On The Move

Michael B. O’Kelly has been named the South Coast Air Quality Management District’s acting executive officer.

O’Kelly, who has been the district’s chief financial officer since April 2010, began work last week as the head of the agency, according to a district statement.

Before joining the district, O’Kelly was chief of fiscal services for the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association. Before that he held accounting positions with San Bernardino and Orange counties.

“I’m proud to be appointed as acting head of the nation’s largest and most prominent local air pollution control agency,” O’Kelly said in the statement. “I look forward to working with the SCAQMD’s Board and staff to carry out its mission of cleaning the air for the region’s 17 million residents.”

The district’s board of directors has begun searching for a permanent replacement for Barry R. Wallerstein, who was dismissed March 4 by the agency’s board of directors. Wallerstein was head of the district for more than 18 years.

The district is responsible for maintaining clean air in Orange County and large parts of Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.