Board, staff and facilitator debate new mission, vision and values; staff to return with revisions

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — Board and staff spent most of the evening Aug. 20 reviewing a proposed update to the Department of Public Utilities’ mission, vision and values and walking through a refreshed strategic plan and objectives.

Why it matters: The mission, vision and values are intended to guide day‑to‑day decisions, employee training, and capital planning. Board members said the statements should be concise and usable by front-line staff but also clear about fiscal responsibility and about what the board will hold the utility to in future years.

What staff presented: Philo (utilities leadership) told the board the management team spent a half-day reviewing the department’s mission, vision and code of ethics and proposed a shortened vision aimed at staff use: “earn the highest level of community confidence through uninterrupted utility services” (presented as the recommended vision in the staff infographic). The management team also proposed aligning the code of ethics and the values so that familiar wording would be repeated in staff orientation and daily work expectations.

Facilitation and discussion: Consultant Kathy Darwin led the workshop and urged the board to focus on content over wordsmithing, telling members, “This is your session tonight, so I want to make sure that each one of you have an opportunity to voice your ideas and thoughts.” The management team stressed the importance of a short, aspirational statement employees can use as a daily guide. Several board members said they were uncomfortable if a vision depended primarily on external validation (community approval) and recommended the statements also include measurable internal expectations such as fiscal responsibility.

Board requests and next steps - Add an explicit reference to economics or economical stewardship in the mission statement (several board members suggested a small insertion to emphasize cost-conscious service delivery). - Reconsider the phrasing “uninterrupted utility services” in the vision so it is aspirational but realistic; the board discussed whether “reliable” might be preferable to “uninterrupted.” - Staff to return with revised mission/vision/values for the board’s September work session; the management team said it would incorporate board feedback and bring the revised documents back for approval before being rolled into employee orientation and the FY2026 CIP/action plans.

Context and staff guidance: Staff said the proposed vision and values are intended for daily use by employees — orientation materials and a business-card sized summary will be distributed to staff and used in performance conversations. The values were built from the existing code of ethics so that repeated phrasing would reinforce behavior expectations across the department.

Speakers and who said what - Philo (utility manager / staff lead): outlined how management developed the recommended vision and values from staff workshops and the code of ethics. - Kathy Darwin (facilitator): led the session and recommended focusing on content and staff usability rather than wordsmithing during the workshop.

No final adoption: The board did not adopt the new mission and vision at the meeting, instead directing staff to revise terminology and return in September with a polished recommendation for adoption and for use in the department’s employee orientation and performance materials.