The boss of Santa Clara County’s largest water supplier is stepping down — and officials will keep paying him for a year without disclosing what they discovered in a misconduct probe against him.
Valley Water CEO Rick Callender is resigning effective March 1 after more than a year-long investigation into misconduct allegations by an employee, which one board director has said involves sexual harassment. The board of directors announced Callender’s resignation at a special meeting Friday, but said nothing about the status of the misconduct probe or what they found. Officials have not disclosed the nature of the employee misconduct complaint.
The board voted 6-1 — with Director Rebecca Eisenberg dissenting — to retain Callender as a “special advisor” 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…