Clean Water Current

NACWA congratulates Oluwole “OJ” McFoy, General Manager of the Buffalo Sewer Authority in New York, as he takes the reins of the Association as NACWA’s newly elected President for 2023-2024.  

McFoy was elected President, along with the slate of NACWA’s Officers for the next year, during the July 13 Board of Directors meeting that took place during NACWA’s 2023 Utility Leadership Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The Association’s Board, staff, and membership look forward to OJ’s leadership as we continue to build on the successes of the past few years. 

NACWA extends its thanks and gratitude to Tom Sigmund, Executive Director for NEW Water in Green Bay, Wisconsin, for his leadership and service over the past year as President.  

Also on July 13, NACWA convened its 53rd Annual Association Business Meeting. The membership approved a slate of nominees for the Board of Directors and heard updates on NACWA’s accomplishments over the past year. 

Association Elects New Directors, Approves Bylaws Amendment During Annual Business Meeting  

During the Annual Association Business Meeting, NACWA’s outgoing President, Tom Sigmund, noted the many accomplishments from the past year, including the efforts of the sector to ensure the unprecedented federal funding from both the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act continued to be spent in a timely and impactful manner; work to protect the State Revolving Fund (SRF) program while allowing earmarks to continue to grow in years to come; securing an exemption for water and wastewater utilities for PFAS in the context of CERCLA; and trying to secure a permanent low-income water assistance program.  

The membership approved an amendment to the Association’s Bylaws to increase the allowable number of Board members from 33 to 35, with the intent of reserving the two new at-large seats for utilities with service area populations of 75,000 or less, which now make up more than a third of NACWA’s members.  

In addition to updates from NACWA’s Treasurer and CEO, the Association’s members elected two individuals to the Board of Directors and re-elected eleven current Board members to new terms. Congratulations to these newly elected Board members: 

Region 6: Jody Zabolio, Director of Operations and Water Resources, Upper Trinity Regional Water District, TX  

At-Large: Kishia Powell, General Manager/Chief Executive Officer, WSSC Water, MD  

Board Elects Officers for 2023-2024 

The NACWA Board of Directors met immediately following the Annual Association Business Meeting. As its first item of business, the Board elected the Association’s Officers for 2023-2024:  

President:         
Oluwole A. “OJ” McFoy 
General Manager 
Buffalo Sewer Authority 
Buffalo, NY 
 
Vice President:
Diane S. Taniguchi-Dennis 
Chief Executive Officer 
Clean Water Services 
Hillsboro, OR 
 
Treasurer:         
William J. “Mickey” Conway 
Chief Executive Officer 
Metro Water Recovery 
Denver, CO 

Secretary:         
Kyle Dreyfuss-Wells
Chief Executive Officer
Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District   
Cleveland, Ohio 

Congratulations to OJ, Diane, Mickey, and Kyle. Also during the Board of Directors meeting, the Board adopted the General Fund and Targeted Action Fund Budgets for FY 2024 and adopted revisions to the Association’s Policies to make changes related to the new Board seats for small utilities and the Association’s awards program.