The other races on the ballot
Paul Clinton
Dozens of candidates have flooded races for water and sanitary
districts, led by a determined contingent of Libertarians intent on
establishing themselves as a legitimate third party.
This broader countywide trend is reflected here in the six water
and sanitary races for seats representing Costa Mesa and Newport
Beach. The races will be found further down on the ballots on
Tuesday.
Thirty-seven candidates are vying for the six seats, with 15 of
those endorsed, and in many cases recruited, by the Libertarian Party
of Orange County.
The candidates have put themselves in the races for the Costa Mesa
Sanitary District, Irvine Ranch Water District, Mesa Consolidated
Water District, the Municipal Water District of Orange County and the
Orange County Water District.
“We’ve seen more candidates for special districts than ever
before,” said Marcia Mckee, Orange County’s election information
supervisor. Many of the candidates running for these offices have
little to no name-recognition, but that doesn’t stop them from
throwing their hats in the ring.
Libertarian Party leaders are running their slate of candidates
essentially to build momentum for the future, several of the
candidates from that party said.
As far as agency hierarchy among the water districts, Municipal
tops the list. The agency, commonly known as MWD, delivers Colorado
River water and other out-of-state water to the smaller, local
agencies such as Mesa and Irvine Ranch.
The Orange County Water District occupies somewhat of a middle
ground, monitoring the county’s groundwater basin. The agency
regulates how much water the local agencies, and the city of Newport
Beach, can pump from the aquifer.
Of the four open county water district seats, the two covering
Newport-Mesa are both up for grabs.
The Division 7 race has raised the most eyebrows. Former Newport
Beach Councilwoman Jan Debay is running against former Costa Mesa
Councilwoman Heather Somers.
Debay is a strong proponent of the district’s $500-million effort
to recycle sewage and, after several layers of treatment, deliver it
as drinking water.
“We are going through some tremendous changes,” Debay said.
Somers, on the other hand, has attacked the project as a “toilet to
tap” misfire that is being launched without thorough enough treatment
methods in place.
“On the grander scale of things, they’re not dealing with things
as they come up,” Somers said. “These things need to be dealt with
before we undertake a project 10 times the size that creates the same
problems.”
Other candidates for that race include attorney Edward Beneville,
electronics engineer Tara Drennen, businessman Timothy Johnson,
attorney Bradford Calvin and engineer David Richards.
Beneville, Calvin and Richards live in Costa Mesa.
In the District 5 race, eight candidates are slugging it out.
Attorney James Barone of Corona del Mar, investment banker Timothy
Owen of Newport Beach, insurance salesman Ryan Rekers of Newport
Beach, and retired educational administrator Sidney Stokes of Corona
del Mar are vying for the spot. Stokes is the husband of
Newport-Unified trustee Serene Stokes.
Other candidates in the race, who don’t live in Newport-Mesa, are
business owner Chris Herrington, water management engineer Saul
Hirschmann, water resources engineer Paul Cook and business owner
Daniel Sharer.
Herrington, Hirschmann, Rekers and Sharar are Libertarians.
In the race for three open seats on the Costa Mesa Sanitary
District, seven challengers will face off against the three
incumbents. Arlene Schafer, Greg Woodside and Dan Worthington are all
hoping to return to their chairs on the five-member board.
Schafer, a two-termer first elected in 1994, is billing herself as
a seasoned elected leader with almost 30 years of public service
under her belt.
“I’m running for reelection because I know I can do a good job,”
Schafer said. Schafer won election to the Costa Mesa City Council,
after serving on the city’s Planning Commission, in 1978. She was
mayor for two years, beginning in 1980, and left the council in 1986.
Worthington and Schafer both won seats on the sanitary district in
1994. Woodside has been on the board since 1998.
Doug Scribner, one of five Libertarian challengers, said he hopes
to oust at least one of the current board members because the board
has not fairly distributed contracts.
“They have not had a competitive bid in years,” Scribner said. “If
I am elected, I will bring more competition.”
Scribner is also running for the 68th Assembly District against
incumbent Republican Ken Maddox and Democrat Al Snook.
The sanitary district hauls the city’s trash and treats its
sewage.
Retired engineer Tom Dethlefsen, Web designer Richard Culbertson,
obstetrician Louis Smith and small business owner Paul Stromberg fill
out the Libertarian ticket.
Chuck Perry, a teacher, and James Fisler, a businessman, are also
running for seats.
As the only Newport-Mesa candidate for a seat on the Irvine Ranch
Water District, Newport Coast resident Peer Swan is a clear favorite
for one of two open seats.
Swan and Brian Brady, who lives in Irvine, are the incumbents in
an eight-man race. Swan has served on the board for 22 years.
“The rates are lower today than they were when I first got
elected,” Swan said. Three of the other six candidates in that race
are Libertarian candidates. Realtor Vince Mull, Steve Moore, who
describes himself as “retired,” and aerospace machinist Stephen
Sanchez are all running on that ticket.
Attorney George Kornievsky, financial software consultant David
Jennings and Jack Wu, who declined to give an occupation, are also
hoping to win seats.
The district supplies water to homes in Newport Coast, Santa Ana
Heights and some other areas in Newport Beach. It also supplies
reclaimed water to businesses for agricultural uses.
As a longtime incumbent on the Mesa Consolidated Water District,
Mike Healey faces only one challenger, who has not been endorsed by
the Libertarian Party.
Healey, appointed to his seat in 1995, holds the District 5 seat
on the board of an agency that supplies water to Costa Mesa and
Fountain Valley.
Healey, a longtime Costa Mesa resident, faces landscape architect
David Schneider.
Citing his support for the district’s $14-million colored-water
treatment plant that has been up and running for almost a year and a
half, Healey said voters should return him for another term.
The plant treats amber-colored water the district draws from deep
in the aquifer and is legally required to treat it to a higher level,
using ozone filters.
“I’ve served diligently for almost eight years,” Healey said.
“I’ve established myself as a reputable director.”
Schneider, who lives in Costa Mesa, did not return calls by press
time.
Two candidates have been thrown in to try to unseat another
established incumbent in the race for the Municipal Water District of
Orange County’s Division 5 seat. Wayne Clark has held the seat, which
includes a section of Newport Beach, since 1981.
Clark, who lives in Irvine, is opposed by retired electrical
engineer Reginald Augustine Thatcher and TV news producer Ron Winship
-- both Newport Beach residents. Winship is also running for Newport
Beach City Council and Newport-Mesa Unified School District.
As the Libertarian candidate, Thatcher, who is also a Mensa
member, said he would bring an independent voice to the seven-member
board.
“I’m independent of any coercion,” Thatcher said. “I’m not a
politician.”Clark cited his push for a desalination plant in Dana
Point, as a way to increase water supply in Orange County, and
shepherding of the board’s 2000 merger with Coastal Municipal Water
District as reasons voters should return him to office.
* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment and politics. He may be
reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at paul.clinton@latimes.com.
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