Longtime Santa Clara Valley Water District CEO Beau Goldie, a Morgan Hill resident, announced his resignation from the water management and flood protection agency Jan. 15.
Goldie made the announcement jointly with SCVWD Board of Directors Chair Barbara Keegan.
“It has been a privilege and an honor to have served at the district, and I am very proud of what district employees and its management teams have accomplished together on behalf of our customers and communities in Santa Clara County,” Goldie said in the statement.
Keegan added, “The board would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr. Goldie for his 31 years of dedicated service to the Santa Clara Valley Water District. During his tenure as CEO, he brought stability to the organization and delivered high quality services to the people of our community. The board appreciates all the contributions Mr. Goldie has made and we wish him the very best in his retirement.”
Goldie was CEO of the water district for about seven years. SCVWD provides drinking water and flood protection for the county’s 1.9 million residents and has a budget of about $400 million.
The statement did not mention that Goldie has been under fire from the media, the SCVWD board of directors and even the district attorney’ office in recent months.
Goldie has been accused of hiring a contractor—RMC Water and Environment—that is partially owned by the husband of Melanie Richardson, one of Goldie’s top deputies at SCVWD. He has been further accused of allowing RMC to fraudulently bill the water district for work it had not completed. Only weeks before Goldie signed a single-source contract with RMC in April for a water recycling project, former Monterey County water board member Steve Collins pleaded no contest to accepting about $160,000 in illegal payments from RMC.
The joint announcement by Goldie and Keegan followed a Jan. 14 closed session meeting of the SCVWD board.
Keegan listed the following among Goldie’s achievements during his tenure with SCVWD:
• Opening of the Silicon Valley Advanced Water Purification Center;
• Establishing the district as a leader in the state in terms of drought response;
• Accelerating a purified water program to develop drought-proof supplies to help with future droughts and climate change impacts;
• Seeing the successful passage and early implementation of the 15-year Safe, Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection Program, which voters passed with nearly 74% support in November 2012;
• Improving the Asset Management Program to protect and efficiently maintain investment in district assets;
• Developing and implementing programs to ensure a sustainable workforce in the future as a wave of Baby Boomer retirements is expected; and
• Improving organizational performance and transparency through a comprehensive Management Audit Program.
The “acting CEO” position will be filled on a rotating basis by the three chief operating officers (COO) starting with COO Jim Fiedler, continued the SCVWD statement. This rotation will continue until an interim CEO can be selected. The interim CEO will be chosen from internal candidates. The intent is for the interim CEO to serve until the board can select a permanent CEO.
