Central Basin and West Basin were happily married for 16 years. And then came the bitter divorce in 2006, followed by two lawsuits and likely the squandernig of thousands of rate payers dollars.

Of course, neither agency had that number at their fingertips when I asked them how much it cost them to litigate over the past two years. At West Bast, General Manager Rich Nagel assured that the costs were “minimal,” whatever that means. And at Central Basin, the costs are significant enough that they are asking West Basin to pay for attorney’s fees.

Here is the most recent in their break-up:

Water districts remain at odds
By Jennifer McLain, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 10/29/2008 11:44:55 PM PDT

COMMERCE – A court order last week still won’t bring an end to a bitter divorce between two water districts that serve nearly half of Los Angeles County.

The West Basin and Central Basin municipal water districts have waged war against one another after the two split joint operations more than two years ago, this time disagreeing over how much each should pay for employee retirement expenses.

Judge Robert Heff on Oct.20 ruled that West Basin Municipal breached a settlement agreement with its former business partner, Central Basin Municipal Water District.

Central Basin officials said West Basin owes their district $1.09 million in employee retirement expenses.

But West Basin said that number is about $350,000 too high.

“We believe the information provided by Central Basin to the court was inaccurate,” said West Basin General Manager Richard Nagel. “We’ve been discussing with the board how to correct that step.”

After the judge ruled, Central Basin said it wants legal fees from West Basin.

Nagel said the West Basin’s board will have to decide whether to appeal.

West Basin and Central Basin from 1990 to 2006 carried out joint operations from a building in Commerce.

Just before the partnership ended in 2006, West Basin filed a lawsuit against Central Basin because the two parties could not agree what they owed one another, such as employee liabilities.

West Basin provides water to the

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western portion of Los Angeles County, from as far north as Beverly Hills to as far south as Rancho Palos Verdes, and as far west from Hermosa Beach to as far east as Carson.
Central Basin serves areas from Lakewood to Montebello, Willowbrook to La Habra Heights, including Pico Rivera, Monterey Park and Whittier.

Central Basin General Manager Art Aguilar said he hoped the recent court judgement would put an end to the ongoing legal battles with West Basin.

If fights continue, Aguilar places the blame on West Basin.

“To continue this is a waste of rate payers money,” Aguilar said.

jennifer.mclain@sgvn.com

(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2477

www.insidesocal.com/sgvgov

Albert Robles was cleared of all charges he was facing for allegedly violating campaign codes, Airan Scruby reports.

Albert Robles serves on the Water Replinishment District of Southern California, and unfortunately shares the name with the former South Gate treasurer who was convicted to 10 years in prison of corruption.

Robles, 39, of the WRD, out of Lakewood, has served on the board since 1992.

Jennifer McLain had a very interesting story that ran in today’s paper about the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster, which isn’t a public agency but sure does get some very “public” benefits.

The Watermaster is a nonprofit, court-ordered agency that is afforded public benefits, uses public money and and does not have to adhere to state open-meeting laws.

While by traditional definition it is not a public agency, employees receive public retirement benefits provided by CalPERS and get public health benefits.

What do you guys think?

While driving this morning from Monrovia to the Garvey School District in Rosemead via Rosemead Boulevard, I noticed dozens of signs for both Charles Trevino and Clarence Wong, who are both running for the seat on the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District.

They are running against incumbent Frank Forbes as well as Arthur James Munoz.

What signs are you starting to see pop up?

This weekend I wrote a story about the motivations of local candidates to get on water boards. Of the candidates I spoke to, each said that they have a desire to give back to the community and they are interested in water.

Others were a little more skeptical. Some said these candidates likely want to advance their political careers. The stipends, travel allowances and medical benefits don’t hurt either.

Resumes of current candidates for the Water Replenishment District of Southern California and the Upper San Gabriel Valley, San Gabriel Valley, Three Valleys and Central Basin municipal water districts include former assemblymen, school board members and council members.

Upper District candidates Trevino served on the Central Basin Water District, and Clarence Wong served on the WRD board. Trevino resigned in 2003, and Wong ran but failed to win a second term.

