A San Jose news website claims that Valley Water CEO Rick Callender is on “voluntary leave” after one of his employees filed a misconduct complaint against him.
The website, San Jose Spotlight, said it was told by Richard Santos, a Valley Water board member, that the agency is “independently investigating” an employee’s complaint against Callender. He said he doesn’t know when the complaint was filed or the nature of the allegations.
Callender went on leave Dec. 14, days after a labor union representing most of the agency’s 850 employees publicly claimed a worker filed a complaint containing “severe” allegations against an unnamed “executive management” official.
Callender has said previously that he is on “medical leave” and will be returning to his $512,886 job on April 1. The district is looking for an interim CEO.
During his medical leave, Callender has traveled to Ghana, Africa with a group of students associated with the NAACP.
Callender, former president of the NAACP’s California-Hawaii chapter, became the first black man to lead the water agency in May 2020.
Valley Water collects a tax from Palo Alto and Los Altos property owners, but it doesn’t provide any water to those communities. The local water supply comes from the San Francisco-owned Hetch-Hetchy system.
The tax is supposed to assist in flood control efforts. But Valley Water board member Nai Hsueh on Dec. 19 threatened to pull her agency out of the San Francisquito Creck Joint Powers Authority, which is trying to stop future floods caused by the creek.
San Jose Spotlight, which first reported the misconduct complaint was tied to Callender’s leave of absence, is a nonprofit funded by donors. Spotlight said it has received donations from Valley Water and that Callender previously served on its board of directors.
“Callender went on leave Dec. 14, days after a labor union representing most of the agency’s 850 employees publicly claimed a worker filed a complaint containing “severe” allegations against an unnamed “executive management” official.”
How would a board member not “know when the complaint was filed or the nature of the allegations”? Doesn’t the director serve at the discretion of the board?