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The San Diego Union-Tribune

Race may decide future of waterless water district

Leslie Wolf Branscomb. The San Diego Union - Tribune. San Diego, Calif.: Oct 28, 2000. pg. B.3
Abstract (Document Summary)
[David Gomez] is one of the district's most vocal critics and has repeatedly called for its dissolution. Board President Gilbert Inzunza, who is running for re-election, once called him the board's worst enemy.
[Amando Gomez] alleges that the board majority -- Inzunza and Raul Arzola, who also is running for re-election, and Inzunza's brother Nick -- have mismanaged the district's finances. He points to a discrepancy between a county audit, which found that the district is insolvent, and the board majority's contention that the district is in sound financial shape.
Gilbert Inzunza and Arzola said the district has evolved from its original purpose of protecting water sources for the valley's farmers and now serves as a much-needed political sounding board. Full Text (1221 words) Copyright Union-Tribune Publishing Co. Oct 28, 2000 The Tia Juana Valley County Water District may be small, but the upcoming election could have an enormous impact on the future of the 54-year-old district.
Two candidates are running with the stated goal of disbanding the district, which provides no water, but still collects $50 annual fees from 3,559 property owners. The seven-square-mile district includes the Tijuana River Valley and parts of Nestor and San Ysidro.
The two incumbents seeking re-election say they have done an outstanding job of protecting the political interests of an oft- forgotten neighborhood that is represented by no other elected body.
In the middle is a lone candidate striving for neutrality, saying the district should pay its debts before doing anything drastic.
The race is already shaping up to be rancorous as the five candidates compete for the attention of the district's 7,289 registered voters.
Amando Gomez and Serafin Sanchez, both members of a grass-roots group, Citizens Revolting Against Pollution, have been walking precincts and papering the area with fliers attacking the incumbents.
"I tell people that we took a pledge that we would shut it down," said Gomez, 55, a bus driver whose brother David Gomez was elected to the board in 1996.
David Gomez is one of the district's most vocal critics and has repeatedly called for its dissolution. Board President Gilbert Inzunza, who is running for re-election, once called him the board's worst enemy.
Amando Gomez said his brother's treatment by the three-member board majority inspired him to make his first run for office.
"I've just seen since David's been on the board how they've ganged up on him and censored him," he said. "I've seen that they're just ruthless, unethical people."
Amando Gomez alleges that the board majority -- Inzunza and Raul Arzola, who also is running for re-election, and Inzunza's brother Nick -- have mismanaged the district's finances. He points to a discrepancy between a county audit, which found that the district is insolvent, and the board majority's contention that the district is in sound financial shape.
The district was the subject of a March county grand jury report that concluded that the district was broke, was ineffective, served no real purpose and ought to consider being taken over by the city of San Diego.
The board majority, however, disputes those conclusions.
"We felt a lot of the information in the grand jury report was erroneous," Gilbert Inzunza said.
Michael Ott, executive director of the county Local Agency Formation Commission, said the grand jury found the district's response to its report inadequate. The matter will be discussed Nov. 6, the day before the election, by the LAFCO board, which oversees the formation and dissolution of special districts.
"The big question is: If it's dissolved, would there be a willing successor to the district, to assume its liabilities as well as its debt?" Ott said.
Gilbert Inzunza and Arzola said the district has evolved from its original purpose of protecting water sources for the valley's farmers and now serves as a much-needed political sounding board.
"I feel that this board is very, very necessary," Inzunza said. "We feel that we were elected to protect the valley and the neighborhood here."
Arzola said more than a dozen government agencies have a stake in the valley. "They're all talking about what they're going to impose on the valley," he said.
Since he and Inzunza were elected four years ago, he said, "it's not as easy on them to impose their will on the valley."
Both men said the most important issue they have tackled is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to build a series of open- air sewage treatment ponds near the border in the Tijuana River Valley, next to an existing plant that treats some of the sewage that flows over the border from Mexico.
The ongoing pollution of the valley has been the hottest issue in the area for decades, and the water board has consistently opposed the ponds.
Though the EPA is proceeding with the design of the ponds, funding for construction seems all but certain to be held up by Congress.
Arzola, 55, a contract analyst for the county, said he felt it was safe to say in his ballot statement that one of the board's noteworthy accomplishments was "the current success in ridding the valley of huge sewage holding ponds" even though the EPA has not abandoned the plan.
"We feel that it's a foregone conclusion, simply because we have gotten assurances that the money needed to complete the project will not be available," he said.
Gilbert Inzunza, 64, a logistician and the only board member with a Ph.D., said the district provides a valuable service to the community by staying on top of the ongoing sewage debate, working on flood control projects and setting up a future international watershed study.
He said the district may yet find a way to capitalize on the potable water found in some deep wells in the valley.
Both are upset by their opponents' campaign, which they said amounts to character defamation.
Sanchez, 53, a real estate investor, agrees with Gomez that the district should be disbanded, but his approach is more upbeat.
"I'm really concerned about what's happening down here in the valley," he said. "I would just like to make, if I could, a little bit of difference for the people down here."
Sanchez has never run for office before and said he is enjoying meeting the voters and learning of their concerns. "Hopefully, everything will be positive after the election," he said.
The fifth candidate, Robert Egger, is the brother of board member David Egger. Like his brother, Robert Egger is attempting to stake out the middle ground.
"I don't have anything against anyone personally; I just want to straighten the board out for the betterment of the community," he said. "The grand jury report was truthful. The water district has spent too much money, money which they do not have, and they need to change their ways."
Egger proposed that the district reduce its overhead, repay its state loans and thereby reduce the residents' annual tax assessments.
Egger, 46, said he would like to see a deep well on his family's former dairy farm used as an extra source of water in case of shortages.
But, as far as dissolving the district is concerned, Egger said, "Not at this time. Maybe possibly in the future."
At least one member of the Egger family has occupied a seat on the water board for three generations. The candidate's grandfather, Robert Egger Sr., was a Swiss dairyman who settled in the valley in the 1920s. He drilled the first documented deep well in the valley and founded the water district in 1946 to protect the water rights of the farmers.
However, pollution from sewage flowing over the border and salt water from the ocean have ruined much of the area's ground water, and many farms have shut down as the cost of imported water has become prohibitive.
The Eggers' dairy farm is one of the casualties, and there are no more cows on the property. Egger said he turned to vegetable gardening for a while but had to shut down the farming operation a couple of years ago. Now he drives a truck to earn a living.
Credit: STAFF WRITER
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
People: Gomez, Amando, Sanchez, Serafin, Inzunza, Gilbert, Arzola, Raul, Egger, David
Document types: BIOG; LIST;
Column Name: ELECTION 2000 | SAN DIEGO COUNTY RACES
Section: LOCAL
Text Word Count 1221
Document URL: