At the Thursday, Dec. 4 meeting of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District, the board of directors announced the hiring of Brian C. Lee as the new district manager.
Lee, who will take up his new post on Jan. 12, 2015, after his current contract as interim General Manager of the Marina Coast Water District concludes.
It will be his third time at the helm of a water district — having served as interim manager both in Marina and with the Rainbow Municipal Water district in San Diego County — but his first being hired directly into that role.
Lee comes to the SLV Water District with a background that includes finance, civil engineering, and more than a decade working with water infrastructure.
During the 8 years spent in San Diego County, Lee managed a $30 million capital improvement plan, successfully sought out state-sponsored loans, and served as lead design team engineer on a variety of projects for the San Diego County Water Authority.
“I’m fascinated with improving the infrastructure … getting it replaced in a reasonable time frame,” he said, adding that he looks forward to working with SLVWD’s redwood tanks.
In his new role, Lee said, his priorities are to improve the district’s infrastructure, as well as establish and maintain lines of communication between the district and the community.
“Communication is going to be a big priority,” he said. “This is a community district; we need to be responsive to the community … I don’t expect any transparency issues to be raised while (I’m there).”
Lee’s hiring comes nearly six months after the June departure of longtime SLVWD District Manager Jim Mueller, who was terminated in the wake of a scathing civil grand jury report that cited a lack of transparency, as well as deficiencies in financial and operational oversight.
Lee said that the level of community involvement and interest in the water district stood out to him during the application and interviewing process.
“There really appears to be a strong interest for the board to work with community issues,” he said, adding that he looks forward to listening to and working with interested rate payers. “I like to say my best ability is to shut up.”
The announcement of Lee’s hiring took place at the final meeting of the SLV Water District Board of Directors before three incumbent board members were replaced on the five-member body by incoming members Chuck Baughman, Eric Hammer, and Gene Elizabeth Ratcliffe.
“The good news is we’re all starting at the same time,” Lee said of the new-look board, on which only Board President Margaret Bruce and Boardmember Randall Brown will remain from the group that hired him. “We’ll all be able to learn together.”
