Since February, members of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) have remained deadlocked in choosing a general manager for its beleaguered agency. Procedural issues, dissension among Montgomery and Prince George’s county board members, and accusations of unethical practices have plagued the selection process.

At the center of the storm is Rudolph S. Chow. Chow, a 24-year veteran of the WSSC, is its current deputy general manager, and a candidate for the top position at the agency. After local newspapers reported that Chow had outscored the other finalists by the agreed-upon margin, leaders in the Asian community started to wonder what exactly was going on at the WSSC.

“We want to know the facts. If the facts point to (Chow) being the most qualified, why isn’t he being hired?” asked George Dang, a leader for the past two decades in the Washington, D.C. area Asian community. “It would be an assurance to our community to have more information about what is happening.”

Chow has stayed largely out of the media fray. “Some articles have given the flavor that I might be partial to one side or the other,” Chow said. “But my job as a professional is to try to do right thing. It doesn’t matter which county you live in.”

If chosen for the position, Chow plans to address ground infrastructure issues, an aging employee base, and employee morale overall.

“This is a troubling time for us,” Chow said. “The last two general managers came in for three years each and then were gone. This caused a lot of disruption within the organization–we keep getting restarted.”

“For the sake of the employees, we can’t keep restarting in terms of our corporate and strategic planning,” he stressed. “We need to stick with it, and decide who is best to carry out the plan.”

He also recognizes the significance of the events unfolding around him, both for the agency and for the Asian community. “I remain very patient and hopeful. It’s not only me, but also the Asian community as a whole,” he said. “That glass ceiling is the thing we are always trying to break.”

Two Counties

This isn’t the first time the troubled agency has found itself embroiled in controversy. The giant water and sewer utility, which serves more than 1.6 million customers in Montgomery and Prince George's counties, has a troubled history surrounding its board.

Andrew Brunhart, the most recent general manager, took his position after the commission ousted his predecessor, John R. Griffin. The Montgomery County executive at the time then forced the resignations of all three of the county’s commissioners. Prince George’s County Executive Jack B. Johnson opted to keep his county’s members intact.

Brunhart’s three-year contract was not renewed after the commissioners were split along county lines on whether or not to move forward.

Currently, Commissioner Juanita Miller from Prince George's County has been the most vocal, maintaining in local news articles that Chow scored the highest among all final candidates. She also publicly indicted her Montgomery County counterparts, calling into question their integrity and ethics.

Other commissioners have declined to comment, citing the confidentiality of the process. However, they have given small indications as to the nature of the proceedings.

“We are awaiting guidance from the two county executives,” said Gene Counihan, commissioner from Montgomery County. “We want (the selection) to occur sooner rather than later.”

“I can appreciate that statement,” said Joyce Starks, commissioner from Prince George’s County, referring to Counihan’s comment. “But, I was really hoping the commissioners could agree to make the selection. All I can say is that Prince George’s County commissioners are pro-active in wanting to move forward in the selection of the general manager.”

Johnson’s office confirmed there was a recent meeting with Montgomery County Executive Isaiah Leggett. The two executives discussed the WSSC’s issues at length, but the office stopped short of making any statement about the next steps..

“(The county executives) are going to continue to have discussions about the WSSC general manager selection and are working through the process,” said John Erzen, spokesperson for the Prince George’s County Executive’s office. At press time, Leggett’s office had not returned calls for comment.