A five-member Board of Directors provides policy and financial oversight and guidance to the District’s operations and oversees a professional management group responsible for District operations.

Directors, who serve four-year terms, are elected during state general elections. Candidates report their campaign income and expenses to the state Fair Political Practices Commission. The finances of the District are subject to regular, independent audit and may be freely monitored by the media and the public.

The Board meets on the second Monday of each month at 8 a.m. at the District’s headquarters in Azusa. The public is welcome to attend meetings and may confirm meeting dates, times and the agenda by visiting our website calendar.

DIVISION I – ALHAMBRA

Mark R. Paulson

President

Engineering and Operations Committee

Mark Paulson was elected to the Board in 2002 and is its longest-serving member. He is a Senior Sales Associate with Anthony Venti Realtors and also serves on the Board of the San Gabriel Valley Water Quality Authority.

President Paulson served as Mayor and Councilman in the City of Alhambra before terming out of office in 2006. He has served as president of numerous community organizations in Alhambra, including the Chamber of Commerce, Parks and Recreation Commission, Rotary Club and Downtown Business District.

President Paulson represents Alhambra, where he was born and raised. He is a graduate of Alhambra High School and Rio Hondo College in Whitter. He has been married to his wife Susan, a local elementary school teacher, for over 30 years; they have two sons, Christopher and Timothy.

DIVISION II – ALHAMBRA/MONTEREY PARK

Steven Placido

Vice President

Engineering and Operations Committee

Dr. Steven Placido was elected to the Board in November 2016 and re-elected in 2020.

Dr. Placido is well-known in the San Gabriel Valley as a former Mayor and Councilman in the City of Alhambra, and for his decades of civic and community involvement in organizations such as the Rotary Club of Alhambra, the Alhambra Education Foundation and the American Heart Association of Alhambra.

Dr. Placido has been a dentist with a private practice in Alhambra since 1990. He was raised in Alhambra, attending Garfield Elementary School and Alhambra High School, and earned his Eagle Scout Award in 1976. He earned a bachelor’s degree from USC and a doctorate from New York University College of Dentistry, and completed a General Practice Residency at the Catholic Medical Center in New York City. Dr. Placido lives with his wife, Lorretta, and their two daughters in Alhambra.

DIVISION III – MONTEREY PARK

Mike Eng

Board Member

Administration and Finance Committee
External Affairs Committee

Mike Eng was appointed to the Board in January 2023 and represents the city of Monterey Park. Previously, Director Eng served in the California State Assembly representing cities in the San Gabriel Valley. He authored the “Human Right to Water” legislation and AB153 which brought millions of dollars to the San Gabriel Valley to clean polluted groundwater, and worked on legislation leading to the 2009 State Water Bond. Director Eng also served as Mayor and Councilmember for the City of Monterey Park and helped lead the efforts to clean the city’s drinking water from the perchlorate pollutant. He started the region’s first Environmental Commission to address long-term environmental issues. He was also elected to the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District.

Director Eng started the downtown L.A. immigration law firm, Eng and Nishimura, which provided immigration legal services to thousands of families and businesses for 40 years. Mike has since retired from the firm which still exists. He earned his law degree from UCLA and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Hawaii. He has been a resident of the San Gabriel Valley for over 35 years with his wife, U.S. Representative Judy Chu.

DIVISION IV – SIERRA MADRE

Miles Prince

Secretary

External Affairs Committee

Miles Prince was first elected to the Board in 2018 and most recently elected in 2022. He was born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley, where he attended local public schools.

As a practicing attorney, Director Prince represents small businesses in a variety of civil litigation matters. Prior to his current practice, he held positions in the White House and U.S. Department of Justice during the Obama Administration and worked for a federal judge in Sacramento. Before law school, he taught math at a public high school in South Central Los Angeles. Director Prince’s past and present community leadership includes service on the boards of the Sierra Madre Community Nursery School, Sierra Madre Community Foundation, and Foster Nation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization supporting young people transitioning out of the foster care system.

Director Prince received a Juris Doctor degree from the UC Davis School of Law and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from UCLA. He lives near Bailey Canyon with his husband, Kenny, and their son, Holden, who is a proud student of Sierra Madre Elementary.

DIVISION V – AZUSA

Bruce Knoles

Treasurer

Administration and Finance Committee

Bruce Knoles was elected to the Board in 2018 and recently re-elected in 2022. He owns a business selling wholesale fasteners, fittings, and tools/supplies to manufacturers, and has worked in construction, retail, and wholesale hardware.

Director Knoles is a former Cultural and Historical Preservation Commissioner for the City of Azusa, a former Sons of the American Legion Commander for Post #180 Canyon City American Legion, and a former officer and member of the Azusa Fraternal Order of Eagles #2810. He belongs to the Azusa Chamber of Commerce and several local charitable organizations.

Director Knoles was born and raised in El Paso, Texas, and attended the University of Texas at El Paso and Austin. Among his fondest childhood memories was visiting Happy Jack’s Fish Farm in Azusa and spending summers in Azusa as a child; he moved to the area in 1977. He is a member of MENSA and lives in Azusa with his life partner, Jeri Bibles-Vogel.

Darin Kasamoto

General Manager

Darin Kasamoto has been with the District since 1997. He was hired as the Assistant Manager and was appointed to the position of General Manager in 2004. He previously was employed for nine years by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works as a civil engineer. Darin holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Purdue University in Indiana, and a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from California State University Long Beach. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of California.

Steve Kiggins 

Assistant General Manager

Steve Kiggins became Assistant General Manager in December 2021. He joined the District in November 2005 as a System Operator, and progressed to the positions of Senior System Operator and Supervising System Operator before his most recent promotion. Prior to joining the District, Steve worked for Target Corporation for 18 years. Steve has B.A. degree in Religion at the University of La Verne.

Evelyn Reyes

External Affairs Manager

Evelyn Reyes began her tenure at the District in August 2014. She has 13 years of experience in community and government affairs. Evelyn manages educational and community outreach, government outreach to local, state and federal legislators, and water conservation programs for the District.

Prior to joining the District, Evelyn was a Senior Field Representative for U.S. Representative Grace F. Napolitano (CA-32) serving as a local liaison on water and transportation issues. Evelyn earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from University of California, Riverside.