Former WASA chief recommended for open WSSC post

WASHINGTON - The old boss will be the new boss at a local area water utility.

Jerry N. Johnson's been recommended for the job of General Manager at the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.

But is the guy who was hammered for his handling of lead levels in the District's water supply at the Water and Sewer Authority the right guy to clean up after massive water main breaks like the one at River Road in December?

Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett thinks so.

"We're dealing with someone we actually know," Leggett says.

Leggett says Johnson's familiar to local officials.

"They have gone through that entire array of questions of lead and all that stuff and they are well satisfied with his performance," he says.

What about the revelations that D.C. had high levels of lead?

"I think that was blown out of proportion," says Leggett.

Leggett and Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson recommended the WASA chief for the General Manager's job at WSSC. This after their last pick, David Chardavoyne from San Antonio, was left waiting while questions over a discrimination charge in his background were raised.

Leggett says this pick has staying power.

Montgomery County Councilmember Roger Berliner is happy with the choice of Johnson, despite the controversy over his management of the lead issue in D.C.

Referring to Leggett's support, Berliner says he has "every reason to believe that our county executive has weighed in on behalf of somebody fully competent. If he's satisfied, I'm sure I will be satisfied."

But with thousands of miles of aging pipes and sometimes catastrophic water main breaks - like the one that left drivers stranded in their cars in frigid waters in December - does Berliner think a change at the top will make a difference?

"It does make a difference, because now we have an agency that's no longer adrift," Berliner says. "We need the stability, we need to be pro-active and you can't do that when an agency is hobbled at the top. We cannot afford another River Road episode."

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