LETTER TO THE EDITOR
By Barry Jacobs
July marked the retirement of Ed Kerwin as executive director of OWASA, the Orange Water and Sewer Authority.
During his 24-year tenure there were the customary ups and downs for any public entity, especially in opinion-rich, rights-attuned Orange County. But Ed met every challenge with intelligence, openness, savvy, and grace. He helped OWASA, a rare partnership of three governments, overcome a prickly reputation to become customer-friendly, unwaveringly supportive of local land-use plans, and progressive in its rates and attitudes.
We were privileged to have Ed Kerwin as a public servant in our community.
A well deserved tribute. Among the many challenges Mr. Kerwin met “with intelligence, openness, savvy, and grace” was Hurricane Fran. I believe it hit our community hard around the same time he started at OWASA, if not on his very first day on the job. Congratulations to Ed on completing his long and successful service to OWASA, its staff, and its customers. Here’s to a long and successful retirement!