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MBCA 2008 CANDIDATES VIRTUAL FORUM:
JOSHUA BASIN WATER DISTRICT BOARD
To create the questions for our Virtual Forum, we polled our members as to what questions they would like candidates to answer. We compiled and edited those questions and emailed the exact same list of questions to each of the candidates in this race.
The candidates were instructed to take as much space as they needed and to make the content of their responses exactly as they wanted them to appear, as we would not be editing them in any way but only copying and pasting. Of note, the responses are solely the candidates’ and should not be assumed to reflect the views of MBCA or the members of its Board.
We acknowledge that an electronic forum does not assure perfect and equal access to all candidates as not all candidates are necessarily comfortable or available in this format. We encourage voters to seek as many sources of information as possible on the candidates, including in-person forums, media interviews, candidate Websites, and the candidates themselves.
We very much appreciate the candidates taking the time to participate in our 2008 Virtual Forum and to reach out to you, the voter, for the betterment of our communities and our desert.
(To return to the Virtual Forum Main page, click here.)
SEE FORUM RESPONSES FOR:
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Note: We did not receive responses from candidates Greg Alkire, Jay St. Gaudens, Gary Given, or Mike Reynolds.
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CANDIDATE: Iona Chelette
1. What do you see as your primary responsibility as a Water District board member?
Iona Chelette: I see my primary responsibility as a Joshua Basin Water District director as providing and protecting a clean, reliable affordable water supply for ratepayers. Arguably and ideally, the only reason for the existence of JBWD is as the provider of a domestic water suppy to those within its boundaries.
That should be done by: (1) ensuring that adequate water supplies are available to existing customers who have paid (in some instances for decades) to maintain, and when necessary to expand, and certainly always to repair, the water distribution system; (2) providing water to new customers when that is possible within the limits of our water availability and when it can be done under the limits imposed by state law (let's try to help people get water instead of putting up roadblocks for homeowners and small business owners); BUT (3) protecting our water sustainability from the excessive and unreasonable demands of proposed subdivision development which the majority of the community doesn't want and the Community Plan we worked so hard on for so many years discourages. JBWD's promise to provide water must be sustainable and I don't think the Katz project is sustainable development just on the water issue alone.
I would protect our entitlement to Mojave Water Agency supplemental water although I might not agree that recharge ponds are the best method for taking our entitlement to State Water Project water: I want everyone else to try recharge/injection/treatment methods first to make sure that Joshua Tree makes no environmental mistakes when importing water. Please be reminded that the proudest accomplishment of my grandfather, Lionel Robertson, a founding director of the Joshua Basin Water District, was the original agreement with Mojave which would allow our community to continue to exist well into the future, and even to grow, so I'm not going to jeopardize a 50-year relationship with Mojave. Our climate has changed, our population has increased and the promise to provide water needs to be believable. Can we receive reasonable guarantees that we can get any water from Mojave with the state of California in drought and turmoil? and if we can't, what does it even matter how we plan to take it?
The cleanliness of our water is regulated by state law, and JBWD water district staff has done an exceptional job over the years of testing and repairing water quality problems when they have occurred. I would attempt to initiate a respectful dialogue with private well owners within the district boundaries to attempt to arrive at some reasonable solution for determining the impact private wells within the district are having upon the draw-down of the aquifers. I would also, as I did in our community plannning sessions, attempt to discourage San Bernardino County from issuing permits to private well owners within JBWD boundaries without advising JBWD when this happens.
I believe that we have to send the Luhrs Water Rate Initiatives to the voters instead of continuing to hire multiple teams of attorneys to fight these initiatives - let the voters decide once and for all. Just get this over with. After all, the voters qualified these initiatives not once, but twice in recent years. After that, the district's management will have to learn to live within whatever budget the voters have mandated. Whether or not this results in lower rates depends upon the voters. I do know that the current management is wasting a lot of money that my analysis indicates could be better spent on higher priorities under any circumstances and that holding to a budget could help keep water rates low.
