Councilwoman’s Water Bill Stirs Up Controversy

Councilwoman Joanne Baltierrez ducked the financial penalties for paying her water bills late, setting off a political squabble between opposing council factions in this small northeast San Fernando Valley city.

At issue is whether Baltierrez--a former mayor who acknowledges using poor judgment by accepting the special treatment--has abused her position of influence in City Hall, or, as she contends, is the victim of an orchestrated plan by the council majority to discredit her.

Ironically, Baltierrez’s political legacy in San Fernando will include a new policy approved by the council last week making it illegal for any elected official or city employee to receive similar financial breaks. It was a policy that she voted against.

The controversy erupted in October when former council candidate Juana Mojica showed up at a council meeting with a city document that had been leaked to her, presumably by a city employee. The document listed Baltierrez among 32 citizens who had fallen behind in the payment of semi-monthly water bills. Unlike others on the list however, Baltierrez, who was eight months behind in payments, did not have her water shut off after a one-month grace period.

“People are wondering how she can go almost a whole year without her getting her water shut off,” Mojica said. “We’re upset by this. If you are an elected official, you should be held to ethical standards.”

Faced with a chamber full of angry citizens, the council instructed the city attorney to investigate the matter.

Last week, during the first meeting since the city attorney’s critical report was released, the council took action against Baltierrez.

According to the city attorney’s report, Baltierrez, while probably not guilty of breaking any laws, behaved improperly by not rejecting preferential treatment.

In a meeting filled with angry debate and personal attacks, the council majority cited the report as evidence of Baltierrez’s wrongdoing and voted 3 to 2 to formally censure the councilwoman. The censure also included a request--not legally enforceable--that Baltierrez pay $240 to the city, $30 for each month she avoided reconnection fees.

Councilman Silverio Robledo, who introduced the motion, said the admonishment was necessary “to restore the honesty and integrity of the City Council.”

“We should not ride our bills on the backs of taxpayers,” he said.

Mayor Raul Godinez II, who along with Robledo and Councilman Jose Hernandez has helped form a majority bloc on the council this year, agreed.

“This taints all of us,” Godinez said. “We have a very strong obligation to maintain public trust in our government.”

But Baltierrez, who since October has paid the balance of her bill as well as late fees, vowed not to pay the additional penalty.

“I have been humiliated by this and you have made me pay dearly. What more do you want, blood?” Baltierrez angrily asked the three councilmen who voted to censure her.

Both Baltierrez and her council ally, Doude Wysbeek, said they are incensed that the city attorney elected not to investigate who leaked the city document to Mojica.

“I believe it’s a cover-up,” Wysbeek said this week. “The city attorney did not investigate the leak because, if he had, he would have discovered there was a political motivation behind it.”

One thing the report did, however, was to bring to light a little-known policy in City Hall giving the administrative services director discretion to grant hardship extensions to residents who are having difficulty paying their city water bills.

Steve Klotzsche, who currently fills that position, estimated that 15 to 25 San Fernando residents received extensions on their water bills this year.

“The word ‘preferential’ has been bandied about quite a bit, but a lot of citizens have received these extensions, and businesses too,” Klotzsche said. “Theoretically, we can shut the water off, but it’s only going to cause a lot of grief. We try to determine if the money is collectible and then we work with people.”

Still, Klotzsche said, Baltierrez “may have received more breaks than others.”

Last week, their censure of Baltierrez notwithstanding, the council voted to adopt into law the previously unofficial policy of providing hardship extensions to needy residents. Included in the motion, however, was a provision excluding all city employees and elected officials from receiving such breaks.

Baltierrez and Wysbeek voted against the motion on the grounds that it violated the rights of city employees by treating them differently than other residents.

During the same meeting, in a direct slap at Baltierrez and Wysbeek, the majority also acted on a suggestion in the attorney’s report that the two may have threatened City Hall employees in an effort to discover who leaked the document.

Baltierrez asked that city employees be required to attend a workshop on ethics that would discourage leaking.

Instead, the majority of the council approved a plan to lecture city employees on dealing with hostile workplace environments, such as improper pressures from superiors.

Baltierrez, a student advisor at Cal State Northridge, failed to make a single payment on her water bills between Jan. 1 and July 1, according to city records.

A single mother of three sons, Baltierrez said she fell behind on her bills during a period when she was working only part time. As a member of the council, she earns roughly $600 per month.

While agreeing that the breaks she was granted gave the appearance of preferential treatment, she insisted that her punishment stemmed not from a desire to restore public trust in local government but an eagerness by the majority to punish her for not supporting their policies.

“I didn’t do anything deceptive or illegal. Was it a bad decision? Probably. If I would have known it was going to cause this much trouble, I would have chosen to pay my water bill and not my rent one month,” she said.