|
Lloyd's Lookby Dave Lloyd
|
What a difference a year makes! Toward the end of February this past year, as I was driving back from vacation in San Diego, I received a voice mail from Paul Hindman to let me know that Scott Tucker had announced his retirement effective July 1. I was shocked to hear this news and I know the rest of staff was as well. We had always assumed that Scott would be here forever as long as his responsibilities to the District didn't interfere with his cycling.
Needless to say, the next several months were a bit tumultuous. The end result was that the District's Board of Directors decided on May 20 that I would be the District's next Executive Director. I was not so much pleased for myself as I was the fact that the Board decided to fill the position from within. I know I had and still have a great deal of support from staff and look forward to moving the District forward in the years to come.
One of the things that has made the transition easy for me is acceptance of the fact that absolutely no one can fill the shoes of Scott Tucker. I've told many people over the last several months that it still feels like I'm sitting in Scott's office. Scott joined the District in March of 1972 when it was just himself and the District secretary. Since that time he has not only built the District staff to what it is today, but more importantly, he has built the District's reputation over that same timeframe; a reputation that is well known and respected worldwide.
For the last 32 years this column has been called "Tucker Talk." I've had several suggestions on what to rename the column - everything from "Lloyd's Laundry" to "Low Flow Lloyd" to "Dave's Divinings." What choices!
This past year also marked another milestone in the District's history - the celebration of our 35-year anniversary. This culminated in an afternoon of celebration on June 7 along the banks of the South Platte River. We were pleased with the turnout of friends of the District from the local governments we serve to the consultants and contractors that we've come to depend on over the years.
Some changes to occur in District staffing this coming year is the creation of what will be known as the Information Services and Flood Warning Program. Kevin Stewart will be the manager of this program which will allow us to provide better services in the Information Technology, Systems Management, Web Services, GIS and Flood Warning areas.
Not only has there been transition in staff this year, but we've also seen a number of changes in the makeup of our Board of Directors. We're losing a number of our long time Board members at the end of this year and we're seeing new members come join the team through the addition of ex-officio Board representation from the cities of Boulder, Thornton and Westminster (cities that have gone over 100,000 in population) as well as replacements for those members leaving office due to term limits. Our Board currently numbers 23 members and we look forward to these new relationships as we continue to serve our local governments.
I look forward to the challenges of the next several years in the arena of drainage and flood control. Our first priority will always be providing a high level of service to our local governments. Scott, in his parting comments, indicated that he felt truly successful in surrounding himself with good people. Indeed, this is a well-oiled organization that can run on auto-pilot for many years to come.