Candidate for
Member, Board of Directors; West Basin Municipal Water District; Division 5

Management Philosophy

The West Basin Municipal Water District must be managed according to scientific and engineering fact, economic reality, law, and common sense. Political agenda should not be part of water policy. Water quality and availability transcends all considerations of social class, ethnicity, and political ideology; we all suffer equally when thirsty!

• Costs of operations must be recovered from the water users; it is the duty of managment to minimize these costs

• All rate payers must be treated the same; young taxpayers must not pay higher prices than their older neighbors. I do not want to set up an enforcement bureacracy to pursue those suspected of cheating on their senior citizen discount.

• All State of California water quality requirements must be met

• Environmental awareness drives our search for new water resources by conservation and recycling

• Fairness to minorities in contracting out work

• Open disclosure of any relationship between management and contractors or bidders

• Water that you buy and pay for is yours to use as you see fit. Conservation must be encouraged, but nobody must be subject to police or court action, as long as he is not harming his neighbors, for failing to use water according to dictates of a government authority.

• A Water Board director must fairly represent what he is; since filing for this election, I have received offers from publishers of "slate cards", both conservative and progressive, offering endorsement... for a fee! I urge the voters to reject this kind of deception.

• If elected, I will be accessible with a published e-mail address and phone number. I promise to actually read and reply to my e-mail from time to time.

Scare stories about toilet water entering the domestic supply are overblown; the fact is that the recycled Hyperion water is distributed through a totally separate network of pipes to large industrial users of water (the three local oil refineries) and to irrigation users such as golf courses. Although this water is very pure, it is not certified by the authorities for human consumption. For more information about toilet water, see my position paper on that subject.

Scare stories about water shortages are not overblown. We must conserve and develop new water sources. We must use recycled water wherever potable water is not needed (car wash, irrigation, refinery cooling, etc.) Failure to conserve and use our resources wisely will drive up the cost of water as surely as our failure to conserve petroleum resources has driven up the cost of gasoline. I am very sorry to report this, but that is the economic reality.

Economic reality must enter into the managment of the water district operations. The costs of the importing, blending, recycling, and distributing the water, and the cost of operating the district must be recovered from the water users. Since the present operation is well managed, it is unlikely that there will be any great reduction in our water bills as a result of management changes.

The management of the West Basin Municipal Water District must be according to Law. This is not so simple: you will find that the Water Code of the the State of California is four volumes of law books, printed on very thin paper! Besides that are applicable provisions of the Fish and Game Code, the Federal Laws, and the requirements of numerous other regulatory agencies.

Operational Problems

Since I have been attending the West Basin MWD Board meetings, I have mostly observed a very professionally run organization. The Board members seem to work well together. However, one point of conflict has been in the area of minority/disadvantaged contracting. West Basin MWD needs specific guidelines on when a contract can be extended by change order (allowing the work to be done by the disadvantaged contractor) instead of initiating a whole new bid cycle (that might exclude the minority firm). At the same time, the relationship, if any, between contractors and Directors must be openly disclosed to the public.

The recent attack on Director Kwan by the Easy Reader is outrageous. Kwan has been on the West Basin Board for almost four years; why is it only now that we of excessive travel expenses? If there was any wrongdoing, the other directors must share the blame for failure to correct it! Common industrial practices must be instituted to prevent director abuse of travel expenses. Generally, this means pre-approval of trips (by the Board or its designated subcomittee), submission of an expense report with receipts, and a trip report summarizing business conducted on the trip. Travel arrangements must be made by the West Basin staff to no greater standards of luxury than any other employee. I believe that directors should be get tuition re-embursements for pre-approved classes related to the District's business only after submitting receipts and a report card showing a passing grade.

Economic Philosophy

Something is seriously wrong with water economics. Why is it that a farmer in the southern Utah desert pays $8 per acre-foot, while we in the Los Angeles area pay more than $400 per acre-foot? This gross inequity is beyond the ability of our local government to correct; it requires action at the federal level. I believe that free markets in water can act quickly to equalize prices, but the hidden costs must be examined! For example, if San Joaquin Valley agriculture sells water to Los Angeles, we may pay lower prices... but the agricultural production and employment will be lost. Some kinds of agriculture, like orchards, are not amenable to interruption of the water supply. The price of water from agricultural users would reflect the cost of lost production and the cost of unused resources.

Who Pays for My Campaign

I am running a zero-budget campaign! I do not have any contributors who will expect favors once I am elected. I am not involved with any established political agenda. This is the very first time I have ever run for public office, and if I am elected my only obligation will be to the voters. I am an engineer, not a politician. I am not using the West Basin Water Board as a stepping stone to higher office. I have been registered in the same political party for twenty years (but I don't always vote for them).

An Appeal

Please read the statements in these web pages, as well as those of my opponents. Please be an informed voter. We are ten million people in a basin with water resources for only two million, so some serious water recycling and conservaton must happen here. It is wise water management that built California into a great economic world power. We must act wisely to secure a prosperous future.