Burbank Picks New Utilities Chief

The superintendent of a Minnesota public utility has been selected to head the deficit-ridden Public Service Department in Burbank, ending a five-month nationwide search by Burbank city officials for a successor to former general manager Ronald O. Snyder.

Snyder resigned in August after an investigation of the Burbank department, which provides water and power, revealed that it had not properly planned projects, had failed to adequately monitor its finances and had poorly managed inventories of fuel and supplies. City officials have declined to comment on whether Snyder, who headed the utility for seven years, was asked to resign.

The investigation was ordered by the City Council last March after it learned that the utility had amassed a $6-million debt within one year. The debt had been reduced to $2.5 million by the end of last month, said Stephen W. Helvey, financial management director for the city.

City officials selected Thomas H. McCauley, superintendent of the public water and power utility in Moorhead, Minn., as the new general manager from a field of 152 applicants, said Burbank City Manager Andrew C. Lazzaretto.

McCauley, 56, will assume the $64,200-a-year post in March. He will oversee a $77.6-million budget for the utility, which serves 47,000 residential and commercial customers.

Lazzaretto said that McCauley, who has headed the 30,000-customer Moorhead public utility since 1967, has been credited with reducing Moorhead’s electrical rates 11% this year. Lazzaretto announced in a press release that McCauley would bring “more effective management and a more sound financial position” to the Burbank utility.

Edward V. Easter, former city administrative services director, was named as acting general manager for the utility after Snyder’s departure in August. City officials said that Easter will retire in March.

City officials said that severe financial problems arose for the Burbank utility in recent years because of ambitious expansion projects it undertook to meet a growing demand for services. Helvey said that the utility now operates within a strictly balanced budget.