It has been three months since the top executive at San Diego Community Power abruptly left her job for reasons that remain unexplained.
Karin Burns, who was hired to lead the new organization in April 2022, hasn’t been on the job since a June 18 board meeting called to discuss her performance evaluation. The board didn’t take any official action then, but at the meeting a week later Chief Operating Officer Jack Clark served as CEO for the meeting.
The next day the agency issued a statement appointing Clark as acting CEO and announcing Burns was “on leave at this time.”
Since then, there has been no clarification of Burns’ status. Senior Director of Public Affairs Jen Lebron said Monday Burns remains on “administrative leave” and is still getting paid. Her current salary was $505,270.
Meanwhile in August the agency’s board approved an amendment to Clark’s contract to compensate him for taking on the CEO duties. The amendment boosted his pay 10% to $466,000.
The board convenes for its regular meeting Thursday and there is nothing on the agenda about Burns. The board has not announced a permanent replacement nor that a search for a new leader is underway.
However the board is scheduled to approve three contracts with employment firms for executive-level recruitment, short-term temporary recruitment, and direct hiring in none-executive jobs.
The contracts are for three years each, and the total not-to-exceed amount of the trio is $500,000. Lebron said the contracts are not to fill a specific job, but can be used when needed.