Big Night At Mesa Water Board Meeting

MUCH-DESERVED RECOGNITION
Thursday night was a big one for the Mesa Water District Board, and for those of us they serve.  Last night they received proclamations from numerous official bodies, congratulating them - and us - on exceeding the State-mandated 20% water savings.  The district managed to save more than 21%, thanks to the outstanding efforts of the organization for their practical solutions to the problem, their excellent public awareness campaign and to most of us who use their services.

MY APOLOGIES
I apologize in advance for the quality of the photos... I just took my Iphone to this meeting, not expecting to "cover" it.  The distance and lighting taxed it's capabilities, so I didn't get good shots of most of the participants.  The best image is provided by Mesa Water - the group shot below.

EARLY SCHMOOZE-FEST

It was interesting to watch the many politicians in the room mingle and schmooze.  Here's a photo of Mayor Steve Mensinger having his photo taken with Michele Steel.

PROCLAMATIONS
Board President Shawn Dewane accepted proclamations from State Senator John Moorlach (in absentia); Assemblyman Matt Harper - who showed up looking all dapper in his chapeau.  I thought for a moment he might break into a song and dance number; Supervisor Michele Steel; Director Bob Ooten from the Costa Mesa Sanitary District; Mayor Steve Mensinger representing the City of Costa Mesa; President Cathy Green from the Orange County Water District; a representative of Congressman Dana Rhorabacher and others I didn't catch.  The kudos were well-deserved.

PRESS RELEASES
Additionally, as covered in the Mesa Water press release, HERE, the district bestowed awards on ten (10) groups they identified as "Mega" Mesa Water Savers.  The City of Costa Mesa also produced a page on Costa Mesa Connected, HERE, describing the event and including many images.

SPECIAL "SEGERSTROM" MOMENT
There were many highlights of those presentations.  For example, when Justin McCusker, representing C.J. Segerstrom & Sons stepped up to receive their award Dewane almost waxed poetic as he described the monumental contributions made to water issues by the Segerstrom family, and Henry Segerstrom in particular.  It was a nice touch.

KUDOS TO THE CITY
The City of Costa Mesa also received an award for their efforts in conserving water.  It was a special moment when, among the many dignitaries receiving accolades, the representative chosen to accept the award was Lead Maintenance Worker Philip Willey, accompanied by his lovely daughter.  When I spoke today with Bruce Hartley, his boss, he told me Philip was chosen because he's the guy who gets it done.  He's the one who makes sure all the sophisticated watering devices around the city work as expected and that the madates are met.  This was a very special moment for me - seeing the value of the folks who actually do the work acknowledged for their efforts.  Good for Hartley!  And, during the photo ops Mensinger made sure we knew he was there.  Councilwoman Katrina Foley also attended the meeting.

YEP, WE GOT ONE, TOO
Oh, yes... my sweet and very patient wife and I received an award, too.  We were one of two single-family residences - the other being Janice & Steven Frates - to receive acknowledgement of significant water savings.  We're very proud of this acknowledgement.  We spent a lot of time and effort designing and installing our new front yard - replacing a lawn with drought-tolerant plants, each one individually irrigated with a drip system.  As you can see from the images below, the plants - just a year old this month - have not only survived, but thrived.  Only those two bougainvillea plants were original - all the rest are new plantings.  The Santa Barbara Daisies and Mexican Sage have just exploded, as have the Kangaroo Paws, the roses and all the rest.  We hope our efforts will encourage more of you to experiment with water saving landscaping choices.  You don't have to install as many plants as we did - it was our choice to provide a demonstration garden, to show you what can be done.  And, FYI, Mesa Water acknowledged that we've saved around 40% on our water consumption.  In actuality, comparing month-to-month to previous years when we were watering a lawn, the savings have varied from around 40% to nearly 60%.

THANKS TO DEWANE AND STAFF
Thanks to President  Shawn Dewane, Directors Jim Fisler, Jim Atkinson, Fred Bockmiller and Ethan Temianka, each of whom were very cordial.  Fisler, with whom I've had social media battles in the past until he blocked me, was especially friendly and it was much appreciated.  It was nice to catch up.  I also appreciated the plug Dewane gave the blog.  Although he didn't name it, we felt the love.  And, a special thank you to Stacy Taylor, Noelle Collins and the staff for creating a special moment for those of us who received this recognition.

KUDOS TO MESA WATER
And, kudos, one more time, to Mesa Water and General Manager Paul Schoenberger and his staff for the industry-leading creativity that provides this critical resource to us, especially at a time of severe drought.

A Civil Finale To The Campaign Forum Circuit

TIME FOR A CHAT...
Last night, at the Halecrest Swim and Tennis Club, the Friends of Costa Mesa Libraries hosted a candidate event that left a good taste in your mouth for a change.  This one was designed to present candidates for seats on three Special District boards and give them an opportunity to tell you about themselves and to address issues they felt were important for the positions they are seeking.  Just under 50 people attended, counting staff members and relatives of the participants.

