Morgan Hill resident and longtime Santa Clara Valley Water
District employee Beau Goldie is scheduled to take the helm as the
public agency’s top manager June 1.
Morgan Hill
Morgan Hill resident and longtime Santa Clara Valley Water District employee Beau Goldie is scheduled to take the helm as the public agency’s top manager June 1.
Goldie, whose daughter is a senior at Ann Sobrato High School, was named district’s CEO Thursday.
He acknowledged many challenges facing the district in the form of tight water supplies and the ongoing financial crisis.
“I’m very excited about this job. I want to move forward and provide the products and services to the community, and help our board of directors deliver a more fiscally constrained and fiscally proactive agency,” Goldie said.
Among the long-term challenges Goldie hopes to address, despite the need to cut back on expenses, include the district’s aging infrastructure, and state and federal cutbacks in imported water supplies. Furthermore, he said the district’s “aging workforce” poses a challenge, as staff members who are close to retirement possess vast knowledge and expertise that will have to be handed down to new employees.
Currently the Chief Operating Officer of the district’s capital program services division, Goldie attended a public hearing Wednesday night conducted by the district board, where he heard numerous South County residents complain about a staff proposal to raise groundwater rates for the ninth year in a row.
Many people said they had difficulty connecting the rates with the district’s expenses for local services.
“We need to demonstrate the linkage between dollars and what the community gets for those dollars, and we need to be transparent and accountable,” Goldie said.
Having worked for the district for more than 20 years as an engineer, Goldie is familiar with ongoing projects such as the Upper Llagas Creek Flood Protection project and efforts to ensure that retailers conserve water during the current drought that is in its third year.
In general, Goldie said he plans to run the district “more like a business.”
“I want to make sure we stretch every dollar we have in getting our products and services to the community,” he said.
In his current job managing projects in an office consisting of 170 employees at the district, Goldie has a history of collaboration with other public agencies in the area.
Tom Mumley, Assistant Executive Officer of the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board, said he has been impressed with Goldie’s attention to detail.
“At the same time it’s obvious he sees the big picture. He understands the benefits of taking a watershed-based approach to managing our integrated system of water supply and flood protection while protecting water quality,” Mumley said.
As CEO, Goldie will be the top manager of the agency which employs about 850 people and has an annual budget of more than $400 million. The spot is currently held by Interim CEO Sharon Judkins.
The last regular water district CEO was Stan Williams, who resigned in January 2008 following a controversy in which he hired former board member Greg Zlotnick to a $180,000-a-year job without telling the board.
Goldie is still in negotiations with the board about his contract, and his salary has not yet been determined.
