In April, when Jo Ann J. Macrina was introduced as Atlanta’s new commissioner for the Department of Watershed Management, she did not brag about her accomplishments or boast about what she was going to do to reform the troubled department.
Her low-key style and approach, as well as her seemingly slim resume, caused some members of the Atlanta City Council to pause and initially hold up her appointment.
Finally, on Tuesday, in a 5-1 vote, the city utilities committee voted to approve her nomination and forward it to the full council next Monday.
The lone no vote came from committee chair Natalyn Archibong.
“I thought we should have done a national search,” Archibong said. “This is a huge leap from what she was doing.”
Macrina came to Atlanta from DeKalb County, where she was the deputy director of the watershed protection division for DeKalb County’s department of watershed management. In DeKalb, she never managed more than 100 people. Now, she will command a department with 1,400 people.
Archibong, who held up Macrina’s nomination on April 26, said that is why Macrina is literally and figuratively miles from what will be expected from her in Atlanta.
“I haven’t lost sleep over it,” Macrina said. “I know what I have done in the past has been the right thing. I made right decisions and I will continue to make right decisions here in Atlanta. I just take things as they come. I am strong enough and experienced enough to handle anything.”
Watershed is one of Atlanta’s most important and, at times, troubled units. The department is currently under a federal consent decree to update the sewer system. Closer to consumer pocketbooks, thousands of water customers continue to complain about service and unreasonably high water bills.
Earlier this year, the city surveyed 9,000 water meters and determined most offered accurate readings. The department is now in the process of physically checking every meter in the city to make sure they are working and accurate.
But on July 1, customers who are already facing some of the highest waters rates in the nation, will be hit with a 12 percent rate increase to help cover the
"I don’t like rate increases, but I am not gonna be down on that," said customer Bill Dial. "But I think there are a lot of other issues that need to be addressed."
For a year, Dial has been fighting the city over what he calls an erroneous water bill. Last summer, while he was on vacation for a month, his bill went from $300 to $1,300, before suddenly returning to normal rates. This Thursday, the city will come look at his meter.
"But I don't think anything is wrong with the meter," said Dial, who lives north of Chastain. "They just screwed up and are pretending to try to resolve it."
In voting to confirm Macrina, council member Yolanda Adrean told her that she was one of the members who had concerns about her leap from DeKalb to Atlanta.
“I wish you luck,” Adrean said. “I hope you form a communicative style with us. All of us like to hear bad news early and it is going to be a hot, nasty summer in watershed.”
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