Lubbock Mayor Glen Robertson Says Pay Policy Issues With LP&L Are Indicators Of Much Larger Structural Issues [AUDIO]

On Friday's edition of Lubbock's First News, Lubbock Mayor Glen Robertson talked with Tom Collins and Laura Mac about the latest coming out of city council.

At last night's city council meeting, there was some discussion concerning human resources and pay policy issues at Lubbock Power & Light. According to Robertson, the LP&L board wanted to give their accountant a pay raise, but since it was against the city's pay plan, and LP&L is still a department of the City of Lubbock, the request was turned down. Robertson said that these issues are just another indication of the serious structural issues of LP&L.

"[The LPL&L board] feel like they need to be completely independent. The problem is they are still a department of the City of Lubbock. They have to follow our pay plans and pay policies, and if they don't, then if there's an EEOC lawsuit, then it's the City of Lubbock that's liable and has the issue. So there's a lot of discussion about do they need to set up their own HR. Well, if they do that, it still doesn't solve the problem. They're still a department of the city, those employees are still city employees...this is just one more issue that our structure's bad."

Robertson predicted that sometime in the near future, the council may consider a charter amendment election to determine whether LP&L should remain as part of the City of Lubbock, or it's own independent entity. He also anticipated that the measure to allow public citizen comments during LP&L board meeting would most likely be voted down.

There was also some discussion concerning contaminated water underneath the Texas Instruments plant on North University. Robertson recused himself from the votes, but commented that the issue seemed to cause a lot of confusion on the council, and that some members were not sure what exactly they were voting on. Robertson also discussed several other issues brought up at last night's meeting, including the latest with the law enforcement task force

You can listen to Mayor Glen Robertson Friday mornings after every city council meeting from 7 AM to 8 AM only on Lubbock's First News on NewsTalk 790 KFYO.