Head Engineer Leaves Post at Irvine Water District : Utilities: John T. Morris will work on special projects until October. He says he was not surprised by audit’s findings and that he opted to give up his job.

A third-generation Metropolitan Water District official who was chief engineer at the Irvine Ranch Water District has left his engineering post following a critical internal audit.

John T. Morris, the grandson of Samuel Morris, an MWD founder for whom the Morris Dam in the San Gabriel Valley is named, will leave the district in October and work as a consultant, board Chairman Peer Swan said. Until then, Swan said, Morris will handle a number of special projects for the district.

“John is very talented, but he’s not a manager,” Swan said. “The audit was done and John decided that he needed to do other things. He was not fired. The decision to leave the job came from John.”

Morris, who lives in San Marino, has been that city’s representative on the MWD’s 51-member board of directors since 1990, serving alongside his father, Brooks T. Morris, until the latter’s death in late 1991.

The audit of the Irvine district’s engineering department uncovered a number of management problems, including Morris’ frequent absences from the district because of his involvement as an MWD director.

The report concluded that the position of assistant director held by Greg Heiertz was unnecessary.

But with Morris’ departure, Heiertz, whose position was targeted for elimination, now becomes acting director of the 52-person department.

Morris, 49, said the audit, conducted by Seattle-based engineering consultant R.W. Beck & Associates, contained no surprises and, in fact, recommended certain changes that he and his assistant had already planned on implementing.

“I would not classify the audit as critical,” Morris said. “I would say it was just an in-depth look at how we can improve. The direction of the department is to look internally. After a lot of soul-searching, I decided I wanted to go off on my own.”

Morris, who makes $107,844 a year, joined the district in February, 1988, after working for a private engineering firm. He left his job as head of engineering and planning earlier this month and was given a number of special projects to complete, according to General Manager Ron Young.

Swan said Morris was granted permission to serve on the MWD board and was away on MWD business about once a week. Although Morris’ service on the MWD board benefited the Irvine Ranch Water District in many ways, Swan said, it also meant he could not devote his full attention to running his department.

Critics of the department said it often was unclear whether Morris or Heiertz was running the office, and that under Morris’ leadership the department lacked urgency and direction.