PWSD Board of Directors

Mary Spencer - President - - - A native of the Cincinnati area, I moved to Colorado in 1981. Before moving to Parker in 1999, my husband Rich and I lived in Colorado Springs and Castle Rock where I was actively involved in Junior Achievement teaching Business Basics to fifth and sixth grade classes. While Branch Manager for Compass Bank in downtown Parker I was an active member of the Parker Chamber of Commerce and acted as Chair for the Parker Days Parade.

 In December 2007 I was unanimously approved and appointed to serve on the Community Board of Parker Adventist Hospital. I am very excited to have this opportunity to serve my community and fellow residents of Parker. I feel it is my responsibility and duty to improve the quality of life for those in our community and this is a way I hope I can make a difference.  I am also active in my community and serve as a Director on the Board of the Downs Home Owners Association.

The last twenty-fives years of my professional career have been spent in the banking industry. I am currently Assistant Vice President in the commercial loan department at Mile High Banks in Greenwood Village. My hobbies include playing golf, travel, fossil hunting, reading, quilting and spending quality time with my husband, children and grandchildren. I believe it is critical for those who have the privilege of serving on the Board of Parker Water and Sanitation to protect what the District has worked diligently to achieve while pursuing policy that is not only in the best interest of the district but also of the rate payers we represent. It is important to me that I ensure that my children and grandchildren can count on having sufficient water now and in the future. To accomplish this we must continue to develop not only new sources of water, but find new ways to store and protect the water we have.

Randy Huls - Vice President - - - Having moved to the Parker area in 1980, I was interested in participating in a community group of some kind. I decided to run for a position in the 1982 PWSD re-call election, because I was interested in making PWSD a financially secure and reliable water and sewer provider.  My first term with the PSWD was from May of 1982 until May of 2000. It gives me great pride to have been part of a visionary district that focused on ways to solve long term water supply short falls. I am especially touched by the February announcement that the Colorado State Water Engineer will allow Rueter-Hess Reservoir to retain 5,000 acre feet of of water at a level of 43 feet, because I was part of the 1985 PWSD leadership team that implemented the necessary management and consulting staff needed to make the building of Rueter-Hess Reservoir a reality.

As this critical water management tool nears completion, I can only minutely realize the frustration, gratification and concerns that early Denver Water Board Members experienced in securing water resources for a rising community. Today PWSD faces similar obstacles for securing renewable water resources, but PWSD has the added challenge of supporting water conservation and re-use. As your board representative, I feel I have the passion to engage and guide the District now and into the future to overcome this challenge.

Parker residents need to understand the importance of Rueter-Hess Reservoir because it directly impacts the short and long term future of the community. The reservoir accomplishes three vital goals of re-use, conservation and storage.  All of which, I firmly support with my participation on the PWSD Board of Directors.  The first, being the retention of approximately 3 million gallons per day of Advanced Waste Treated water.  Currently, this valuable product is lost for re-use/re-cycling and controlled releases to Cherry Creek for augmentation during the high demand irrigation season.  Secondly, with goal one accomplished, conservation of groundwater begins.  Lastly, and well recognized is the storage of renewable surface water from local wet flood year stream flows and sustainable long-term importation sources.  In addition with the controlled augmentation releases and the ability to incorporate the 8-cycle life for water will dramatically reduce the demand and the substantial power costs for pumping deep groundwater wells, slow the need for additional wells making capital funds available for obtaining and implementing renewable resources.  Rueter-Hess therefore is an immediate necessity to the current water distribution and sewer treatment operations and not just its future reliability.

Aside from community involvement in PWSD, my wife and I, along with our dog, Magic have adopted a street, an open space and a trail section in Parker 3 years ago. I am an avid blood donor and I enjoy playing softball, fishing, camping and waterfowl hunting.  As for my occupation, I am a Consulting Mechanical Engineer for URS Corporation, a company I have had the pleasure of working for during the last 27 years.  I am a registered professional engineer in Colorado and also in Province of Alberta, Canada.  I am also a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

In presenting myself to the people of Parker, I want to make one thing clear: I am not interested in using my position as part of a pipeline to a career in public service. It is not a future political agenda that attracts me to the board member position I currently hold for PSWD. It is the community involvement that makes me want to serve on the board, and I am thankful to the people who elected me to this honorable position because I am here on their behalf.  By serving in this position, I help meet local needs, strengthen my community and encourage civic engagement.

