FPUD selects Anderson to fill board vacancy

Bob Anderson has been selected to fill the vacancy on the Fallbrook Public Utility District board.

Anderson was chosen to fill Seat No. 1, which became vacant after Bert Hayden retired from the board. Anderson and Steven Hartshorn applied for the vacant seat, and after the candidates were interviewed May 23, FPUD board members Milt Davies, Don McDougal, and Charley Wolk voted to place Anderson on the board while Al Gebhart voted for Hartshorn.

"They were both from my perspective well-qualified candidates, and both presented themselves well," said FPUD general manager Brian Brady.

On March 7, the FPUD board voted 5-0 to change the method of election from at large to by territorial unit effective with the November 2016 election. (Although state law requires public utility districts to elect their board members at large, an exemption for San Diego County is being processed through the state legislature.)

The March 7 action also approved maps for each division, and that map placed Hayden and Gebhart in the same division. Hayden chose to retire from the board rather than to run against Gebhart, and FPUD accepted applications to replace Hayden on the board during April.

Anderson has lived in Fallbrook since November 1987, and his 40 years of professional experience in the water distribution industry includes irrigation controllers, drip irrigation, sprinklers, and residential backflow. His past board of directors experience includes RainJet Corporation, Rockrose Technology, Trident Sales Corporation, and Bear Creek Golf Club.

Hartshorn is a plumbing contractor and also has more than 40 years of experience in water use. He has been on the board of the Live Oak Park Coalition, the Fallbrook Trails Council, and the California Thoroughbred Farm Managers Association.

A 4-0 FPUD board vote May 23 approved the seating of Anderson on the board, so he became a voting member for the remainder of the meeting.