Desert Water Agency | Board of Directors

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Board of Directors

Bios

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it originally was appointed to fill a board vacancy in 1992. Later that year she ran for the Board and has since been re-elected four times, now serving in her fifth term. She has worked on most board committees, including the executive, personnel, conservation and public information committees. She also was elected vice chairperson on the California Regional Water Quality Board.

A former stockbroker, Pat earned her BA in political science and public service at UC, Davis. Pat is executive vice president of M&G Drilling Company, Inc., an independent producer of natural gas.

Pat has supported and served on a number of community boards and organizations. They include The Braille Institute Associates of the Desert, the former Desert Hospital Foundation, and the Palm Springs International Film Festival. She also led a successful Friends of the Desert environmentally-friendly ballot initiative.

Pat is married to Ahmet Oygar, MD, a neurosurgeon.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it is a second-generation native of Palm Springs, and became one of the Agency’s youngest directors when he was elected in 1985. Tom was re-elected to his seventh term in 2011, and has served many times as a board officer and committee chairman.

Tom learned the importance of water as a youngster growing up in a pioneer desert family. He majored in engineering at the University of Denver where he earned his BS degree. Tom continued his studies at the University of California, Riverside, and Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. He has a Certificate as a Personal Financial Planner from the University of California, Riverside and operates his own firm: Kieley Insurance and Financial Services.

Tom is active in the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), and is a member of the National Water Resources Association and the American Water Works Association. He also is a former member of the Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Tom is a director of Palm Springs Roundtable and UCR’s Planned Gifts Advisory Board. He has been a leader in many Palm Springs organizations, including the Agua Caliente Development Authority, Desert Hospital Foundation, Chamber of Commerce, Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, and the Youth Center. He also has served on the College of the Desert Advisory Board, County Grand Jury, the Palm Springs Economic Development Task Force and as a UCR extension program instructor.

Tom and his wife Linda reside in Palm Springs.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it has lived in Palm Springs since 1957.  He attended local schools, graduating from Palm Springs High School and College of the Desert.  He attended the University of Arizona, receiving a Bachelor of Architecture Degree.

Jim is chairman of the Legislative Committee and a member of the Public Information Committee.

James began his career in Arizona, where he worked with the University of Arizona Environmental Research Laboratory in the development of solar technology.  He started his firm, James Cioffi Architect in Palm Springs, in 1978.  Since that time, he has designed hundreds of projects including custom and tract homes, apartments, commercial buildings, civic buildings, and shopping centers.  He has been recognized by his peers with numerous awards for design excellence and has been published in several magazines and books.  His current work includes the Smoke Tree Commons Shopping Center and the new Palm Springs Animal Shelter.

James is a member of  The Desert Roundtable.  He is a past chairman of the City of Palm Springs Planning Commission and Architectural Advisory Committee and a past member of the Palm Springs Economic Development Corporation.  He was past President of the California Desert Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He was a founding member of the Palm Springs High School Partners in Education Program.  James is a director of the Cielo Vista Charter School board.

James’ wife Debbie works with him in the architectural business. They have one son.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it was elected to the Desert Water Agency board in 2007.  He was reelected in 2011 and is serving his second term. He is the chairman of the Human Resources Committee, and a member of the Legislative Committee.  He is presently serving a two-year term as Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) Region 9 Chair and is a member of the ACWA's Board of Directors.

A second-generation southern Californian from San Bernardino, Craig received his BA in Economics and Anthropology from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He studied City and Regional Planning at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and earned a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Southern California.

Craig worked in manufacturing for seven years, specializing in production scheduling and inventory control. He has been a city planner since 1984, working in local government in both southern and northern California. He joined the City of Palm Springs as Director of Planning Services in 2005. He has been a presenter and speaker at the League of California Cities’ Planners Institute and at the annual conference of the California Chapter of the American Planning Association. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) of the American Planning Association.

Craig resides in Palm Springs.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it was appointed in February 2012 to fill a board vacancy.  Joe, a native of Palm Springs, earned his BA is Psychology from Cal State San Bernardino graduating with high honors.

Joe earned an MA in counseling from Azusa Pacific University and was licensed as a Marriage, Family and Child Counselor.  Following a career in the field of counseling, Joe earned his certificate in accounting from Cal State San Bernardino and joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a Special Agent Accountant in 1979.

Joe was assigned to the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office where he investigated complex white collar crimes and was cross trained with the Drug Enforcement Administration.   Joe then worked for 18 years in the Palm Springs office and retired in 2007 as the Senior Resident Agent where he investigated white collar crimes, kidnappings, arson, bank robbery, health care fraud and art theft cases.  Joe also served as an FBI polygraph examiner and conducted polygraph examinations in the United States and abroad.  While serving in the FBI, Joe was precluded from holding any elected office or serving on the board of directors for any publicly held corporation.

Joe is certified as a National Incident Management System (NIMS) instructor and served as the FBI incident commander on several joint local, state and federal operations.

Joe is the past chairman of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI chapter for the Riverside and San Bernardino counties.  He is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and a licensed California private investigator. Joe has extensive experience in securing critical agency facilities. Joe is also a member of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA), American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the National Water Resources Association. He is the owner of Stuart & Associates, a security and financial fraud related consulting firm.

Joe is married to Cathy Madlin, an energy conservation consultant for the past 34 years.  They have one daughter.