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Community—Every community is made up of individuals who are part of groups
and organizations that have formed to make their community a better place to live.
There are also many government agencies which have control over every aspect of
a local community which include Federal, State, city, and special districts. Success
is building relationships with all of these organizations to know the issues that need
cooperation to Þnd mutual and beneÞcial solutions.
Success and Results
• When I took over management of the RCSD, the District had an issue with its
aging percolation ponds, which were leeching nitrates into the groundwater, at
the Waste Water Treatment Plant. The State Water Board had ordered the
District to Þnd a solution. The District also had built a tertiary plant which was
not needed at the time, and the cost of producing tertiary water was 10 times
the cost of purchasing expensive State Water Project Water. I knew that our
secondary efßuent was a resource. I put together a blue ribbon panel of some of
the top experts in the wastewater Þeld. My mission was to Þnd a way to
leverage our secondary efßuent, and Þnd the best economic way to alleviate the
nitrate seepage. The results: expand the WWTP at less than half the cost of
relining the ponds, reduce annual costs to rate payers by over $2.5 million, and
receive approximately 1500 acre feet per year of groundwater credits to
produce potable water under the very restrictive ground water adjudication.
• Community outreach is an important part of government. I have conducted
numerous successful outreach programs, bringing stakeholders together for
public charrerttes, creating speciÞc plans: walking and biking trails, parks and
recreation expansion, and commercial centers.

• 15 years of working with developers to encourage smart growth and economic
success.

• By creating new policy on how the City handled businesses and streamlining
the process, Lancaster was the Þrst city to ever win the ÒBusiness Friendliest
City” in Los Angeles County for two years.

• Three years ago, the RCSD had depleted the majority of its Water Fund
Reserves on operations and maintenance and was operating at a deÞcit. With
nearly 9 months left in that reserve until the Water Fund would not have
sufÞcient revenue to provide service, immediate changes had to be made. With
creative solutions, the District increased its net position by 6.6%, or over $2.6
million, and replenished its reserves to over 50%. Total expenses decreased by
10.6%, primarily due to a decrease in operational expenses, without reducing
service levels.