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Valley Water CEO Rick Callender speaks in a July 2020 public service announcement. He is resigning March 1 amid a misconduct investigation. Photo courtesy of Valley Water\u2019s YouTube channel.<\/p>\nValley Water CEO Rick Callender speaks in a July 2020 public service announcement. He is resigning March 1 amid a misconduct investigation. Photo courtesy of Valley Water\u2019s YouTube channel.<\/p>\n
The boss of Santa Clara County\u2019s largest water supplier is stepping down \u2014 and officials will keep paying him for a year without disclosing what they discovered in a misconduct probe against him.<\/p>\n
Valley Water CEO\u00a0Rick<\/a>\u00a0Callender<\/a>\u00a0is resigning effective March 1 after more than a year-long\u00a0investigation<\/a>\u00a0into\u00a0misconduct allegations<\/a>\u00a0by an employee, which one board director has said involves sexual harassment. The board of directors announced Callender\u2019s resignation at a special meeting Friday, but said nothing about the misconduct probe or what they found. Officials have not disclosed the nature of the employee misconduct complaint.<\/p>\n The board voted 6-1 \u2014 with Director Rebecca Eisenberg dissenting \u2014 to retain Callender as a \u201cspecial advisor\u201d to the board, with his current salary and benefits for a year. Callender was making more than $600,000 in total pay and benefits as of 2024, according to Transparent California. Valley Water will also reimburse Callender $65,000 in attorney fees.<\/p>\n Callender will still have access to his Valley Water email address. Any assignments related to his special advisor role will be determined by Board Chair Tony Estremera. Callender is barred from contacting Valley Water staff or accessing the agency\u2019s facilities without prior approval.<\/p>\n The board had nothing to say Friday about the instability surrounding the investigation into Callender and his prolonged absence. Instead, Estremera \u2014 reading prewritten remarks from the dais \u2014 lavished praise on Callender as the only African American CEO of a major flood protection agency in the U.S.<\/p>\n \u201cThis will be the only statement I will be making,\u201d Estremera said at the meeting. \u201cAs CEO, Rick Callender led Valley Water through extraordinary operational and fiscal pressures, including the COVID 19 pandemic, inflationary constrants and complex regulatory demands of continuing to deliver measurable results to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n Callender did not respond to a request for comment. But in a statement circulated by Valley Water, he said was proud of his work at the agency.<\/p>\n \u201cI worked every day to lead with integrity, equity, transparency and a relentless focus on outcomes for the community. I\u2019m proud of the foundation we\u2019ve strengthened, and I leave knowing Valley Water is positioned to keep delivering for the people we serve,\u201d Callender said in the statement.<\/p>\n After the meeting, Valley Water officials said the investigation has concluded, but they\u2019re in the middle of editing the report for confidentiality and privacy.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile the primary investigative work has reached a point of substantial conclusion, the comprehensive review is transitioning into a final phase of procedural refinement,\u201d spokesperson Matt Keller told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cAll relevant documentation is undergoing a process of final reviews to ensure full alignment with established confidentiality standards and statutory privacy mandates. We anticipate that these records will be available for public accessibility in the immediate foreseeable future, pending the completion of these essential administrative safeguards.\u201d<\/p>\n Critics decried the Friday decision as unusual, secretive and a waste of ratepayer funds.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is an extremely non-standard agreement and extraordinarily biased towards an executive who has been determined, after multiple investigations done by the employer, to have engaged in serious misconduct, both in terms of sexual harassment as well as unethical actions,\u201d Eisenberg told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cI think that the public and the many victims of the CEO are likely to perceive the actions made by my colleagues today as extraordinarily unethical and possibly illegal.\u201d<\/p>\n The protracted length of the probe \u2014 and the cost to ratepayers of keeping Callender on extended paid leave \u2014 has been a\u00a0source of frustration<\/a>\u00a0for some of the agency\u2019s 850 employees, who in late 2024 threatened to make the complaints a more public issue until they were addressed.<\/p>\n Salam Baqleh, a spokesperson for the union representing Valley Water workers, said management has not shared the outcome of the investigation with them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are disappointed by that,\u201d Baqleh told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cOur members, and indeed all of Valley Water\u2019s employees, have the right to be free of harassment and to feel safe in their workplace. Allegations against the highest ranking person in the agency are extremely concerning, and lack of follow-up to those who made the allegations is extremely discouraging and we fear could cause employees who filed the complaints to choose not to come forward in the future. We urge Valley Water to provide more transparency regarding this issue, particularly given that it involves a substantial use of rate payer funds.\u201d<\/p>\n In light of the decision, the board of directors on Tuesday will consider a\u00a0one-year extension of interim CEO Melanie Richardson\u2019s agreement<\/a>\u00a0to steer Valley Water through its leadership vacuum.<\/p>\n Callender went on leave in December 2024, four days after the Valley Water Employees Association \u2014 the labor union representing most of the agency\u2019s employees \u2014 publicly demanded an unnamed executive be placed on administrative leave over an employee\u2019s misconduct complaint. The union cited fears of retaliation against the employee due to the unnamed leader\u2019s stature and power within Valley Water. Union representatives threatened to keep speaking publicly about the misconduct complaint until the executive stepped aside.<\/p>\n In November, Director Richard Santos said portions of the investigation were ongoing, but he and other directors had started to see the findings. At the time, union representatives voiced outrage at how long the probe had taken while Callender continued to be paid.<\/p>\n Callender was originally supposed to return to work between late March and early April last year. But the board voted last March to extend Callender\u2019s paid leave indefinitely.<\/p>\n Outside of Valley Water, Callender serves as president of the NAACP of California-Hawaii State Conferences. Following reports of Callender\u2019s troubles at Valley Water, a colleague who worked under Callender at the statewide NAACP\u00a0filed a March 20 lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0against him over alleged emotional abuse. The lawsuit claims Callender discreetly pushed the NAACP to ask for a public money sponsorship from Valley Water while he was in charge of both organizations.<\/p>\n