IID GM Kevin Kelley tenders resignation
EL CENTRO — Imperial Irrigation District General Manager Kevin Kelley announced his retirement from the district Monday following a closed session meeting of the Board of Directors.
Reporting out of closed session, IID General Counsel Frank Oswalt said Kelley issued his retirement letter to the district effective Dec. 31, 2018, and that the board accepted that letter.
The Board of Directors would comment immediately following the mid-afternoon announcement. All further questions and statements were being made through Oswalt.
“I think he’s decided he wants to go out and try new things,” Oswalt said after the meeting adjourned.
No succession plan was in place immediately following the meeting. Oswalt said no decisions on who would take over for Kelley have been made by the board.
Kelley didn’t comment Monday when stopped by a reporter. Instead, he issued a memo to all employees of the district late Monday afternoon in which he announced the retirement and informed IID staff that although the board did not name an interim general manager, IID board President James Hanks said an interim GM would be announced after the new board is seated Dec. 7.
Kelley wanted the memo to serve as a direct communication between he and the staff. “The reason for this memorandum is that I want you to learn about this chance directly from me,” he wrote.
“In my nearly eight years as general manager, whatever else might have been going on in terms of board governance or the perceived controversy of the moment, I expected that the actual work product being delivered in the field would be exemplary, and, with rare exception, it always was. This was a source of comfort for me throughout my tenure, and I want to thank you for it,” Kelley wrote in the memo.
“While the conventional thinking is that being general manager is hard, I want all of you to know that the hardest part about doing this job will be in saying goodbye to it and to the people at IID.”
Kelley’s resignation letter to the Board of Directors provided more insight into his thinking:
“This is not a decision made in haste or without forethought; instead, it is in keeping with my long-held belief that, at a certain point in the career of any chief executive, a change in leadership makes sense and may be the best way to move the mission of the organization forward.”
He added in his letter to the board: “While IID did not get everything right during my tenure as general manager, it is my considered opinion that several initiatives taken up in the last eight years will be seen as bold, timely and effective. As for the early leadership this board provided in advancing the notion of a smaller but sustainable Salton Sea, I believe the continued viability of water transfers from the Imperial Valley is now inextricably tied to constructing and implementing a durable restoration plan there.”
Kelley continued: “People outside the district have often remarked to me on what a difficult job I have, and I have mostly agreed with them, but the truth is I have been fortunate to serve in this position and the hard part will be saying goodbye to it and to the people at IID.”
Kelley started at the district overseeing public affairs in 2006 and became general manager in 2011.
During his time with the district he led the agency through major successes and what would have to be described as shortcomings.
Among them, after two years of major overuse of water, he started the Equitable Distribution Program, which allowed the district to manage its water supply without any overruns. The program was largely successful in managing overuse. But the program was halted in February 2018 after farmer Mike Abatti’s lawsuit against the district.
It could be argued that Kelley was responsible for holding the state’s feet to the fire regarding its responsibilities at the Salton Sea by petitioning the state Water Resources Control Board that ultimately led to action on the sea.
He also implemented the on-farm conservation program in which farmers voluntarily conserve water and receive $285 an acre-foot for that conservation, allowing the IID to end its fallowing program.
At the same time, his years as GM were filled with derisive, troubled relationships with parts of the farming community unhappy with the EDP, and many water-based decisions by Kelley and his respective boards.
It was also under Kelley’s watch that the IID was ordered to pay millions of dollars in fines by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for IID’s role in a 2011 blackout that left millions of people in the dark in California, Arizona and Mexico.
And while Kelley led the district as it developed a first-of-its kind renewable energy battery storage system, he was also GM under the conflict of interest allegations that arose between the district and battery engineer ZGlobal.