Mesa Water appoints new board member with experience in public relations

The Mesa Water District board is back to full strength after its members voted Tuesday to add longtime Costa Mesa resident Marice DePasquale to their ranks.

She will fill the void left by former board President Ethan Temianka, who resigned in July to move to Columbus, Ohio, so he could focus more on his real estate investment company, Patriarch Enterprises.

“I have a service-minded approach to everything that I do and, when this position opened up, it seemed like a really great way to give back to my community,” she said in an interview after the vote.

DePasquale, a UC Irvine alumna, has lived in Costa Mesa for more than 20 years and is principal of MConsensus, a public affairs consulting firm. Her clients have included Newport Banning Ranch LLC, a developer that has sought to build homes and commercial buildings on the Banning Ranch property in West Newport.

DePasquale is also a former board member of the Building Industry Assn. of Orange County and has served on committees for St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Costa Mesa.

She will represent Division 3, which encompasses much of northern Costa Mesa, including the Halecrest neighborhood and South Coast Metro.

During Tuesday’s discussion, board President Jim Atkinson said he thought it was important to appoint a board member who can “relate to their constituencies and be able to carry the message of their constituencies back to the boardroom and share them with us so we can make the best decisions for the community.”

DePasquale said she checks that box.

“I certainly think my skill set lends itself to communicating well with the constituents in this division,” she said. “I also, having been a 20-year homeowner in this division, know a tremendous number of people and joke that I can’t go to Stater Bros. without running into four to eight people that I know either from my neighborhood or various other community organizations.”

Sixteen people originally applied for the open seat. The board whittled that field down to seven after a series of interviews on Aug. 25.

Each of the sitting board members took time to praise those who applied.

“As a group, you are all excellent candidates and it’s a privilege, from my perspective, to see such a great group of people coming forward to serve the community,” said board member Shawn Dewane.

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

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.

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