By Sara Beth Williams–
Mesa Verde High School alumnus Daniel Kehrer has built a career designing and managing infrastructure projects both nationally and internationally, but some of his most meaningful work is now happening in the community where he grew up.
Kehrer, who serves as a senior civil engineer with the City of Citrus Heights, recently received the 2026 Manager of the Year award in the Water Resources category from the American Public Works Association’s Sacramento Chapter.
The regional award recognizes professionals working in various areas of public works, and for Kehrer, the recognition came following a 14-month effort that helped Citrus Heights qualify for FEMA’s Community Rating System.
“I really enjoy serving the community I grew up in,” Kehrer said in an interview following his receipt of the award.
He also gave a shoutout to his boss, General Services Director Regina Cave, who was named one of American Public Works Association’s Top Ten public works leaders in North America.
The annual award recognizes exceptional public works professionals across North America who “demonstrate outstanding leadership, professional excellence, innovation and dedication to improving quality of life in their communities,” the city said in a press release in May.
Kehrer graduated from Mesa Verde in 2005 and later married his high school sweetheart in 2009 in Las Vegas, which is still one of their favorite vacation spots, he says.
During high school and college, he worked at Round Table Pizza, eventually becoming an assistant manager, and then, as he jokingly recalled, being “demoted” to a pizza delivery driver so that he could keep up with other pursuits.
He began gaining experience in engineering while attending college, working as an intern for Dokken Engineering.
That early experience helped set the course for a career that has led to increasingly complex civil engineering and project management roles both nationally and internationally.
After working for Dokken Engineering, Kehrer spent several years with Omni-Means, a multidisciplinary engineering firm where he gained experience working on roundabouts, trails, interchanges and other transportation projects.
The work exposed him to projects throughout the country and even internationally, including supporting engineering work involving highway corridors and roundabouts in Australia and New Zealand and working on two projects in Canada.
While working for GHD, the parent company that acquired Omni-Means, Kehrer worked as a consultant on the Arcade-Cripple Creek Trail project in Citrus Heights.
He said he was “super excited” at the opportunity to work on a project in the community where he had grown up.
After successfully completing the design, Kehrer said he received a personalized recruitment flyer during the project’s bidding period encouraging him to consider joining the City of Citrus Heights. It was an opportunity he couldn’t ignore.
“If I were to jump to the public [sector] what better place than my hometown?” Kehrer said, adding that he joined the City of Citrus Heights as an employee on Halloween in 2022.
Moving from private consulting into municipal government required a change in perspective, Kehrer said.
As a consultant and project manager, his primary responsibility was to serve a client. Working for the city, however, means thinking about the needs of an entire community, Kehrer said.
Kehrer said his familiarity with Citrus Heights also gives him a unique perspective on the city’s infrastructure.
“I know all the backroads, all the trails, all the creeks,” he said.
That knowledge has come in handy on projects throughout the city—like the intersection of Roseville Road and Butternut Drive, where Kehrer is managing a new road safety and improvement project. As a child, he recalled riding his bicycle in the area and remembers thinking that intersection needed a turn pocket.
Now, he is involved in helping address infrastructure needs in the same places he knew as a child.
“I feel very included in the city’s vision in general planning and development,” he said.
Kehrer’s recent award was tied to his work in water resources, including a major effort to help Citrus Heights participate in FEMA’s Community Rating System.
The 14-month project involved compiling and documenting the city’s floodplain management efforts and working through FEMA’s extensive scoring system.
The Community Rating System evaluates communities on activities such as floodplain management, development standards, public education, creek and floodplain management and preparation for weather-related disasters. Communities receive points based on the work they undertake, with the points determining their CRS classification.
The work ultimately resulted in a significant benefit for residents. Beginning in April 2026, Citrus Heights residents became eligible for a 15 percent discount on flood insurance through the city’s CRS participation.
For residents with homes located within a designated floodplain, flood insurance can be particularly important. Some homeowners with mortgages in flood-risk areas are required by their mortgage companies to carry flood insurance.
Kehrer said the city plans to continue working with FEMA and a new CRS consultant with the goal of improving its score and eventually reaching at least a Class 6 or Class 5 rating.
Kehrer has also been involved in preparing grant applications for major city projects, including two applications representing a combined $21.5 million in grant requests.
For Kehrer, the opportunity to contribute to local projects in his hometown adds another layer of meaning to the work.
He has watched Citrus Heights change throughout his lifetime. Now, he is helping shape some of those changes himself.
And while his engineering career has taken him to projects across the country and around the world, he said there is something special about being able to put that experience to work close to home.
“I feel I’m really bringing some value to the city my dad still lives in. I work and play here,” he said.
