LA MESALA MESA — A local kid from Santee has been tasked with helping lead one of the county’s largest water agencies.
Brian Olney, who has worked in the water industry for more than a quarter century, was recently named the assistant general manager of the Helix Water District, the East County agency that provides water to more than 250,000 customers.
Olney, 48, has been part of the district’s executive team for close to two decades. He is the director of water quality and system operations, a position he will retain while the district recruits his replacement. Olney’s salary is $214,884. The maximum salary for the newly created assistant general manager position is $225,624.
He will work with General Manager Carlos Lugo, who has been leading Helix since 2012. He is expected to retire in 2022.
He said it was a biology class at Santana High School that “opened my eyes” about water. Olney attended Grossmont and Palomar community colleges, where he got an associate’s degree in water science technology, and earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in public istration at San Diego State University.
He started his career doing construction utility work and then as a plant operator from 1994 to 2000 with the Lakeside Water District.” He later worked as an assistant plant operator with Otay Water District for six months before landing at Helix in late 2000.
“I absolutely love my job,” Olney said. “It’s doing something good for the public. It sounds corny but I have worked both sides, in the public and private sectors, and the mentality of doing something for greater good, to be serving people in the public sector, is so much more meaningful. It’s been 27 years and I’ve loved every minute of it.”
Lugo said Olney has strong leadership skills with an ability to compromise and collaborate, has a strong work ethic and is “dedicated, open minded and well rounded.” Lugo said Olney makes him want to be better as a general manager and is the right person to follow in his shoes.
“Brian worked his way from hands-on work to department director and over the 27 years learned all aspects of the water industry — water quality, engineering, finance, customer service and operations,” Lugo said. “Brian is extremely dedicated to this organization and to the customers we serve. He is a continuous learner and is constantly trying to develop and hone his skills. Brian has a collaborative leadership style but he is direct when he needs to be, and that will fit well with the culture and values of this organization.”
Kira Haley, recreation manager at the Helix-managed Lake Jennings reservoir, congratulated Olney on his new role.
Haley called Olney a “continual learner, a trusted manager and a dedicated public servant to our ratepayers” and said Olney was her first supervisor when she ed the district.
“Brian was my first supervisor,” Haley said. “He played a big role ing us through the transition period at the lake. He is always available to bounce ideas off of. He enjoys being involved and jumps at the opportunity to help.”
He said maintaining communication with the Helix workforce will be a priority, “to make sure we’re all paddling in the same direction to meet our goals.”
Olney said water is people’s most reliable utility, and that while sometimes residents lose their electricity if San Diego Gas & Electric has to shut its power off for a week at a time, “no one loses water for more than a day.”
