Postponing the job search for a year, the Sonoma County Water Agency has named two current officials to fill its top posts on an interim basis. Assistant General Manager Grant Davis has been named the interim general manager, and Jay Jasperse of Sonoma is the agency’s interim chief engineer.
The appointments are for one year.
Randy Poole, who retired Feb. 22, had held both titles since 1994. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, which directs the Sonoma County Water Agency, voted in November to separate his responsibilities into two different jobs.
The county hired a recruiting firm to find a new general manager. In January, it had identified and began vetting candidates who would then be interviewed by the board of directors.
Early last month, the process was called off. Citing concerns of confidentiality, Sonoma County Water Agency’s Chair Valerie Brown announced the interim appointment of Davis.
Adding to the intrigue is the reported interest Supervisor Paul Kelley has in the job. The north county supervisor has announced he will not seek re-election in June, but has declined comment on any plans to pursue the water agency spot.
By law Kelley would have had to resign his supervisor post before formally interviewing for the general manager job, but as the process was canceled before interviews began, Kelley’s plans remain unknown.
Davis takes the helm of an agency that provides water to 600,000 people in Marin and Sonoma counties, including customers of the Valley of the Moon Water Agency.
“In his current capacity, Grant has provided strong leadership on a wide variety of projects,” said Brown. “He has demonstrated the ability to manage during this period of transition.”
The assistant general manager since 2007, Davis was responsible for management of water delivery, wastewater management, flood protection, fisheries management and environmental sustainability.
“I have some awfully big shoes to fill by my predecessor, Randy Poole,” Davis said. “I look forward to helping chart a new, more reliable and sustainable future for the agency and the resources we all depend upon.”
Prior to joining the agency, Davis was executive director of The Bay Institute, a science-based nonprofit, dedicated to protecting the San Francisco Bay-Delta Watershed and improving water management in California.
A citation from the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and the California State Assembly cited Poole for leading the agency through some of the most significant challenges facing California water suppliers. He spent more than 34 years in the water industry, and served as the Sonoma County Water Agency’s chief engineer from 1991 to 1994, when that job was merged with the general manager post.
Poole’s tenure was not without contention. He came under fire in September for abandoning the long-planned Water Supply and Transmission Project, which called for building the infrastructure to deliver more water from the Russian River. The policy reversal caught the water contractors, whose long-term projections were based on the increased river flow, by surprise.
That decree, and an earlier decision which limited summer water delivery, had contractors demanding more input and a transparent decision-making process.
Assuming the post as interim chief engineer is Jasperse of Sonoma. Currently the deputy chief engineer of engineering and resource planning, he has worked for the agency since 1998.
Prior to joining the water agency, Jasperse worked for 11 years as an environmental engineering consultant specializing in water quality and groundwater. He is nationally recognized for his expertise on groundwater, water quality and water supply issues.
“I am honored to be selected,” Jasperse said. “I look forward to working in partnership with the agency’s water contractors as we work to provide a sustainable water supply to our community.”
