Ukiah Valley Sanitation District Board of Directors Announces New General Manager

UKIAH, Calif., Sept. 19, 2017 -- Ukiah Valley Sanitation District (District) today announced that it has retained Joe Tait as its new General Manager. In his new role, Mr. Tait will be responsible for navigating the District through its lawsuit against the City of Ukiah while restructuring the District and driving innovation and best management practices to provide the District’s ratepayers with more technologically advanced and efficient services.

“Bringing someone on with the depth of experience and industry credibility that Joe has is huge for the continued success of District,” said Jim Ronco, Chairman of the District Board. “He brings more than 30 years experience working with City Governments and Utility and Corporate Management teams and his list of accomplishments and successes are long. We are thrilled that he’s bringing this level of credibility and success to the District.  This is exactly what we need right now.”

Most recently, Tait was the interim General Manager of the San Luis Rey Indian Water Authority (SLRIWA) in Pauma Valley, California. He was hired by the SLRIWA Board of Directors who represent five tribes, to bring closure to the 1988 Federal Settlement Agreement, which was signed by President Obama in December 2016 and appropriated by President Trump in April of this year. Tait was tasked with providing the foundation for acceptance of significant monies and new supplemental water from the Federal Government and establishing governance policies and operational procedures for the Water Authority to implement and follow.

“Joe’s experience with SLRIWA is very similar to what the District is experiencing with the City of Ukiah,” continued Ronco.  “The District was forced to file a lawsuit in September 2013 against the City of Ukiah for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duties after the City rejected the District’s offers to settle.  We expect a similar restructuring once this is all over and Joe’s experience will be crucial.”

Tait served as past Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California, with ultimate responsibility and day-to-day management of the largest municipal wholesale public water agency in the nation. Under Tait’s leadership, MWD garnered two prestigious national and state awards for the restructuring from the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) in Washington, D.C. for Competitive Utility Excellence and from the California Municipal Utilities Association (CMUA) for Excellence in Resources Management. In mid-2011, Mr. Tait completed a three-year service contract as City Manager and Utilities Director for the City of San Juan Capistrano.  He had previously served as Chief Administrative Officer for the Metropolitan Water District of Salt Lake City.

Working for private industry, Tait has served as Executive Vice President/Chief Strategy Officer, Western Regional Manager of Consulting and Business Development as well as the Executive-in-Charge for numerous, strategic, municipal and corporate projects and restructuring programs for major utilities, municipalities and multinational engineering and consulting firms throughout the country. He has served on public utility boards and committees as well as professional industry association boards. His resources pool/shared services work model through technology has led to clients winning local and national awards.

About Ukiah Valley Sanitation District
Ukiah Valley Sanitation District was founded in 1955 to provide wastewater treatment services to ratepayers in and around the City of Ukiah. In 2008, the District's Board of Directors changed from being comprised of two Mendocino County Supervisors and one City Council person to a five-person independent board elected by the District’s ratepayers. The agency is located at 151 Laws Avenue, Ukiah CA, 95482. For more information, go to www.uvsd.org or visit our Facebook page for current updates regarding pending litigation and District activities.

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