[Press Release] : City manager names Water and Light director

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Bill Watkins, City Manager - (573) 874-6338 or Toni Messina,
Director, Public Communications - (573) 874-7660

City manager names Water and Light director

COLUMBIA, MO (June 12, 2008) - City Manager Bill Watkins today
announced the appointment of J. Kraig Kahler (Kay-ler) as director,
Columbia Water & Light Department, effective July 14, 2008. Kahler will
be paid an annual salary of $150,000 and will receive a car allowance
and other authorized employee benefits. 

A licensed professional engineer, Kahler now heads the municipal
utility system at Weatherford, Texas, located 25 miles west of Fort
Worth. He is responsible for the city’s electric, water and wastewater
systems.

Kahler, 45, rose to the top of a list of about a dozen semifinalists
identified by Mycoff Fry & Prouse LLC, the consultant retained to work
with a 10-member community advisory committee that helped with the
search. According to Watkins, Kahler has both the professional
credentials and the personal qualities that will make him a good fit for
Columbia.

“Texas has a deregulated energy market where all of the municipal
utility systems have decided to continue serving their traditional
territories,” Watkins said. “In that environment, Kraig has
consistently kept customer rates at reasonable levels, prudently
negotiated electric purchased power contracts and used his engineering
experience to reliably deliver utility service.”

“Kraig also has experience with fiber-optic networks and in helping
city government meet conservation goals for electricity, natural gas and
water,” Watkins said. “I think we’re getting a tremendous package
with this appointment.”

Kahler’s experience includes more than 20 years in both the public
and private sectors in Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri, where he
worked as an engineer with the former Missouri Public Service Company at
Lee’s Summit. He has headed the Weatherford utility department, with a
budget of $56 million and 137 employees, since 1999.

Kahler said he is excited about coming to Columbia where he will be
located closer to family members who live in northeast Kansas. “I have
an opportunity to retire from the Texas Municipal Retirement System, so
this relocation and new challenge come at a great time,” Kahler said.


Kahler earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from
Kansas State University in 1985 and his master’s in business
administration and finance from the University of Colorado at Colorado
Springs in 1990. He has served on several public power and water
resource boards and been recognized for his professional
accomplishments. Kahler is married with three children, including two
who play in the rock band Daze Off.

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