Otay Water District Board Elects New Officers
At its Jan. 3, 2018 meeting, the Otay Water District Board of Directors elected new Board officers to lead the District’s Board for 2018.
The Board elected Board member Tim Smith, who represents division 1, as president. The Board also elected members Mitch Thompson, serving division 2, as vice president and Mark Robak, serving division 5, as treasurer.
Smith’s election as president follows one year of Board leadership under past president Mark Robak. Smith has served on the District’s Board since December 2014.
“I’m proud to be part of the District’s leadership to sustain achieving our mission of providing high value water and wastewater services to our customers,” said Smith. “I look forward to working in partnership with our Board members, the general manager, and staff to continue evaluating practices that create efficiencies for the District, providing services to our customers at affordable rates. I pride myself and the District in being dedicated to community service.”
Smith has a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degree in civil engineering from San Diego State University and worked for private civil engineering companies for 11 years. He also worked as a senior civil engineer at the San Diego County Water Authority from 2001-2004 and at Helix Water District as a principal engineer from 2004 to 2011. He is a lecturer at San Diego State University in the Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering Department. Smith currently serves as the District’s representative on San Diego County Water Authority’s Board of Directors.
Following the vote of officers by the Board, each of the directors immediately assumed all powers and duties of a member and/or officer of the Board of Directors. Smith will serve as president through January 2019 when officer elections will again occur.
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 distributing water to more than 223,000 customers within approximately 125 square miles of southeastern San Diego County, including the communities of Otay Mesa, Chula Vista, Jamul, Spring Valley, Rancho San Diego, and unincorporated areas of El Cajon and La Mesa.