SAN JOSE—On Tuesday, Jan. 12, the Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors unanimously elected Barbara Keegan, District 2 representative, to serve as board chair in 2016. John Varela, representing District 1, was elected vice chair.
Chair Keegan was elected to the board in November 2012. She is a third generation civil engineer and has lived in District 2 for most of her life. Her professional background includes many years of experience in successfully delivering capital projects and resolving construction disputes. She was the second woman engineer to be hired by the city of San José’s Public Works Department where she worked for 19 years and rose to the level of division manager. Subsequently, she became the city engineer/assistant director of public works for the city of Sunnyvale. The last two years of her career were spent at the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
Vice Chair Varela was appointed to the water district board in December 2015, filling the vacant District 1 seat. Mr. Varela has lived in Morgan Hill for 38 years. He has served as mayor and council member of Morgan Hill. He has been an entrepreneur in the solar/clean energy, bio-fuel and toy industries. He volunteers with several community organizations and is co-founder of South Valley Angels, an organization helping people start small companies. Mr. Varela sits on the Morgan Hill Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and participates with the Silicon Valley Chamber Coalition Regional Economic Development Initiative. He participated and chaired “Vision Morgan Hill,” a series of community meetings offering residents an opportunity to participate in how tax dollars are used. He represents South County as an advisor and board member to Joint Venture Silicon Valley.
In her first moments as chair, Keegan recognized outgoing chairperson, Gary Kremen. “Thank you for an exciting and interesting year. It was a pleasure having you here. I hope I can live up to the example you set as chair. Thank you very much.”
