Santa Margarita Water District

SMWD is governed by a five-member Board of Directors elected by residents within the District’s boundaries. The Board's policies are administered and implemented by the General Manager, who is appointed by the Board.

Roger Faubel

Roger Faubel was first elected to the Santa Margarita Water District Board of Directors in 1996. After several years on the Board, Mr. Faubel left in 2000 to serve his community as a council member for the City of Mission Viejo. In March 2005, Mr. Faubel was appointed to serve again on the SMWD Board of Directors and he was re-elected in 2006 and 2010.

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A founding board member of the Urban Water Institute, Mr. Faubel also serves as a Board Member of the Orange County Public Affairs Association and is active in Orange County Taxpayers Association.

Mr. Faubel is the Chief Executive Officer of Faubel Public Affairs, a Southern California public relations and government affairs firm. He established the corporation in 1997 and has continued to lead the well-respected firm. In addition, he served as Director of Field Operations/Public Affairs for the Southern California Edison Company, the nation’s second largest investor-owned electric utility, and served as an officer with a publicly traded corporation on the NASDAQ.

A graduate of California State University at Fullerton, Mr. Faubel lives with his wife, Lisa, and their two children in Mission Viejo.

Saundra F. Jacobs

Saundra Jacobs has served on the Santa Margarita Water District Board of Directors since 1996. She was re-elected to serve on the Board in 1998, 2002, 2006 and 2010. While serving on the Board, Ms. Jacobs has been instrumental in implementing policies to ensure that water supplies are safe, reliable in times of drought, and affordable.

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Saundra Jacobs is a Registered Environmental Assessor and President of SFC Consultants, an environmental and land use planning company which she established in 1994. Since its inception, SFC Consultants has grown dramatically and now employs 15 people who specialize in environmental site assessments, environmental impact reports, planning and permitting and government relations.

Actively involved in her industry and the community, Ms. Jacobs is a member of the American Planning Association, Association of Environmental Professionals, California Women’s Leadership Association, Industrial Environmental Coalition of Orange County, Independent Special Districts of Orange County, California Special Districts Association, Urban Water Research Institute at the University of California at Irvine, Urban Water Institute, Orange County Water Association and the Santiago Aqueduct Committee Board of Directors. She is also a former President and Board Member for the Lake Mission Viejo Association.

Betty H. Olson, Ph. D.

Dr. Betty Olson was appointed to the Santa Margarita Water District Board of Directors in 1994, and elected in 1996. She was re-elected in 2000, 2004 and 2008 and served as Board President in 2010, 2006, 2001 and 1997. She has been particularly interested in stabilizing rates, bond funding only when necessary, local water supply reliability and expanding the use of recycled water from wastewater and debilitated waters.

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Dr. Olson is a full professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the Henri Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California, Irvine. Additionally, Dr. Olson was the founding Director of the Urban Water Research Center at UCI and currently serves as an Associate Director for the Center. Her areas of specialization include environmental microbiology, water and wastewater microbiology.

Before serving on the Santa Margarita Water District Board, Dr. Olson served on the Irvine Ranch Water District Board of Directors for eight years. She has also worked with a number of regulatory agencies on water issues, including: The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Orange County Water District, Irvine Ranch Water District, County Sanitation Districts of Orange County, East Bay Municipal Utility District, and the City of San Francisco Water Department.

As an elected official, Dr. Olson has been actively involved in California water policy and legislation over the last two decades. She has utilized this knowledge in teaching water policy classes, including water law and involving policy-makers. Dr. Olson also currently serves as a member representing California on the Western States Water Council.

Dr. Olson is strongly dedicated to maintaining high quality water and ensuring adequate supplies.

Charley Wilson

Charley Wilson has served on the Santa Margarita Board of Directors since his appointment in early 2000. He was re-elected in November 2000, 2004 and 2008.

