Our Officers

Maria Mann is a Right-of-Way Agent with the City of Las Vegas, in Las Vegas, NV.  Maria has been a licensed Realtor since 2006 and began her Right-of-Way experience assisting other Right-of-Way agents with administrative, translation and research support until she recently joined the City.   Maria became a R/W Agent with Atkins in 2019. She has been an active member of IRWA Chapter 44 ever since. Prior to joining Atkins in 2005 (formerly PBS&J), Maria worked for other engineering & construction firms, such as AECOM in Los Angeles, CA in an executive support capacity as well as real estate firms in Las Vegas such as Caldwell Banker Wardley, Desert Sky Realty and Real Simple Real Estate in a real estate sales capacity.

(702) 229-2032

Wendy Ruiz is a Right-of-Way Agent with the Las Vegas Valley Water District/Southern Nevada Water Authority since 2021.  She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. 

Wendy has been a licensed Realtor since 2002 in California and began her Right-of-Way experience when she joined OPC in 2018.  During her tenure with OPC, she gained experience in Right-of-Way utilizing federal, state, and local regulations for numerous projects and gained experience in the permanent and temporary residential relocation of projects in compliance with the Uniform Relocation Act. 

Her Right-of-Way experience continues to expand working with Las Vegas Valley Water District/Southern Nevada Water Authority in assisting the Las Vegas Valley Water District/Southern Nevada Water Authority obtain their rights for the infrastructure of their water facilities for the distribution of water throughout the valley.  Since her career with the Las Vegas Valley Water District/Southern Nevada Water Authority, she has implemented processes and procedures for the developer easements and has held workshops with engineering firms on how to get their easements review timeframe faster, which resulted in the reduced number of edits to their easement submittals.  She found her passion in Right-of-Way and is grateful for being a part of an organization that is “Building a better world together” one project at a time.  Wendy is currently working on her certification as a Senior-Right-of-Way agent and looks forward to expanding her knowledge and be a mentor in the Right-of-Way industry. 

Patrick Denison is a Right-of-Way Agent with the Las Vegas Valley Water District/Southern Nevada Water Authority.  He is a past Chapter 44 President for 2020-2021 and earned his SR/WA designation . With 9 years of Right-of-Way experience he brings over 25 years of Civil Design and Land Survey experience with him. Patrick has assisted with the design and construction from large commercial site, residential subdivisions and utility corridors.   

Mr. Salvatore has 22 years of real estate, right of way, and relocation related experience utilizing federal, state, and local regulations for numerous projects throughout the US. Through this experience he has had extensive interaction with utility agencies, state DOTs, county and city governments, and private developers using design-build, program management consultancy, and design-bid-build delivery methods. He has also worked for numerous housing authorities and affordable housing consultants overseeing a variety of permanent and temporary residential and commercial relocation projects in compliance with the Uniform Relocation Act across the country. 

Alis Wishner is the Right of Way Section Manager for HDR in Nevada. She’s worked extensively in the Gas, Power and Water industries in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Montana and Nevada. She started on her right-of-way path in an entry level position working property management in Tucson, Arizona.

Shortly after her relocation to Las Vegas in 2016, she joined the local IRWA Chapter and was asked to co-chair the Education committee. In October of that year, she began her work as the lead agent in the Backflow Retrofit program at Las Vegas Valley Water District and Southern Nevada Water Authority. 

Alis is proud of her work with the IRWA. She is a Past President for the chapter, and in 2018-2019, she won the designation of Co-Professional of the Year for Chapter 44, and Professional of the Year for Region 1. Additionally, she was recognized as Chapter 44 Professional of the Year in 2023-2024. She currently serves as the Membership Subcommittee Lead on the IRWA International Marketing & Membership Committee. 

Melody joined the IRWA in 2006, while working at the Las Vegas Valley Water District (LVVWD) where she began her career in the Right-of-Way field.  Melody worked primarily on Developer Projects for LVVWD, working closely with Private Developers, as well as Engineers, Attorneys, Surveyors, Landowners, Directors, Managers, ROW Agents, and Government agency staff to deliver projects on time.  Melody retired from LVVWD in January 2021.  In 2022, Melody began work as a Contract Right of Way Agent to NV Energy.  She is currently working on her certification as a Senior Right of Way Agent and is actively continuing her pursuit of knowledge in the Right-of-Way industry.

As of 2021, Ed has worked in the Right of Way industry for 14 years.  Half of his ROW experience was in the Appraisal Review section of the Nevada Department of Transportation (NDOT) and the remaining half has been spent doing acquisition and relocation work for NDOT, and since 2017, for the city of Las Vegas.  Ed greatly enjoys all the nuances and complexities of the Right of Way profession and that every job has its own unique characteristics and challenges.   He feels one of the most rewarding aspects of the profession is all the variety of great people he not only gets to work with but also meet.  Ed is proud to be a member of the IRWA, as he believes the organization is an extremely worthwhile and offers exceptional growth and development opportunities and is full of dedicated, exceptional and highly skilled professionals.