Mike Casey - Secretary - - - Mike Casey has been a Douglas County resident for over fifteen years.  He moved to Colorado to improve the quality of life for his family.  Mike and his wife, Robbi, have been married for over 35 years and are both deeply invested in their community.  Robbi is a board member of the Idyllwilde Ranch Home Owner’s Association and both volunteer their time to community organizations such as Mile High United Way.  Mike’s two adult children also reside in the area and are successful business professionals.

Mike makes his living as a construction manager in the home building industry and has been in the residential construction industry since 1986.  Mike previously owned a steel manufacturing company and before that he worked for an underground utility contractor, installing water, sewer, gas and other dry utilities.  Mike’s extensive practical experience provides him a solid foundation for his service on the Parker Water and Sanitation District Board.

Mike’s prior service on the El Dorado Mutual Water District Board allowed him to hit the ground running as a member of the Parker Water and Sanitation District Board.  The Parker water district & the El Dorado water district share similar characteristics. The El Dorado water district was located in the high desert of California which is an extremely arid environment like Parker.  The demands placed on the limited water supply were severe.  Mike knows that water is one of our most precious resources and understands the importance of preserving and improving Parker’s water supply.  With your continued support, Mike will work diligently to ensure that the residents of Parker will have enough water for their future, and for the future of their children.  Having a reliable water supply will improve property values and ensure future growth for the Parker community.

Sheppard Root - Treasurer - - -Sheppard Root is a publicly elected director and Treasurer of the Board of Directors. Shep was reelected in May of 2008 to his third term as a director of the Parker Water and Sanitation District in Parker, CO. He is a Bradbury Ranch resident who supervises teams of explosive detection officers for the Department of Homeland Security at Denver International Airport. Shep Root is past Chairman, past Vice-Chair and past Secretary of the district.

At a Red Sea refugee camp near Port Sudan in 1977 he committed himself to a thirty-three year course of public service in hunger mitigation, affordable housing, safety of life and the arts. NOAH (Neighbors Organized for Adequate Housing), an organization he co-founded in rural Belle Glade, Florida, had its success acknowledged on the front page of the New York Times and was honorably correlated to Edward R. Murrow's 1960 "Harvest of Shame" documentary.

Shep Root was recruited to sit on the executive committee that founded Douglas County’s housing authority, the Douglas County Housing Partnership, whose name he provided. He also sat on the executive committee that oversaw creation of the long range cultural plan for the future of Douglas County, Colorado. He was an appointed Cultural Commissioner for the Town of Parker for seven years. He is the founder and creator of Halloween with Horses, Parker's unique family cultural festival produced for ten years at the Colorado Horse Park and attended by more than 50,000 visitors. Shep served four years as a fielded member of Douglas County Search and Rescue and was a Victim's Advocate for the Parker Police Department.

He was an international racing sailor, a winner of the Hong Kong to Manila, South China Sea Race and the Hong Kong to Macao Race. He also set a world record voyaging his thirty-nine foot motor yacht China Blue 20,000 miles from Hong Kong to the United States across the China Sea, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Suez, Mediterranean and Atlantic.

Shep holds a Master of International Management degree, an undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree in International Management and a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology, Workplace Psychology.

Sheppard Root says, “I'm the father of a sixteen-year-old daughter whose grandmother was a Newlin. The Newlins were among the first pioneer settlers in Parker, Colorado in the nineteenth century. Parker Water and Sanitation District's 72,000 acre-foot Rueter-Hess Reservoir and Frank Jaeger Dam are being constructed in Newlin Gulch, named for her family.”

"So, for me, I feel a strong and personal connection that goes back in time more than a century into the past and forward more than a century into the future to a time when Parker residents will still be enjoying the benefits of Parker Water’s vision, planning and resolve."

Darcy Beard - Board Member - - - Darcy Beard is a CPA who has specialized in accounting, budgeting and management of water and sanitation districts for over 20 years. Darcy’s expertise, advice and fiscal restraint have ensured that each of the districts which she serves operates in a fiscally responsible manner through annual budget studies, annual rate reviews, review of capital improvement programs and monthly review of all income and expenditures.

Darcy volunteered to serve on the 2009 Parker Water & Sanitation Community Working Group. Her participation in this group has given her a broad understanding of the operational and financial challenges facing Parker Water & Sanitation District.

Darcy served on the Robinson Ranch Homeowner Association for six years; three years as President. During her tenure, she prepared and monitored a reserve fund study and helped implement major improvements to the community entrance which included water saving landscape improvements.

Darcy has been a member of the Kempe Children’s Foundation Alliance for the Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse and Neglect since 2004 serving as President in 2006 and Special Events Chair 2004 to 2005.

Darcy has been married to Steve Beard for 33 years, and they have two sons, Kyle and Ryan Beard. She has lived in Parker since 1992.