Tom Kennedy, General Manager
Mr. Kennedy is the General Manager for the Rainbow Municipal Water District (RMWD). He is responsible for overseeing all District activities within RMWD’s 80 square miles of service area. RMWD provides water and wastewater services to over 19,000 residents.
Tom is a graduate of San Diego State University where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aerospace Engineering, specializing in Flight Mechanics and Propulsion. Tom also holds a Masters in Public Administration Degree with a specialization in Public Finance from California State University at Fullerton.
He has 35 years experience in water engineering and municipal utilities, beginning with work at San Diego State working as a draftsman for the Programmed Maintenance Department on campus. After finishing his undergraduate work, he was hired by the City of Vernon, near Los Angeles. At Vernon, he managed the City’s Water Department as well as Wastewater Collections and Stormwater Management programs. In 1999, he began his tenure at Olivenhain Municipal Water District as Operations Manager. At OMWD Tom was instrumental in the construction and operation of an advanced membrane water treatment plant which was the largest of its type in the world when completed.
In 2005 Tom transitioned to the private sector acting as Vice President for Business Solutions at Nobel Systems, a GIS services provider. Here Tom worked with utilities to provide essential GIS data conversion and application development services that were designed to meet industry-specific needs. In 2007 Tom returned to the public sector and his role as Operations Manager at Olivenhain MWD.
Tom was hired as General Manager at Rainbow in August 2014.
Tom serves as Rainbow MWD's representative on the Board of Directors at the San Diego County Water Authority. He has also served as President of the San Diego Chapter of the California Special Districts Association as well as being re-elected for a second term as a member of the San Diego Local Agency Formation Commission Special Districts Advisory Committee. A past President of the Bonsall Rotary in 2018-2019, Mr. Kennedy is President-Elect for the Bonsall Rotary for the upcoming 2022-2023 year.
You can find Tom on Twitter at @IamTomzo although some of the opinions expressed there are personal as well.