Walter J. Pishkur has been named the City’s interim utilities director. He will remain with the City for a six-month assignment.
According to a City press release, Pishkur has an extensive career in both the private and public sectors. His professional experience has developed in various states, including Ohio and Illinois. Most recently, he served the City of Amarillo as Interim Director of Utilities and a Senior Operations and Planning Consultant, overseeing 200 employees.
Pishkur was the Director of Water Utilities in Arlington from 2012 to 2018. His duties there included overseeing the operations of the municipal water and wastewater system, serving a community of more than 400,000 customers. He encouraged the implementation of new technology-based methods to address issues in a more timely manner.
He is expected to ensure the City of Laredo Utility Department’s operational stability while driving strategic improvements. More specific performance metrics include maintaining 99% uptime for the utility services, reducing service request backlogs by 20% in the first 90 days, and remaining within budget with no more than a 2% variance.
After 120 days in the position, Pishkur will deliver a comprehensive report on operational improvement, which will include detailed recommendations on staffing, technology, infrastructure, and service processes.
