Administration

The daily operations of the South Indian River Water Control District are overseen by the Manager of Operations, Superintendent and Office Administrator who manage a crew of ten skilled operators that maintain the roads, canals and swales with graders, back hoes and other heavy equipment, as well as a part-time office assistant.

Michael Dillon Manager of OperationsMichael A. Dillon

Manager of Operations

Michael Dillon has worked for the South Indian River Water Control District for twenty years and was named Manager of Operations in March of 2011. He moved to Florida from Chesapeake, Virginia, in 1991 and was Supervisor of Field Operations for C&L Hawthorne from 1991-1996. In 1996, Mr. Dillon came to work for SIRWCD and in 2000 was promoted to Shop Supervisor. Three years later, he advanced to Operations Superintendent and worked closely with the General Manager on the day-to-day operations of the District.

Mr. Dillon was instrumental in establishing the District Safety Program and headed the Program from 1998-2011. In 2000, he was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to sit on the Board of Supervisors of the North Palm Beach Heights Water Control District and was then elected for a two-year term through 2003. Mr. Dillon completed the Florida Institute of Government Management Development Program in 2002. He has been a board member of the Loxahatchee River Management Coordinating Council since 2010.

Mr. Dillon maintains a working relationship with South Florida Water Management District, the Safety Council of Palm Beach County, FEMA, and the National Resources Conservation Service, as well as various departments of Palm Beach County, including the Sheriff's Office, Road and Bridge, and the Department of Environmental Resources Management.

 

E-mail Mr. Dillon

Holly Rigsby Office AdministratorHolly Rigsby

Office Administrator

Holly Rigsby began working in the District office part time in 2008, and in 2011 began working full time, taking over the office administrator position in May of 2012.

Mrs. Rigsby was born in Philadelphia and as her father was in the Navy, moved around quite a bit, eventually settling in New Jersey, where she graduated from high-school. She worked in the office of an electro-plating factory and has taken accounting courses at a community college.

After marrying in 1983, Mrs. Rigsby became a homemaker and home-schooled her two children through their high-school years. She moved to Florida in 2004 and worked at Kumon Math & Reading Center in Jupiter as a receptionist, prior to her coming to work for the District.

 

E-mail Mrs. Rigsby

Support Staff

In addition to the Manager of Operations and Office Administrator, a general staff made up of the District Engineer, District Treasurer, District Attorney and District Public Information Officer report to and implement the directives of the Board of Supervisors.

Karen Brandon District EngineerKaren D. Brandon, P.E.

District Engineer

Karen D. Brandon, P.E. is the engineer for the District. She is responsible for providing design, permitting, and compliance monitoring.

Mrs. Brandon is a Principal for AECOM Technical Services, Inc. and serves as a Senior Project Manager and Client Service Manager. She is based in AECOM’s West Palm Beach office. Her professional affiliations include the Florida Engineering Society, National Society of Professional Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Florida Stormwater Association. She brings over 35 years of experience in water resources engineering and serves as District Engineer for several Special Taxing Districts. In addition, she provides engineering services to public and private clients throughout Florida.

 

She earned her B.S. in Environmental Engineering at the University of Florida and is a Florida licensed Professional Engineer.

 

Charles Haas District TreasurerCharles F. Haas, CPA

District Treasurer

Chuck Haas has been the treasurer of the District since 1977. In that capacity he is responsible for all of the financial operations of the District including budget preparation, investment of funds, debt issuance and managing the annual audit process.

Mr. Haas was formerly the Managing Partner in charge of the West Palm Beach office for a large regional certified public accounting firm. He was also co-leader of the firm’s extensive governmental services department. Prior to that, he was the founder of and, for over twenty-five years, managing partner of Haas, Diaz & Co., a large local firm specializing in providing annual accounting and auditing services to over twenty-five local governments in South Florida.

 

He formerly was an assistant professor in Accounting, Finance and Statistics at Binghamton University. He has lectured and given presentations for Florida Atlantic University, Barry University, Florida Association of Special Districts and Florida Governmental Finance Officers Association and has served on numerous task forces for the Florida Auditor General’s Office. He also served on the Palm Beach County Audit Committee, the Palm Beach County Road Oversight and Advisory Council and the Palm Beach Gardens Blue Ribbon Committee. He was a member of the AICPA Information Technology Division, the Information Systems Audit and Control Association. Currently, he is a consultant to local governments on matters related to audit, financial management and debt administration.

 

Mr. Haas is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in Florida and holds a BA in Accounting from Harpur College and an MA in Management Science from Binghamton University. 

