Water costs hit some users

As long as the water disappears after you rinse the sink, take a shower or flush the toilet, you probably don’t think too much about the cost, especially considering the unpleasant alternative.

Maybe that’s one reason so few Yorba Linda Water District customers protested a potential doubling of the monthly $3.50 sewer charge for single-family residences recently.

Only 21 letters, three phone calls and two in-person comments—out of about 14,540 ratepayers—were received; and no protests were aired at an 8:30 a.m. public hearing.

The new rate, beginning Saturday, is $5.50 per month for most residential users, along with a “discretionary” Consumer Price Index increase capped at five percent each year, instead of a proposed $7 monthly charge.

While the independent public agency provides water service to all but a few hundred Yorba Lindans, only sewers generally west of Fairmont Boulevard are district-owned.

The city owns eastside sewers serving 6,465 parcels with an annual $19.47 fee added to property tax bills. An overlap section with 2,980 accounts is city-owned but district-serviced at the latter’s new $66 yearly rate.

Residents and businesses in the so-called Locke Ranch area, a narrow 400-acre corridor on both sides of northern Fairmont Boulevard that extends south to Imperial Highway at Esperanza Road, are hit with a double whammy.

These 1,565 homes, businesses and schools pay the higher water district sewer fee and buy more expensive water from the private Golden State Water Company, which serves most of Placentia.

The city would consider selling its sewers to the water district, but water officials won’t pay for them, although they’d accept the sewers at no cost and charge their higher sewer rate, according to recent water board meeting minutes.

And there’s Councilman Hank Wedaa’s longtime dream of merging water district functions with city government, which he’s proposed in 1970, 1996 and this year.

But a mixture of water and sewer delivery infrastructure involving two public agencies and a private firm appears to cause little concern to residents, as long as clean water flows from the tap and waste water empties into a functioning sewer system.

A FINAL NOTE

Removing city commissioners before their terms expire is rare but not unknown in Yorba Linda’s near 40-year municipal history.

The recent 3-2 council vote to dismiss 28-year veteran Carl Boznanski and six-year member Michael Haack from the Planning Commission mirrors a 3-2 action to fire Robert Meador and Roseann Roberts from the commission in 1970.

Interestingly, Councilman Hank Wedaa joined the majority in both votes; and both votes reflected unhappiness with “out-of-touch” commissioners by three new council members.

Also, then-Mayor John Gullixson engineered a 1993 purge of Parks and Recreation Commissioners Wendell Bainter, Carol Cantwell, Dean Clark and Susan Klingaman on a 3-1 vote. They had criticized the Gullixson-led council in a letter to the Star.

Political fundraising a bigger game at the state level

Fundraising for Yorba Linda’s three state legislative representatives appears to be never-ending—a task both more time-consuming and remunerative than earlier days, when they sought campaign contributions for local City Council races.

State Senator Bob Margett and Assemblymen Mike Duvall and Bob Huff raised $506,441 in campaign cash during the first six months of this non-election year, according to filings with California’s Secretary of State.

By contrast, a typical council campaign costs from $20,000 to $50,000, which, for an individual candidate, is raised every four years. Duvall, Huff and Margett began their political careers on the Yorba Linda, Diamond Bar and Arcadia councils.

Margett, who’s serving his second Senate term, has represented Yorba Linda since 2000. His three finance committees took in $67,800 from January through June for a $101,592 cash balance on June 30.

Margett could seek a third term if voters change the term-limit law during the Feb. 5 presidential primary vote, but that would affect Huff’s plans to go after the seat in the June 3 regular primary.

Huff has represented eastern Yorba Linda in the Assembly since 2004. His two finance committees raised $336,641 this year for a $332,787 balance.

A possible Huff opponent is Dennis Mountjoy, who was term-limited out of his Assembly district in 2006. He’s raised $1,500 this year for a $39,765 balance.

Two candidates seeking Huff’s seat are Larry Dick, a county Municipal Water District director, and Curt Hagman, president of Apex Bail Bonds in Pomona.

Dick took in $188,561 this year for a $166,596 balance, while Hagman raised $310,911, counting $100,000 in self-made loans, for a $334,522 balance.

Duvall, elected to represent western Yorba Linda in the Assembly in 2006, has two finance committees that raised $102,000 this year for a $41,575 balance.

As might be expected, much money flows into campaign coffers from special-interest political action committees, large businesses and wealthy individuals; but occasional small contributions from Yorba Linda residents and firms can be spotted.

