AmCan gets new boss for public works

By KERANA TODOROV
Register Staff Writer

American Canyon looked and looked and looked some more for a new public works director, and finally found one in nearby Benicia.

Robert Throne, 47, the city engineer for Benicia, is scheduled to start his new job in July, according to American Canyon officials.

“He’s a good catch for us,” City Councilman Ed West said last week.

The city conducted two searches since the position became vacant last summer when Robert Weil left.

Bronda Silva, American Canyon’s human resources director, said the city received an insufficient pool of qualified candidates during the first search. Throne’s name came up in the second search, and West and City Manager Rich Ramirez recently traveled to Benicia to interview Throne’s supervisors and co-workers.

“It was a pretty extensive search,” Silva said. “We wanted somebody who is a really good engineer, who is a really good manager and who has familiarity and experience with utilities operations,” she said.

West said on Thursday he was impressed with Throne’s work experience. Throne’s dealings with the California Coastal Commission, a state agency that regulates land and water along the state’s coastal zone, could be helpful as American Canyon tries to gain public access to the Napa River for the first time, West said.

As head of public works, a job with an annual pay that ranges between $107,000 and $134,000, Throne will oversee the city’s public works projects as well as the municipal water and wastewater treatment plants.

“I've been mentored the last several years by the last two public works directors here in Benicia and I saw in American Canyon a public works department staffed by professionals who really take to heart the public works missions and values I find important (service to the public by providing clean water and safe streets),” Throne wrote in an e-mail. “So it wasn't really a hard decision!”

Throne is from Ohio and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Miami and a master’s in public administration from California State University East Bay. He joined the city of Benicia’s public works department in 1994.

As Benicia’s city engineer, he has overseen a 20-year, $250 million capital improvement program, according to papers submitted to American Canyon.

Weil, Throne’s predecessor, is now public works director and city engineer for the city of San Carlos.

Interim Public Works Director Charles Beck, a former public works director in Fairfield who came tout of retirement to work for American Canyon seven months ago, will continue his work with the city through the end of July.

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