Aug 23, 2018   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Metropolitan Board Welcomes Two New Directors Representing San Diego County Water Authority

Two new directors representing the San Diego County Water Authority have joined Metropolitan Water District’s Board of Directors.

Longtime labor union leader Jerry Butkiewicz and Tim Smith, an engineer in the water industry for 28 years, succeed directors Keith Lewinger and Elsa Saxod, who served on the Metropolitan 38-member board for nine years and nearly two years, respectively.

Butkiewicz will serve on the Communications and Legislation Committee and the Water Planning and Stewardship Committee. Smith was named to the Engineering and Operations Committee and the Finance and Insurance Committee.

Butkiewicz, who was formally introduced at Tuesday’s (Aug. 21) board meeting, was appointed to the Water Authority’s Board of Directors in 2016 to represent the city of San Diego. The Chicago native began his career as a U.S. postal clerk and member of the American Postal Workers Union in Phoenix. In 1980, Butkiewicz and his family moved to California, where he was elected president of the local APWU and worked at an Oceanside post office. From 1982 to 1995, he worked as the labor liaison at the San Diego United Way.

In 1996, Butkiewicz was elected secretary-treasurer of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, a post he held until 2008. Butkiewicz then accepted a position as workforce readiness manager for Sempra Energy, from which he retired in 2016.

Smith is president of the Otay Water District Board of Directors and was seated on the Water Authority’s board in 2017. As an adjunct professor at San Diego State University, Smith teaches water courses in the civil, construction and environmental engineering department. He began his career as an engineer for Black & Veatch and Parsons Corp., before shifting to the public sector as senior civil engineer for the Water Authority. He then worked as a principal engineer for Helix Water District.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, he earned his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in civil engineering from San Diego State University and is an active member of the American Society of Civil Engineers and American Water Works Association.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a state-established cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving nearly 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.

Note to editors: Digital photos of Directors Butkiewicz and Smith are available upon request.