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About TPU > Public Utility Board > Board-Director Linkage

Board-Director Linkage

It is a time of monumental change in the utility industry. Utilities must embrace innovation and move quickly to find new and better ways to deliver affordable, reliable, and environmentally sensitive services to its customers.

With this in the mind, the Tacoma Public Utility Board launched policy development of the Board Rules of Procedure, Board-Director Linkage, and Guiding Principles.

The Board Rules of Procedure are processes for how the Board will govern itself. The Board-Director linkage policies clarify how the Board expects the Director of the Utilities to carry out the work of TPU. The Guiding Principles capture the performance for which the Board will hold TPU accountable on behalf of its ratepayers.

These policies are adopted as of Jan. 8, 2020 and revised on April 22, 2026.

Full resolutions can be found on MyTPU.org/Board.

Tacoma Public Utility Board

  • Approves vision and mission of TPU and establishes the Guiding Principles TPU is to achieve, communicating them in the form of policy.
  • Monitors and measures the results of the guiding principles.
  • Ensures Board actions are in alignment with the City Charter, City Code, Board policies, and laws.
  • Appoints, evaluates, decides whether to confirm, and when necessary, discharge the Director of Utilities.
  • Except for purposes of inquiry, seeks information from staff consistent with section 4.19 of the City Charter and should funnel such requests through the Director of Utilities or members of the senior leadership team.
  • Approves all attorneys from the City Attorney’s Office assigned to act as counsel to TPU.

Director of Utilities

  • Leads the implementation of TPU’s vision, mission, and strategy.
  • Manages all operations and business affairs of TPU, with a primary focus on leadership of the TPU executive management team to implement TPU Guiding Principles.
  • Communicates regularly and effectively with the Board on the business of TPU.
  • Manages the implementation of systems and policies that enable TPU to conduct its activities both lawfully and ethically.
  • Prepares and submits the TPU operating divisions strategic plans to the Board for review and approval and ensures all TPU expenditures are within the authorized biennial budget.
  • Appoints, subject to confirmation by the Board, a Superintendent for each utility system under the Director’s control.
  • Conducts a thorough on-boarding process and orientation for new Board members.

Director Evaluation

  • The Board shall review the Director’s performance annually, and every two years shall vote in a public meeting on whether to reconfirm the appointment, subject to reconfirmation by the City Council.
  • The Director’s evaluation will be based on comparing the organization’s performance and the Director’s personal performance to the desired results established by the Board. The Board will use data as appropriate to determine the degree to which Board policies are being met.
  • Through the strategic planning process, the Director shall propose a work plan and key accountabilities for the following year that represent the Director’s reasonable interpretation of achieving the Guiding Principles defined by the Board.
  • All policies that instruct the Director shall be monitored at a frequency and by methods chosen by the Board.
  • The Board will receive regular progress updates on goals set in the performance review.
  • A timeline will be established by the Board and Director for the annual review and for the two-year confirmation review and decision.

The Board will instruct the Director of Utilities (Director) through written policies that define the results that the organization is to achieve and which are consistent with the delegation of authority that the Board has previously made to the Director.

Specifically:

  • The Board shall approve the vision, mission and strategic plan of Tacoma Public Utilities (TPU) and establish the Guiding Principles of the Board, communicating them in the form of policies that are consistent with the delegations the Board has made to the Director with regard to the Director’s authority.
  • The Director shall establish policies, make decisions, take actions, establish practices, and develop activities related to the operations or business affairs of TPU in a manner consistent with delegations of the Board.
  • If the Director reasonably determines that an activity related to a delegation presents an operational risk to TPU in any way, the Director shall inform the Board and may request that the Board take appropriate actions.
  • The Board may change its delegations to the Director at any time, subject to the conditions of the employment contract, thereby expanding or limiting the authority of the Director. However, as long as any particular delegation is in place, the Board will abide by the Director’s decisions in those areas that are delegated to the Director.
  • The Director shall work with the Clerk of the Board to develop and maintain an up to date list of delegations that have been made by the Board to the Director.
  • The Board will review the Board delegations that have been made to the Director as necessary.