By C.D. BRADLEY
The Paducah Sun, Ky.
PADUCAH, Ky., Oct. 6, 2000 (Knight Ridder/Tribune)—City and county officials stressed the importance of the public's perception of the Paducah-McCracken County Joint Sewer Agency at a meeting of representatives of all three entities Wednesday.
"The concern boils down to how county residents perceive the JSA," City Commissioner Bill Paxton said. "The question is, are people going to perceive this as something good for them. The verdict is still out on that. If they look at it favorably, it will be easier for the city and county to do more (joint ventures) like this. If they don't, it will be difficult to impossible. This is extremely important."
The meeting, requested by city and county officials, was designed to update local elected officials on the status and progress of the agency, formed last year with the merger of three county agencies and the city sewer system. The officials were given an update on the financial situation of the agency, the projects it has already started and those in the planning stages, and a general update on the state of the JSA.
County Judge-Executive Danny Orazine said the meeting gave him a better understanding of the agency.
"I would have bragged on the meeting if it had been the worst one I'd ever been to," Orazine said jokingly. "But this has been a very good meeting, very informative. The more you all get in the public eye, the better. You have to establish an identity in the community."
JSA Executive Director Bob Game admitted the agency has been tending to in-house manners in its first year, perhaps to the detriment of public perception.
"We have gotten very wrapped up in being internally focused," he said. "We have been juggling a lot of balls in the air. Maybe we haven't come to the city and county enough. This is a chance to rectify that situation. We're going to try to become more externally focused."
JSA board chairman Billy Harper went as far as to suggest meetings among the groups every six months.
"This is really our first public report," Harper said. "We hope it's the beginning of a good dialogue. In the first year, we wanted to get a handle on the organization, we wanted to get a handle on the system we had in place. One of the challenges we were given was to run this agency like a business. The board has really tried to do that."
He also praised his fellow board members and Game.
"(City and county officials) are to be commended because you appointed a great board," he said. "That was a key to taking off. It has not been without challenges. We were trying to bring in four agencies, and everybody just dropped into a slot, or at least (Game) made it look that way."
One aspect of the report that interested the officials was the result of a business efficiency study the agency did earlier this year. Game said the agency he came from ran at 33 percent above what the service could be provided for in the private sector. The study showed the JSA ran at 11 percent above the private sector, among leaders in the industry. City Commissioner Robert Coleman was impressed.
"Thirty three percent versus 11 percent," he noted. "That says it all."
Harper begged to differ.
"We're going to keep getting better," he replied. "We said we were going to run it like a business, and we're going to run it like a business."
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© 2000, The Paducah Sun, Ky. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