2. What do you consider to be the three top priorities for the Joshua Basin Water District?
Iona Chelette: My first and second priorities for JBWD are pipeline replacement to conserve water and reducing unaccounted for water loss, which go hand in hand. I have considered pipeline replacement to be the number one priority of the Joshua Basin Water District since 2002 after reading So & Associates Engineers' report revealing that 56% of the district's old 2-, 4- and 6-inch pipeline does not provide adequate fire flow. At that time, Patrick So recommended that Joshua Basin invest $490,000 per year over a ten-year period to replace 100,000 feet of pipe. The current board spent $4.2 million to replace 56,000 feet of four-inch pipe in four years (I am using Susan Greer's figures announced at the Oct. 1 JBWD meeting instead of the figures quoted by the Hi-Desert Star's reporter). Contrast that with the 60-acre, 320,000-feet pipeline construction project which brought water to Copper Mountain Mesa in the mid-1990s, doubling the size of the Joshua Basin Water District (a board that Luhrs served on). Contrast that with Twentynine Palms Water District's replacing 624,000 feet of pipe in eight years, thereby reducing its unaccounted-for water loss from about 30 per cent to 7-8 per cent. Although the exact figure has not been published or discussed for some time, several years ago during community planning I was told by the district that Joshua Basin's unaccounted for water loss remains in the double digits. We need to get that down. My point is that if the last two Joshua Basin boards had concentrated upon pipeline replacement, and if the current board had guarded carefully against mismanagement and cost overruns on its pipeline replacement project, we could have a lot more new pipe in the ground by now.
My third priority for the district is streamlining administration and prioritizing projects so that rates can be lower and pipeline replacement funding maximized.
3. How do your water rates compare with surrounding districts?
Iona Chelette: I don't think comparison of our water rates with the surrounding water districts has been useful because this comparison has only resulted in increased management salaries and directors' prerogatives. I think we need to respect Joshua Tree's unique resources and concentrate upon our unique needs when setting water and wastewater treatment policy. The sizes of surrounding districts, and the possibility of the surrounding municipalities taking over their respective water districts, changes the entire water cooperation equation in the Morongo Basin and effectively kills any possibility of LAFCO ever allowing combination of these water districts. It's become moot although it is a routine consideration during LAFCO service reviews.
The current board has voted to raise JBWD rates 6% per annum, which compounds, except for during this election year when they cynically propose to increase the rates only 3%. Some rate changes are inevitable over time, but this is too high. I agree with Michael Luhrs and the 450 other Joshua Tree voters who qualified these initiatives not once, but twice for the ballot, that rates should be put to the referendum. A vote on the rate-reducing initiatives, and any subsequent vote necessary to raise future rates, will be less costly than the teams of attorneys which have been employed by two successive boards to fight these initiatives. FYI, this proposal receives vociferous opposition from a regional, entrenched bureaucracy because it might set a legal precedent.
4. What is your understanding of the authority of the Water District to regulate growth and development? For instance, the JBWD is required to provide water to developers, even large scale projects like the Katz proposal, which is clearly in contrast to our Plan. The Plan represents the will of this community. How would you propose to deal with this conflict?
Iona Chelette: The community plan discourages developments like Katz's, there isn't enough water for his project, nobody wants it here and it shouldn't be built in Joshua Tree!
I think most of the problems with the current water board stem from directors' (1) refusal to respect that a pro-conservation consensus was achieved for the Joshua Tree Community Plan, then (2) going around the community plan and around the public to use their official privileges to attempt to induce unwanted growth in Joshua Tree. They just don't think the rules apply to them. Please look up my opinions in the online archives of the Hi-Desert Star newspaper (3/26/08, 5/07/08, 5/31/08, 6/28/08). As a matter of fact, look up everybody's opinions on this subject in the HDS archives, from March 22 to the present, then decide for yourselves whether anyone is mandated to promote the Katz project on behalf of the public in Joshua Tree.
Planners are in charge of regulating growth and they cannot consider approving developments where there is insufficient infrastructure or water to support them. Although Joshua Basin Water District holds no planning authority from LAFCO, and has no business regulating growth and development, it has the ability to choose to build or not to build facilities that might induce growth and this board has done that.
But even with sewering authority and even with building percolation ponds in the hope of eventually receiving State Water Project water, Joshua Basin cannot guarantee enough water to serve the Katz project.
