruised during the “rigors” of “athletic” endeavor.
But this isn’t the Sydney, Australia, Olympic Stadium or the decathlon competition. This is Portland, Ore., Wilson High School and the ad hoc Decrepithon.
What’s the Decrepithon? “You know how when you were 10 you’d wake up on a Saturday morning, run across the street, knock on the door and say, “Hi, Mrs. Cleaver. Can the Beav come out and play?” said Ken Kane, who recently left BPA’s Public Affairs staff. “That’s the essence of the Decrep’. It’s a dozen decrepit men, suffering from AAS (Aging Athlete’s Syndrome), doing their best to behave like the kids that are still inside them.”
Kane founded the Decrepithon in 1996 in reaction to all the Olympic hoopla that summer. It’s become a yearly event for Associates softball players, others who work at BPA and their friends. The organizers and events change from year to year but the object is always the same: Have a good time on the playing field during the day and an even better time at the Decrepithon party at night.
“It was an incredible day of fun in the sun that my body still aches from,” said Bryon Strickland of Shared Services. “We had fun events, a great party and incredible synchronized diving off the roof for an encore.” Luckily, there was a pool below.
Strickland and Associates teammate Eric Bressman were this year’s commissioners. Rob Anderson, an economist for the Power Business Line, had perhaps the most daunting duty of all — hosting the post-game party.
This year’s Decrep’ took place Aug.28. Events included traditional golf, volleyball, a three-player version of softball, whiffle ball golf and flag football. All were played enthusiastically but generally ineptly. The “winning” team included Tim Steele, Charles Morton and Bob “Elvis” Clark of the Power Business Line, and Transmission’s Mike Blackburn.
To paraphrase Vince Lombardi (who would have been far too uptight to be a Decrepilete), “winning isn’t everything … it’s just the prelude to one heckuva Decrepithon party.”
Ken Kane contributed to this article before he retired from communications this month
Decrepithon athletes in action – From left to right, (1) Mike Blackburn in driving form. (2) Shawn Martin sends a softball south. (3) David Simpkins, newphew of Charles Morton, and Bryon Strickland ready the net for the volleyball event. (4) Tim Steele up in the air after a volleyball return. (5) Bob Clark strokes his accordion to entertain at the Decrepithon banquet.
It was an experience John Taves never thought he’d have. He was standing at a lectern last spring in front of a roomful of public interest groups – die-hard BPA critics. And they were giving him – a BPA representative – a resounding ovation. And for something BPA did!
Public interest groups didn’t exactly give BPA a standing ovation in BPA’s annual constituent satisfaction survey this year. But BPA’s constituents – including public interest groups – certainly said in their 1999 survey responses that BPA is improving its relationships with them.
Across the board, business lines, Energy Efficiency, tribal and constituent representatives continue to see steady improvement in BPA’s survey ratings. The customer satisfaction index rating (a composite of the Power Business Line, Transmission Business Line and EE customer ratings) was 7.53 out of 10 this year, up from 7.35 in 1998.
Taves received his applause at the Northwest Energy Coalition Board meeting when he announced that BPA was extending the low-income weatherization funding another two years. That was a sign to NWEC that BPA supports its public purpose objectives. The applause said “thank you for listening.”
“BPA’s been quite responsive where we could be,” says Taves, BPA’s constituent account executive for public interest groups. “We still need more of a track record,” he says, “but I think we’re gaining trust.”
Despite a huge growth in public interest group satisfaction (it went from 36 percent last year to 57 percent satisfied this year), Taves is also quick to point out that public interest groups remain the least satisfied of any constituent group. And that’s likely to continue.
“Their purpose is to raise issues and concerns,” he says. “The day they don’t have issues with us is the day we no longer have a relationship with them.”
Energy Efficiency, on the other hand, exists to satisfy its customers, says EE Vice President Terry Esvelt. “Our agenda is their agenda,” he says.
EE surveyed “100 percent of our dues-paying customers,” says Esvelt. In some areas on the survey, EE was actually exceeding customer expectations. Asked to rate both the importance of a service attribute to them and EE’s performance on that service attribute, customers actually rated EE’s performance higher than they rated importance.
One such service attribute was “EE works as partners with your staff.” Says Esvelt, “You look at our federal customers like the Forest Service, basically EE is an extension of their own staff. And we don’t have a profit motive. It’s part of our public responsibility.”
“There is an extraordinary customer service ethic inherent in what we do,” said Esvelt. “Combined with our tremendous capability, we have a real advantage. We’ve found a niche, and it’s quite comfortable,” he said.
The business lines, too, continue to make progress. Especially in the face of thorny issues like the rate case that permeated PBL’s relationships with customers. And after last year’s survey, TBL convened a special outage coordination team whose goal was to get to fewer, shorter outages, with as little impact on customers from outages as possible.
The group had to scrap some old ways of doing things, and it wasn’t always easy. But “we saw a really big payoff” in customer satisfaction, says TBL account executive Sue Furst. Reliability ratings were by far the highest in the survey. BPA’s performance on unplanned outages went up seven percent from last year.
