Water districts to respond to Grand Jury report
The Yorba Linda Water District is one of 13 public water agencies required to respond to seven findings and six recommendations in an Orange County Grand Jury report released recently.
Findings center on consultant selection procedures, directors conducting business with other water agencies, ethics codes, meeting times, the percentage of directors originally appointed rather than elected, directors holding multiple elected positions and term limits.
Recommendations include requiring directors to reveal their contracts with other water agencies and adopt consultant selection rules; develop an ethics code with training and monitoring; and schedule meeting times to generate maximum public attendance.
Others include filling vacancies by election rather than appointment; revealing other positions held by directors; and adopting limits of no more than three terms in office.
The report doesn’t tie specific practices to individual agencies, and state law requires each of the 13 bodies named to respond to all of the findings and recommendations.
The agencies cited can agree or disagree wholly or partially with each finding and can identify recommendations as implemented, soon-to-be implemented, requiring further study or not implemented because the recommendation is unwarranted or unreasonable.
The Yorba Linda district serves more than 20,000 water accounts in Yorba Linda and about 3,000 in Anaheim, Brea and Placentia and maintains westside sewers. Twice-monthly meetings usually start at 8:30 a.m., but lately some have moved to 6:30 p.m.
In 50 years as a public agency, 19 men have served on the district’s five-member board, with nine positions originally filled by appointment. Six of 25 elections were cancelled because only incumbents filed to run. Two incumbents have lost re-election campaigns.
Current directors total 68 years in office, and two exceed the Grand Jury’s recommended three-term maximum. Paul Armstrong has served 27 years, Mike Beverage 17, Bill Mills 10, John Summerfield 9 and Ric Collett 5.
Voters have been reluctant to turn out experienced incumbents, but the recent formation of a Citizen’s Advisory Committee might supply knowledgeable candidates in the future.
A FINAL NOTE
Last week’s column accurately referred to a section of then-interim City Manager Bill Kelly’s June 2 budget report stating, “Residents may experience longer wait times for police response to emergency situations.”
Now, Brea Police Capt. Jack Conklin e-mails that service level reductions would have no “significant” impact on the department’s response to emergency calls for service, while non-emergency response times may increase due to the reduction in available personnel.
Findings center on consultant selection procedures, directors conducting business with other water agencies, ethics codes, meeting times, the percentage of directors originally appointed rather than elected, directors holding multiple elected positions and term limits.
Recommendations include requiring directors to reveal their contracts with other water agencies and adopt consultant selection rules; develop an ethics code with training and monitoring; and schedule meeting times to generate maximum public attendance.
Others include filling vacancies by election rather than appointment; revealing other positions held by directors; and adopting limits of no more than three terms in office.
The report doesn’t tie specific practices to individual agencies, and state law requires each of the 13 bodies named to respond to all of the findings and recommendations.
The agencies cited can agree or disagree wholly or partially with each finding and can identify recommendations as implemented, soon-to-be implemented, requiring further study or not implemented because the recommendation is unwarranted or unreasonable.
The Yorba Linda district serves more than 20,000 water accounts in Yorba Linda and about 3,000 in Anaheim, Brea and Placentia and maintains westside sewers. Twice-monthly meetings usually start at 8:30 a.m., but lately some have moved to 6:30 p.m.
In 50 years as a public agency, 19 men have served on the district’s five-member board, with nine positions originally filled by appointment. Six of 25 elections were cancelled because only incumbents filed to run. Two incumbents have lost re-election campaigns.
Current directors total 68 years in office, and two exceed the Grand Jury’s recommended three-term maximum. Paul Armstrong has served 27 years, Mike Beverage 17, Bill Mills 10, John Summerfield 9 and Ric Collett 5.
Voters have been reluctant to turn out experienced incumbents, but the recent formation of a Citizen’s Advisory Committee might supply knowledgeable candidates in the future.
A FINAL NOTE
Last week’s column accurately referred to a section of then-interim City Manager Bill Kelly’s June 2 budget report stating, “Residents may experience longer wait times for police response to emergency situations.”
Now, Brea Police Capt. Jack Conklin e-mails that service level reductions would have no “significant” impact on the department’s response to emergency calls for service, while non-emergency response times may increase due to the reduction in available personnel.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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