The additional 1,400 acre feet per year of water the Katz project will require almost doubles the community's need for water (last I heard about 1,700 acre feet per year is pumped now). JBWD cannot guarantee that it can provide water to Katz for the amount of time required by current state law because the Mojave Water Agency cannot guarantee to Joshua Basin delivery of enough water to serve Katz. Even if Joshua Basin spends to build facilities such as recharge basins at ratepayers' expense, it won't be able to guarantee enough water for Katz. Katz is gambling on being able to support a pro-growth board that will continue to vote to use ratepayers' money to build facilities to eventually receive the hoped-for imported water he needs in recharge ponds through a multimillion dollar SR62 mainline. So, if elected, I would do the opposite, within established legal parameters.
There are provisions of the Joshua Tree Community Plan which could prohibit the Katz project on engineering, environmental or aesthetic policy grounds. But the biggest immediate challenges for those who choose to oppose the Katz project will be convincing our County Board of Supervisors to respect the community plan and community consensus and helping to elect the two proven anti-Katz JBWD candidates on Nov. 4.
5. What will you do to protect the existing water in the aquifers?
Iona Chelette: I would work to protect the existing water in Joshua Tree's aquifers by addressing threats from below and threats from above them.
Threats from below the aquifers might include (1) percolation ponds raising the water level high enough to blend with septic system contaminants, creating the same costly problem Yucca Valley encountered several years ago, the solution to which required a treatment plant; or (2) the waste of water represented by "unaccounted for" water loss: the difference between the amount of water pumped (which can be quantified) and the amount of water sold (which also can be quantified). What is lost in between is the district's quantifiable "unaccounted for" water loss. There's probably more water lost, but it isn't so easy to track, as there are other threats to aquifers which aren't so easy to anticipate, but these two threats can and should be addressed by a water protector.
Septic tanks, which will continue to service the majority of JBWD's ratepayers so long as five-acre tracts make up the majority of our land use zoning, need to be regularly maintained. Limiting the number of septic tanks per acre is not within the authority of the Joshua Basin Water District in spite of the current board's efforts.
Threats from above the aquifers might include (1) promoting excessive development which will draw down the aquifers at an even more dangerous rate than now; (2) conjunctive use, which could compromise an aquifer's quality by direct injection of less-than-aquifer-quality imported water into it for storage (for use by us or others, depending upon who "owns" the injected water); and (3) contaminants from improperly monitored or maintained public or private wells.
I am a strong proponent of prioritizing pipeline replacement and infrastructure maintenance because I have learned those are the best and most reliable methods for water conservation, and that water conservation is the best protection for the aquifers short of not pumping from them at all.
6. Have you served on any elected board in the past? What did you learn about being an effective Board member?
Iona Chelette: I have never been an elected official. During 40 years of participating in politics I've learned: always tell the truth; never act on behalf of the public without consulting the people you claim to represent; all public servants and community volunteers are merely tenants; and how to survive to fight another battle. JBWD isn't a party or a family or even a business, it is an essential service provider that effects everyone's health and budget. Directors don't have to agree with everyone, or like anyone, they have to make the best decisions for the most people.
I predict that we are going to end up with people who disagree with one another on this new water board and I think that diversity will challenge all of our skills, but ultimately be better for this community. I have been very concerned that a voting block of four directors (even with the fourth director changing several times) has ruled the Joshua Basin Water District in the last four years and I do not want to see that on the new board.
7. Do you see the Katz development adding to our distinctive character as a gateway community? Please explain why or why not.
Iona Chelette: The Katz development doesn't add anything desirable to our distinctive character as a gateway community or in any other respect (see reference to Hi-Desert Star opinion page articles by me and others in 4 above). It doesn't add anything we want. In fact, the Katz subdivision and strip mall would detract from our community character environmentally, aesthetically, in terms of its engineering and because of its unfunded and underfunded infrastructure requirements. It contradicts the spirit of the Joshua Tree Community Plan and the wishes of the majority of Joshua Tree residents. Michael Luhrs and I are the only two JBWD candidates who have openly and consistently opposed this project and that is a major reason that we are being isolated for special criticism. The other candidates, both the board incumbents and those who served on its community advisory committee that didn't provide any diversity of opinion, have voted and promoted voting to spend public monies to bring in the sewering and imported water that will make the Katz project acceptable to the county planners who are charged with approving or disapproving it. Look at what they did, not what they say now.