Last year’s lukewarm ratings from PBL customers in the area of billing were a cause for concern. So the PBL billing group set some standards for quick turnaround and went the extra mile to explain billing terms and procedures to customers – with gratifying results. In this year’s PBL survey, customers said PBL’s performance in billing virtually met their expectations.
This kind of follow-up is testimony to BPA’s commitment to customer, constituent and tribal government satisfaction, says BPA’s manager for tribal relations John Smith.
“It really does mean something that all of BPA, not just the tribal relations staff, is accountable for our target to improve tribal relations and has bonuses tied to it,” says Smith. “It sends a strong message to the tribes that we’re committed.”
Smith himself never missed an opportunity when meeting with tribes to encourage them to participate in the survey. And, it paid off. This year, response rate on the tribal survey hit 90 percent. In 1996, it was 54 percent.
BPA has worked hard to listen to the tribes, says Smith. “We’ve made some tough calls this past year, particularly on fish funding. There were millions of dollars that didn’t go the way we’d originally planned because we’ve listened to the tribes’ concerns,” he says.
And that’s appropriate, he says. To borrow a phrase, maybe BPA should stop asking what the tribes can do for BPA and start asking what it can do for the tribes.
“Maybe we ought to be looking at this from the tribes’ perspectives,” he says. “We have treaty and trust responsibilities. We have a government responsibility to them.”
By using the tribal liaisons’ knowledge of how the tribes can help with their treaties and “standing alongside them to get something done rather than fighting,” BPA has increased tribal satisfaction from 38 percent in 1996 to 81 percent today.
“As a tribal person, I feel proud to be part of BPA,” says Smith. “BPA is way out in front of other agencies with our survey and our tribal programs. We have good people and real commitment at the top. We are really walking the talk.”
Pat Zimmer is a writer in regional relations
More than two dozen BPA employees last month got a head start on the 1999 Combined Federal Campaign. The CFC officially kicks off in mid-October, but workers from Ross and headquarters got into the spirit early this year. They took part in the CFC Day of Caring in which people do volunteer work at a charity agency.
The BPA volunteers from Ross joined the Coast Guard to do yard work and painting at the Southwest Washington Humane Society. Portland headquarters employees – mostly from Corporate and Shared Services – worked at a Dougy Center site in north Portland. They painted, helped with some inside maintenance and did yard work and landscaping.
The Dougy Center is a national program that helps grieving children and their families who have suffered the loss of a family member or friend. Several years ago, BPA employees picked the Dougy Center as the charity for the Associates’ Energizing the Community benefit.
The center is expanding to include a site in north and northeast Portland. It shares a house with Piedmont Peace Place, an after-school program for young children. Rosanna Stone, a Peace Place coordinator, said the addition of the Dougy Center is a perfect match.
Berjé Barrow, a program coordinator for the Dougy Center, said the new location will help the center reach “another whole culture we weren’t able to serve in our main location.” She said, “Many children in north and northeast Portland experience losses from violence.”
Marchelle Mayes of Shared Services chairs BPA’s CFC drive this year and promoted the Day of Caring.
She said the hands-on caring work fits with the 1999 CFC theme – Federal Employees Doing and Sharing (FEDS). “It’s important to me that people participate somehow in community activities,” she said.
Mayes said she “wanted BPA to be able to sponsor a whole site,” and she “was impressed by the people who showed up at the Dougy Center. They were really caring and had done a lot of volunteering. The Dougy Center people really appreciated them.”
The 1999 CFC drive officially kicks off in mid-October and runs through November. BPA’s Paddy McGuire is the federal chair of the nine-county Columbia River area.
Article and photos by Jack Odgaard
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Day of Caring work – (A) Jock Mills plants new ground cover on the front yard slope. (B) Marcia McElroy, Ross Crozier and Rollie Sivyer tackle front yard cleanup. (C) Kendra Robinson and Debbie Magness paint the base-ment bathroom. (D) Ann Shintani and Guy Kyle plant a new shrub. (E) Marchelle Mayes (left) discusses work with Joan SchweizerHoff and Berjé Barrow of the Dougy Center and Rosannah Stone of the Peace Place. (F) Paddy McGuire paints trim in a basement room. (G) David Rubin gets ready to paint the kitchen ceiling. (H) Doug Browning gets ready to put on a second coat of paint. (I) Tom Tison puts the second coat of paint on the pantry cupboards. (J) Co-op student Jennifer Arnold (left) and clerk Mimi Tran (right) tape around a door frame as the Dougy Center’s Berjé Barrow watches painting progress in a conference room. (K) David Adler and Bryan Crawford put on the first coat of paint in the kitchen and pantry. (L) Co-op students Dina Lipetskaya and Michelle Bird help remove a rock path.
A few BPA “indoor athletes” are again preparing for the annual Run on the Banks this month. And coach Steve Baltazar says he can still use stair climbers who want to compete in the annual charity event. But hurry – it takes place Oct. 24.
