Francisco X. Rivera Elected as 2026 Otay Board President
News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Tenille M. Otero
Office: (619) 670-2256
Mobile: (619) 733-1479
totero@otaywater.gov
Francisco X. Rivera Elected as Otay Water District Board President for 2026
Mark Robak Named Vice President, Delfina Gonzalez as Treasurer
Spring Valley, CA – At its January meeting, the Otay Water District board of directors elected Francisco X. Rivera as president for 2026. Rivera represents division one. The board also elected board member Mark Robak (division five) as vice president and Delfina Gonzalez (division two) as treasurer.
Rivera will serve as president through the end of the calendar year. Rivera was appointed to the District Board of Directors in September 2024 to fill the division one vacancy through December 2026. In 2025, he served as the board treasurer and chair of several committees, including Engineering, Operations, and Water Resources; the Ad Hoc Salt Creek Golf Course Lease and Property Disposition; and the Ad Hoc Employee Negotiations. He also served on the Desalination Project and the Recycled Water Agreement Ad Hoc committees. In addition, Rivera represented the District on the Chula Vista Interagency, Otay Water District and Sweetwater Authority Task Force to Develop Recycled Water Opportunities, San Diego Area Wastewater Management District, and the WateReuse Association. He also serves as the District’s representative for the San Diego County Water Authority Board of Directors.
“It is an honor to be elected board president,” said President Rivera. “I look forward to working with our board to support fiscal responsibility, reliable infrastructure, and transparent governance on behalf of the District and its customers.”
“It is an honor to be elected board president,” said President Rivera. “I look forward to working with our board to support fiscal responsibility, reliable infrastructure, and transparent governance on behalf of the District and its customers.”
Rivera, a licensed civil engineer and traffic engineer, brings more than three decades of public-sector engineering, transportation, and infrastructure leadership to the District. He retired in 2023 after almost 40 years with the City of Chula Vista, where he served as a principal civil engineer and city traffic engineer. During his tenure, he led major land development, transportation, wastewater, and capital improvement programs and managed large-scale regional infrastructure projects.
Beyond the District, Rivera serves on the San Diego Association of Governments Independent Taxpayer Oversight Committee, which oversees the expenditure of TransNet funds—the countywide half-cent transportation sales tax generating approximately $425 million annually. He was unanimously reappointed to a four-year term through May 2030 and serves as chair for fiscal year 2026, following a term as vice chair.
Rivera is also active in regional and community service. His past and current roles include the City of Chula Vista Measure A Public Safety Sales Tax Citizens’ Oversight Committee, the Salvation Army South County Advisory Board, vice president of the Eastlake III Homeowners Association, and chair of the Eastlake III HOA’s Architectural Review Committee. His professional achievements have been recognized with numerous awards, including the American Public Works Association Outstanding Service in a Public Agency Award, as well as honors from the City of Chula Vista and the San Diego County Bike Coalition.
Rivera holds a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the United States International University. During his free time, he enjoys traveling the world, riding his mountain and road bikes locally, and volunteers each March as a bike marshal at the San Diego Half Marathon.
Under Rivera’s leadership, the District will continue to fulfill its mission of providing exceptional water and wastewater service to its customers and managing the District’s resources in a transparent and fiscally responsible manner.
The five-member board of directors is the governing body of the District and is responsible for setting rates for service, taxes, policies, ordinances, adopting the annual budget and other matters related to the management and operation of the water agency. Each director is elected by voters within one of five divisions to represent the public’s interest on the Board. Directors serve four-year terms in office.
The Otay Water District is a public agency providing water, recycled water, and sewer service to approximately 242,155 customers within approximately 125 square miles of southeastern San Diego County, including the communities of eastern Chula Vista, Bonita, Jamul, Spring Valley, Rancho San Diego, unincorporated areas of El Cajon and La Mesa, and east Otay Mesa along the international border with Mexico. For more information about the Otay Water District, visit otaywater.gov.