8. If elected, how would you represent all of your environmentally conscious constituents?
Iona Chelette: I have always been an environmentally-conscious constituent of the Joshua Basin Water District and always felt ill-served by JBWD's boards. If elected, I would not allow staff or contractors to release millions of gallons of highly chlorinated water across public or private lands during pipeline construction(which Luhrs and I have always protested when it occurred, although this has been sanctioned by the last two boards). If elected, I would not allow other environmentally conscious constituents to be openly disparaged at board meetings. I would not allow JBWD and USGS to site percolation ponds in the alluvial fan of Quail Wash (the second most important watershed in our county after the Mojave River) which is currently being considered by San Bernardino County, the Bureau of Land Management and at least five private conservation organizations as an environmental conservation corridor containing many critical species. I would not allow contractors to work on district projects without thorough environmental review before the start of construction and the presence of monitors during construction. Mistakes will be mitigated if they occur. I would examine the environmental compliance records of all contractors bidding on district projects (and insist that there be bids on all district projects). I would not allow JBWD to bank land. I would not give away water or make any other gifts of public property. I'm sure there's lots more that would arise because of the generally poor track record of code compliance throughout the Morongo Basin.
9. Do you have a plan to find common ground and to effectively work with members with whom you disagree?
Iona Chelette: I work and live among people with whom I disagree every day of the year. I teach children that they must learn to work with people with whom they disagree. I am not concerned about my proven ability to work with people with whom I disagree.
I am more concerned with structuring safe, well-managed meetings with clear agendas, so that ratepayers can trust that the district will function efficiently to their economic advantage and customers and employees can trust that their needs and grievances will be redressed by the new board. Such an environment might even be conducive to safely airing and resolving disagreements and differences on the board to reach a consensus. I believe the behavior at JBWD meetings will change when this board is changed because of this board's failure to regulate its members' behavior or create a safe, respectful place for dissenters to express their opinions. I think having a woman on the board again will help.
10. What are your main concerns with the current Water Board?
Iona Chelette: The worst things I think this JBWD board has done:
A. Spend money to support the Katz project. It is pure propaganda that this board is forcing developers to pay for their infrastructure improvements: this board now wants current ratepayers in the newly re-piped H-zone to pay again for pipeline replacement that they have been supporting all along with their fees and rates (JBWD Oct. 15, 2008 meeting agenda, which you won't find listed in the local paper).
B. The extent of the current board's contempt for the public and public processes became evident after August 13, 2008 when Steven Katz held a closed door meeting at the offices of a JBWD vendor with two elected JBWD directors (one is running for reelection), two JBWD management employees, a local engineer employed by both JBWD and Steven Katz, and members of JBWD's Citizens Advisory Committee (two of whom are running for the board in this election, and two of whom are on Dennis Hansberger's Municipal Advisory Council) to discuss what developer Steven Katz might be willing to do to help the incumbent JBWD directors and members of its supporting CAC get elected to maintain the status quo. They just don't think the rules apply to them. Everyone learned of this meeting because one of the board members bragged about setting it up, people were witnessed entering and leaving it and some of those who attended the meeting talked. I'm wondering how long (sic) the lie that this meeting did not occur will be perpetuated.
C. This board voted to spend money on sewering studies and buy land for a sewer treatment plant prior to receiving even limited LAFCO authority to address any sewering issues whatsoever. Similarly, JBWD has spent water dollars to sponsor Community Emergency Response Training without LAFCO authority to do so, this being the province of County Fire. Okay to participate, not to sponsor. Not one, but two, instances of overreaching their statutory authority. They just don't think the rules apply to them.
D. This board has spent an excessive amount of money to hire a record number of consultants to compensate for the lack of credentials or expertise on the part of management staff; and replaced permanent employees with temporary staff provided to them by the company that also provided the office space for the August 13, 2008 meeting with Steven Katz and his supporters.
