The other races on the ballot

Paul Clinton

Dozens of candidates have flooded races for water and sanitary

districts, led by a determined contingent of Libertarians intent on

establishing themselves as a legitimate third party.

This broader countywide trend is reflected here in the six water

and sanitary races for seats representing Costa Mesa and Newport

Beach. The races will be found further down on the ballots on

Tuesday.

Thirty-seven candidates are vying for the six seats, with 15 of

those endorsed, and in many cases recruited, by the Libertarian Party

of Orange County.

The candidates have put themselves in the races for the Costa Mesa

Sanitary District, Irvine Ranch Water District, Mesa Consolidated

Water District, the Municipal Water District of Orange County and the

Orange County Water District.

“We’ve seen more candidates for special districts than ever

before,” said Marcia Mckee, Orange County’s election information

supervisor. Many of the candidates running for these offices have

little to no name-recognition, but that doesn’t stop them from

throwing their hats in the ring.

Libertarian Party leaders are running their slate of candidates

essentially to build momentum for the future, several of the

candidates from that party said.

As far as agency hierarchy among the water districts, Municipal

tops the list. The agency, commonly known as MWD, delivers Colorado

River water and other out-of-state water to the smaller, local

agencies such as Mesa and Irvine Ranch.

The Orange County Water District occupies somewhat of a middle

ground, monitoring the county’s groundwater basin. The agency

regulates how much water the local agencies, and the city of Newport

Beach, can pump from the aquifer.

Of the four open county water district seats, the two covering

Newport-Mesa are both up for grabs.

The Division 7 race has raised the most eyebrows. Former Newport

Beach Councilwoman Jan Debay is running against former Costa Mesa

Councilwoman Heather Somers.

Debay is a strong proponent of the district’s $500-million effort

to recycle sewage and, after several layers of treatment, deliver it

as drinking water.

“We are going through some tremendous changes,” Debay said.

Somers, on the other hand, has attacked the project as a “toilet to

tap” misfire that is being launched without thorough enough treatment

methods in place.

“On the grander scale of things, they’re not dealing with things

as they come up,” Somers said. “These things need to be dealt with

before we undertake a project 10 times the size that creates the same

problems.”

Other candidates for that race include attorney Edward Beneville,

electronics engineer Tara Drennen, businessman Timothy Johnson,

attorney Bradford Calvin and engineer David Richards.

Beneville, Calvin and Richards live in Costa Mesa.

In the District 5 race, eight candidates are slugging it out.

Attorney James Barone of Corona del Mar, investment banker Timothy

Owen of Newport Beach, insurance salesman Ryan Rekers of Newport

Beach, and retired educational administrator Sidney Stokes of Corona

del Mar are vying for the spot. Stokes is the husband of

Newport-Unified trustee Serene Stokes.

Other candidates in the race, who don’t live in Newport-Mesa, are

business owner Chris Herrington, water management engineer Saul

Hirschmann, water resources engineer Paul Cook and business owner

Daniel Sharer.

Herrington, Hirschmann, Rekers and Sharar are Libertarians.

In the race for three open seats on the Costa Mesa Sanitary

District, seven challengers will face off against the three

incumbents. Arlene Schafer, Greg Woodside and Dan Worthington are all

hoping to return to their chairs on the five-member board.

Schafer, a two-termer first elected in 1994, is billing herself as

a seasoned elected leader with almost 30 years of public service

under her belt.

“I’m running for reelection because I know I can do a good job,”

Schafer said. Schafer won election to the Costa Mesa City Council,

after serving on the city’s Planning Commission, in 1978. She was

mayor for two years, beginning in 1980, and left the council in 1986.

Worthington and Schafer both won seats on the sanitary district in

1994. Woodside has been on the board since 1998.

Doug Scribner, one of five Libertarian challengers, said he hopes

to oust at least one of the current board members because the board

has not fairly distributed contracts.

“They have not had a competitive bid in years,” Scribner said. “If

I am elected, I will bring more competition.”

Scribner is also running for the 68th Assembly District against

incumbent Republican Ken Maddox and Democrat Al Snook.

The sanitary district hauls the city’s trash and treats its

sewage.

Retired engineer Tom Dethlefsen, Web designer Richard Culbertson,

obstetrician Louis Smith and small business owner Paul Stromberg fill

out the Libertarian ticket.

Chuck Perry, a teacher, and James Fisler, a businessman, are also

running for seats.

As the only Newport-Mesa candidate for a seat on the Irvine Ranch

Water District, Newport Coast resident Peer Swan is a clear favorite

for one of two open seats.

Swan and Brian Brady, who lives in Irvine, are the incumbents in

an eight-man race. Swan has served on the board for 22 years.

“The rates are lower today than they were when I first got

elected,” Swan said. Three of the other six candidates in that race

are Libertarian candidates. Realtor Vince Mull, Steve Moore, who

describes himself as “retired,” and aerospace machinist Stephen

Sanchez are all running on that ticket.

Attorney George Kornievsky, financial software consultant David

Jennings and Jack Wu, who declined to give an occupation, are also

hoping to win seats.

The district supplies water to homes in Newport Coast, Santa Ana

Heights and some other areas in Newport Beach. It also supplies

reclaimed water to businesses for agricultural uses.

As a longtime incumbent on the Mesa Consolidated Water District,

Mike Healey faces only one challenger, who has not been endorsed by

the Libertarian Party.

Healey, appointed to his seat in 1995, holds the District 5 seat

on the board of an agency that supplies water to Costa Mesa and

Fountain Valley.

Healey, a longtime Costa Mesa resident, faces landscape architect

David Schneider.

Citing his support for the district’s $14-million colored-water

treatment plant that has been up and running for almost a year and a

half, Healey said voters should return him for another term.

The plant treats amber-colored water the district draws from deep

in the aquifer and is legally required to treat it to a higher level,

using ozone filters.

“I’ve served diligently for almost eight years,” Healey said.

“I’ve established myself as a reputable director.”

Schneider, who lives in Costa Mesa, did not return calls by press

time.

Two candidates have been thrown in to try to unseat another

established incumbent in the race for the Municipal Water District of

Orange County’s Division 5 seat. Wayne Clark has held the seat, which

includes a section of Newport Beach, since 1981.

Clark, who lives in Irvine, is opposed by retired electrical

engineer Reginald Augustine Thatcher and TV news producer Ron Winship

-- both Newport Beach residents. Winship is also running for Newport

Beach City Council and Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

As the Libertarian candidate, Thatcher, who is also a Mensa

member, said he would bring an independent voice to the seven-member

board.

“I’m independent of any coercion,” Thatcher said. “I’m not a

politician.”Clark cited his push for a desalination plant in Dana

Point, as a way to increase water supply in Orange County, and

shepherding of the board’s 2000 merger with Coastal Municipal Water

District as reasons voters should return him to office.

* PAUL CLINTON covers the environment and politics. He may be

reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at [email protected].