The OCWA Board is composed of civic-minded individuals with various professional backgrounds. The Board has oversight over and responsibility for all of the Authority’s functions, including ongoing regulatory compliance, annual budgets, long-range budgets, and all financing activities related to operations, maintenance and capital needs. Board members are appointed by the Onondaga County Legislature.
OCWA Board
- Kenneth C. Gardiner, CPA, CCIFP, Chair
Mr. Gardiner is a certified public accountant and audit consulting partner with Dannible & McKee, LLP. He is responsible for overseeing audit and accounting services for a variety of clients to include construction, manufacturing and engineering.
Mr. Gardiner is committed to many industry and community organizations. He serves as Chairman and President of the Greater Syracuse Business Development Corporation (GSBDC) and served as past President of the Board for the McMahon/Ryan Child Advocacy Site. He is a Founding Member of the Central New York State Chapter of Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA), serving as the Secretary/Treasurer since its inception.
Mr. Gardiner has served on the Onondaga County Water Authority Board since 2013.
He graduated from Le Moyne College (BS).
- John C. Dougherty, Vice Chair
Mr. Dougherty is currently employed by SRC as Chief Scientist. At SRC, he is responsible for research, design, and testing of various radar and communications systems that SRC produces for military and civilian agencies around the world.
Mr. Dougherty started his engineering career at Lockheed Martin in 1996 after graduating with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from SUNY Buffalo. He later went on to earn a Masters degree in Electrical Engineering in 1999 and an M.B.A. in 2005 from Syracuse University. During his career, Mr. Dougherty has been granted several patents and trademarks for his designs and has presented at various national and international conferences on military technologies.
Besides his career as an engineer, Mr. Dougherty served on the Town of Clay’s Planning Board for six years. After serving on the Town of Clay’s Planning Board, he was elected to the Onondaga County Legislature where he served for eight years representing the County’s 2nd District. Mr. Dougherty is also a past member of the Board of Directors for the Friend’s of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, a position he held for nine years.
A long-time resident of Liverpool, Mr. Dougherty previously served as Vice Chairman on the OCWA Board from 2018 – 2022.
- Douglas R. Wickman, Treasurer
After obtaining his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Syracuse University, Mr. Wickman worked for C&S Consulting Engineers for most of his career. His engineering experience includes all aspects of municipal work and project management involving water distribution systems, sanitary sewer systems, and drainage and flood control facilities. He provided engineering services to both the City of Syracuse and Onondaga County and also served as municipal engineer for a number of Central New York Towns and Villages. He served as the Town of Clay engineer for more than thirty years and provided engineering services to the Town of Skaneateles for almost twenty.
After retiring from C&S Engineers, Mr. Wickman served as the Town of Salina engineer for five years.
He resides in the Town of Cicero with his family and started his service on the Onondaga County Water Authority Board of Directors in July 2022.
- Madeline L. Nyblade, Secretary
Dr. Madeline Nyblade is an assistant professor in the Environmental Studies Department at SUNY ESF. She is also the faculty co-director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. She works with Indigenous Nations and community partners to study and care for our waters here in Central New York and across the Great Lakes.
- Deborah Somers, Board Member
Ms. Somers is currently employed as an auditor with the City of Syracuse. She serves as the City Auditor’s office liaison to the City’s labor unions, representing the office in monthly labor-management coalition meetings.
Ms. Somers was the Commissioner of Water for the City of Syracuse from 2010 through 2017. She oversaw over 100 employees responsible for ensuring a safe drinking water supply for more than 150,000 Central New Yorkers. Her responsibilities included managing water infrastructure construction, upkeep, and long-term capital planning.
Ms. Somers also served as the City of Syracuse’s representative to the Metropolitan Water Board from 2010 through 2017, contributing to regional water policy and governance.