Schafer Returned To Sanitary District Board

NO SURPRISE
In a move that will likely surprise very few people who have been following the drama at the Costa Mesa Sanitary District for the past couple years, today the Board of Directors selected former director and former Costa Mesa Mayor Arlene Schafer to replace Jim Fitzpatrick for the remaining two years of his term.  You can read the Daily Pilot coverage of the meeting and results HERE.

INTERVIEW PROCESS
At a special meeting today the four members of the board interviewed the six finalists in their process to determine a successor to Fitzpatrick - Schafer, former Costa Mesa Mayor Linda Dixon, former Sanitary District Board member Dan Worthington, Planning Consultant Jeffrey Harlan, Executive Search Consultant Al Morelli and Assistant General Manager of the West Basin Municipal Water District in Carson, Shivaji Desmukh.

UNANIMOUS SELECTION
Following the interviews, where each Director asked a couple questions of each applicant, the directors began the process of nominating candidates.  Dixon was first nominated, but received no second.  Schafer was nominated by President Jim Ferryman and was seconded by Director Art Perry.  When directors Mike Scheafer and Bob Ooten cast their votes for her she was chosen unanimously to fill the job that she held before Fitzpatrick defeated her in the election two years ago.

LET THE SCREECHING BEGIN
This will certainly generate a lot of negative comments from those in the community who felt Fitzpatrick was ousted from the Sanitary District Board.  Unfortunately, Fitzpatrick created his own problem when he intentionally, and against solid legal advice, stubbornly held to incompatible positions simultaneously.  And, he compounded that offense by doing it twice.

ON PAPER SCHAFER WAS THE EASY CHOICE
If you just read resumes Schafer was clearly the most highly qualified. She has served in this role before - for years - is well-known and highly respected in the sanitation management community.  For that reason alone her choice should be no surprise.  She will have virtually no "start up time" - she knows the business and how the Sanitary District operates.

MISSED OPPORTUNITY
Some will say this is a missed opportunity to bring in a fresh perspective to the Board - a thought with which I agree.  However, that what happened with Fitzpatrick and that went very, very badly.  I don't know whether that played any part in the selection the Directors made this morning, but wouldn't be surprised if it did.

SWEARING-IN ON WEDNESDAY
Schafer will be sworn in to her new/old job at the regular meeting of the Sanitary District Board on Wednesday, February 27th.  Her term will expire in 2014.

Sanitary District Directors Thins The Herd

FROM NINETEEN TO SIX
At a special meeting at 11:00 a.m. this morning the four remaining directors of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District Board thinned the herd of nineteen applicants for the vacancy created by the resignation of disgruntled director Jim Fitzpatrick to six candidates.  Those six will be asked to present themselves for interviews at another special meeting on Friday, February 22, 2013 at 9:30 a.m. at District headquarters.  The meeting was attended by five visitors - candidates Mark Harris and Al Morelli, activist Jim Mosher, former Water District Director Trudy Ohlig-Hall and your humble correspondent.

FINDING A FAIR SOLUTION
Guided by President Jim Ferryman, the directors - Art Perry, Bob Ooten and Mike Scheafer - arrived at what they felt was a fair way to winnow down the candidates.  Each said they had spent the past weekend reading through the resumes and other application paperwork for all of the candidates and all were impressed with the quality of applicants.  They acknowledged knowing some of the candidates and not knowing others.

THE PROCESS
Their solution to "thinning the herd" was for each director to present a list of their five top candidates.  Those four lists would be compiled by General Manager Scott Carroll.  The candidates who appeared on the most lists - the "highest vote-getters" - would be invited for personal interviews by the board Friday.  The maximum number invited would be five (5).

