National Grid prez slammed over vacation

[Ian David]

Source: Boston Herald

National Grid prez slammed over vacation
Rode out Irene in Hawaii
By Christine McConville and Chris Cassidy
Thursday, September 1, 2011 - Updated 3 hours ago

As Hurricane Irene thundered toward the East Coast last Thursday, the president of National Grid in Massachusetts was jetting off to Hawaii, where she stayed for four days even as the utility’s workers were ordered to cancel their vacations, a move that has prompted union jibes about hypocrisy.

Company president Marcy Reed didn’t return to the storm-battered state until Tuesday afternoon. Yesterday, she insisted her tropical island getaway to celebrate her 25th wedding anniversary had nothing to do with the tens of thousands of customers who still remain in the dark — down from a storm high of half a million households that were left without power.

“The fact that I was out of the state for five days had nothing to do with our storm restoration practices,” Reed told the Herald last night.

Union officials whose membership scrambled for days to restore power said the boss should have rethought her travel plans.


National Grid employee Dave Giacomozzi works on fixing a downed power line yesterday in Scituate.


Read more: http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/2011_0901national_grid_prez_slammed_over_vacation_rode_ou

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Gee, this seems so familiar, somehow...



Barack Obama isn't the only one who can fill a stadium. Republicans can fill a stadium, too!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6466448

[rfranklin]

1. That's leadership for you...what if Patton had taken leave during the Battle of the Bulge...

"My leave had nothing to do with relieving those troops at Bastogne..."

Yeah, that's the ticket!

[HubertHeaver]

2. Rommel actually did take leave on June 5, 1944.

[LetTimmySmoke]

4. Interesting.

Also of note, by that time he was convinced the war was lost and that Germany should sue for peace.

[No Elephants]

5. No wonder Rommel's side won the war and Patton's side lost.

j/k--maybe

I have no idea.

[Kat45]

3. If her vacation had nothing to do with the storm restoration practices,

then what do they need her for and why are they paying her the mega-salary that I'm sure they're paying her?

[No Elephants]

9. Apparently, they're paying her because she was good at p.r. (Not kidding).

This is what she did just before she was promoted to President.
From an old profile that was never updated:

MARCY REED: SVP, Public Affairs, National Grid

<snip>

She is responsible for all government relations in the US, as well as the corporate giving programs & community relations for National Grid. She is deeply involved with policy development, advancing the company’s climate change agenda, and ensuring the tie between the company and the community is strong, especially as it relates to energy, the environment, and education.

<snip>

http://www.adclubevents.org/women/marcy-reed-svp-public-affairs-national-grid/

And before that, she headed Investor Relations and she also worked in Corporate Affairs. So, the image with investors, government and the community WAS apparently her strong suit.




More irony: She was promoted in January, 2011, after a company restructuring and months of controversy. Guess someone who was so good at pr may have sounded like just the ticket then. From an article of August, 2011:

<snip>

"Do you think it's a good thing for a company to admit, "Hey! We messed up!"?

"It certainly is my view. We're all human. No person is perfect; no company is perfect. It's just the way I am. The company knows me very well; they knew the person they were putting in this job. And they know that I'm going to say what's on my mind. I don't do it to earn favor or earn any points. It was just how my parents brought me up. If that brings up controversy, then I'm happy to deal with it. And I expect the same out of the folks I work with."

http://www.wbjournal.com/news49727.html


Yet, she defended herself for being in Hawaii during a hurricane after she told workers to cancel theirs.

Maybe this is another instance of the Peter Principle?

Too bad, really.

[No Elephants]

6. Don't think this is like Bush. Seems more like BP's President taking vacation during the Gulf

clean up (alleged clean up?)

However, he at least had had put in some hard time on the disaster and I don't know if he had ordered employees to cancel their vacations.

In any event, he was tone deaf and irresponsible and this seems even worse.

So what if it was her 25th anniversary. Are she and her husband 12 years old? She could have been reimbursed for any monetary loss and taken the four day trip another time.

We were expecting a hurricane likely to have horrific consequences from North Carolina throught to Canada. If she's so sure she wouldn not be needed to make executive decisions about the grid during an emergency like that, when does she think she might really be needed?

Besides, no one that tone deaf should have a position that high in an entity with that much accountablity to the public.

Fire her clueless ass.

(Note: The Herald is a RW rag, but this story is true.)

[trud]

7. you're thinking she should be splicing wires?

That no one else in the company is capable of sending crews out?

A CEO does a heck of a lot more than organizational stuff. That's probably the least of their responsibilities.

[No Elephants]

8. Who said she should be splicing wires?

[A Simple Game]

10. Splicing wires? Is she capable? Perhaps it would be better

if she set an example for her employees, gave some moral support, and showed a little empathy.

The only thing she did by not canceling her vacation when she canceled everyone Else's was a disconnect with her employees.

[WhiteTara]

11. She must be a republican. n/t