Despite recent controversy, City Council has recommended to reappoint Mike Gaffney to a fourth two-year term as joint chair of the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority (RWSA) and the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority (RSWA). The appointment needs the consent of the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, which is likely.
“We had some very good candidates apply,” said Councilor David Brown at the December 15 Council meeting. “We all had a feeling that [Gaffney] had done a good job” balancing the needs of both the city or the county. “I think that he has a commitment of bringing the city and county together whether on issues of water or solid waste.”
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If the county approves him, Mike Gaffney will take a fourth term as chair of the water and waste boards. |
The bigger news of the evening, however, was that councilors announced that they will officially seek to add an elected representative from the city and one from the county to the water and waste boards. If the county agrees, the RWSA/RSWA Board will grow from five to seven members. Currently, no members of the Board are elected, and all but the chair are city or county employees.
In addition to Gaffney, six others applied for the RWSA/RSWA chair position, including Rich Collins, a former chair and leading opponent of the long-term water supply plan. But the most formidable other candidate was 58-year-old Mike Van Yahres, president of the Van Yahres Tree Company and son of late state delegate Mitch Van Yahres. During his interview with city councilors last week, Van Yahres calmly talked about 100-year timeframes and “patriotic” conservation. The water supply plan “now appears to be complex, and I think the job for all of us is to make it simple again,” said Van Yahres during his interview. But he also laid out an argument for why he shouldn’t get the job—that if Council thought that the process that came to the plan was good, then it should reappoint Gaffney. He only offered himself if Council thought it best to take a fresh, objective look.
“We focus too much on the individual in the chairman position,” said Mayor Dave Norris, who complimented Gaffney for bringing the city and county together on a solid waste agreement. “I think the more important change needs to be the structural change that we’ve outlined tonight.”
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