The Lansing Board of Water & Light fired its general manager yesterday. The commission voted five-to-three to terminate J. Peter Lark's contract. Lark took a barrage of criticism because of BWL's response to a huge ice storm just before Christmas 2013.
While tens of thousand of BWL customers shivered in the dark for more than a week, including on Christmas, Lark headed to New York for a vacation.
Reviews of the way BWL handled the ice storm and power outage pointed to a need for "cultural changes" within the utility.
You can watch Lark's statement after he was ousted by the board here:
BWL Commissioner Dennis Louney introduced the termination resolution, and he joined us today.
Six months ago Louney and the board voted to reappoint Lark. We asked him why the board didn’t fire him then.
Listen to his answer and our conversation with Louney above.