BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Before CEO Rick Callender went on leave from Valley Water, he booked five flights for himself and Chief of External Affairs Rachael Gibson that were paid for by his agency, according to public records obtained by the Post.
Callender and Gibson went on a weekend trip to Dallas on Feb. 6 for $1,020, and Callender flew to New York City the following weekend for $652, records show.
On June 11, Callender and Gibson went on a three-day trip to Phoenix for $1,100.
Callender and Gibson have two more trips planned this year to Charlotte for $2,124 on July 10 and to Washington, D.C., for $1,150 on Oct. 28.
The trip to Charlotte aligns with the NAACP National Convention. Callender is president of the California/Hawaii NAACP State Conferences and has been reimbursed by Valley Water for NAACP events. The Post obtained emails showing the travel plans from Valley Water on Thursday using the California Public Records Act.
Callender booked the flights and sent receipts to Gibson on Saturday, Dec. 14, emails show.
Valley Water announced Callender was on leave on Monday, Dec. 16. The agency first described his leave as “medical,” then as “voluntary” and said he would return to work by April 1.
The board appointed former Assistant CEO Melanie Richardson as its interim chief on Feb. 3 and voted on March 13 to place Callender on paid administrative leave “until further notice.” His salary is $512,886.
Board member Rebecca Eisenberg, who represents Palo Alto, has said publicly that an employee filed a complaint against Callender about sexual harassment and that more employees have since come forward. Callender has denied Eisenberg’s allegations.
“Valley Water must handle all HR and personnel matters with appropriate confidentiality and as such, we will not further comment,” Valley Water spokeswoman Linh Hoang said in an email.
Callender has worked for Valley Water since 1996 and was appointed as CEO in May 2020. Valley Water is the agency tasked with flood control in Santa Clara County and is funded by property taxes.
Looks like they’re going to fire this guy. So why is he taking trips on the taxpayer’s dime? I mean is he going to learn anything on these trips that will result in more flood protection for residents? How do these trips benefit us? Or is it just a junket to party and play big shot at the NAACP convention? I wish the board would crack down on this, but it looks like they’re just as corrupt as he is.
I consistently have been the only Board Director to point out the CEO’s potential/alleged/apparent financial and behavioral malfeasance. In response, Valley Water leadership, including my colleagues, censured me for “discrimination against men.” Plus, they have spent well more than a million dollars in public funds to “investigate” and then sue me.
A year and a half ago, I brought home 2000 pages of evidence that points to a large range of wrongdoing by the CEO and other high-level individuals at Valley Water, knowing that if I did not preserve it, it would be destroyed. (Obviously Valley Water had the master digital file and the ability to print countless printouts.) In response, Valley Water brass labeled the evidence I preserved as “confidential and privileged,” and has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer and ratepayer money to force me to destroy all of the documents. Even though Valley Water issued an untruthful press release that they “won” this case against me, they lied. The case is ongoing in State Court, assigned to Judge Pennypacker. I do not know why the media has not requested or demanded this information. The vast majority of it is public record under the Brown Act.
I am grateful to the Palo Alto Daily Post and in particular to Braden Cartwright. The Daily Post has been the only newspaper to dig beyond Valley Water’s often misleading (or false) press releases. Valley Water’s budget is $1 billion (operational) and $10++ billion (capital “improvement” projects). Big money always attracts corruption. Now it is our money at stake. I am glad that at least one newspaper cares what these extremely well paid bureaucrats are doing with our money.
In the meantime, I promise to keep fighting for our community.
Wow. That is truly shocking the lengths your colleagues and other board members are willing to go to cover for Callender. I wonder what if any agreements they have behind closed doors to dedicate so many resources to destroy evidence. Doesn’t seem they are acting in the best interests of anyone but themselves.
Why is Valley Water paying for this? Shouldn’t NAACP cover their president”s travel to their own event?
We voted for a person that would seem to represent us and not the private interests of the administration or Other Directors (the past Golden Spigot excesses). I think we in North County got that!
Thank you Director Eisenberg
Reminds me of excessive travel spending by Mountain View Whisman administrators in 2024 getting totally out-of-hand. Deficient CHECKS & BALANCES in travel & expenses is a common public policy error of BOARDS.