West Basin Municipal Water District’s Board of Directors terminated General Manager Patrick Sheilds during a closed session meeting Tuesday, Aug. 10, denying him any severance pay even though he had 2 1/2 years left on his contract.
Sheilds was placed on paid administrative leave June 10 to give the district time to investigate a complaint against him. Since then, members of the public have speculated about Sheilds during the board’s meetings and suggested the leave was related to unspecific allegations of sexual harassment.
At Tuesday’s meeting, West Basin’s general counsel, Steven O’Neill, did not provide the actual reason for Sheilds’ firing, but specifically denied it had anything to do with sexual harassment.
“This speculation is incorrect and unfounded,” O’Neill said. “The events precipitating the board’s decision did not involve or result from allegations of sexual harassment.”
West Basin was unable to immediately provide a copy of the separation agreement with Sheilds. The former general manager could not be reached for comment.
As part of Tuesday’s vote, the board named longtime employee E.J. Caldwell as the district’s interim general manager and instructed staff to solicit proposals from executive search firms that could assist in finding West Basin’s next permanent general manager.
“Choosing a general manager and ensuring his or her leadership of the district is a critical, perhaps the most important, function of the board of directors,” said board President Harold Williams in a statement. “As a board, we look forward to securing our water supply while continuing a history of industry leadership.”
The vote to fire Sheilds passed 4-1, with Director Gloria Gray abstaining. Director Scott Houston made the initial motion to end Sheilds’ contract and director Donald Dear seconded it, according to O’Neill.
In a phone call, Houston said the decision to find a new general manager is an “opportunity to forge a new path forward.” He declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Sheilds’ termination.
“With the current drought, this is a critical time for West Basin to focus on water supply reliability, affordability and infrastructure,” he said. “That’s our mission.”
West Basin hired Sheilds for a three-year contract paying $270,000 annually in 2018. His contract was extended for another three years in January on a 3-1 vote, with Houston opposing the extension and Director Desi Alvarez abstaining, according to meeting minutes. Sheilds made $329,429 in 2019, according to the most recent data available on the state controller’s public pay website.
At the time of his initial hiring, board directors said they were aware of a $57,000 settlement for a workplace harassment claim in 2015 involving Sheilds and the Irvine Ranch Water District. But following the hiring, other issues came to light.
The board later learned Sheilds and his former employer had not disclosed a $250,000 settlement with a former employee who had alleged Sheilds had sexually harassed her. Sheilds also had apparently not reported his economic interests in a side business where he consulted with companies, including Suez, one of West Basin’s largest contractors. Sheilds previously oversaw West Basin’s Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility as a division manager for United Water Services, now Suez.
He was barred from participating in negotiations for Suez’s $15.7 million annual contract as a result of the conflict. That contract has been awarded to Suez — formerly United Water Services — for 20 years without competitive bidding.
West Basin is a wholesale water agency that provides imported drinking water to 17 cities and unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County in a 185-square-mile area than stretches from the South Bay to Malibu.