Santa Cruz County Public Works - Meet the Director!

John Presleigh joined the County of Santa Cruz in 1991 as the County Traffic Engineer. He was later promoted to the position of Assistant Director and assumed responsibility for surveying, development review, road design, operations, road engineering, redevelopment, and related functions.

John earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, a second Bachelor’s in Water and Soil Science at U.C. Davis, and his Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering at San Jose State.

John has 26 years of management and engineering experience. He previously worked for a private engineering company, the State Department of Water Resources, the State Water Resources Control Board, and the City of Sacramento in civil engineering.

John has served as a director and past chapter president of the American Public Works Association, a past Chair of the Interagency Technical Advisory Committee on Regional Transportation, and manager of the Highway 1 Construction Authority. He is a member of the County Engineers Association of California, a fellow member of the Institute of Transportation Engineers, a member of the Urban Traffic Engineers Council, and a former member of the Board of California Traffic Control Devices Committee. John is also a long time volunteer for local high school and Santa Cruz Pony and Colt League Baseball.