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RWSA chair Gaffney reappointed for fifth term

By Sean Tubbs

Charlottesville Tomorrow

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

As

Albemarle County

and

Charlottesville

continue to debate the direction of the community water supply plan, both communities have agreed to reappoint

Mike Gaffney

to chair of the

Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority

.

“I’d like to see this through to where we address the community’s water supply needs and put things into construction whatever they may be,” Gaffney said. “My goal is to get the city and the county to agree more than to advocate for any position.”




Mike Gaffney


Gaffney has held the position since 2003, and this will be his fifth term. He is the founder of Gaffney Homes, a firm that custom-builds houses in the region.

The

Board of Supervisors

made the appointment at its meeting on Wednesday, following the lead of the

Charlottesville City Council,

who gave their approval to the nomination in December.

“The city feels like Mike has done a good job of running the board meetings and making sure good questions are being asked,” said Charlottesville Mayor

Dave Norris

. “Ultimately the decision on the water supply plan is going to be made by the city and the county.”

When Gaffney was last reappointed in 2008, the RWSA board was expanded to add elected officials as well.  Mayor Norris said that has been a positive step for the community.

“The addition of public officials has been a huge benefit in terms of bringing more openness and accountability to the work of the RWSA,” Norris said. “Before we had elected officials on the boards, the operations of those entities was shrouded in mystery for the public, and now that we have elected officials on the boards it has helped to increase public understanding.”