EPM’s Board Drama Continues: 2 More Nominees Reject Mayor Quintero’s Appointment

After the entire EPM (Empresas Públicas de Medellín) board of directors resigned in protest of Medellín Mayor Daniel Quintero’s (above photo) usurpation of the board’s prerogative, resulting in an immediate downgrade in the utility’s credit rating by Fitch, the mayor continues to struggle to find qualified individuals willing to accept his appointment. More embarrassing, the rejections come after the mayor’s public announcement of their appointment.

A day after EPM’s board resigned, the entire board of Medellín business incubator Ruta-N also resigned in protest of political meddling and alleged attempts to introduce political patronage into the entity’s civil-service merit-based personnel operation. Federico Arango Toro also resigned his board position representing EPM on joint telecom venture Tigo Une in protest.

Luis Fernando Rico, former general manager of another Colombian utility giant, Isagen along with Sandra Suarez, the general manager of Colombian weekly newsmagazine Semana both rejected Quintero’s appointments, joining Claro Colombia CEO Juan Carlos Archila and Grupo Santo Domingo’s Alberto Preciado.

So far the mayor has only found three people willing to serve on EPM’s board, none of them with corporate or utility backgrounds: Pablo Felipe Robledo is a former superintendent of industry & commerce of Colombia, something akin to the Federal Trade Commission in the US. Omar Flórez is a former mayor of Medellín from 1990-1992. Jorge Iván Palacio is a former president (presiding judge) of Colombia’s Constitutional Court.