DuPage County names Zay chair of water panel

With nearly every piece of the reconstituted DuPage Water Commission in place, the county board member tapped to lead the panel is focusing on what's next.

“It's going to be a challenge,” said Jim Zay, who was appointed Tuesday as chairman of the water commission. “But the past is behind us. We're going to move forward, and we're going to get our financial house in order over there.”

Zay, of Carol Stream, is one of five appointments DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin made to help fill the county's seven seats on the commission, which oversees the delivery of Lake Michigan drinking water to more than two dozen communities.

Municipal leaders are in the process of selecting six of their own representatives on the 13-member water panel, which has been rocked by fallout from fiscal mismanagement.

The water commission is being reconstituted because of a state law championed by Cronin. The legislation Cronin pushed for as a state lawmaker came after the commission accidentally spent its $69 million in reserves through poor accounting practices and lackadaisical financial oversight.

While the water commission fired its financial administrator and forced the agency's longtime general manager to resign, the reform measure requires every commissioner to step down by the end of the year. That state law also eliminates by 2016 a quarter-cent sales tax that goes to the commission.

Zay, a water commissioner since August 2008, said there is a lot of work for the new board to do.

“We've got to hire a new general manager, get a new treasurer appointed, do a search for a new chief financial officer and make some changes,” Zay said.

In addition to approving Zay's appointment as commission chairman, county board members Tuesday signed off on Cronin's picks for four of the six remaining county seats on the water panel.

Those four new water commissioners are Laura Crawford of Naperville, Bradley Webb of Glen Ellyn and Downers Grove residents Michael Scheck and Daniel Loftus.

“They are all very competent, business-oriented people,” Zay said. “You are going to see that direction where we're going to run it (the commission) as a utility.”

Cronin is planning to name his nominees for the two remaining county seats before the commission meets for the first time next month.