After serving ten years on the Independent Special Districts of Orange County as the alternate representative to the Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO), Mr. Wilson became a full voting commissioner in 2011, and he currently serves as Chairman. LAFCO is a state mandated local agency responsible primarily for establishing jurisdictional boundaries and forming new cities or districts.

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Mr. Wilson has been a leading government relations professional in Southern California for more than 20 years. Mr. Wilson joined Southern California Edison in 1990 as a manager of public affairs, where he leads the coordination of local government education programming to meet the needs of cities, counties and special districts throughout Southern California. Prior to joining Edison, Mr. Wilson served as director of community and media affairs for State and U.S. Senator John Seymour.

A graduate of UCLA, Mr. Wilson earned his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science with an emphasis in International Relations and Public Administration. Mr. Wilson and his wife, Pam, live in Coto de Caza with their daughter.

Mr. Wilson is involved in numerous community activities including the Southern California Water Committee, Chair; Association of California Water Agencies Energy Committee; Southern California Building Industry Association, Board of Directors; Orange County Water Association; Orange County Public Facilities Corporation, Vice Chair; Knights of Columbus; and has been involved with The Young Executives of America, Orange County Public Affairs Association, the Home Office Business Opportunities Association, Mission Hospital Foundation, Constitutional Rights Foundation, Saddleback Community College Foundation, Boy Scouts, YMCA; United Way, American Red Cross, KOCE TV, Cystic Fibrosis, Sigma Chi Fraternity and the UCLA Alumni Association.

 

Bill Lawson

Bill Lawson was elected to the Santa Margarita Water District Board of Directors in 2008, where he currently serves as President.  In December 1999, Mr. Lawson became one of the first residents of Ladera Ranch and he continues to serve as the Chairman of the Ladera Ranch Civic Council. In addition, Mr. Lawson previously served on the Ladera Ranch Maintenance Corporation (LARMAC) from 2000 through 2006.

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Mr. Lawson is a founding principal partner with the consulting firm of Urban Crossroads, Inc., a recognized leader in transportation throughout Southern California. He works with a variety of public and private sector clients on topics that include circulation planning, long-range transportation model forecasts, parking, traffic impact analysis, as well as noise impact analysis. Mr. Lawson is a registered Professional Traffic Engineer, a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), a certified Professional Transportation Planner and an associate member of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering (INCE). His educational background includes a Master's Degree in Civic and Environmental Engineering and a Bachelor's Degree in City and Regional Planning from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Before moving to Ladera Ranch in December 1999, Mr. Lawson was a member of the Rancho Santa Margarita Planning Advisory Committee, Cityhood Executive Committee member, and Political Action Committee chairperson for Cityhood 2000.

John Schatz, General Manager

John Schatz has served as General Manager of the Santa Margarita Water District (SMWD) since January 1994. SMWD is the second largest water agency in Orange County, serving an area of 100 square miles and approximately 155,000 residents and businesses in south Orange County.

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Prior to becoming General Manager of SMWD, Mr. Schatz was the General Manager of Jurupa Community Services District (JCSD) in western Riverside County from 1984 to 1994. Prior to JCSD, Mr. Schatz worked for the Rancho California Water District in Temecula from 1977 to 1984 in a variety of positions, including field operations, the laboratory, customer service and as an administrative manger. In 1978, Mr. Schatz obtained certification as a Water Distribution Operator Grade 2, and received a certification as a Water Treatment Operator Grade 3 in 1980.

Currently, Mr. Schatz is a member of the Association of California Water Agencie's State Legislative Committee. In 1998, Mr. Schatz was appointed by the State Legislature to the Commission on Local Governance for the 21st Century. From 2000 to 2004, he served as an instructor on “Water Policy in Southern California” for the University of California at Irvine.

Mr. Schatz received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Redlands and a Juris Doctor from Western State University College of Law in Fullerton. He has been a member of the California State Bar since 1989 and also serves as SMWD’s General Counsel.