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.

Special District Pay Under Scrutiny

REGISTER INVESTIGATIVE WORK
The Orange County Register, which protects its work product with a pay wall, continues to provide some excellent investigative reporting.  The OC Watchdog group has done some serious digging into many important Orange County issues over the past several years.

SPECIAL DISTRICT COMPENSATION
Last weekend Teri Sforza, a tenacious and thorough reporter, provided us with a couple interesting articles on Orange County Special District pay and benefits.  The first, for those of you who subscribe to the Register, is titled, "Special Districts: For most, pay tops $70,000", can be found HERE.

OC FIRE AUTORITY TOPS THE LIST
Sforza tells us that, of the 30 Orange County Special Districts, the Orange County Fire Authority has the highest average compensation at nearly $148,000.  She then goes on to tell us that there was much consternation in her newsroom when she pointed out that the second-highest was the Orange County Sanitation District, at $126,000.

MESA WATER IS THIRD!
What she didn't specifically mention, but certainly caught my eye, was the fact that third on the list was little old Mesa Water at just over $110,000.  This is especially interesting when you consider that Mesa Water has recently decided to raise our rates again!  The other special district that serves much of our area, the Costa Mesa Sanitary District,  is well down the list at number nineteen.

A FASCINATING CHART...
As part of the article Sforza provided us with the following chart.  Click on the image to enlarge it for easier reading.  Interesting numbers, no?