San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy announces new executive director

The board of directors of the San Dieguito River Valley Conservancy (SDRVC) recently announced the selection of Cheryl Goddard as the Conservancy’s new executive director.

Goddard brings more than 20 years of local government experience and acumen: 15 years of County of San Diego land-use and environmental-planning experience; San Dieguito River Park JPA staff liaison for the Department of Parks and Recreation; six years of City of Chula Vista land-use and environmental-planning experience; responsible for the Multiply Species Conservation Program and CEQA compliance for city-initialed projects.

Said Jim Smith, president of the SDRVC board, “Cheryl has a passion to balance preservation of natural and cultural resources while providing active and passive recreation opportunities for the public.

“She has a deep understanding and application of local, state, and federal land-use planning-codes ordinances, with an emphasis in environment planning regulations and resources. She has demonstrated her ability to engage broad groups of stakeholders in planning processes addressing environmental planning.”

Goddard has a master’s in public administration from SDSU; a bachelor of arts, urban studies and planning from UCSD; a bachelor of arts, ethnic studies from UCSD; and minors in environmental studies and philosophy from UCSD.