Flint Utility Director Under Scrutiny For Job History

Flint's new utilities director is facing public scrutiny about her record with previous employers.

Michigan Live claims that records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show Jolisa McDay left her previous job as manager of the Lake Huron Water Treatment Plant under threat of a five-day suspension for her performance.

“McDay is heading Flint's water department at a critical time for the city, which remains in a federally-recognized emergency because of lead levels and which is expected to change its water source for a third time since 2014 at some time this or next year,” the report said.

McDay, however, says she was harassed by an employee at her old workplace. She says he made false accusations about her, according to the report. "I chose to leave after the write up was written. The environment was not going to change," she said in a statement, per Michigan Live.

Kristin Moore, a spokeswoman for Flint, stood by the decision to hire McDay for the interim position.

"As for her employment with the City of Flint, McDay is more than qualified for the job she was hired to do. McDay holds an F-1 certification with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and has a master's degree in chemistry. She is doing the job she was hired to do and Mayor (Karen) Weaver is very satisfied with her work thus far," the statement says.

McDay said the employee who made accusations against her "was not qualified to hold the position and [was] hired against her advisement," according to Moore.

McDay was hired to replace Mike Glasgow. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced in April that he filed charges against Glasgow in connection with the city’s lead crisis, Michigan Live previously reported.

“In May, Glasgow pleaded no contest to a charge of filing false information about lead in Flint water as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors,” Michigan Live reported.

In the months since Flint’s lead crisis became public, all the decisions by the city’s water treatment operation have come under scrutiny. That includes scrutiny around treatment-chemical decisions.

“Water department employees are already boosting chlorine and phosphate levels in Flint water after it arrives from the Great Lakes Water Authority and could be back in the business of full-scale water treatment in 2016 or 2017. But the timeline for such a move isn't clear,” Michigan Live reported.

Federal regulators told Michigan officials in June that they are concerned with the city’s chlorine levels.

A letter from the U.S. EPA “directs the city to add the capability to boost the level of chlorine in water that's being purchased from the Great Lakes Water Authority with a temporary chemical feed at Flint's water treatment plant until a long-term treatment system is developed and put in place,” Michigan Live reported.

To read more about the utility employees visit Water Online’s Labor Solutions Center.