E. This board lost its focus and strayed into matters for which there was never any real public demand or encouragement while, on the other hand, there were 450 ratepayers who signed rate-reducing initiatives twice expecting this board to send them to the voters. This board needed to do a better job of listening to JBWD ratepayers' priorities and that places an even heavier burden on the next board to do so.
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CANDIDATE: Bill Long
1. What do you see as your primary responsibility as a Water District board member?
Bill Long: To continue to work to provide a dependable long term supply of high quality affordable water for our community.
2. What do you consider to be the three top priorities for the Joshua Basin Water District?
Bill Long:
A. We need to continue our priority of replacing old rusty 4" and 6" metal pipe and upgrading much of the old infrastructure that had been let go for years prior to our being elected in 2003. Thus far we have replaced over 58,000 feet of old pipe.
B. The recharge of our aquifer with high quality snow melt water from Northern Californian. Our aquifer has declined by more than 35 feet, we now have grant funding available that will make it possible to start replenishing our water supply to provide for the future of our community. We are entitled to take water from the Mojave pipe line until 2022 at which time we will have to re-negotiate the contract with the Mojave Water Agency. Water is becoming critical in California, not getting any cheaper and essential to the future of Joshua Tree.
C. Continue our efforts to protect our water supply. We can accomplish this by not allowing new development to use cheap septic systems that would continue to allow nitrates to leach into our ground water. We have taken an aggressive position to require, own, regulate and operate small "package" sewer treatment plants. Insure that new development pay all the costs associated with these systems unlike other communities where the costs are spread among all the residents. The Joshua Basin Water District lead the way several years ago by drawing the attention of the State Regional Water Quality Board to the Morongo Basin to help stop the proliferation of septic systems and we need to continue our efforts.
3. How do your water rates compare with surrounding districts?
Bill Long: Our rates are the second lowest in the Morongo Basin. Rate increases are approved after public impute and review by our Citizens Advisory Committee. The increases that are approved are minimal and designed to keep up with the Districts increases in operating costs. We have put in place a four tier system to encourage conservation and to minimize the impact of any increase on those who can afford it the least.
4. What is your understanding of the authority of the Water District to regulate growth and development? For instance, the JBWD is required to provide water to developers, even large scale projects like the Katz proposal, which is clearly in contrast to our Plan. The Plan represents the will of this community. How would you propose to deal with this conflict?
Bill Long: How we have dealt with and will continue to deal with this issue is to require any developer, large or small to pay the full cost of all water service and sewer facilities needed for the development. Sub standard water facilities and cheap septic systems would not be allowed. On a project the size of section 33 we would not allow an inexpensive "package treatment" plant.
Generally, under State Law, the District's legal role is to provide water for whatever development the County approves. We are required to conduct water availability studies to show the County if there is sufficient water for a specific development.
If there was not enough water for that development, State Law would require us to show what we plan to do to provide water for the development. If we can't provide the water, the County can look elsewhere, including to the developer to provide the water. Ultimately the County can approve a project with or without our approval, especially if the studies don't support a District denial. Under State Law, a developer would also be entitled to drill his own wells. In the event a development was approved by the County, JBWD needs to keep control of the water and sewer service, and our aquifer. Our decision to provide or deny water for a project should be based on scientific studies and the application of state law and not whether an individual member of the Board likes or dislikes a project.
5. What will you do to protect the existing water in the aquifers?
Bill Long: We are doing studies to limit the development of the existing 7000 lots in JT to densities that can be built with septic systems. These 7000 parcels in Joshua Tree can be developed without water studies just by taking out building permits. Because most are less than 10 units they can use septic systems even though the density may be high.
We are continuing to draw down the water in our aquifer because there is no natural recharge. Bringing in water for recharge is essential for protection of the aquifer and for the future of the community.
