DeMeo to chair FPUD board in 2021

Jennifer DeMeo will be the Fallbrook Public Utility District board president for 2021.

The Dec.7 FPUD board meeting included the election of the 2021 board officers. A 5-0 vote selected DeMeo as the board president and Dave Baxter as the vice-president.

"It's just a very good group of people on the board, and I look forward to using my leadership skills in the position," DeMeo said.

DeMeo is originally from the Long Island northern shore town of Glen Cove. She obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in religious studies from Guilford College in North Carolina. "I learned leadership qualities serving as president of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship in college," she said.

She married Lee DeMeo 33 years ago. They lived in the Philadelphia area after their marriage until relocating to San Diego County in 1998 when they moved to Escondido. They moved to Fallbrook in 2009.

Other than her FPUD positions, DeMeo's leadership also includes the children's ministry at the Fallbrook congregation of North Coast Church.

"Most of my leadership has been in volunteer work," DeMeo said. "I usually end up leading something when I'm volunteering."

DeMeo is also working on a book about inspiration after adversity.

Her husband has also been involved in community activities, including the Fallbrook Community Planning Group and the Fallbrook Union High School District board. "He's been serving the community for a long time, and I got my inspiration from him," DeMeo said.

DeMeo sought to add a public position to her community activities. "I wanted to serve in some capacity," she said.

In 2016, FPUD transitioned from at-large elections to elections by territorial unit. The division where DeMeo lives had no incumbent for the 2016 election.

"I took a risk putting my name in for this position four years ago," DeMeo said. "It was one of the best decisions I ever made. I enjoy serving the ratepayers of Fallbrook."

She was elected, making DeMeo the first new FPUD board member to be elected by territorial unit. She was also the first female elected to the FPUD board for a four-year term although the third female to serve on the FPUD board; Patricia Knock was elected to a two-year term in 1996 and Mary McNeil was appointed to a vacancy.

DeMeo is now the first female to serve as the FPUD board president. McNeil served as vice-president but not president.

"I'm just kind of a regular citizen who wanted to serve my community," DeMeo said.

The water district was new to DeMeo when she ran for the seat. "At the time we hadn't really been that involved," she said. "I actually had no experience in water when I came in."

Many of FPUD's connections are to large agricultural lots. "I was surprised that FPUD had over 9,000 hookups," DeMeo said. "Fallbrook doesn't seem so big when you come into town."

While some services are provided by city departments in incorporated towns, special districts provide various functions in unincorporated areas. These include water and sewer service districts as well as fire protection districts, park and recreation districts, resource conservation districts, road improvement districts, hospital and cemetery districts, and other special districts addressing specific community needs.

The concept of a special district was new to DeMeo when she first ran for office. "I didn't know what a special district was," she said.

The learning process was positive rather than challenging to DeMeo. "I love to learn," she said.

DeMeo also learned about the water distribution process itself. "Water is more complicated than I imagined when I signed on," she said. "I got quite an education. It was a lot to learn."

In 2018, Jack Bebee was chosen as FPUD's general manager after being named as the acting general manager in 2017. "I've been very impressed with Jack's leadership in organizing the staff and just making things better between departments," DeMeo said. "Jack took the reins not very long ago and he's just done a really good job."

DeMeo noted Bebee's leadership as FPUD adjusted to the coronavirus precautions. "Nobody has gotten COVID," DeMeo said. "The ability of the staff to work remotely has been effective."

Since Bebee replaced Brian Brady as the district's general manager, FPUD has also finalized the Santa Margarita River Conjunctive Use Project which will increase available water supplies for FPUD and Camp Pendleton. FPUD and the Rainbow Municipal Water District are also pursuing a detachment from the San Diego County Water Authority and an annexation into the Eastern Municipal Water District.

"I do think going with Eastern could save us money in the long run," DeMeo said.

FPUD's rates could be lower if the district purchases water from Eastern rather than from the SDCWA. In her professional activities in customer service DeMeo has worked with vendors. "You want to get the vendor who gets you the best deal," she said.

Among the items DeMeo has learned since joining the FPUD board is that there is a statewide organization called the Association of California Water Agencies. The water agencies which participate in ACWA also participate in a joint powers insurance agency. ACWA and ACWA JPIA are legally separate entities although they work with each other. DeMeo became FPUD's representative to the ACWA JPIA board in 2018.

DeMeo was chosen as the FPUD board vice-president in 2019 when Don McDougal was the board president and also in 2020 when Ken Endter served as president. She had also chaired FPUD's personnel committee. "Keeping costs down in the HR (human resources) department has been a real goal for me," she said.

Special district board seats are non-partisan offices, although DeMeo is registered to vote in the Republican Party and is an alternate to San Diego County's Republican Central Committee. She notes that voter registration is irrelevant for her FPUD activity. "I'm certainly non-partisan on this," she said.

All three board members whose terms expired in 2020 were unopposed for re-election. "I guess they must trust us to do the job because nobody opposed us," she said.

DeMeo will begin her second term as the board chair. "I look forward to leading the team into the new year when we'll be seeing the new Santa Margarita River Conjunctive Use Project to completion," she said.

She also looks forward to helping the ratepayers of Fallbrook. "I have a lot of compassion for people," DeMeo said. "I want to help the community, save money on their water bill in this case."

Public outreach will be a major focus of her second term and her debut as board president. "Community involvement will be my major role," she said. "I just want the community to know how hard we're working for them."

Her own limited knowledge of the district prior to her 2016 candidacy gives her a perspective on the general public's awareness. "It seems like Fallbrook still doesn't really know what we do," DeMeo said. "I want all the residents of Fallbrook to know how well we're taking care of them."

That will include continuation of existing efforts. "We are already on track to have more community involvement," DeMeo said.

As the board president, DeMeo will also be appointing the members of FPUD's standing committees. In addition to the Personnel Committee, the district has a Fiscal Policy and Insurance Committee and an Engineering and Operations Committee. DeMeo plans to retain the existing standing committee members. "They do a great job," she said. "We need continuity to continue to improve district operations."