Changing La Verne Planning Commission Covered in Ivey

Gilbert Ivey

Gilbert Ivey, assistant general manager and chief administrative office of the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California, and Norm Faustini, a retired supervisor with Pacific Bell, were named to the La Verne Planning Commission on Monday, May 2.

Ivey is expected to participate in his first planning commission meeting on Wednesday, May 11, filling the vacancy of Charles Rosales, who was appointed to the City Council when no candidates chose to run. Norm Faustini will replace Michael Sanchez, whose term on the planning commission expires in June.

Ivey started with the MWD as a high school summer intern from Compton 40 years ago, rising to interim CEO in 2005. As interim CEO of the nation’s largest wholesale water agency, he represented Metropolitan at the historic signing of the Lower Colorado River Multi-Species Conservation program. He was also involved with the Quantification Settlement Agreement, one of the largest water transfers from agriculture to urban use.

Ivey is the chief liaison to the board chairman and directors. He is responsible for managing the administrative functions of the district, including the office of the board of directors-supporting its 37 member board, human resources—serving Metropolitan’s nearly 2,000 employees, management of Metropolitan’s real property portfolio of approximately 190,000 acres of land, an award-winning business outreach program with more than 15,000 certified small businesses and Metropolitan’s headquarters building at Union Station. In fact, he was the project director in charge of development and construction of Metropolitan’s headquarters at Union Station.

Among his many awards, memberships and community involvements, he has served on the City of La Verne’s Youth & Family Action Committee Executive Board. Born in Oceanside and raised in Compton, Calif., he earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from California State University, Dominguez Hills. He also has earned several professional designations and certifications in management from both Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California.

Norm Faustini

Faustini also brings strong leadership skills to the commission. He retired as a sub-district level supervisor with Pacific Bell and from the Navy Seabees as a Commander Master Chief. His retirement has been extremely active. For the last 16 years, Faustini has been a volunteer with the La Verne Police Department, and is a coordinator with the Retired Senior Volunteer Patrol. Since moving to La Verne in 1981, he has served on numerous committees as well, including the Housing Element, Measure S and National Night Out Against Crime Committees. He also helped raise money for the Youth and Family Action Committee and Military Banner Program.

“My vision is not only planning for what the city looks like now, but what is in store in five, 10 or more years from now,” he said.