6. Have you served on any elected board in the past? What did you learn about being an effective Board member?
Bill Long: Yes, I'm currently serving on the Board. I have found it extremely important to be well informed about water law and the rules and regulations involved in overseeing the operation of such a vitally important part of a community. Decisions the Board makes need to well thought out in advance and should be based on valid information and in many cases scientific data. A Board also needs to be sensitive to the community they serve and open to suggestions and comments from the rate payers. We have done this by forming a Citizens Advisory Committee, a group of volunteers with diverse backgrounds who examine issues and proposals the Board will be making decisions about and providing the Board and staff with the results of their findings. I've also learned that one Board member should not act alone. To be effective the Board needs to be made up of people that can work together to arrive at a decision. They do not have to agree, but they need to be able to articulate their position work toward consensus and if the vote is split, move on to the next item on the agenda.
7. Do you see the Katz development adding to our distinctive character as a gateway community? Please explain why or why not.
Bill Long: When we retired we moved to Joshua Tree because we enjoyed the open space, rural character and night sky.
A Board member commenting about their personal feelings, rather than water issues, toward a project before it's presented could establish prejudice and may lead to litigation at a later date.
8. If elected, how would you represent all of your environmentally conscious constituents?
Bill Long: We have been very active in a number of ways to participate in preserving the quality of the environment in the area we serve. Several examples are:
We are a regular participant in local conservation conferences sponsored by the Desert Land Trust and other environmental organizations.
JBWD is a member and participant in the Open-space Committee.
JBWD has worked with the JT National Park to promote the use of native non-invasive landscaping materials and otherwise promote the Parks interests.
JBWD is developing a demonstration garden that encourages conservation.
We have developed and implemented a plant restoration program for those areas when it was necessary to cross an undeveloped area to replace or install new pipe.
JBWD's policies have encouraged "in-fill" development rather than "leap frog" development. Of the 600 or so homes that received water meters in the last several years, only 3 or so required a water line extension. All others were "in-fill".
The policies we have put in place serve to discourage growth into undeveloped areas.
JBWD was a major sponsor of the PASS conference on "Sustainable Growth."
JBWD has initiated a strong water conservation program.
9. Do you have a plan to find common ground and to effectively work with members with whom you disagree?
Bill Long: Most of our current Board members have attended water education seminars to benefit from what other communities have learned. We have worked with the USGS scientists to study hydro-geological issues in order to provide accurate unbiased information to facilitate understanding and consensus building. When the Board has an important policy issue to address, most Board members will try not to form an opinion until they have reviewed all the data, heard from the Citizens Advisory Committee and the public.
10. What are your main concerns with the current Water Board?
Bill Long: As a current Board member, we have worked hard to develop policies to assure that new development "pays it's own way", that the District is sensitive to environmental issues, that public participation is institutionalized, that decisions are based on good data, that the District is managed in a professional way with integrity, and that Board Members work together to achieve consensus wherever possible.
I have the following concerns with the current Board:
The current Board has one member who often votes contrary to the other four members and fails to explain his reasons for disagreement. Although other Board Members encourage him to explain his position, he refuses.
Most, but not all Board Members take the time to become educated on water issues by attending classes, seminars, and conferences on important water issues.
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CANDIDATE: Mickey Luckman
1. What do you see as your primary responsibility as a Water District board member?
Mickey Luckman: The primary duty of the water board is to set policy for the district so we can assure our customers a long-term supply of high quality water at reasonable rates. My responsibility as a board member is to learn the issues so I can make intelligent and fair decisions.
2. What do you consider to be the three top priorities for the Joshua Basin Water District?
Mickey Luckman:
a. Having a strong, professionally managed district to serve our customer’s needs.
b. Recharging our aquifer by completing the project approved by the voters in 1990 to replenish our water table and establish our entitlement to future State Water Project water.
c. Replacing old infrastructure, especially pipe, and maintaining our $6.5 million investment in the district’s infrastructure.
3. How do your water rates compare with surrounding districts?
Mickey Luckman: Joshua Basin has the second lowest rates in the Morongo Basin. Those rates are divided into four tiers to encourage conservation and protect the smallest water users. While we don’t charge as much as other neighboring districts, Joshua Basin is better managed and more viable than many of the districts around us.
4. What is your understanding of the authority of the Water District to regulate growth and development? For instance, the JBWD is required to provide water to developers, even large scale projects like the Katz proposal, which is clearly in contrast to our Plan. The Plan represents the will of this community. How would you propose to deal with this conflict?
