Wapa

WAPA Board to Consider Pay Raises for CEO Kupfer and Top Associates as Controversy Swirls Over Comments by Authority Lawyer

Amid a firestorm over social media comments by a top WAPA attorney,  pay raises are on the agenda Thursday for the Water and Power Authority "executive management and confidential” staff. The WAPA Governing Board said Monday night that a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday will include Finance and Audit Committee action on the wage increases.  The talk of pay raises for CEO Lawrence “Larry” Kupfer and other high-ranking WAPA officials comes as public anger rises over WAPA deputy legal counsel Mark Kragel’s Facebook post labeling the Black Lives Matter (BLM)  movement a “domestic terrorist organization.”  The WAPA governing board said Monday that Mr. Kragel’s fate at the Authority is in the hands of his boss, Mr. Kupfer.  A growing list of public officials, including Congresswoman Stacey Plaskett and Gov. Albert Bryan, are calling for Kragel’s firing.  Meanwhile, Mr. Kupfer has to date issued a written statement chastising Kragel for making a “unpopular, politically incorrect” rem...