For six months, Rodney Bourne has been serving as Rolla Municipal Utilities’ Acting General Manager and on Monday evening the governing body that oversees the utility removed the interim title and made him its sixth general manager in its 64-year history.

The board also promoted Acting Operations Manager Tom Parker, naming him to succeed former Operations Manager Dave Stogsdill, who like former General Manager Dan Watkins, retired on April 24.

Bourne, 43, has been with the company 10-plus years; Parker, 45, has been with RMU for 26 years.

Bourne has served as staff engineer before assuming the duties of operations and public relations coordinator in 2006 before stepping up as general manager.

Parker came up through the ranks as a meter reader, serving as a lineman, linemen foreman and operations foreman before being named to fill Stogsdill’s shoes.

“In executive session, the board agreed to make Rodney Bourne’s and Tom Parker’s positions permanent,” Board President Dr. James Stoffer said. “They both have performed very well during the last six months, and they deserve this distinction. ... The positions are effective immediately.”

Bourne was in his office early Tuesday.

“I’m very excited, very honored about the opportunity and the confidence the board has placed in me and Tom,” Bourne said.
Both Bourne and Parker did not receive salary raises as a result of the board’s latest action, but they were compensated six months ago when given the titles of acting directors.

“We were given salary compensation at the time,” Bourne said. “At this time, the board left those salaries where they were.”
The decision to promote both Bourne and Parker were unanimous votes.

RMU previous general managers include James Bronson (1945-’70), William O’Haver (1970-’77), James Banse (1977-’88), John Twitty (1988-’91) and Watkins (1992-’09).