Kelton Promoted to Executive Director of Operations

 
Shane Kelton’s promotion from Director of Operations to Executive Director of Public Works became effective March 1, 2021.  Kelton's predecessor, Ricky Dickson, served in that role from 2014-2019.

City Manager Daniel Valenzuela waived the Professional Engineer requirement for Dickson.  That waiver remains in place for Kelton.  

Kelton's new position is charged with identifying water users that pose a health/safety risk to the city's water supply.   City ordinances state:

Backflow prevention devices used in applications designated as health hazards must be tested upon installation and annually thereafter

Backflow Preventers. Backflow preventers shall be required by the Director of Public Works in [as] deemed necessary to protect the water system from possible contamination. 

He was invited to attend a March 31, 2021 training session put on by Texas Council on Environmental Quality.  

The City required Kelton to attend the TCEQ training on cross connection control programs.  TCEQ standards have been in place since August 2016.  San Angelo's training occurred six weeks after toxic chemicals entered the city's water supply, disrupting water supply city wide.

Oddly, City staff did not mention the TCEQ training in their final update to City Council on April 6, 2021.

The only other information the city produced on TCEQ's cross-connection control program was a March 2016 inspection.  That inspection found city staff using the wrong form to document cross connection control program inspections.  March 2016 to March 2021, that's a five year vacuum. 

The city's "not zero program" but far "less than rigorous and robust" could go back further than 2016.  Former Executive Director of Public Works Ricky Dickson got the job in 2014.

After Dickson retired his departments got shuffled around.  City Manager Daniel Valenzuela took the first stab.

Then Daniel divided Ricky's departments between the two Assistant City Managers.

The city has been challenged in keeping City Engineer and filling engineering positions. It remains to be seen if non-engineer Kelton can reverse that turnover in addition to preventing toxic chemicals from entering the city's water supply and repairing roads that make some San Angelo streets ride like off road trails.  

For decades Kelton has had an oversight role for San Angelo's streets.  Yes, there has been some serious oversight (failure to notice or do something) in more than one arena.