Developer George Basye gave $198 and consultant Marlo Nabler $250 to Dick, as Duvall drew $3,300 from Rahim Sabadia, $500 from Hines Data and Imaging and $250 each from Mike Crawley, Diane Rizzo, Roslyn Ruocco and Jim Walters.

A FINAL NOTE

Yorba Linda Disposal owner Taormina Industries won’t credit residents who missed city-contracted weekly trash pickups during the October strike since the waste was eventually hauled away.

But Taormina will donate to politicians who vote on contracts and trash issues. I’ve previously noted contributions to past council members, but I didn’t mention money given to Assembly campaigns--$2,750 to Mike Duvall and $2,350 to Curt Hagman.

And sadly, Councilman John Anderson’s Aug. 7 motion for a rebate similar to Brea’s went nowhere.

The cost of public service: campaign debt

Running for a City Council position can be a debt-accumulating experience—four of five current Yorba Linda council members have made nearly $25,000 in loans to their election committees, according to mid-year financial filings.

Commonly, candidates loan money to their campaigns; but while winners rely on future contributions from supporters to pay back the loans, unsuccessful contenders often end up with their dreams of city service dashed amid a pile of debt.

Of the sitting council, only Mayor Allen Castellano is debt free, with $3,453 ready for a potential third-term race in 2008. His only expense so far this year is $2,500 he gave former Councilwoman Keri Wilson in her failed comeback bid in the June election.

The largest debt belongs to Hank Wedaa, who loaned his committee $10,000. He raised an additional $21,457 for his winning June campaign and has $3,680 remaining for his already-announced 2008 re-election run.

Next-largest debt is $7,000 John Anderson loaned his 2006 campaign. His cash balance is $5,633, counting $1,500 from the Association of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, which includes the DA investigators he’s worked with for 22 years.

Jan Horton’s debt is $5,950 she loaned her 2006 campaign, with her $3,730 cash balance including $1,250 from the Orange County Professional Firefighters’ Association. She’s an Orange County Fire Authority director.

The smallest personal loan ($2,000) and cash balance ($762) belong to Jim Winder, who’s widely expected to seek a third term next year.

Former council member and current state Assemblyman Mike Duvall maintains his council account with a zero balance and a $10,000 loan he owes himself, and former Councilman Ken Ryan shows a $4,000 balance and no debt.

Wilson’s committee lists a $10,583 balance and $14,200 in loans she’s made to her 2002, 2006 and 2007 campaigns. She reported spending $16,602 in the June election.

Doug Dickerson, who ran third in the 2006 race for two seats, terminated his committee, forgiving $7,207 he loaned his campaign, and three-time candidate Jack Parra closed his account, forgiving $7,811 of his long-ago loan.

Of five other past candidates with active committees, Diana Hudson lists the largest cash balance ($29,487) and the largest debt ($26,453 in loans and an unpaid bill). She placed fifth out of 10 candidates in 2006.

A FINAL NOTE

The city’s most effective political action committee—Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Representation—raised $75,847 since forming two-and-one-half years ago.

While most of the money came in small $100-$250 amounts from scores of local people and businesses, Old Town residents Jane Adams and Matt Guptill each donated $11,100 to the group since February 2005.

Adams owns the picturesque property at the northeast corner of Plumosa Avenue and Lemon Drive; and Guptill owns the historic 1926 Dr. Richard Cochran home on the southeast corner of Olinda Avenue and Lemon Drive, both facing the public library.

District may add to big ballot

Later this month Placentia-Yorba Linda school district trustees are expected to place a $195 million bond measure on the Feb. 5 presidential primary ballot, helping make 2008 one of this city’s busiest election years ever.

Three ballots with local issues and candidates are slated next year, including the February and June primaries and the November general election. Only the four ballots in 1970, involving one special and three regular elections, drew voters to the polls more often.

A “campaign for kids”-type organization will promote the school district’s second bond debt measure in six years this fall, aiming to win the 55 percent majority required to sell bonds to finance new construction, modernization, technology and career education.

The district’s property owners in Yorba Linda and Placentia and parts of Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton and county territory would pay the bonds’ principal and interest costs, an estimated annual $29.90 per $100,000 of assessed valuation for a 25-year period.

Final payment for $102 million in bonds sold after a successful 2002 vote, which added $32 per $100,000 of assessed valuation to yearly property tax payments, is set for 2029.

