One candidate who interviewed Tuesday for the position of Little Rock Wastewater chief executive officer touted his national experience while the other focused on his local ties to the community. The final two candidates will be interviewed today.

Charles Logue, a director of technical services at Renewable Water Resources in Greenville, S.C., mentioned his 33 years of experience in the wastewater industry and his work in Florida, Oregon and South Carolina. He also has served on the board of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies and headed the organization's watershed task force.

While Craig Guth has worked around the world, he talked about his experience living in Sherwood as deputy commander of the Little Rock District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The deputy commander functions as the CEO, he said, and directly supervises 10 departments.

Both Logue and Guth gave public presentations on why they were the best fit to lead the wastewater utility -- a position with an advertised annual salary of approximately $180,000 -- before being interviewed by members of the Sanitary Sewer Committee in closed executive session Tuesday. The committee is the governing body of the utility.

In short interviews afterward, both candidates said that if selected they would focus on improving the public's perception of the utility and communication with the city Board of Directors. The new CEO will be replacing Reggie Corbitt, who headed the utility for almost 30 years before he was fired in January.

The committee fired Corbitt when a police investigation corroborated information reported by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette about Corbitt's business practices, use of public funds and what a police memorandum called "questionable expenditures."

"From what I've seen, most of the men and women at the utility are doing a fantastic job, but I think that the challenge has been communicating what the utility is doing and as well as listening to the public officials and ensuring there is a proper dialogue and recognition that the utility is here to serve the people of Little Rock," Guth said.

Logue said the new CEO will have to rebuild the utility's credibility.

"It will be about meeting people, establishing those relationships, getting to know them and saying, 'That was then, this is now. I'm here to take the utility forward.' We need to be open and transparent -- no surprises," Logue said.

As a director of regulatory affairs and of technical services at Clean Water Services in Hillsboro, Ore., from 1996 to 2009, Logue said he helped develop the state's first integrated watershed permit, which combined wastewater and stormwater facilities under one permit. He said integration is one aspect of the future of public utilities.

He also developed the first water-quality training program there, during which he dealt with a diverse group of stakeholders, he said. In a three-year period, he worked to reduce operations and maintenance costs in Oregon from $36 million to $29 million, with 98 percent of the savings going to the ratepayers, he said.

"Obviously looking at the budget is always an important part of being a CEO, being responsible to the ratepayers because it's ratepayer dollars," Logue said. "One of the fundamental parts of the job is the administration of staff and budgeting, but another aspect is how do we move the utility forward? How do we build that public support for rate increases that are coming? I always think of it as bringing the utility above ground. How do we make sure people are aware of the utility and all of the benefits?"

Guth also has been innovative in his previous jobs, he told the committee. He has worked in Germany, Iraq, South Korea, Tennessee and Ohio. He serves on a board that approves the budget and overhead rates for a six-state region and has 29 years of leadership and management experience. He served as the chief of design construction for the 18th Engineer Brigade for 15 months in Iraq, during which he oversaw 200 projects.

He said he brings leadership, vision, accountability and management to the table. He also let the board know that he's no stranger to dealing with the public on contentious issues, mentioning a dam safety project campaign that he worked on as deputy commander of the Nashville, Tenn., District of the U.S. Corps of Engineers from 2005 to 2007.

"Little Rock Wastewater is an award-winning utility with a lot of great people," Guth said. "Were I selected, I would want to improve the communication with the Board of Directors, with elected officials, with the city and with the media to ensure that the full story of the utility is being told."

The remaining two finalists will be interviewed by the sewer committee today. Gregario Ramon, the assistant general manager at Central Arizona Project in Phoenix, is scheduled to give a short presentation at 1 p.m. before being interviewed in closed session. Jesse White, a senior program manager of wastewater treatment for Dallas, will follow at 2:30 p.m.

All four finalists are scheduled to attend the sewer committee's regular monthly meeting at 4 p.m. today. The interviews and meeting will take place at the utility's headquarters, 11 Clearwater Drive.

Metro on 06/18/2014