SPECIAL DISTRICTS
The special districts represented in this event were the Orange County Water District, Mesa Water District and the Costa Mesa Sanitary District.  A total of eight (8) of the nine candidates running for the positions available in these special districts within Costa Mesa were present.  Only candidate Chuck Perry failed to show up.

ORANGE COUNTY WATER DISTRICT
Candidates for the Area 7 seat on the Orange County Water District are incumbent and current board president, Shawn Dewane and termed out Costa Mesa City Council member, Wendy Leece.

MESA WATER
Candidates for the Mesa Water District seat are Ron Amburgey and incumbent Jim Atkinson.

SANITARY DISTRICT
Four candidates for the three seats on the Costa Mesa Sanitary District Board are long time incumbents Arlene Schafer, Bob Ooten and Mike Scheafer plus first time candidate Brian Peotter.  As I said, Perry failed to show up.

OOTEN HANDS OFF TO FISLER
Ooten, in his role as President of the Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries, gave a brief introduction to some of their members present, defined the organization and it's role with the three libraries in Costa Mesa and presented an award to a long-time employee.  He then turned the meeting over to Mesa Water District Board President Jim Fisler, who acted as moderator.  In this case, his role was just to introduce the candidates, since no questions were posed to them.

DESCRIPTION, HISTORY AND FUNCTION
Fisler gave a description of Special Districts and some history.  We learned that there are 2,160 special districts in California - 27 in Orange County alone.  They cover such things as cemeteries, recreation, police and vector control - and, of course, water and sanitation.  He emphasized the value of a tightly-focused board, usually responsible for one or two elements in a community.  He also mentioned that they are governed by many of the same rules as are city councils - the Brown Act and Fair Political Practices Commission regulation, for example.

SEVEN MINUTES EACH
Then he announced that each candidate would have seven (7) minutes to introduce themselves and talk about their candidacy.  The candidates would appear in the order they appear on the ballot.

MESA WATER
First up were the two candidates for a seat on the Mesa Water District Board.

RON AMBURGEY
Ron stressed that he's a first-time candidate and that he decided to get involved after attending a meeting of the organization last June at which a rate hike was passed.  He spoke against it.  He told us he's involved with Costa Mesa United, and that he will probably be elected President next time around.  He also told us he was on the board of the Youth Employment Service (YES) since 1987 and has been involved with the Lions Club.  He neglected to mention that he was an appointee to both the Charter Committee and the Fairview Park Citizens Advisory Committee.

He told us, that although he has many friends on the Mesa Water board, he's "not feelin' the love" - apparently because of his position on the rate increases passed recently.  He's a believer in term limits and he doesn't want to get into any negative campaigning.  He didn't tell us if he knew anything about water.

JIM ATKINSON
Jim is the incumbent and has been on the Mesa Water Board for 16 years and knows his stuff.  He used his time to give the audience a primer on Mesa, the need for long-term planning and how he was a "ratepayer advocate" who voted NO on the rate increase.  He stressed that the biggest cost in delivering water was the cost of electricity used to move it from one place to another.  He talked about the 350 miles of pipe, the replacement of which would cost about $1.5 million per mile.  He spoke of the 9 wells the District maintains.  He spoke of the excellent bond rating - AAA, and quoted from a Fitch report that described Mesa Water's performance that justified that high rating.

ORANGE COUNTY WATER DISTRICT
Next came the candidates for the Orange County Water District.

WENDY LEECE
Wendy is a termed-out Costa Mesa City Councilwoman, who has also served on the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board of Trustees.  She told us she's not a "career politician", then listed all the political positions she's held.  I smiled.  She told us she has no conflict, unlike her opponent who serves on TWO water boards now.  She stressed that she's a hard worker who does her homework and that she works for the residents and ratepayers.  She also spoke briefly of the Poseidon desalination project that would apparently run a pipeline across Costa Mesa and cause significant disruption to the lives along it's path.

SHAWN DEWANE

Shawn is currently the President of the Orange County Water District Board and also a member of the Mesa Water District Board.  He's a 27 year Costa Mesa resident with a decade serving on the water boards, which he says provides "pure, plentiful and affordable" water.  He is a self-described financial expert.  He mentioned that twice, in case you missed it the first time.    He spoke with authority about his contributions to the water entities in our region, with his ego fully on display.  He also mentioned his participation in the creation of the trade organization, CalDesal, which he described as a one-stop-shop for folks interested in desalination projects, and explained it was formed because of the fourteen years and thousands of forms and papers required to get the Poseidon Project to where it is today.  He explained his many trips to Sacramento and Washington, D.C. to work on water issues.  He took much of the credit for the excellent condition Mesa Water finds itself in today and beamed with pride when he spoke about the "largest water recycling facility in the world."

COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT
Next came the candidates for the three seats available for the Costa Mesa Sanitary District.  Candidate Chuck Perry was a no-show for this event.

