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Appointment to the Customer Advisory Committee
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The Customer Advisory Committee (CAC) was established to provide a professional/ technical group of volunteer individuals who represent the five core functional areas of operating a water and wastewater utility. This group is intended to provide outside expertise in best practices and private sector applications for continuous business improvement.
At the October 2014 meeting, the Chair announced that there was vacancy on the CAC and that an online application was created for customers who may be interested in serving on this technical committee. Board members were informed that if they know of anyone interested that they apply on the Water Authority's website. In addition, a notice was placed on the Water Authority website's front page.
Qualified nominations were compiled and forwarded to the Chair who through this communication is forwarding the nomination to the Board for confirmation. Cassandra D'Antonio is recommended for confirmation she is highly qualified and certified in her field of work. Below is Ms. D'Antonio's qualifications and biography.
Cassandra D'Antonio
Cassandra D'Antonio has over 20 years of experience as an environmental planner, project manager, and regulatory compliance and permitting specialist in the transportation, water resources, defense, and land development sectors. Cassandra began her career at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where she worked in the Regulatory Branch issuing Clean Water Act Section 404 permits, and in the Environmental Branch writing National Environmental Policy Act documents and Endangered Species Act Section 7 biological assessments for the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher and the Rio Grande silvery minnow. While at USACE, she also developed and institutionalized the Albuquerque District's environmental protection construction specifications and their Storm Water Pollution Prevention procedures and guidelines. Cassandra's professional experience also includes community outreach and involvement on high-profile controversial and complex projects with numerous public and private stakeholders with competing interests.
Ms. D'Antonio is currently the Environmental Program Manager at Sites Southwest, which is a small business with specialties in the interrelated fields of landscape architecture and design, community planning and design, environmental sciences, and water conservation and management. In her position, Cassandra is the Sr. Project Manager on Environmental Services On-Call contracts with several state departments for transportation, water resources, and land development projects that require environmental permits, studies and documentation as well as public involvement and community outreach. She has a BA in English and Biology from UNM and graduate level studies in public administration, planning, and biology from UNM. She is also on the Board of Directors of the NM Water Dialogue and the Rio Grande Agricultural Land Trust.
Other Applicants:
Yvette Tovar
Yvette is the founder of The New Mexico Water Collaborative. She came to understand the importance of sustainability issues and more specifically, critical water issues in an arid climate through her work in the field of landscape architecture at Dekker/Perich/Sabatini. Yvette has extensive experience as a landscape designer and worked on projects ranging from streetscape master plans to site/landscape designs for education, single and multi-family housing, commercial and medical applications. She also worked on many LEED projects with specific assessment of the Sustainable Sites and Water Efficiency categories. She earned a Master of Landscape Architecture and a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Arts degree from the University of New Mexico. Yvette is a native of Albuquerque, New Mexico and highly values the cultures, the people, and the natural resources that make New Mexico a diverse and beautiful state.
Michael Wallace
Mr. Wallace's professional background covers a wide array of quantitative and statistical techniques for analyzing and solving hydrologic, hydrogeologic, and other water resource challenges. He has balanced his groundwater work experience in water quality and geochemical analyses, field investigations and permitting activities for landfills and subsurface disposal and storage facilities, as well as water resources investigations. He has a Masters in Hydrology from the University of Arizona.
Michael Jensen
I have lived in Albuquerque for almost 24 years, including 10 years in the SE Heights and the last 11 years in the Hoffmantown neighborhood. I have worked in the environmental and public advocacy field for over 10 years. I have attended CAC meetings off-and-on since 2008 and am very familiar with all the policies and programs it is asked to review. In addition to environmental issues, I have substantial work experience in international development, the role of science and technology in economic development, and public health.
Elaine Hebard
For the past 25 years, I have worked in water-related activities -- including regional water planning, developing water budgets, and increasing water awareness in areas along the US-Mexico border as well as here. My desire is for our region to focus on how to ensure a resilient water supply so future generations can enjoy choices we get to today.
CURRENT MEMBERS:
Member |
R-06-27 Category |
Term Expiration |
David Ritchey |
Financial Management/Institutional Customer |
5/2015 |
Will Gleason |
Planning |
5/2015 |
Amy Ewing |
Water Resource Planning |
4/2016 |
Wayne Frye |
Customer Service |
5/2015 |
Laurie Firor |
Landscape Architecture |
9/2016 |
Marissa Reno |
Water Resource Planning |
9/2016 |
Moises Gonzales |
Planning |
9/2016 |
David Brookshire |
Resource Economics |
8/2016 |
Vacant |
Environmental |
|
FISCAL IMPACT: None