Sanitation district honored

The Costa Mesa Sanitary District and its general manager were honored during a conference earlier this month.

The California Special Districts Assn., or CSDA, a Sacramento-based nonprofit formed in 1969, organized the Sept. 16 to 19 conference in Monterey, at which the district received three awards.

Scott Carroll, at the district’s helm since 2010, received CSDA’s 2012 General Manager of the Year award.

The CSDA recognized the district’s use of trenchless technology that helped rehabilitate sewer pipes, creation of a document management system and record of zero work-related injuries.

The Special District Leadership Foundation also recognized the district — which serves Costa Mesa, portions of Newport Beach and some unincorporated county areas — for its transparency efforts and awarded the Special District Administrator Certification to Carroll.

Carroll, the 46th administrator in California to receive the certification, passed a two-hour exam that covered “all key aspects of local government such as governance, policy development, ethics, finance, strategic planning, personnel and leadership,” according to a news release.

The foundation, a Sacramento-based nonprofit, seeks to promote “good governance” among California’s special districts.

“This is not an individual award but a team award,” Carroll said in a prepared statement. “That team starts at the top with a cohesive board of directors that shares the same vision and is committed to good governance. It’s followed by a professional and skillful staff that carries out board policies and is dedicated to achieving desirable results.”

—Bradley Zint

Twitter: @bradleyzint