Dilks arrest raises more questions

The arrest of Jerry Dilks, a city public works employee suspected of

billing the city for overtime hours he never worked, has led

authorities to question his calculations, which led to Huntington

Beach’s convictions for failing to fix leaky Downtown sewer lines.

Dilks, a city sewer maintenance manager, was arrested at his home

in Temecula last week for abusing overtime hours and stealing city

equipment. He is suspected of billing the city in excess of $5,000 in

overtime hours and of taking nearly $200 worth of shelving and a

portable generator, said Huntington Beach Police Sgt. Ron Burgess.

“This raises concern as to why the oversight didn’t exist in this

situation,” said Councilman Dave Sullivan.

City officials are examining both public and private records

including bank statements, tax records and other financial documents

seized from his home, Burgess said.

The date for the trial has not been set.

Robin Walters, a secretary who worked in the same unit as Dilks,

is also under investigation and on paid leave. She is suspected of

charging unworked overtime hours and destroying employee time cards.

Burgess said police are looking into whether other city employees

in the Public Works department have also committed overtime abuses.

“We’re only looking at the area where Dilks has been working,”

said Burgess.

It was Dilks’ calculations of massive sewer leaks Downtown, that

led to allegations that the city had failed to properly report the

issue two years ago. Investigators are now trying to determine

whether Dilks overestimated the leaks.

The accusations were damaging to the city, said Sullivan.

It started in 1996 when the City Council voted 4-3 against

revamping the sewer system through the use of taxpayer funds, said

former Councilman Ralph Bauer.

“The Regional Water Quality Control Board was not too happy with

that,” recalled Bauer, who said that it was shortly after that, that

the board reported what he referred to as “an astronomical amount of

leaks.”

Dilks claimed that repairs needed beneath the Downtown and Old

Town areas included 70,000 gallons of raw sewage a day spilling into

the ground.

City officials disputed these numbers and said it was impossible

to determine how much sewage was spilling from the pipes. In 2002

water quality testers found no evidence of sewage in the Downtown

groundwater.

“It made the city look irresponsible,” said Bauer, who called the

accusations and ensuing court case unnecessary. “They wanted to nail

somebody and they nailed us.”

More than $2 million was spent repairing the city’s sewage system.

The insides of the sewers were lined with resin, explained Bauer.

When inflated with air, the resin acts like a thin impermeable lining

in the sewer, making it impervious to liquid going into or out of the

pipes.

“Now we have a good first class water system with internal

storage,” he said.

Dilks is on paid administrative leave.

-- Jenny Marder

Fight over coastal commission continues

The local activist who took on the California Coastal Commission

and won, vowed to continue his fight last week as the state

Legislature works to cure the agency’s ills.

Rodolphe Streichenberger, who founded the Newport Beach-based

Marine Forests Society, blasted the state Senate’s approval two weeks

ago of a bill that supporters say would answer Streichenberger’s

criticism of its constitutionality.

The trenchant French-born activist said that the bill would not

solve what he contends is its illegality.

“That’s a cosmetic fix,” Streichenberger said. “It’s still

unconstitutional.”

It was Streichenberger’s lawsuit, filed in 1997, that ultimately

led to a state superior court judge’s decision four years later that

the institutional state agency violated the state’s constitution.

The appeals court agreed with arguments made by Streichenberger’s

attorney, Ronald Zumbrun.

In the various rulings, judges agreed with Zumbrun’s claim that

the agency violated the state separation of powers clause because

members of various branches could appoint or remove members.

The commission has appealed the Dec. 30 appellate ruling to the

state Supreme Court.

The Senate, also approved a bill on a 25-14 vote that would

establish fixed four-year terms for the commissioners and take away

the Legislature’s ability to remove them.

The Assembly approved a similar measure on Jan. 30 on a 49-24

vote. Both votes held closely to party lines, with Republicans

opposing them.

-- Paul Clinton

Huntington man is OCTA employee of the year

Huntington Beach resident and mechanic Joel Rule was recently

dubbed Maintenance Employee of the Year by the Orange County

Transportation Authority. Rule, who has been in the county

maintenance department for 16 years was honored for his safety

record, attendance and technical skills.

Co-workers say he reflects the county transportation authority’s

values of quality, teamwork, integrity, service and public interest.

Rule specializes in maintenance and repair of electronic systems

on the authority’s bus fleet.

The Orange County Transportation Authority develops, implements

and maintains transportation programs throughout Orange County. These

include highway, street and rail planning and development, operation

of the public bus system and administration of transportation

funding.

-- Jenny Marder