As in the past, the fund-raiser for YMCA programs will be held in the U.S. Bank Building and the Wells Fargo Bank Tower. Competitors will race to the top of Portland’s two tallest buildings in teams. Climbers will be shuttled between the two buildings to save their strength for the uphill racing.
Besides competing on teams, all climbers compete for individual standings in age and gender groups. Last year, BPA’s Stairmaster team won first place in the master’s division. And the BPA Climbers won fifth place in the co-ed competition.
Sponsors for the event raise funds to support the “Y” teen programs. The Associates sponsors the BPA teams, and BPA has fielded one or two teams each year since the event began in 1995.
If you’d like to race to the top or help BPA’s teams this year, send an e-mail or call Steve Baltazar at headquarters, (503) 230-3456.
Top bank runners from last year – (Right) Crystal Ball and Steve Baltazar work out at BPA headquarters before the 1998 Run on the Banks. Later, BPA climbers clown around just before they start up one of the bank towers. With the clown (Left picture, left to right) are Tom Mannen, Patty Baltazar, Fev Pratt and Sheila Morton.
Three BPA teams – from Seattle, Ross and Portland – braved the elements for the 15th annual meeting of Northwest energy companies on the softball field. This year’s Energy Bozo’s Slow-Pitch Softball Tournament returned to the site of the first event held in 1985 – Ocean Shores, Wash.
But the usual clear weather, of the usually safe Northwest in August, eluded the players this summer. Seattle team captain Frank Brown said that Pacific Beach, near Ocean Shores, was the wettest place in the U.S. that day. Besides 1.75 inches of rain, the teams battled blustery winds throughout the day.
BPA’s Seattle and Ross teams had 4-0 records at the end of division play and they sloshed and slugged it out for top honors. When it was all over, captain Teresa Miller’s Ross team won 13-9.
The play was nip and tuck, and, but for a break here or there, the outcome could have gone either way. Regardless of the final score, two player/coaches summarized the day objectively, modestly and without excuses. Here is the partial-play report from Frank Brown of Seattle and the post-game summary from Joe Bebee, Portland’s team captain.
Seattle (Brown) – “We played five innings, getting completely soaked, and did OK against a younger seasoned team (with about 5-6 league softball players on it). In contrast, we have just one senior (over 40) league player. They beat us, but we were respectable. I think the score was 13-9. They hit two long fly balls to center that popped out of our outfielder’s wet glove, and one that rolled past our center-right fielder after he slipped and fell.
“Then, they made one great catch in center that didn’t pop out of their outfielder’s glove. Those four plays basically made the difference in the game. It was real tough to play outfield in the storm. You couldn’t see the ball, the footing was bad, and your hands and glove were soaked and slippery. We did take second and we’re happy with that. First time in years that we made it to the final.”
Portland (Bebee) – “That’s right, BPA won – BPA Vancouver though. So hats off to the Ross Complex. And, Frank Brown’s Seattle team for being in contention. The Vancouver team beat Seattle in the championship game of mud, water, sand, rain, wind and cloudy skies. Our very own BPA Portland team did great, as we went 1-3 (two forfeits) to round out BPA’s participation.
“As for Seattle, maybe next year, Frank Brown. Your team did good, but not good enough. You were so excited at the party, it just broke my heart to see that you lost. Gee, after a great tournament, going 3-0 on day one, and you lost the big game. That might have been your last chance.”
Suzy Sivyer, Frank Brown and Joe Bebee contributed to this article
Bozo’s practice – The weather was so foul at this year’s Bozo softball tourney that all the team’s photos washed out. So, here are a couple snapshots from fair weather practice by one of BPA’s teams – Portland. Some of the team members posed in the sun – (left to right, standing) Dan Ivancie, Suzy Sivyer, Christina Novak, and Rob Anderson; (in front) Joe Bebee and Bob Clark. Later, Joe Bebee puts a cold can compress on Christina Novak’s sore ankle.
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September answer -- Oregon Lighthouses
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The Circuit doesn’t have a crossword puzzle to offer readers this month. Our volunteer ace crossword designer, Scott Lawson, retired last month. He worked on a puzzle for Native American month before he left, so we may have one more crossword from Lawson in November.
Thanks to Lawson for his extra effort to bring us some interesting crossword puzzles in 1999. Quite a few readers worked the puzzles and enjoyed them. We got a few dozen calls, comments and questions when we blundered and printed the wrong match-up of a puzzle and clues in one issue.
Lawson used two different crossword software programs to develop his puzzles. If anyone is interested, those are Crossworks by Homeware ($40 in 1998) at http://www.homeware.com; and Crossword Compiler by Antony Lewis ($80 in 1998) at http://www.netword.demon.co.uk.
We would like to continue to run crossword puzzles on topics that relate to the Northwest or BPA’s interests. If any reader designs crosswords for fun and would like to contribute puzzles to the Circuit, please send an e-mail or telephone the Circuit. The address and number appear below.
