Ex-Henderson official tapped for water post

Former Henderson City Manager Phil Speight is about to become the number two man at the Southern Nevada Water Authority and Las Vegas Valley Water District.

Water authority and district General Manager Pat Mulroy has tapped Speight to replace Dick Wimmer, who is retiring Jan. 8 after 20 years as deputy general manager in charge of administration.

Speight, 61, served as Henderson city manager from 1988 to 2007, when he quit to become chief of staff to then-Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev. He lost that job when Porter lost to Democrat Dina Titus in the 2008 election.

Wimmer went to work for the water district in 1985 as director of data systems. When Mulroy was promoted to district general manager in 1989, she picked Wimmer to succeed her as deputy general manager.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority was formed two years later to serve as the wholesale supplier for water utilities in the area, and Wimmer became deputy general manager of the new umbrella agency as well.

Wimmer is paid $260,000 a year. Speight's starting salary will be $195,000, about $20,000 less than he made as Henderson's top administrator.

Wimmer, 60, has plenty of plans for how he will spend his retirement, including travel with his wife, activities with his grandchildren, and lots of time riding roads and trails on his bicycle.

He is also about three-quarters of the way to his goal of climbing to the tallest point in each of the 50 states. He said he expects to complete the feat in 2011 with a climb to the 20,320-foot summit of Alaska's Denali, North America's tallest peak.