Candidate for
Director; Lompico County Water District

When I ran for the LCWD Board in 2008 I knew there were financial problems, and I thought my financial background would be helpful; I soon realized the problems were far worse than I had known. With careful oversight and cost-cutting, we had repaired most of the financial mess by the end of 2010, and were then better able to see that our income was not sufficient to cover regular operating expenses, so we reluctantly asked in late 2011 for a rate increase. This increase covers our expenses, but still is not sufficient for future needs, the cost of a State-required District Manager, financial reserves, or the CalPERS bill, which is the result of bad financial decisions made years ago.

When I joined the Board, consolidation with SLVWD had never entered my mind. The idea was first raised when we discovered the extent of damage, and, after the County Grand Jury suggested it, the Board decided to look into it. We discovered that SLVWD's rates and read-to-serve are much lower than ours (SLVWD's billing units are 2.8 times larger than ours), which would lower costs for homeowners, pretty much offsetting the increase in property taxes which would result from a bond to repair our failing infrastructure. (Without consolidation, we'll still need to pay for those repairs, minus the cost of an interconnecting main, and our choices will be a bond and/or even higher rates.)

We have a clear choice: stay the way we are or consolidate with SLVWD.

We can continue as LCWD with the highest rates in the county, small staff, not enough water in time of drought or a large fire, insufficient money to fix our expensive infrastructure problems or build reserves; Or We can consolidate with SLVWD, benefiting from lower rates, an upgraded water system larger staff, financial reserves and sufficient water.