INDIVIDUAL CHOICES
Here are the lists that were presented in no particular order:
Art Perry - Jeffrey Harlan, Dan Worthington, Arlene Schafer, Richard Kapko and Mark Harris
Bob Ooten - Shivaji Deshmukh, Linda Dixon, Mike Harmanos, Al Morelli and Arlene Schafer
Mike Scheafer - Tamara Allee, Shivaji Deshmukh, Jeffrey Harlan, Al Morelli and Arlene Schafer
Jim Ferryman - Dan Worthington, Shivaji Deshmukh, Linda Dixon, Al Morelli and Arlene Schafer

AND THE ENVELOPE, PLEASE
The tally completed showed the following results:
Arlene Schafer - 4
Shivaji Desmukh - 3
Al Morelli - 3
Linda Dixon - 2
Jeffrey Harlan - 2
Dan Worthington - 2
Mike Harmanos - 1
Richard Kapko - 1
Mark Harris - 1
Tamara Allee - 1

THE FINALISTS
The board decided to invite six (6) candidates back - Schafer, Desmukh, Morelli, Dixon, Harlan and Worthington - rather than arbitrarily attempt to select two of the three candidates who received 2 votes each.  The directors will compile a list of questions to be asked.  Each director will ask two questions of each candidate, for a total of eight (8) questions per candidate.  The order of interviewing will be decided by drawing numbers from a hat or similar device.  Candidates will be sequestered outside the conference room  during the interviewing - but may stay once their interview is completed - to prevent any unfair advantage for those interviewed late in the process.


NEW DIRECTOR TO BE SEATED ON THE 27TH
Once the interviews are completed on Friday the board will select one to fill the Fitzpatrick vacancy.  It will be subject to a background investigation.  It is anticipated that the person selected will be sworn-in and seated at the next regular meeting, on Wednesday, February 27, 2013 at 5:30 p.m.

The Great Takeover - Part 2

TODAY, MESA CONSOLIDATED WATER DISTRICT
Yesterday I wrote about the races for the Costa Mesa Sanitary District seats, planning to cover the Mesa Consolidated Water District races, too.  However, that piece became too long, so here we are today to talk "water".

I GET NO VOTE, BUT...
This time around I have no vote for the seats available on the Mesa Consolidated Water District.  All the seats on the board are elected by district and mine is occupied by Shawn Dewane.  However, the three seats that ARE up this time around are VERY important to all of us because, depending on how the election goes, the result could mark a huge change in that organization and beyond.  This time around the seats held by long-time board member Trudy Ohlig-Hall (widow of former mayor Donn Hall), current president Fred Bockmiller and Jim Fisler are on the ballot.
 

PLAN TO COMBINE DISTRICTS
As I've mentioned many times, there are those running for both the Mesa seats and those on the Sanitary District - and those who are supporting them - who want to see those two special districts combined, then blended into the City of Costa Mesa government.  It's my understanding that the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) would be happy to see fewer special districts, but the combination of them requires support from both boards.
 

FISLER VS. WORTHINGTON
Jim "a realtor here in town"Fisler (I used to tease him about saying that all the time when he was on the Planning Commission) faces a challenge from long-time activist Minuteman Dan Worthington.  I refer to him as such because of his ill-advised journey down to the border a few years ago to hang out with the vigilantes on patrol.  It's unlikely that Dan will defeat Fisler.


OC GOP AFTER HALL'S SEAT
Trudy Ohlig-Hall is a legend in the water business, having served three terms as President of MCWD during her 25 years on the Board.  Her resume, HERE, is impressive and it would be hard to find a more effective, dedicated public servant.  She is being challenged by Jim Righeimer's protege', Ethan Temianka.  He is currently on the Parks and Recreation Commission and is very active in OC GOP circles.  He, and the party, are spending lots of dollars to elect Temianka to this board because his vote would be pivotal to the aforementioned consolidation effort.  He knows zip, zero, nada about water, except he probably swims in it and drinks some from time to time.  The OC GOP machine is pulling out all the stops to defeat Hall.

BOCKMILLER, BY FAR
Fred Bockmiller, current President of the MCWD Board after also having served in that role four previous times, is an Engineering Manager by profession and understands the technology of the water business.  Check out his resume', too.  He has provided solid leadership to an organization that is known far and wide for being on the cutting edge of technology and a producer of reliable, clean, inexpensive water.  He's being challenged by Costa Mesa's part-time, part-time, petulant, profane lame duck mayor, Eric Bever.  This challenge would be almost laughable if the Orange County Republican Party Central Committee had not turned it's back on Bockmiller and chose to endorse the eminently unqualified Bever for this spot.  It's all about politics and their grand plan and Bever may be the best (worst?) example of it.

