NACWA in the News

NACWA convened its 49th Annual Association Business Meeting during the 2019 Utility Leadership Conference in Minneapolis last week. In addition to reports from NACWA’s President, Treasurer and CEO, the membership took action to elect a slate of new and returning Board Members and to amend the Association’s bylaws. David Gadis, CEO for DC Water, was elected to a vacant seat in Region 3. The rest of the Board Members elected were running for re-election. The complete slate approved by the membership was:

Region 2:                                     
Andy Kricun, Executive Director/Chief Engineer
Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority, NJ

Angela Licata, Deputy Commissioner of Sustainability
New York City Department of Environmental Protection, NY

Region 3: 
David Gadis, Chief Executive Officer
DC Water, DC

Rudy Chow, Director of Public Works
Baltimore City Department of Public Works, MD

Region 4:        
Tony Parrott, Executive Director
Louisville & Jefferson County Metropolitan Sewer District, KY

Region 5:
Leisa Thompson, General Manager
Metropolitan Council Environmental Services, MN           

Region 6:
Mark Sanchez, Executive Director
Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, NM

Region 7:
Steve Hershner, Utilities Directors
City of Cedar Rapids, Utilities Department, IA

Region 9:
Harlan Kelly, Jr., General Manager
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, CA

The NACWA membership also approved amendments to the Association’s bylaws. The bylaws amendments were recommended by a Task Force of Board Members formed last fall and were considered and approved by the Board of Directors during its meeting in April. The Task Force recommended the changes to ensure that NACWA can maintain the strongest, most engaged and diverse leadership. In summary, the amendments restructure the Board of Directors to include two, instead of three, seats from each US EPA region. This would ultimately result in 20 regional seats and 13 at-large seats as current regional directors rotate off the Board. The amendments also clarify eligibility for Board service to include only NACWA Primary Contacts (specifically Executive Directors, General Managers, Chief Executive Officers, or lead executives) and remove the prohibition on having two officers from the same EPA Region (while clarifying in NACWA’s Policies & Procedures that officers succeeding each other must be from different regions).