Mayor de Blasio Names Water Board Members

March 23, 2015

NEW YORK – Mayor de Blasio announced the appointment of two new members to the New York City Water Board, and the reappointment of two existing members of the Board whose terms had expired, one of whom will also be appointed as Chair of the Board. 

As members of the Water Board, they will be responsible for establishing rates for the City’s water and sewer system. In doing so, they are charged with setting the rates at a level that will ensure both the sustainable provision of service at a fair price for customers and the efficient financing of the system’s infrastructure. The Board consists of seven members appointed by the Mayor.

Alfonso L. Carney, Jr. has been a member of the Water Board since 2011, and brings strong legal and strategic experience to his new role as Chair. After a distinguished legal career, Carney has been an attorney and principal with Rockwood Partners LLC since 2005, a firm which provides medical and business consulting services.  While consulting for Rockwood, Carney served as acting chief operating officer and corporate secretary for the Goldman Sachs Foundation in New York. Carney was appointed chairman of the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York by Governor David A. Paterson in 2009. He was reappointed in 2013 by Governor Cuomo. He holds a law degree from the University of Virginia and a bachelor's degree from Trinity College.

Tawan Davis, one of the members appointed today, is currently chief investment officer and president of Peebles Capital Partners. He has extensive experience repositioning underutilized City-owned assets for economically productive uses, after serving as Vice President of Transactions and Head of Public-Private Partnerships for the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Additionally, he previously advised the Mayor’s Office and senior leaders on economic and financial initiatives for the City of New York, and worked on seeking alternative methods for financing improvements to the City’s complicated infrastructure. Prior to his New York City public service, Davis had an extensive career in global finance and real estate with Goldman Sachs and Prudential Financial.  He holds a master's degree in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, a master's degree in Sociology and Economics from Oxford University in England, and a B.A. in Economics from Georgetown University.

Joseph Finnerty, also appointed today, is currently a litigation partner at DLA Piper, where he was vice chairman of the US Litigation Practice for seven years, and chaired the New York Litigation Practice Group for eight.  He brings extensive legal experience to the Board.  He has represented a broad range of public and private entities in matters relating to corporate governance, insurance, and securities and business litigation.  He holds a law degree from the University of Maryland and a bachelor's degree from Hamilton College.

Arlene Shaw has served on the Water Board since 2011. Since 2006, Shaw has worked as an associate at the law firm of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP. Her practice focuses on commercial and corporate finance, including syndicated credit facilities, public and private offering of debt securities, asset backed and cash flow financing, secured and unsecured financings, subordinated and mezzanine financing, and leveraged and acquisition financing. She holds a law degree, cum laude, from Tulane University and a bachelor's degree from SUNY Albany, summa cum laude.