HALL, BOCKMILLER AND FISLER
As I said, I don't get a vote this time around, but the choices seem pretty simple.  The only reason to consider Temianka and Bever is based purely on politics - they certainly don't have any qualifications for the job.  Quite honestly, I don't trust them with the water we drink.  It's that simple.  So, my recommendations are to go with the proven experience and leadership -  Trudy Ohlig-Hall, Fred Bockmiller and Jim Fisler.  Yeah, that's right... I support Fisler for re-election.

With Friends Like These...

SNUFF THAT PEACE PIPE, NEIGHBOR
So, all this talk about reconciliation following the election seems to have just been hyperbole. Late this evening the Daily Pilot published an article by Mona Shadia quoting Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach as saying regarding Wendy Leece, "She'll always be a friend, but she's not qualified to be a City Council member." You can read the entire article HERE.

RECALL FOR LEECE?
This is apparently his response when asked about the rumor of a planned recall effort to remove Leece from her recently-re-acquired seat on the Costa Mesa City Council where she currently serves as Mayor Pro Tem. According to Shadia's report, "Moorlach said it was too early for him to entertain support for a recall effort, but that removing Leece from office was something he would consider backing in the future." Yeah, with friends like Moorlach Wendy sure doesn't need any enemies.

WENDY DID HER JOB - AND NOW PAYS THE PRICE
This is just the latest in what is obviously going to be an orchestrated attack on Leece because she did the job the voters of this city hired her to do - use her vote to make the best choice possible based on the facts as she knew them regarding the modifications to employee contracts. Those votes saved the City $3.7 million dollars in this fiscal year. Even with those contributions by the employees and the voluntary re-negotiation by the firefighters which provided more than $600,000, the City remains in the hole roughly $6 million.

BAUGH BLASTED LEECE
Scott Baugh, Chair of the Orange County Republican Party was the most vocal critic of Leece following her vote. He and his band of lock-step lemming thugs did there very best in the short time available to them to sabotage her campaign. Fortunately for the residents of Costa Mesa, their best efforts were not good enough.

MORE OC GOP INTERFERENCE
According to the article, any recall effort must begin no sooner than 6 months from now and must be started in Costa Mesa. You can bet, however, that Baugh and his bullies will be solidly behind any such effort, attempting to insert themselves even further into Costa Mesa politics. They are so angry at Leece that they will likely pull out all the stops to punish her for doing her job, not the bidding of the OC GOP.

PEELING OFF SCABS...
On this blog and elsewhere following the election there have been calls for moderation of rhetoric - to try to get along after the most rancorous campaign in my memory. This initiative by Moorlach and his pals in the OC GOP leadership will do NOTHING to heal the wounds torn open during the campaign. Quite the contrary, it likely will make any overtures for conciliation fall by the wayside as the new council is seated and the agendas of those sitting on the dais become clear.

TO BAUGH: DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU IN THE BUTT!
To Scott Baugh and his band of thugs I offer this suggestion: Drag your arrogant, interfering fanny out of Costa Mesa and let the residents go about sorting out our problems. We don't need or want you and your pals threatening our elected leaders and trying to influence their votes on municipal issues. We don't want you to attempt to make this city Ground Zero for state-wide pension reform. We don't want you or your "mini-me", Jim Righeimer, to destroy this wonderful city by making it the tip of the spear in your own, personal little battles. Find another city to dismantle!

***
SCHAFER TRAILS SHEAFER
The vote count continues and most of the races remain pretty much as they were percentage-wise. In the race for the final of three seats on the Costa Mesa Sanitary District President Arlene Schafer still trails former Director Mike Scheafer by 213 votes as of 5 p.m. tonight.


FISLER GAINS ON WORTHINGTON AGAIN
Over at the Mesa Consolidated Water District race incumbent Jim Fisler picked up another vote on Dan Worthington and now trails by only 22 votes. The counting should be done by tomorrow evening.