Some San Diego water leaders aren’t ready to settle with two defecting water districts leaving the county for Riverside.
Five of the 36 board directors of the San Diego County Water Authority called for a special meeting to cancel peace talks with two North County communities divorcing the district to search for cheaper water elsewhere. The request came in a Dec. 11 letter to the board’s chairman.
The signers: City of San Diego board member, and former chair, Jim Madaffer, Gary Croucher and Tim Smith from Otay, Marty Miller from Vista Irrigation and Michael Hogan Santa Fe Irrigation water districts.
“There are still significant financial, operational, legal, regional and public issues that have not been fully detailed or addressed,” the letter says. It goes on to list 14 different topics like the costs of losing two water districts on the other 22 member agencies and the authority of the Local Agency Formation Commission or LAFCO – the boundary referees that OK’d Fallbrook and Rainbow’s departure.
It may be a sign that the city of San Diego – the most powerful vote on the board – isn’t ready to give up its fight against the divorce.
County’s Top Bureaucrat Departing Jan. 10
Times of San Diego broke the news that longtime county Chief Administrative Officer Helen Robbins-Meyer will leave her post on Jan. 10.
Robbins-Meyer, who had planned to retire before a scandal engulfed former supervisor Nathan Fletcher, agreed to lead the county’s 18,000 employees on an interim basis while the county searched for a new top bureaucrat. She had held the post for a dozen years before agreeing to return temporarily.
Refresher: This spring, news leaked that a prominent Santa Clara Democrat with business and labor backing was being recruited for the county post. There was speculation that Fletcher’s vote would be needed for the appointment and that perhaps he was delaying his official resignation date to have a say in the county’s future leadership. Many were calling for Fletcher’s immediate resignation. Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Nora Vargas and Vice Chair Terra Lawson-Remer put a stop to that speculation when they announced in April that the county would pause its search for a new chief administrative officer until the District 4 seat Fletcher once held had a new representative. The county has since resumed the search.
Enter the new supervisor: Monica Montgomery Steppe, a former San Diego City Councilwoman, was sworn in as the new District 4 supervisor on Dec. 5. With Montgomery Steppe aboard, supervisors met behind closed doors Tuesday to discuss the search. As Times of San Diego reports, advocates are calling for the county to be transparent as conversations about the county’s new chief administrative officer pick up.
County spokesman Michael Workman said late Thursday he couldn’t say whether county supervisors would make an interim appointment following Robbins-Meyer’s retirement or share details on other next steps.
In Other News
- The Union-Tribune reports that City Councilman Raul Campillo is pushing a union-backed policy that would require safety training for workers at concerts and other large events.
- Eleven San Diego Unified police officers are suing the police chief and alleging retaliation, discrimination and more, NBC 7 reports.
- Four members of San Diego’s Congressional delegation have questions for the local Veterans Affairs office following a Union-Tribune story revealing hundreds of housing vouchers for homeless veterans have gone unused.
- inewsource looked at how a large new Border Patrol station that’s now under construction will affect Dulzura, a rural East County community.
- Last June, we wrote about a family of six struggling with homelessness. Natalie Raschke, whose family has since moved into housing, wrote an op-ed for the Union-Tribune about their experience.
The Morning Report was written by MacKenzie Elmer and Lisa Halverstadt. It was edited by Andrea Lopez-Villafaña.
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