Executive Management

Dennis Herrera is the General Manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. He provides leadership and management of the agency’s public policies and strategic initiatives, and oversees all assets, resources, and functions of the agency.

He joined the SFPUC in 2021 after serving as San Francisco City Attorney for nearly 20 years, where he built one of the premier public law offices in the country and spearheaded cases of national importance on civil rights, health care and environmental protection.  As the SFPUC’s lawyer for nearly two decades, Dennis was at the forefront of pivotal water, power and sewer issues facing San Francisco. He represented the agency before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, brought pioneering litigation to protect the SFPUC’s combined sewer and stormwater system from sea-level rise, and defeated a years-long attempt to drain Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, the crown jewel of the SFPUC system.

Dennis earned his bachelor’s degree from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and his juris doctor from the George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C. He lives in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighborhood. 
 

Ron Flynn is the Deputy General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. Appointed to this role in 2022, Ron works with the General Manager on all policy and strategic initiatives, oversees the agency’s daily operations, including business services (finance, accounting, audits, customer services, information technology), external affairs (communications, legislative, community benefits, equity), and Human Resources. Prior to this position, Ron served for almost 16 years in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office under Dennis Herrera. For the last seven years he was the Chief Deputy City Attorney, where he oversaw the City’s litigation teams, as well as worked closely with departments and agencies, including the SFPUC, on procurement, financial, and litigation matters.  He worked on Hetch Hetchy litigation, PG&E’s bankruptcy, and other SFPUC-related issues. Ron previously served as Team Leader of the Construction and Public Contracting Team in the City Attorney’s Office, working on many SFPUC projects, including the Water System Improvement Program (WSIP). Ron is a Bay Area native who lives in San Francisco. He graduated from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (B.Sc.), Harvard University (Ed.M.), and University of California, Berkeley School of Law (J.D.)
 

dr. christian h. bijoux is SFPUC's Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer. The CDEIO oversees the implementation of the agency's Racial Equity Action Plans and the development of racial equity indicators to measure current conditions, impact, results from changes made within programs or policy, and performance measures to evaluate efficacy.

A nationally recognized thought leader and trainer on race, diversity, and inclusion, dr. bijoux centers race equity and Community development as the foundational frameworks of his work. Before joining the SFPUC, he was the Deputy Director for Equity and Racial Justice at the Center for Juvenile Justice Reform at Georgetown University. He has earned a Master of Public Health from Drexel University and a Ph.D. in Social Policy from the Heller School of Social Policy at Brandeis University.

Barbara Hale is the Assistant General Manager responsible for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission Power functions. That includes San Francisco’s public power utility, Hetch Hetchy Power, serving 6,300 accounts with a peak demand of 150 MW, and CleanPowerSF, San Francisco’s Community Choice program, serving about 380,000 accounts with a peak demand of 550 MW. Together, these programs provide 70% of the electricity consumed in San Francisco. Barbara oversees all aspects of the sales of electricity to retail and wholesale customers; needed purchases of energy, transmission and distribution services; development and implementation of energy efficiency and renewable generation projects and programs; and maintenance and operation of City-owned and located streetlights, switch gear and substations. Prior to her employment with the SFPUC, Barbara worked for the State of California Public Utilities Commission in progressively responsible positions, including Advisor to President, Administrative Law Judge, and Director of Strategic Planning.

Nancy L. Hom is the Chief Financial Officer and Assistant General Manager for Business Services, providing direction and oversight for the Financial Services, Audit, Loans & Grants, Information Technology Services, Customer Services, and Strategy Innovation & Change bureaus.   She has led several important bureaus of Business Services, including serving as the Assurance & Internal Control Director for ten years; and more recent, as the SFPUC’s co-Deputy Chief Financial Officer. Nancy has over 20 years of experience leading financial and governance teams in public agencies and has invaluable knowledge of the City’s financial and accounting guidelines and systems, capital improvement projects, and regulatory requirements.  Prior to joining the SFPUC, she was the Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Child Support Services and served as a leader in the Office of the Controller’s Budget and Analysis division.

Nancy earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from San Francisco State University, concentrating in Finance, Internal Audit, and Project Management.  She also maintains two professional certifications from the Institute of Internal Auditors as a Certified Internal Auditor and Certified Risk Management Assurance professional.

Wendy Macy is the Chief People Officer overseeing comprehensive human resources services team responsible for a wide range of critical services including recruitment and retention of 2,300 employees across eight counties, people science and strategy, health and safety, employee and labor relations, equal employment opportunity, learning management, and payroll.  Prior to joining the PUC, Wendy was General Manager Personnel for the City of Los Angeles, running a department of over 600 human resources professionals. She has over twenty years of executive experience in public agencies, serving as Personnel Director and Chief Operating Officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District, and Human Resources Director for the County of Sonoma. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College and her law degree from Harvard Law School. Wendy also has a great deal of background, training and experience in mediation and conflict resolution.

Masood Ordikhani is SFPUC’s Assistant General Manager for External Affairs. The AGM of External Affairs oversees communications, policy and government affairs, strategic planning and innovation, and implementation of the SFPUC Commission’s 2009 Environmental Justice and Land Use, 2011 Community Benefits, and 2020 Racial Justice Policies and Resolutions. He has held several different positions during his tenure at SFPUC, including serving as a Director in our Infrastructure Division for a decade before joining the executive team as SFPUC’s Chief Innovation and Equity Officer. Prior to joining the SFPUC, he was the Deputy Director and Interim Executive Director of the City’s Human Rights Commission. And prior to his career in public service, he was an attorney in private practice. He is a graduate of UC Berkeley and UC Hastings College of the Law.

Joel Prather is the Assistant General Manager of the Wastewater Enterprise. His professional background includes more than a decade at the SFPUC’s Wastewater Enterprise and over 20 years with the City and County of San Francisco. He started with San Francisco Public Works in the Bureau of Street and Sewer Repair and came to the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission in 2011 as a Maintenance Planner. Prior to being appointed to his current role, he held the position of Maintenance Manager, where he managed the day-to-day maintenance systems and practices for wastewater treatment facilities.  He earned a BA in urban studies from San Francisco State University.

Steven Ritchie is Assistant General Manager of the Water Enterprise, where he oversees water system operations and planning from Hetch Hetchy through the Regional Water System to the City Distribution Division, and the management of lands and natural resources. He served as Manager of Planning from 1995-98. Previously, he managed the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, a multi-agency effort to restore 15,100 acres of valuable habitat in South San Francisco Bay while providing for flood risk management and public access. He has served in management positions at the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board (1987-95), the CalFed Bay-Delta Program (1998-2000), and URS consultants (2000-04). He holds a B.S. and M.S. in civil engineering from Stanford University.

Stephen Robinson is the Assistant General Manager for Infrastructure, where he is responsible for capital programs and project implementation for SFPUC facilities, including the Water System Improvement Program, the Sewer System Improvement Program, and the Hetchy Capital Improvement Program. Previously, he was the Director of the Wastewater Enterprise Capital Program for SFPUC’s Infrastructure Division. He is a Professional Civil Engineer (CA) and a UK Chartered Civil Engineer with over two decades of planning, design, construction, and management experience in the water/wastewater sector. Prior to joining SFPUC he worked with MWH/Stantec as a consultant and served in the British Army as a Royal Engineer Captain. He has a master’s degree in Civil Engineering and Management from the Queens University of Belfast, Northern Ireland.