The Measure Y bond passed 18,300 to 9,435, despite the City Council’s 3-2 vote to table an endorsement at a time of bitter feelings over the school district’s successful lawsuit to retrieve tax revenues promised by the city’s Redevelopment Agency.

Two weeks after the election, Councilman Allen Castellano said, “[T]he school district committed fraud when they promised to build a high school without even having the intent to do so, and…only used a high school to ensure that Measure Y would pass,” according to council meeting minutes.

But those harsh words were put aside when Mayor Castellano was invited to play a major role in the Yorba Linda High School groundbreaking last April, and new council members may ignore past politics when they consider supporting the proposed bond.

All five school trustees endorsed incumbent Keri Wilson and Yorba Linda trustees Karin Freeman and Jan Wagner also endorsed candidate Doug Dickerson over winners John Anderson and Jan Horton last year.

Superintendent Dennis Smith made a first-ever personal endorsement of Dickerson and Wilson in the hotly contested race, but only Freeman endorsed Wilson in her failed comeback bid against winner Hank Wedaa in June.

A FINAL NOTE

Attendance at the second Town Hall gathering July 31 peaked at 82, counting all five council members and about 15 officials from the city and other public agencies. The first forum on Jan. 2 drew 48, including two council members and a half-dozen city staffers.

After two city-led informational presentations, audience members peppered officials with questions and gripes about a westside development proposal, street sweeping, crime, train issues, skateboarding teens and Brea police response policies, among other matters.

The session was a success in terms of residents bypassing the usual bureaucratic channels to bring issues directly to top city leaders, but the council taking action on the legitimate concerns raised by residents will determine the event’s true value.

A long fight over development

For the past week I’ve been reviewing a package of newspaper clips recounting Yorba Linda’s first two petition drives and the city’s first special election—and I’m struck by how political rhetoric hasn’t changed much in nearly 40 years.

The clippings are from the April 1969 to March 1970 period in a two-inch-thick binder, since back then four newspapers under separate ownerships covered the city, including the weekly Star and three dailies, the Orange County Register, the Los Angeles Times and the Daily News Tribune.

Although I’ve written about various petitions and special elections in past columns, I’ve never mentioned these two precedent-setting petitions and the first special election held after incorporation.

The first initiative petition for more restrictive zoning never reached the ballot, despite gaining 1,119 signatures from 4,539 registered voters, because a Superior Court judge ruled the City Council, not voters, was empowered to establish and administer zoning.

Among comments from the 1969 petition drive: “We could have a rash of hog ranches” (Mayor Burt Brooks) and “the blind leading the blind” (YL Star publisher Bill Drake).

A politically active Chamber of Commerce even resolved the membership was “not in accord with attempts…to upset the accepted ways of democratic city government.”

Next, the first referendum petition opposed a council-approved 170-unit apartment zone on 13 acres southwest of Richfield Road and Yorba Linda Boulevard behind the current Henry’s Market on land now occupied by the Cerro Verde condominiums.

The 560 valid signatures were enough to force council members to either rescind the apartment zone ordinance or set a special election date, which they did for Feb. 3, 1970.

Again, the Chamber weighed in, this time to support the apartment zone and to urge that “everyone interested in the future of this city support our duly elected officials.”

Drake framed the issue as letting “a small minority intimidate the council,” while his reporter Val Lucas claimed “dissidents” didn’t care “two whoops” about apartments—“their real objective is to destroy our confidence in our elected representatives.”

Voters rejected the apartment zone with 1,302 opposed to 887 in favor. Then, in the regular April 14 election, voters dumped three of the city’s original five councilmen.

Among the several petition and election campaign leaders were Hank Wedaa, who was chairman of the Committee for a Better Yorba Linda, and Sid Radus, who was president of the Yorba Linda Homeowners Association.

A FINAL NOTE

Residents who remember the developer-funded letter signed by four council members in December 2005 calling petitioners seeking to overturn the now-rescinded high density Old Town zoning ordinances “naysayers” and “a civic threat” will get a kick out of this:

Drake ran a Jan. 21, 1970, letter to the editor in which a longtime resident compared the anti-apartment zone petitioners to the then-“dissident groups on our campuses who have caused riots, property loss, damage to buildings owned by you and me, disrupted classes and in general raised havoc with the orderly procedure of colleges and government.”