Former AW Director Greg Meszaros announced his resignation in mid-February and was succeeded by former Assistant City Manager Robert Goode later in the spring. Meszaros' tenure ended after Austin experienced multiple boil notices in a handful of years caused by flooding, extreme winter weather and employee error.
An internal review of this February's incident mainly faulted three workers at the Ullrich Water Treatment Plant for their failure to respond to issues with the water treatment process there. Concerns about the quality of water in the city's supply then led to the boil notice being issued.
That event and previous incidents prompted city officials to call for a comprehensive audit of Austin Water that is being conducted by The University of Texas. The audit results are now expected early next year.
AW's new leader will likely be stepping in around the time the results and recommendations from that report are released; a Dec. 9 notice from the city said the utility's next director will be appointed "in the coming weeks." Applications for the post opened Oct. 3, and recruitment was managed by the consulting firm Affion Public.
The three finalists selected by city management include AW Assistant Director Shay Roalson; Brian Steglitz, a public services administrator for the Ann Arbor Water Treatment Plant; and Michael Brinkmann, the San Antonio Water System's vice president of distribution and collection operations.
Ahead of a final selection, Austinites will have a chance to meet all three candidates. The city is hosting a meet and greet Dec. 15 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Austin Permitting and Development Center, located at 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive.
Candidate biographies from the city for all three finalists may be viewed below:
Shay Roalson
"Starting as assistant director of Austin Water in April 2020, Roalson took responsibility for engineering services. Roalson’s team includes more than 80 staff in four divisions: facility engineering; supervisory control and data acquisition engineering and operations support; pipeline engineering and operations support; and pipeline capital improvement program project delivery. Prior to joining Austin Water, Roalson was the CTX Water Business Group Manager at HDR Engineering Inc., where she consulted with utilities, such as Austin Water, [the] city of Lago Vista, [the] San Antonio Water System and [the] Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority. Roalson received her master’s degree from The University of Texas and has her professional engineering license."
Brian Steglitz
"Appointed as the interim public services area administrator for the Ann Arbor Water Treatment Plant in January 2022, Steglitz oversees engineering, systems planning, solid waste, recycling, storm water management, wastewater treatment/collection, and drinking water treatment and delivery. Prior to being in this role, Steglitz was the water treatment services unit manager from October 2014-January 2022 and senior utilities engineer from September 1997-October 2014. Steglitz is a professional engineer and received his master’s degree from Standford University."
Michael Brinkmann
"Brinkmann is the vice president of distribution and collection operations for [the] San Antonio Water System, where he oversees the operation and maintenance of water utility and wastewater assets. Prior to this role, he was the vice president of operations services from October 2005-May 2013. Before becoming an executive, he started at [the] San Antonio Water System in 1994 and [was] promoted through the ranks of engineering, program management and project management. Brinkmann received his bachelor’s degree from The University of Texas at San Antonio."
