David Shaff, the Portland Water Bureau administrator and longest tenured currently bureau director, will retire this summer.

Shaff announced his retirement Tuesday morning in an email to the entire City Council and fellow bureau directors.

"While there have been some bumps and frustrations along the way, I can easily say that I regard my time here as challenging, rewarding, and fulfilling," Shaff said in the email. "However, it's time to move on and look for new challenges, rewards and fulfillment."

Shaff's decade atop the water bureau coincided with some $279 million in construction projects, a failed ballot measure intended to wrest control of rate setting away from the bureau, and controversial spending on a Rose Festival headquarters building, costly water demonstration house and other projects that prompted a lawsuit against the city.

Commissioner Nick Fish, who oversees the water and sewer bureaus, asked Shaff to stay on until he can name a successor. He plans to retire by June 30, citing the date as the 37th anniversary of his first day as a city employee and 10-year anniversary as the head of the water bureau. He is one of the highest paid city employees.

David Shaff, Water Bureau Administrator.

The planned departure will come months before the water bureau plans to disconnect three reservoirs at Mount Tabor park from the city's water system in response to federal rules, a decision that continues to be controversial and is the topic of a May City Council hearing.

Much of his tenure overlapped with new environmental regulations for cities with open air reservoirs out of concerns related to the waterborne parasite Cryptosporidium. Shaff helped direct the bureau's response to those rules, which includes some $279 million in projects to build underground reservoirs at Kelly and Powell Buttes.

Shaff's retirement means Fish could be tasked with finding a new director to lead both of Portland's utility bureaus, a rarity in city government.

Earlier this year, long-time Bureau of Environment Services director Dean Marriott agreed to resign as part of a legal settlement with the city.

Last year, Shaff and Fish battled the failed ballot measure to remove control of the water and sewer bureaus from the City Council.

Fish, who took over the utility bureaus in June 2013, said he was "surprised" by the news but respected Shaff's decision. Fish promised a national search to find a new director. "I have admired his dedication and professionalism, his willingness to explore new and better ways of doing business, his customer service ethic, and his strong commitment to using ratepayer dollars wisely," Fish said in an email.

Shaff, 60, spent the first quarter-century of his tenure in city government working for the Bureau of Human Resources. Serving as a labor relations manager, Shaff helped negotiate collective bargaining deals with city workers.

Former Commissioner Randy Leonard appointed Shaff to his political staff as a part-time policy adviser in 2004, then pegged Shaff as interim water administrator in 2005. He was made a permanent director the following year.

"My entire career at the City of Portland has been incredibly fulfilling and rewarding, but these last ten years have been the most special," Shaff said in the email.

His current salary is $199,160 per year.

Shaff didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

-- Andrew Theen

atheen@oregonian.com

503-294-4026

@cityhallwatch