New PWSA Director Quits After Resume Questioned

PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) - The newly appointed executive director of the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority has quit after his resume was questioned.

The authority's board voted Wednesday to hire K. Charles Griffin for $190,000 annually. But media reports soon after questioned Griffin's resume, which said he had resigned after 16 months as general manager of the Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority in South Carolina.

Minutes from a meeting of the South Carolina agency's board show Griffin was terminated. He's since said it was a forced resignation.

"I think it was the right decision," said Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto. "There were questions over one of the jobs he had that were not presented."

Griffin was scheduled to come here from an administrator job in King William County, Virginia.

Mayor Peduto has called for the PWSA board to account for its vetting and hiring practices.

"I'm not fully convinced that they did fully vet the process; although, they said did," Mayor Peduto said. "Something like this was easily found just by doing a Google search."

Griffin told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday that he withdrew his application saying, "I'd like to leave it at that" and that his "resume was complete."

Now the board must find a new director to help it deal with continuing concerns -- high levels of lead found in the drinking water of some home, inflated bills, and the ongoing upgrade of an antiquated water and sewer system.

"There's a lot of challenges facing the PWSA, and what we need is a good, strong leader within the executive director's office to be able to do it," Mayor Peduto said.

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