Challengers seek water district director seats
Usually, the elections for Yorba Linda Water District directors are laid-back affairs—of 23 ballots scheduled since the public agency’s 1959 formation, six were cancelled when only incumbents filed to run and only two directors have ever lost to challengers.
But this year, two candidates backed by the grassroots political action committee Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Representation hope to overturn an electoral advantage long held by incumbents.
The 23-square-mile district provides water to 23,634 accounts—20,554 in Yorba Linda, 2,670 in Placentia, 342 in Anaheim and 68 in Brea—and has 46,549 registered voters.
YLWD also owns or maintains 194 miles of sewers for 16,331 single-family, commercial, industrial and public school accounts and 1,240 multiple dwelling units.
The prospective challengers are Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta and Dave Rosenberger, who’ll face four-term incumbent Mike Beverage and first-termer Ric Collette, assuming all four complete the filing process that opens Monday at the county Registrar of Voters office.
Verdugo-Peralta, an air pollution and energy conservation specialist, served two terms on the South Coast Air Quality Management District board, 2000-07, and has led energy efficiency and conservation programs for utilities for 30 years.
Rosenberger, a manager for commercial laundry equipment sales, was a finalist for appointment to the Irvine Ranch Water District and has taught in the North Orange County Community College District for more than 30 years.
Beverage, first elected director in 1992, served a term on the Yorba Linda City Council, 1980-84, and owns an advertising and marketing consulting firm.
Collette, elected in 2004, is an executive with Taormina Industries, which provides trash-hauling service for seven county cities, including Yorba Linda, Placentia and Anaheim.
Only 20 individuals have served on the district’s five-member board, including current directors Beverage and Collette and Paul Armstrong, Bill Mills and John Summerfield.
Armstrong, Mills and Summerfield were appointed to new four-year terms in 2006 when nobody filed to run against them.
Shareholders in the Yorba Linda Water Company, formed in 1909, chose directors until 1959, when local voters approved $1.9 million in bonds to purchase the mutual’s assets.
Two former Yorba Linda council members have tried and failed to win a water director seat. Seven-term Councilman Hank Wedaa lost to Beverage and Art Korn in 2000 and three-term Councilman Mark Schwing lost to Beverage and Collette in 2004.
A FINAL NOTE
Signups also open Monday for a seat on the 10-member Orange County Water District board now held by Roger Yoh, who represents Yorba Linda, Placentia, Buena Park, La Palma and Cypress. OCWD manages north and central county groundwater supplies.
Yoh, who replaced longtime Yorba Linda and Placentia ranchland owner Larry Kraemer, won a bitter 2004 battle against former 28-year Placentia Councilman Norm Eckenrode, the target of a series of undeservedly mean campaign mailers.
But this year, two candidates backed by the grassroots political action committee Yorba Linda Residents for Responsible Representation hope to overturn an electoral advantage long held by incumbents.
The 23-square-mile district provides water to 23,634 accounts—20,554 in Yorba Linda, 2,670 in Placentia, 342 in Anaheim and 68 in Brea—and has 46,549 registered voters.
YLWD also owns or maintains 194 miles of sewers for 16,331 single-family, commercial, industrial and public school accounts and 1,240 multiple dwelling units.
The prospective challengers are Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta and Dave Rosenberger, who’ll face four-term incumbent Mike Beverage and first-termer Ric Collette, assuming all four complete the filing process that opens Monday at the county Registrar of Voters office.
Verdugo-Peralta, an air pollution and energy conservation specialist, served two terms on the South Coast Air Quality Management District board, 2000-07, and has led energy efficiency and conservation programs for utilities for 30 years.
Rosenberger, a manager for commercial laundry equipment sales, was a finalist for appointment to the Irvine Ranch Water District and has taught in the North Orange County Community College District for more than 30 years.
Beverage, first elected director in 1992, served a term on the Yorba Linda City Council, 1980-84, and owns an advertising and marketing consulting firm.
Collette, elected in 2004, is an executive with Taormina Industries, which provides trash-hauling service for seven county cities, including Yorba Linda, Placentia and Anaheim.
Only 20 individuals have served on the district’s five-member board, including current directors Beverage and Collette and Paul Armstrong, Bill Mills and John Summerfield.
Armstrong, Mills and Summerfield were appointed to new four-year terms in 2006 when nobody filed to run against them.
Shareholders in the Yorba Linda Water Company, formed in 1909, chose directors until 1959, when local voters approved $1.9 million in bonds to purchase the mutual’s assets.
Two former Yorba Linda council members have tried and failed to win a water director seat. Seven-term Councilman Hank Wedaa lost to Beverage and Art Korn in 2000 and three-term Councilman Mark Schwing lost to Beverage and Collette in 2004.
A FINAL NOTE
Signups also open Monday for a seat on the 10-member Orange County Water District board now held by Roger Yoh, who represents Yorba Linda, Placentia, Buena Park, La Palma and Cypress. OCWD manages north and central county groundwater supplies.
Yoh, who replaced longtime Yorba Linda and Placentia ranchland owner Larry Kraemer, won a bitter 2004 battle against former 28-year Placentia Councilman Norm Eckenrode, the target of a series of undeservedly mean campaign mailers.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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