After lengthy search, Fort Smith names Jerry Walters as new utilities director

The city of Fort Smith has named Jerry Walters as the new utilities director, heading up the department responsible for the city’s water and wastewater assets, and being a key person as the city implements a $480 million federal consent order.

Walters will replace former Utilities Director Steve Parke, who retired on April 1, 2016, and current Interim Utilities Director Bob Roddy of consulting firm Burns & McDonnell. Walters’ first day in office will be April 3.

Walters lives in Alexandria, Va., where he serves as general engineer at the Pentagon for the United States Army. Prior to the appointment, he served as public works director at the U.S. Army base in Baumholder, Germany, for more than seven years, and previously served in capacities of director, deputy director, chief engineer or civil engineer for U.S. Army bases in San Antonio, Tx.; Hanau, Germany; Yokosuka NB, Japan; Sunnyvale, Calif.; and Zaragoza, Spain. Walters also served as senior environmental planner for Clark County, Nev., all spanning a career of more than 30 years in public utilities management and design. For 15 of those years, he has worked directly in water/wastewater management.

Walters earned a bachelor’s degree in construction management/civil engineering and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Washington State University. He earned a master’s degree in aviation from the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a master’s degree in hazardous and waste materials management from Southern Methodist University. Walters is also a graduate of the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala.

According to Fort Smith City Administrator Carl Geffken, Walters “brings with him a wealth of experience dealing with complex public works and utilities service delivery issues under the scrutiny of consent decrees by both the United States and foreign governments on behalf of the U.S. Army.”

Geffken continued: “His experience managing environmental issues surrounding water and wastewater delivery, in particular, indicates that he is well equipped to lead Fort Smith’s utilities department through the capital improvement projects and ongoing maintenance programs mandated by our federal consent decree and the best practices in the industry of utility service delivery. We’re excited for him to bring his wealth of experience to Fort Smith.”

The city conducted two national searches through Strategic Government Resources (SGR), a Dallas-based firm that focuses on local government issues and recruiting. In Thursday’s (Feb. 23) job announcement, the city said it was looking for someone with “suitable water and wastewater experience who could lead the department through its obligations under the federal consent decree, maintain quality daily operations, and plan the future of the city’s utilities.”

Walters was selected out of 11 applicants who responded to the second round of the search. The first round took about two months to complete following Parke’s retirement.

SGR was simultaneously recruiting for police chief and human resource director positions. Both were filled in the initial search, but the company had more challenges recruiting for the utilities director position, receiving only 10 applicants compared to the combined total of 72 for police and HR posts.

The challenges likely had something to do with terms of the $480 million federal consent decree, which have driven a major sewer rate increase for Fort Smith residents and placed the department on a strict 12-year deadline for completion. Even so, the city did make an offer to one of the initial candidates — Francisco Martinez of Puerto Rico’s Aqueduct and Sewer Authority — who rejected, thus necessitating round two. Martinez was offered $102,000 salary for the position. It was not clear in the city’s release if Walters would receive the same compensation package. Talk Business & Politics has sought salary info and will update this story when it is available.

The city’s utility assets are worth between $1.5 and $2 billion. Rate increases will soon move the operating budget from $25 million in 2016 to $30 million in 2017. Approximately 49% of those figures will be shouldered by residential customers while 38% will come from commercial billing, 12% industrial billing, 1% “other billing,” and less than 1% from wholesale billing.

Operating expenses over the same period finished at $26 million in 2016 and are estimated to be $31 million for the current year as more requirements of the consent decree are implemented. Debt service and capital expenses will continue to increase over time.