Central Alabama Water’s board of directors hired a chief executive officer Thursday over the heated protests of some board members regarding lack of transparency in a search process that publicly produced only one candidate, a former manager the utility had agreed not to rehire.

Attempts to delay the vote on the special-called meeting’s only agenda item by calling for an executive session, making a motion for adjournment and questioning a last-minute change to the CEO’s contract all failed.

“This is an outrage,” board member Sheila Tyson, who is also a Jefferson County commissioner, said before the vote. “I have never in my life seen nothing like this. It breaks my heart as a young person that we got to rely on a system like this.”

Board members who were not part of a three-member CEO search committee said the resume of Jeffrey Thompson, who worked as assistant general manager of operations and technical services for Birmingham Water Works, now CAW, from 2019 to 2023, was the only one they received for review. Tyson said after the meeting that Thompson’s resume was presented to her soon after the current board was installed, in May, and before the CEO search officially began.

A state law that restructured the water works’ operations and board, giving more representation to suburban areas the utility serves, also required the board to hire a CEO.

Board Vice Chairman Phillip Wiedmeyer, a member of the search committee that also included Chairman Tommy Hudson and David Standridge, voted “present” in the 4-2 decision to hire Thompson.

“I had some issues with the process that got us to this point,” Wiedmeyer said.

He added that Thursday’s meeting was conducted in a confusing way. Chairman Tommy Hudson adjourned the meeting after a vote that seemed to be about the CEO’s hiring and then called the meeting to order again when an attorney said the board had not voted on that motion.

That action could call into question the legality of the vote. A second meeting called to order without public notice would not be lawful under the Alabama Open Meetings Act, said attorney and former Birmingham City Councilor Johnathan Austin, who was not at Thursday’s meeting. The act requires 24 hours’ notice for meetings of public boards, except in cases of emergencies or resignations, he said. Hiring someone “is not an emergency,” Austin said. “Nobody’s going to be harmed by not having the person hired that day.”

An agreement between Thompson and the Birmingham Water Works Board that BirminghamWatch reviewed states Thompson, who resigned, “shall not be eligible for re-employment with the Water Works Board.” The agreement, dated April 26, 2023, stems from a dispute between Thompson and the board about whether Thompson owed the utility $43,433.78 he had received through its tuition-reimbursement program. In exchange for releasing legal rights and claims related to his employment, Thompson did not have to repay the funds.

Since the CEO search began in July, Tyson and Jarvis Patton Sr., the two board members Birmingham city officials appointed, have asked during meetings for information and progress reports. Little was shared.

Hudson said the full board would be given a chance to vote once the committee made a recommendation. He said this was to protect the jobs of candidates who would not ultimately be chosen. Patton said he understood the need for discretion but didn’t think that precluded sharing candidate information with board members.

The board did discuss CEO salary recommendations from a Chicago-based search firm, Russell Reynolds Associates, and its contract with that company. The search firm suggested a salary of $650,000 to $750,000, a pay level that would have placed the CEO among the most highly paid public-water-utility heads in the nation. CAW has been struggling to create a 2026 budget that will adequately fund operations and capital projects such as rehabilitation of Lake Purdy Dam without raising customer rates.

But the final contract with Thompson  shows a salary of $446,118.40, plus benefits. Russell Reynolds Associates’ contract with the board states the firm will be paid an amount equal to one-third of the new CEO’s total first-year compensation, in addition to expenses.

Thompson’s salary is the same as that of General Manager Mac Underwood, who has been leading the utility since last year. Patton said Underwood’s continued employment with CAW is in doubt.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin posted on Facebook Thursday morning a list of questions for the CAW board regarding the CEO search process and Thompson’s previous employment with the utility and with DC Water, where he worked as chief operating officer from May 2023 until August.

Some of those questions insinuated Thompson was involved in providing support to state legislators in relation to Alabama Senate Bill 330, which is now law and required a CEO to be hired, and that he consulted with legislators before the CEO search began.

Hudson said after the meeting Thursday that there were hundreds of candidates for the position.

“We’re confident Jeff is the right person for the job and look forward to him hitting the ground running,” Hudson said in a press release CAW distributed after the meeting. “This marks a milestone in our work to transform Central Alabama Water into a modern and efficient organization focused on its customers.”

According to the press release, Thompson’s previous job with Birmingham Water Works involved directing operational activities related to water resources, water treatment, laboratory services, security and regulatory compliance.

BirminghamWatch’s request to interview Thompson on Thursday was declined.