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Keeping SJ County moving
Public works oversees roads, water, sewer, garbage & more
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Peach Avenue and Airport Way south of Manteca are among the 1,650 miles of roadway the San Joaquin County Public Works Department maintains. - photo by Bulletin file photo
Kris Balaji is an expert at moving things.After a 17- year career at Caltrans where he rose to the third highest non-political office in the state transportation department as well as an 8-year stint in the private sector, Balaji now oversees the small army of 350 engineers, planners, and other workers that keep the San Joaquin County economy moving whether it involves roads, water, sewage, or storm run-off as the public works director.And part of his job is to help elected county leaders in the fight to stop the Twin Tunnels that would divert freshwater that is the lifeblood the Delta ecological system and western San Joaquin County farming and allow salinity levels to increase threatening fish and agriculture alike.The largest chunk of the Delta and its 1,000 miles of waterways lay within San Joaquin County. That means the county would take the brunt of anticipated environmental and economic damage if Gov. Brown succeeds with his bid to build an underground version of the Peripheral Canal voters overwhelmingly killed in 1982 during Brown’s first go around as governor.