PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
.com MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
VOL. 30, N0. 53
DEC. 30, 2016
SAN Roberts reflects onMARCOS -NEWS supervisor term, future plans
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By Aaron Burgin
The price of water The San Diego County Water Authority is raising rates for 2017-18 by more than 5 percent due to a 12.1 percent increase from the Metropolitan Water District. Customers of various agencies are upset about rising costs. Photo by Steve Puterski
Billions of dollars at stake over County Water Authority, MWD legal battle REGION — “Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting.” Whether or not Mark Twain coined the term, the axiom rings true, especially in the West and specifically the water war between the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) and the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD). The battle raging between the two entities has resulted in higher water rates for customers in San Diego County. In November, the Carlsbad Municipal Water District Board of Directors (the City Council), approved rate increases stemming from a cost of service study. The study, though, was influenced by the rates from the MWD, according to Carlsbad Finance Manager Aaron Beanan. “I sympathize with what everyone is saying,” Carlsbad Mayor Matt Hall said. “I have six water meters. When water goes up, I pay six fold. In California, given the cost of ener-
gy, given the cost of environmental regulation and a whole host of things, trying to keep water under a 4 or 5 percent increase a year is almost impossible to do.” MWD is a regional water wholesaler delivering to 26 agencies — 14 cities, 11 municipal water districts and one county (San Diego) water authority. MWD supplies more than 19 million people with water and is the largest distributor of treated drinking water in the country. The massive entity has a 38-person board of directors with SDCWA represented by Keith Lewinger, Elsa Saxod and Fern Steiner. “The story of the water rate increases starts about 100 miles north in downtown Los Angeles,” said SDCWA Assistant General Manager Dennis Cushman of MWD. “We also pay Metropolitan to transport our independent Colorado River supplies.” The MWD sells water to the SDCWA, who then sells to 24 other agencies throughout the county. As such, those entities base their rates off the
cost of water, deliveries and other factors from SDCWA and MWD. However, the SDCWA filed its first lawsuit against the MWD several years ago for illegal charges of rates for use of the Colorado Aqueduct. A state judge ruled in favor of SDCWA in November 2015 for illegal rate charges from 2011-14 and awarded $243 million in damages, costs, pre-judgment interest and attorney’s fees. It was the largest plaintiff’s award in civil litigation in the state in 2015, according to Cushman. The MWD, however, appealed the ruling to the California State Supreme Court. But the SDCWA filed its fourth lawsuit in April alleging MWD used the same “scheme” when setting its rates for 2017 and 2018. SDCWA alleges MWD overcharged by more than $134 million and combined with the previous suit, the total is estimated to be at $524 million, not including TURN TO WATER ON A8
STRANGE BRIAN STRANGE
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By Steve Puterski
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ave Roberts greets a reporter We d n e s d a y morning at an Encinitas coffee shop with a broad, warm smile. The smile has become a trademark of sorts. He wore the same smile on Jan. 10, 2012 when the then-Solana Beach City Councilman declared his candidacy for the Third District seat on the County Board of Supervisors. You can see the same smile on his face in pictures taken on Nov. 6, 2012, when he defeated Steve Danon to win the Dist. 3 Supervisors race, becoming the first Democrat on the five-member board. He continued to smile even throughout a 2015 that saw some former staffers file claims against the county alleging several abuses of office, which the county settled for $300,000. The claims made him vulnerable to defeat in 2016. And despite a slow, painful three-week vote count last month that saw Roberts go from apparently clinching a second term in office to being defeated for the Dist. 3 seat by Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar, the first sitting incumbent defeated on the board in 32 years, Roberts has never lost that smile, or the optimism that fuels it. “I am a very positive person by nature,” Roberts said. “When you get into the business of running for office you know there are going to be winners and losers,” Roberts said. “This time, I lost by a few votes, but at 56 I have a lot more that I still want to do.” While he hasn’t officially decided what path he wants to take after his term officially ends next week, Roberts said he is open to running for public office again. He also spoke openly about his dream job of becoming an executive director for a nonprofit organization.
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THE VISTA NEWS
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Dave Roberts hasn’t yet decided what his next options are after serving one term on the Board of Supervisors. Courtesy photo
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He also wants to continue to champion the causes that he did during his term on the board of supervisors: Environmental and open-space acqui-
When you get into the business of running for office you know there are going to be winners and losers.” Dave Roberts Former Dist. 3 Supervisor
sition advocacy, improving the foster care and adoption system, the expansion of mental health services offerings and shedding a light on domestic violence and human trafficking issues in the county. For now, Roberts said he’s still been doing the work of supervisor until Gaspar is officially sworn into office. He said that he’s done everything to make the transition smooth, including briefing her on the projects he was TURN TO ROBERTS ON A10
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