Former Assemblyman Ed Chavez ran unsuccessfully in 2007 for the Mt. San Antonio College Board of Trustees, and is now running for Upper District. So far, he has raised nothing for the water race, although records show that he loaned himself $14,000 for the school board race.

He could transfer the money from that committee to his current run, according to state campaign finance laws.

Central Basin candidate Phillip Hawkins, who has $22,766 in his coffers, is a former one-term assemblyman who has been on the board since 2000.

Ed Vasquez, also running for a seat on the Central Basin board, is a former Montebello councilman. Vasquez raised $18,904, according to reports. He is married to current Montebello Councilwoman Rosie Vasquez.

These obscure boards are rarely noticed by voters but are in charge of budgets that often are larger than those in our city government’s. Plus, these boards are responsible for managing for a vital, declining resource.

One aspect that the story doesn’t get into is where the money is coming from. The story was already long enough, and I figured the money trail will be worth a story of its own. Look for that later this week.

Do you vote based on name recognition?

Well, Water Replinishment District of Southern California candidate Linda Fuentes, whose maiden name is Unruh wants her name to appear on the ballot as Linda Unruh-Fuentes. She is married to Chuck Fuentes, Pico Rivera’s city manager.

But according to reporter Mike Sprague’s story:

“That makes her opponent, Albert Robles, unhappy. He can’t change his name to escape the stigma of the same-named former South Gate city treasurer who was sentenced to 10 years in state prison on corruption charges.”

There’s quite a long list of candidates running for seats of our local water boards for the November election. Who are these people and why are they running? I’ll have more on that later, but feel free to chime in if you’ve got any background on these candidates.

Central Basin Municipal Water District

1. Hawkins, Phillip D.
2. Martuscello, David
3. Montalvo, Rudy
4. Pesci, William
5. Silva, Yvette L.
6. Vasquez, Ed

San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District

1. Inocentes, Mason Buchanan
2. Reichenberger, Joseph
3. Vasquez, Leticia
4. Wong, John

Three Valleys Municipal Water District
1. Lantz, Fred

Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District

1. Brown, Royall K.
2. Chavez, Ed
3. Forbes, Frank
4. Garcia, Leon
5. Lizet, Angulo
6. Mendoza, John
7. McIntyre, Andrew M.
8. Munoz, Arthus James
9. Robinson, William “Bill” R.
10. Trevino, Charles
11. Wong, Clarence

The bio for Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District candidate Andrew McIntyre was changed after I posted this entry. It no longer states that he was a member of the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority, but instead that was replaced to the San Gabriel Valley River Water Authority.

Background
Andrew McIntyre was born and raised in West Covina. He attended South Hills High School and later went on to graduate from the University of Southern California (USC) where Andrew received his degree in Public Policy Management & Planning.

Commitment To Our Community
San Gabriel Valley River Water Authority
Citrus Valley Health Partners Foundation, Board of Directors
Covina Historic Society, Chairperson
Covina Rotary Club
West Covina, life long resident

Experience
Andrew is currently the Water Resource Manager for the Canyon Water Company. He is directly involved in the daily management and oversight of all water resources required to insure an adequate supply of high quality water.

Remember this post? Well, here is the biography for Andrew McIntyre, who is running for a seat on the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District:

Background

Andrew McIntyre was born and raised in West Covina. He attended South Hills High School and later went on to graduate from the University of Southern California (USC) where Andrew received his degree in Public Policy Management & Planning.

Commitment To Our Community
San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority
Citrus Valley Health Partners Foundation, Board of Directors
Covina Historic Society, Chairperson
Covina Rotary Club
West Covina, life long resident

Experience
Andrew is currently the Water Resource Manager for the Canyon Water Company. He is directly involved in the daily management and oversight of all water resources required to insure an adequate supply of high quality water.

Here’s the problem: McIntyre never worked or sat on the board for the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority.

I just got back from a little field trip with photographer Raul Roa. We were on the search for dead ducks at the San Gabriel River in El Monte and Industry. After walking up and down the river, we found plenty of things: transients, a rodeo spot that has horses and bulls, and a red bishop bird. But no dead ducks.