The leader of the $1.2 billion public agency charged with transforming San Diego’s energy supply is still MIA. A survey of her employees, conducted before she went on leave without explanation in June, shows some felt lukewarm about her management style.
A public records request revealed San Diego Community Power hired Nash Consulting, Inc. to survey employees about CEO, Karin Burns in April. Her marks ranged from middling to good. Burns has not responded to attempts to reach her.
The consultant asked employees to rate Burns between 1 (low) and 5 (high) on her embodiment of organizational values, respect for people, decision making, personal accountability, executive presence and other traits. She scored below what a consultant hired to conduct the survey deemed “positive or solid” in more than half the categories. Those ratings fell, instead, in the realm of having what the consultant called a “moderate opportunity” for growth. However, she never scored in the lowest category called “significant opportunity” for growth.
The same day Burns went on leave on June 18, Community Power’s governing board discussed her performance in a closed session meeting. The board took no official action and exactly what was discussed has not been disclosed.
Public agendas show the San Diego Community Power Board hired Nash Consulting in September of 2025 under a $185,000 contract. The firm, run by Ethan and Michael Nash, was supposed to coach the agency’s leadership team through twelve full-day workshops and five individual six-month coaching contracts for specific leaders, among other duties.
Eighty-two employees filled out Nash Consulting’s survey of other workplace issues beyond CEO performance, like morale, job satisfaction and workplace culture. Seventy-three people actually filled out the survey specific to Burns.
What the Survey Said
In the survey, Nash considered scores between 3.0 and 3.5 to represent “moderate opportunities” for growth.
Burns scored lowest, 3.25, on executive presence. The survey describes presence as creating “steadiness and confidence instead of urgency, fragmentation or distraction. Their presence is centering not destabilizing and their habits and responsiveness signal focus and reliability not confusion and delay.”
She scored 3.42 on “psychological safety.” A person who scores well in that realm would remain curious and could absorb dissent without becoming defensive. In other words, “people feel safe bringing them hard truths,” the report reads.
She scored 3.46 on her decision-making abilities.
On personal accountability – being quick to own a mistake and modeling responsibility that invites ownership throughout the organization – Burns got 3.53, which falls into the “generally positive or solid” Nash Consulting category.
She scored better on the remaining categories — 4.10 on her care, respect and genuine regard for people and 4.05 on embodying the mission and values of San Diego Community Power.
In terms of how the employees themselves felt about their workplace, the lowest score – 2.84 – had to do with whether employees understood San Diego Community Power’s policies or could even find them. It was only in this specific category where employees perceived a “significant opportunity” for growth.
Employees also disclosed that senior leaders don’t always hold themselves accountable for work, behaviors or decisions – 3.25 out of 5. And employees also cited problems with giving and receiving feedback effectively and respectfully without defensiveness – 3.1 out of 5.
In Other News:
- The toxic gas in the South Bay from the polluted Tijuana River Valley is getting worse, according to an analysis by the Union-Tribune.
- North County’s transit agency is trying to plug a funding gap by cutting train and bus routes over the next few years. Our former intern, Jenna Ramiscal, revealed this fiscal crunch back in November, after uncovering the agency’s struggle to pay for carbon-free, hydrogen-fueled buses. (Union-Tribune)
- The Wall Street Journal ran a profile on wannabe Imperial County data center developer Sebastian Rucci.
- And a judge recently rejected Rucci’s defamation lawsuit against KPBS reporter Kori Suzuki, who uncovered Rucci’s past before the WSJ ran its own profile. (KPBS)
- Imperial County supervisors passed a moratorium on data centers for a full year. (inewsource)
- If you want more on data centers, check out this podcast called Volts with David Roberts. This week he attempted to make sense of the data center backlash.
- Some San Diego leaders want a new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade deal to include specific solutions to the sewage problem plaguing the Tijuana River. (KPBS)
- A subsidiary company of Sempra, the company that owns San Diego Gas and Electric, sent its first cargo through a new liquified natural gas exporting facility in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. (Union-Tribune)
This is a really weird news story. First, who reports on a company survey about the CEO and then let’s that become public? Kind of a betrayal vibe.
Yep. Going to cost more in a settlement agreement. Fully understand the public records request, but releasing the scores seems like that would not be required to be released.