 

William Capko District AttorneyWilliam G. Capko

District Attorney

William G. Capko is the legal counsel for the District. He is a senior attorney in the law firm of Lewis, Longman & Walker. The firm has offices in West Palm Beach, Jacksonville and Tallahassee. Terry E. Lewis, senior shareholder of the firm, serves as co-counsel. The attorney provides legal support to the Board of Supervisors and the District general manager, engineer, and treasurer.

Mr. Capko concentrates his practice in the areas of municipal finance and governmental law. He has served as issuer’s counsel, underwriter’s counsel and bond counsel for a wide variety of public financing since 1989. He has served as bond counsel to Palm Beach County, the City of Lake Worth, Town of Jupiter, and Okeechobee Utility Authority, among others.

 

Mr. Capko represents public and private clients before the Florida Legislature, the governor, cabinet and local government entities in matters involving state and local government approvals and regulatory issues, and the structuring of financial transactions. Mr. Capko also assists corporations in the structuring of financing, acquisitions, and other transactions.

Mr. Capko has extensive experience in state government in Florida, where he served as chief assistant county attorney for Palm Beach County, assistant general counsel to the Florida Department of Banking and Finance, cabinet aide to the Comptroller of Florida, counsel to Palm Beach County Legislative Delegation, and as staff in both houses of the Florida Legislature.

He is a member of the Florida Bar, the Palm Beach County Bar Association, the National Association of Bond Lawyers, the Florida Government Finance Officers Association, and the Florida Association of Special Districts, as well as the City County and Local Government Law Section and the Environmental and Land Use Section of the Florida Bar. He is a frequent lecturer on public finance issues at conferences and seminars throughout Florida. Mr. Capko’s community involvement includes serving as chairman of the Town of Jupiter Planning and Zoning Commission, Steering Committee member of the Northern Palm Beach County/Southern Martin County Planning Forum, member of the Town of Jupiter Charter review Commission and director of Palm Beach County Seminoles, Inc.

Mr. Capko received his B.S. degree from Florida State University in 1976 and his J.D. degree from the Florida State University College of Law in 1979.

 

Seth Behn, AttorneySeth C. Behn

District Attorney

Mr. Behn’s practice focuses on land use, environmental law and governmental affairs. He assists clients with complex land development matters and helps them navigate through the government approval processes. With a background in Urban Planning, his work often focuses on zoning entitlements, riparian rights, and representation of Special Districts.

 

He is Vice Chair of the firm’s Governmental Law Practice Group. Prior to passing the bar, Seth worked as a Senior Land Use Planner at Lewis, Longman & Walker and the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, P.A. He has also worked as a planner at the local planning firm Land Design South, and was a Planning Intern for the City of Miami Beach.

 

Mr. Behn is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) and the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association, and is member of Leadership Palm Beach County’s 2016 class. He is a Board Member of the Palm Beach County Planning Congress, a local professional planning education and advocacy group for which he has previously served as President and Professional Development Officer.

 

Donna DeNinno Public InformationDonna J. DeNinno

District Public Information Officer

In 2002, Donna DeNinno took over the Public Information Officer's (PIO) position from Richard M. Gruenwald, who had been with District since 1991. Ms. DeNinno had worked with Mr. Gruenwald since 1982, and became a co-owner of Dick Gruenwald Associates, LLC, in 2002. As PIO, she gathers, writes, and disseminates material about the District to local and area media, as well as community publications. Ms. DeNinno produces the District's newsletters, videos, website and news releases to keep the landowners informed as to the District's operations.

Ms. DeNinno has worked in public relations, advertising, and marketing for more than 38 years. She has extensive experience in the engineering, construction, and building materials industries, including pavement design and materials, stormwater, and environmental issues and has produced websites, technical design manuals and associated marketing materials in these fields.

Over the last 35 years, Ms. DeNinno has focused on environmental and stormwater issues as they relate to development. She has expertise in the Environmental Protection Agency's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and best management practices for managing runoff, "Smart Growth" initiatives, low impact and sustainable development, and green building and infrastructure design practices. Ms. DeNinno has completed 13 professional contact hours of instruction in porous pavements at the University of Georgia's School of Environmental Design, has completed a full-day training course by the EPA in Post-Construction, LID, and Smart Growth as Stormwater BMPs, and has 6 hours of American Institute of Architecture accreditation.

She is a cum laude graduate of Rhode Island College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts with a concentration in Fine Arts. Ms. DeNinno worked in the printing and design industry in Massachusetts prior to moving to Florida in 1982, where she joined Dick Gruenwald Associates as Art Director and Account Executive.