16 candidates seek Mesa Water District board seat

Sixteen people have applied for a Mesa Water District board seat left vacant by the recent resignation of Ethan Temianka.

The candidates are Samson Alfi, Jeremy Davis, Marice DePasquale, Ron Green Jr., Stanley Hill, Wallid Kazi, Peter Kim, Al Morelli, Andrew Nielson, Tom Pollitt, Brent Scharnberg, Timothy Sesler, Larry Smith, William Wagner, Gregory Warren and William Westrup.

Mesa Water’s four remaining board members will interview the applicants during a public meeting Aug. 25.

Should the board need more time, interviews could take place Aug. 28 as well, district spokeswoman Noelle Collins said Thursday.

After the interviews, board members will decide whether to vote on an appointment right away or wait until their next regularly scheduled meeting Sept. 5.

Whoever is appointed will represent Mesa Water’s Division 3, which encompasses much of northern Costa Mesa, including the Halecrest neighborhood and South Coast Metro.

The chosen candidate will be appointed through Dec. 6, 2018. After that, the winner of the next scheduled board election in November that year will serve the remainder of Temianka’s term, which runs through 2020.

Temianka resigned from the board in July, saying he planned to move from Costa Mesa to Columbus, Ohio, to focus on growing his real estate investment company, Patriarch Enterprises.

Mesa Water provides service to about 110,000 people in Costa Mesa, parts of Newport Beach and sections of unincorporated Orange County, including John Wayne Airport.

luke.money@latimes.com

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