OCWD Online | Press Release | 10.30.01 - Wes Bannister Elected To Executive Committee of JPIA

ORANGE COUNTY WATER DISTRICT BOARD MEMBER WES BANNISTER ELECTED TO EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF JOINT POWERS INSURANCE AUTHORITY

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. – Orange County Water District Board Member Wes Bannister was elected to the Executive Committee of the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) Joint Powers Insurance Authority (JPIA). The ACWA/JPIA is a partnership of California water agencies working together to share the risks involved with being a water supplier. It provides risk-sharing pools to meet the needs of its members for property, liability, and workers' compensation coverage and is a cost-effective form of risk management available only to public entities, allowing them to bypass the high cost of commercial insurance. Nominees for the Executive Committee must receive at least five concurring nominations to qualify for the election – Bannister received twenty.

In 1974, Bannister founded Bannister and Associates Insurance Agency of which he currently serves as President. Prior to the current election for the ACWA/JPIA Executive Committee, Bannister has been the OCWD representative to the ACWA/JPIA, served on the Governing Committee and as Vice President on the Board of Directors of the ACWA/JPIA for two years. Bannister was also the Republican Nominee for California Insurance Commissioner in 1990 and nominated to the Electoral College by the President Bush in that same year.

Director Bannister represents Division 6 of the Orange County Water District (OCWD) service area, which includes Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and parts of Westminster. In addition to serving on the OCWD Board for the past ten years, Bannister’s public service includes serving on the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) Board of Directors since 1993 representing the Municipal Water District of Orange County, the Huntington Beach City Council from 1986 to 1990 holding the position of Mayor in 1989 and the Orange County Sanitation District Board of Directors from 1988 to 1990.

The Orange County Water District is a special water agency created by the California Legislature in l933 to maintain and manage the huge groundwater basin under northern Orange County. The groundwater basin managed by OCWD supplies 75% of the water needs to more than 2 million residents in the cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington and Newport Beach, Irvine, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Orange, Placentia, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster and Yorba Linda.