MARISCAL

PROVIDENCE — The Carcieri administration flexed its political muscle yesterday and fired the general manager of a small but critical state agency — not for anything he did or didn’t do — but because some believed he didn’t have the skills to lead the agency in a new direction.

Juan Mariscal, a longtime state employee who led the state Water Resources Board for the last 3½ years, was fired with little notice during an emotional two-hour board meeting. He was ordered to leave immediately.

Board Chairman William J. Penn said he acted because the Carcieri administration has sent a clear signal that the board should either become more effective, or it should be absorbed by the state Department of Environmental Management.

Carcieri didn’t order the dismissal, his spokeswoman, Amy Kempe, said later. But he was aware of the plan and supported it because he wanted the agency to become more effective.

A minority on the board complained the firing was sprung on them with no notice and no opportunity to evaluate Mariscal. How, they asked, could the board be more effective without its top employee? One board member, former state planner Dan Varin, called the dismissal an “outrage.”

During a public meeting requested by Mariscal, there were repeated references to state budget cuts and the difficulty of staying effective with sharply reduced staffs.

Mariscal’s firing drops the board’s staff to just three. It was nine when he started three years ago and he thought five more should have been added then. Pamela Marchand, chief engineer of the Providence Water Supply Board, the state’s biggest source of water, questioned how the board could function with so few people.

For years, the Water Resources Board was important to few besides the state’s water suppliers. It did studies, provided oversight and raised funding for water system improvements. In recent years, much more attention has been brought to the agency as business people, farmers and environmentalists agreed the state was experiencing water shortages and threatening the environment by drawing down wells too far.

The board has been working to develop major new wells on Big River Reservoir land, increase statewide water conservation efforts and solve supply problems facing three water districts that draw groundwater in North Kingstown.

A coalition last year drafted legislation that called on the board to do more to conserve water and to develop new sources. Senate leaders supported reforms. But the legislation died in the House. It also rejected Carcieri’s efforts to merge the water board with the DEM.

Last week, W. Michael Sullivan, the DEM’s executive director and a member of the board, began calling board members to line up votes against Mariscal. Sullivan did not attend yesterday’s meeting because he was ill at home. But he sent assistant director Alicia Good, who voted repeatedly against Mariscal.

Penn said Sullivan “was involved as the governor’s representative.” Penn said Carcieri’s efforts last year to do away with the board were a sign that the governor wanted change. Recently, he said he received assurances from the governor’s staff that the board could hire someone to replace Mariscal.

Penn opened the meeting by saying the board has limited resources and staff, and it needs a general manager who can turn the agency around. He said he didn’t believe Mariscal had the business management skills needed to manage the staff and budget and go through the “political administrative processes to get things done.”

Jesse Rodrigues and Bill Stamp, both representing farming interests, said they wanted change.

Rodrigues said he had not seen much work getting done in the last year. Stamp said he’s been on the board for four or five years and has felt frustrated because “I don’t think we’ve accomplished much.”

Two state employees on the board also voted against Mariscal. June Swallow, chief of the water quality division at the state Department of Health, said she was worried about the board’s future and she was concerned that having to look for a new general manager could slow it down even more. But she said Mariscal wasn’t as responsive to the board as previous managers.

The DEM’s Good said only that she concurred with Penn’s general comments.

Mariscal’s defenders said the sudden vote was just wrong.

Varin said efforts to develop Big River wells were hampered for a year when the governor’s budget office cut needed funds. He said the move against Mariscal was designed to achieve some hidden objective of Sullivan.

Retired Brown University Prof. Harold Ward said the board should have been given a chance to evaluate Mariscal. He moved to delay action until standards could be developed. He submitted a letter from the water reform group, the Coalition for Water Security, saying it was encouraged with the direction the board was going and arguing against more staff cuts.

Marchand said she didn’t like being surprised.

Frank Perry, an engineer who chairs the Kent County Water Authority, said Mariscal’s dismissal was never discussed by the board. It’s taken too long to develop Big River, he said, but that wasn’t Mariscal’s fault.

Mariscal, whose salary is budgeted at $134,000, was given about 20 minutes to defend himself. He said he felt he had gotten a lot done despite never having enough staff or good faith support from other parts of the state government.

On a series of votes, the board went 4 to 4 on Mariscal. Each time, Penn broke the tie and voted to dismiss him.

plord@projo.com