Board of Directors
An elected, five-member board of directors governs the Russian River County Water District, with the offices of president and vice-president rotating regularly every two years. The board’s current members include:
Kimberly Burr, Esq., President
Current Term Ending: 2023
Kimberly has lived in Forestville since 1991 and served briefly on the Hollydale Mutual Water Company Board before it was annexed to the RRCWD. Although a relative newcomer to the Forestville area when compared to the existing Board members and staff, she has a strong interest in water quality, reliability, responsible use of limited fresh water resources, as well as management of public funds in the service of those ends.
Richard McGowan, Vice President
Current Term Ending: 2025
A refugee from Los Angeles and Forestville resident since 1972, Rich McGowan joined the board in 1987.
Following a 25-year career as both a general and plumbing contractor, he is now an independent consultant and site inspector for major school construction projects.
Rich works to protect the health of the Russian River through Trout Unlimited and, no surprise, loves to camp, fish and garden.
Alan Horobin
Current Term Ending: 2023
Alan has worked as a general contractor in this area for the last 20 years. He lives in a neighborhood of 30 households that was served by their own community well and water system.
Alan served as a director on his community water system board for about 10 years up until it dissolved when it annexed to Russian River County Water District. He looks forward to serving the larger community providing potable water as well as upgrading the system, as necessary, for fire protection.
Sarah Yardley
Current Term Ending: 2023
Sarah moved to Hacienda in 1992 and was active in the effort to get Hacienda connected to the RRCWD in the mid- to late-90s. She was appointed to the Board in February 2023 to fill Ed Monroe’s seat after his death. Her term runs to the end of 2023.
Sarah has worked as a math teacher, wallpaper hanger, and Civil Engineer. Her engineering work focused on water and wastewater treatment in Sonoma County from 1996 through 2015. She has great respect for the work the RRCWD Board has done over the years and is honored to serve on the Board on an interim basis.
Note: The board is grateful to Sarah for stepping up to fill Ed Monroe’s seat for the remaining months. Ed died unexpectedly in December 2022. Sarah has attended many of our board meetings due to issues that interested her. She is very knowledgeable about the workings of our district and this will help us make the transition. If anyone is interested in running for this seat on the board, see below for more info.
Janet Zagoria
Current Term Ending: 2025
At the urging of a neighbor, Janet Zagoria spearheaded the formation of the water district shortly after she moved to her current home in 1980 and was first elected to the original board in 1983.
Since 1999, she has had a Web design and development company. Her clients are small businesses and non profits.
Janet has been active in community politics and issues since first coming to Sonoma County. She has lived in Forestville since 1977.
RRCWD IS SEEKING A 5TH MEMBER OF THE BOARD
One of our Board Members, Ed Monroe, unexpectedly passed away in December 2022. A resident of our district has stepped up to fill his vacancy until the end of his term – through December 2023.
If anyone is interested in running for this seat on the board in November 2023, please contact Russian River Utility at 707-887-7735. Board members, as per CA Water Code section 30500, “shall be a voter of the district.” and must have their “place of residence” inside the district. There is no cost to running for the board unless the candidate wishes to have a statement appear on the ballot. It is a 4 year term starting January 2024. People who wish to apply to run for the board must file papers at the Registrar of Voters, Santa Rosa between July 17 and August 11, 2023. It is highly encouraged to attend the Russian River County Water District regular board meetings which are on the 4th Tuesday of the month. You can check the meeting schedule and details here.
IN MEMORIAM
Ed Monroe, a fellow board member from 1987 to 2022, passed away in December 2022 after a long illness.
Before the district’s formation in 1983, Ed participated in early efforts to secure more-reliable, higher-quality water delivery for himself and his neighbors.
When the community voted to create the district, he was elected early on as a director.
In his earlier years, Ed held a Water Treatment Operator’s Certificate from the California Department of Health Services.
None of us realized how ill he was at the end. He didn’t complain to us. We all thought he would live on for another 20 years even though he was in his mid-80s.
When Covid hit in 2020 and we had to meet via Zoom, Ed bought a computer (never having one or wanting one before), got an email address, learned to use all the tools and got himself some swanky earphones for the meetings to make sure he could hear everything. We all found this was quite remarkable. Ed enjoyed being on the water board and took pride in never missing a meeting.
We will miss him. Rest in peace, Ed.
Note: Please see the message above (RRCWD IS SEEKING A 5TH MEMBER OF THE BOARD) if you are interested in running for this 5th seat.