Three gubernatorial nominees outline water and integrity experience before Senate Executive Committee

At a meeting of the Delaware Senate Executive Committee, three gubernatorial nominees appeared to describe qualifications for seats on advisory and oversight bodies.

Deirdre Smith, nominated for the Water Infrastructure Advisory Council, told the panel she holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Delaware and has worked in Delaware’s engineering and business community for more than 35 years. Smith said her career has spanned “drainage, stormwater management, flood mitigation, water, and wastewater,” and that she has served on the Water Resource Association of the Delaware River Basin and the Committee of 100. “If confirmed today, I would be honored to serve and support the governor and the state in being a thoughtful steward of this vital resource and infrastructure,” Smith told the committee.

Segundo “Sam” Bautista said he brings 25 years of local government experience as a civil engineer and as a public works director in the San Francisco Bay Area; he described work on “numerous multimillion dollar transportation, water, wastewater, and stormwater projects” and said that technical background would be useful to the Water Infrastructure Advisory Council. Bautista said he moved to the East Coast for lifestyle reasons and identified Kent County as his home; in his remarks he also stated, “I am currently the public works director for King County.” The record includes both references; the transcript does not reconcile the two.

Joan del Futur, nominated to the State Public Integrity Commission, said she moved to Newark in 1979 to take a University of Delaware post, later retired, and has remained active in community service and scholarship. Describing a career addressing questions of controversial speech in schools and universities, del Futur said she takes seriously the role of ensuring that commission work is both correct and “seen to be correct.” “I really do think in a democracy, it matters whether the public trusts the government,” she told the committee.

Committee members offered congratulations and expressed support for the nominees. Senator Brian Townsend thanked Smith and Bautista for stepping up to serve; Senator Elizabeth Lachman and others voiced similar support for the nominees’ experience. The transcript does not record a formal committee vote on any of the three nominations.

The committee then moved to its legislative agenda, with Chair Dave Sikola noting a livestream video issue but that audio was available.