Mickey Luckman: Joshua Basin Water District has no authority to regulate growth and development. While the district is certainly familiar with the General Plan, San Bernardino County is the land use agency and the General Plan and the Development Codes are documents that apply to them.
As one of the first steps in the plan approval process, the state requires the district to conduct water availability studies to demonstrate to the county that there will be enough water for both the project and current customer needs for the next 20 years. If there is not, either the district or the developer must show where the water will come from. If the plan meets all the county’s requirements and is approved, the district must provide water.
While Joshua Basin Water District has no land use authority, it can impact development by charging developers connection fees that pay the infrastructure costs associated with their projects. It can also put conditions on the development, such as paying all the costs for putting in a large enough pipe from the nearest water source, establishing landscape ordinances and requiring the developer to use high quality package treatment plants instead of cheaper alternatives such as septic systems.
5. What will you do to protect the existing water in the aquifers?
Mickey Luckman: The most important thing we can do to protect the aquifer is to begin replacing the 42,000+ acre-feet of water we have ‘mined’ over the past 50 years. Joshua Tree has virtually no natural recharge so 99% of the water taken out of the aquifer was never replaced. Bringing the State Water Project pipeline into Joshua Tree and beginning recharge is a top priority.
The other thing we can do to protect the water is to require package treatment plants for projects of 10 or more homes and new commercial projects.
Lastly, we must find a way to educate people on the need to service their septic tanks. When septic tanks are not maintained, it is like dumping raw sewage into the ground.
6. Have you served on any elected board in the past? What did you learn about being an effective Board member?
Mickey Luckman: I have not served on elected boards, but I have been on several appointed boards. To be effective, board members need to listen to the concerns of others, find places where they agree and work from there to come to consensus.
7. Do you see the Katz development adding to our distinctive character as a gateway community? Please explain why or why not.
Mickey Luckman: As I have told Mr. Katz, I feel that his project as currently proposed is inappropriate for Joshua Tree. 2,700 $350,000 homes would completely change the character of our town. Nevertheless, the fact that we're opposed to his project isn't going to make him go away. I think groups like the MAC’s Land Use Subcommittee and MBCA need to work with him to come up with solutions that everyone can live with. We can also bring pressure on county planners to make sure they follow the rules.
8. If elected, how would you represent all of your environmentally conscious constituents?
Mickey Luckman: I am environmentally conscious. While I generally take a more middle-of-the-road path than some of my activist friends, I think activists are extremely important in changing the consciousness of the world. Their point of view definitely needs to be considered and as much as possible worked into the final decision.
9. Do you have a plan to find common ground and to effectively work with members with whom you disagree?
Mickey Luckman: Throughout my career as a project manager, I have worked with various groups to find common ground and solutions that everyone can live with. Since I never actually had the authority to make people do the things I needed done, I had to use persuasion. It is definitely an art.
10. What are your main concerns with the current Water Board?
Mickey Luckman: I support most of the policies set by the current Water Board. As a member of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee, a broadly-based group of local citizen-advisors, we study and discuss measures sent to us by the board. Once we come to consensus, we take our recommendation back to the board itself. I believe that the board has voted in favor of every one of our recommendations.
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CANDIDATE: Michael Luhrs
1. What do you see as your primary responsibility as a Water District board member?
Michael Luhrs: I see the primary responsibility of a Joshua Basin Water District director as providing clean water at a reasonable price.
2. What do you consider to be the three top priorities for the Joshua Basin Water District?
Michael Luhrs: The top three priorities of JBWD should be (1) clean water, (2) business conducted in the open, and (3) replacing decaying pipeline and infrastructure.
3. How do your water rates compare with surrounding districts?
Michael Luhrs: I think it is dishonest to compare water rates with surrounding districts because that information is used to raise rates unnecessarily.
4. What is your understanding of the authority of the Water District to regulate growth and development? For instance, the JBWD is required to provide water to developers, even large scale projects like the Katz proposal, which is clearly in contrast to our Plan. The Plan represents the will of this community. How would you propose to deal with this conflict?