ARLENE SCHAFER

Arlene raised a family in Costa Mesa.  She has served on the Planning Commission and the City Council, where she was Vice Mayor and Mayor.  She's a long-time member of the Sanitary District Board and is seeking re-election next month.  She spoke of her role as a Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) member, and that she had been President of the California Special Districts Association.  She spoke briefly of the upcoming Organics Recycling Program.  She also spoke of how well the board members get along.

MIKE SCHEAFER

Mike is a long-term board member, former Parks and Recreation Commissioner and City Councilman (he didn't mention either of those), long-time member of the Lions Club, President of the Costa Mesa Senior Corporation Board and Chairman of the recent 60th Anniversary Celebration (he didn't mention those, either).  He did speak briefly about some of the things he's accomplished while on the board, like using Ipads instead of killing forests to produce staff reports for meetings.  He spent a big chunk of his time discussing the upcoming conversion to the Organics Recycling program and the value of doing this inevitable conversion early rather than later.  He spoke of the fiscal solvency of the Sanitary District.

BRIAN PEOTTER

Brian, a self-described "Rocket Scientist", seemed like a nice enough young fella who just hasn't been alive long enough to understand the job on the Sanitary District Board.  In fact, he told us his goal is to eliminate it entirely by folding the Sanitary District into the Water District or The City.  He made some not very veiled criticisms of the current board and further demonstrated his lack of knowledge of the inner workings of that organization.  It's unclear if he had ever attended a board meeting or not.  I'm told not.  He ripped a page from the Jim Fitzpatrick song book and spoke of not putting the trash hauling contract out for competitive bidding since the "Eisenhower era".  He was hyper-critical of the Organics program, but didn't say anything that demonstrated that he knew much about it.

BOB OOTEN

Bob is an double-degreed engineer with more than two decades experience with the Orange County Sanitary District.  He spoke in detail of the infrastructure of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District and the pro-active steps taken to prepare for disasters and to keep the effluent flowing.  He described himself as a fiscal conservative and also of the need to implement the Organics Recycling program to save money.

NO QUESTIONS - JUST CIVILITY
The program didn't provide an opportunity for any of the four-dozen audience members to ask questions, but the buzz around the room at the conclusion of the formal segment of the program seemed very positive.  Folks seemed to have learned a lot from this process and were busily chatting away with the candidates.

COSTA MESA BRIEF
Costa Mesa Brief was on hand to film the festivities.  I'm sure it will be up on their YouTube website soon.  I didn't see them circulating like vultures this time, looking for "gotcha" moments, although the owner of the site engaged me in "spirited" conversation.  It seems he doesn't like the way I do my thing, doesn't like what I write and is offended when I refer to him - even though every time I mention his work the hit counter on his site starts spinning.  I encouraged him to NOT read what I write, but smiled that it bugged him so much.

THAT'S IT!
So, folks, that's it!  No more candidate forums.  From now until the election you will be deluged with stuff jammed into your mailboxes, exposed to the blight of campaign signs everywhere and have candidates and their minions knocking on your doors.  It will soon be over, though.  Early November 5th we'll have a good idea of what this city will look like politically for the next few years.  Take a deep breath - we can to this!

Meet Special Districts Candidates

MEET AND GREET

The Friends of the Costa Mesa Libraries will host a Meet And Greet event Thursday, October 16, 2014 at which the voters will have a chance to spend some time with candidates for several special districts that serve Costa Mesa.

HALECREST, 7-9 P.M.
The event, to be held at the Halecrest Swim and Tennis Club, 3107 Killybrooke Lane, will run from 7 - 9 p.m. and will be moderated by MESA Water District President Jim Fisler.

MOST CANDIDATES WILL PARTICIPATE

As of this writing the following candidates have confirmed their attendance at this event:
Orange County Water District - Wendy Leece and Shawn Dewane
MESA Water District - Ron Amburgey and Jim Atkinson
Costa Mesa Sanitary District - Arlene Schafer, Mike Scheafer, Bob Ooten and Brian Peotter.  (Chuck Perry has declined to participate)

A MORE CASUAL FORMAT

It's my understanding that the format will be more casual than other forums.  It will begin with fifteen minutes during which the candidates will mingle with the crowd.  The formal part of the meeting will then begin with an introduction by the hosts and Fisler will discuss Special Districts.  Then each candidate will have seven (7) minutes to introduce themselves and discuss anything they feel is relevant to their candidacy.  The hosts have suggested the following topics for each group:

For Mesa Water District Candidates - Drought, Water Bond and Water Supply

For Orange County Water District Candidates - Drought, Desalinization and Basin Water Replenishment

For Costa Mesa Sanitary District Candidates - Residential Trash Rates, Consolidation and the Organics Program.

NO QUESTIONS FROM AUDIENCE

There will be NO questions asked of ANY candidate from either the moderator or the audience.

MORE MINGLING
Following that portion of the meeting the candidates will adjourn to their tables and/or just mingle and answer any questions individual members of the audience might have.

OLD BARRY TO RECORD IT
I'm told Barry Friedland and his Costa Mesa Brief crew will be on hand to provide a video record of this event.