Michael Luhrs: The district is not in the business of regulating growth or development. As for the Katz project, neither now or in the foreseeable future will it be possible for the district to issue a will-serve letter. This is because of climate change and the western United States going into a long-term drought. Mojave Water Agency cannot guarantee that any water will be available in future so we will probably have to depend upon existing supplies.
5. What will you do to protect the existing water in the aquifers?
Michael Luhrs: I will not allow any imported water to be put directly into the aquifer without being treated first. I will also insist that the AB3030 Groundwater Management Plan of 1996 be implemented so that we can control wells throughout the district.
6. Have you served on any elected board in the past? What did you learn about being an effective Board member?
Michael Luhrs: Yes, I’ve been elected to the Joshua Basin Water District twice. I learned to listen to the people and not self-serving individuals with an agenda.
7. Do you see the Katz development adding to our distinctive character as a gateway community? Please explain why or why not.
Michael Luhrs: The Katz project provides nothing for the community, it detracts from it. The Katz project will damage our ecology: traffic, flood control, habitat loss, destroy native flora and fauna, almost double our need for water and overburden our infrastructure.
8. If elected, how would you represent all of your environmentally conscious constituents?
Michael Luhrs: If elected, I would represent my environmentally conscious constituents by forcing the water district to follow all environmental laws, which so far the last two boards have just laughed at.
9. Do you have a plan to find common ground and to effectively work with members with whom you disagree?
Michael Luhrs: I am not worried about finding common ground with people who cannot follow simple environmental or public disclosure laws.
10. What are your main concerns with the current Water Board?
Michael Luhrs: This water board has:
A. Been on a spending binge unlike anything we have seen in the past. Rates have increased more than 24 per cent; director’s salaries more than 50 percent; and labor costs more than 70 percent.
B. Total disregard for environmental regulations.
C. Disregard for providing public information. Can’t or won’t answer simple questions.
D. Total disregard for public opinion and has forgotten who it is supposed to be serving.
E. Spent many hundreds of thousands of dollars without authorization from either LAFCO or the JBWD board. They have taken money for trips without following the district’s Administration Code. They have paid the manager tens of thousands of dollars in violation of the Administration Code. They have hired friends at inflated prices.
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CANDIDATE: Al Marquez
1. What do you see as your primary responsibility as a Water District board member?
Al Marquez: To be a facilitator, not have a personal agenda, and be able to compromise.
2. What do you consider to be the three top priorities for the Joshua Basin Water District?
Al Marquez: Good potable water at a reasonable price, good management of the JBWD, and degraded pipe replacement.
3. How do your water rates compare with surrounding districts?
Al Marquez: Can not compare water rates with other districts, our operational cost, revenues, and amount of customers of the water district are different from other agency's.
4. What is your understanding of the authority of the Water District to regulate growth and development? For instance, the JBWD is required to provide water to developers, even large scale projects like the Katz proposal, which is clearly in contrast to our Plan. The Plan represents the will of this community. How would you propose to deal with this conflict?
Al Marquez: The purpose of the district is not to regulate growth and development, but to follow the rules set by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board and any development project prepare a specified water supply assessment.
5. What will you do to protect the existing water in the aquifers?
Al Marquez: To be informed of the amount of how many acre feet of water in our aquifers, how much water is being extracted, and to be informed of nitrates in the water system.
6. Have you served on any elected board in the past? What did you learn about being an effective Board member?
Al Marquez: Never been elected to a position, have been appointed to numerous committees.
7. Do you see the Katz development adding to our distinctive character as a gateway community? Please explain why or why not.
Al Marquez: I can not answer this question, as it would be a contrast to the position of a Board of Director. I do believe for the community that there should be sound planned development.
8. If elected, how would you represent all of your environmentally conscious constituents?
Al Marquez: I would represent all the voters and rate payers to the best of my ability as to their needs and wants.
9. Do you have a plan to find common ground and to effectively work with members with whom you disagree?
Al Marquez: I plan to work with all director members, to facilitate, and to compromise when needed.
10. What are your main concerns with the current Water Board?
Al Marquez: I would request that the board show integrity, transparency, and without a personal agenda.
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