Column: Updates on water rate hikes and City Hall silence over change in mayors

This week I have updates on two stories I’ve been following: the fee increases at Mesa Water District and the removal of Katrina Foley as mayor of Costa Mesa.

On Nov. 7, I wrote about Mesa Water District’s proposed 25% rate hike.

The rationale behind the increase was a downturn in revenues since the public cut water usage in response to the drought. Pointing out there was no talk of cost-saving measures in cutting bureaucracy, the water board gave itself a 10% raise in April.

I felt these fee increases were penalizing the public for doing a good conservation job. In my column I outlined salaries and insurance benefits board members received for this lucrative part-time job.

One reader also pointed out that Mesa Water board member Shawn Dewane also sits on the Orange County Water District board and that his compensation from that district in 2016 was $21,500 in annual per diem pay, $16,229.66 in insurance benefits, $3,812.47 in retirement benefits and a $1,397.50 equipment allowance. This is all in addition to his Mesa Water board per diems of $20,160 and $16,800 in insurance benefits.

On Nov. 10, the Mesa Water board unanimously approved the rate hike and, as the Daily Pilot reported, “The primary factor behind the increases, Mesa Water officials said, is that the district is seeing large rate hikes of its own from the Orange County Water District.”

I wasn’t the only journalist who felt Mesa Water wasn’t passing the smell test. Voice of OC’s Norberto Santana Jr. dug deeper in an eye-opening column.

Talking about all of this on Tom Johnson’s KOCI FM radio show, “StuNews Sunday,” on Nov. 11 apparently didn’t sit well with Mesa Water, a sponsor of the station.

Johnson explained that station management required him to interview representatives of Mesa Water from time to time, which he did, though Johnson was relegated to what he calls “softball questions” because they were sponsors. Mesa Water spent $3,900 in 2017 for two 13-week schedules.

But there was nothing soft about my opinions or those of former Bubbling Cauldron blogger Geoff West.

Mesa Water contacted KOCI with objections to what we said on the air.

In emails Johnson shared with me, a representative of KOCI wrote Johnson on Nov. 18, saying Stacy Taylor, external affairs manager for Mesa Water, called the station saying, “One of Mesa Water’s board members made Stacy aware of the negative comments” and that this was “bad timing” since KOCI had a proposal in to Taylor for an annual sponsorship for 2018.

When KOCI suggested that Johnson “temper comments” on his show, he wrote back: “You know what, I’m going to resign from hosting ‘StuNews Sunday’ effective immediately. You can use me as the scapegoat to save Mesa Water.”

Speaking to a KOCI representative Monday regarding the current Mesa Water sponsorship proposal, I was assured the sponsorship wasn’t in jeopardy.

But on Thursday morning, Taylor told me she wasn’t going to take the proposal to the board anytime soon.

“It is bad timing right now to bring that to the board for consideration,” she said.

However, in an email later, she wrote, “There is no further concern or issue and Mesa Water may consider a future KOCI sponsorship.”

Calling her Monday, I asked to speak to the mystery board member who took objection to what was said, offering an interview so the person could give his or her side of things in my column.

Taylor said she didn’t know who called KOCI or which board member objected to comments on the show.

Taylor said she’d get back to me and offered a tour of the facility with the general manager and Dewane.

I explained I wanted to do a phone interview with the parties involved before that.

Taylor insisted Mesa Water policy requires I email her my questions and she would get answers back to me.

That’s not how I roll. I speak directly to those in question, especially when it relates to elected officials.

Later I spoke with KOCI CEO Brent Kahlen. He told me he hadn’t had time to look into this yet.

Johnson, a former Daily Pilot publisher, told me he’s done at KOCI and is exploring other options for “StuNews Sunday.” That’s probably a wise move.

Costa Mesa mayoral flap remains a mystery

My other column regarding the removal of Foley as mayor (she remains a council member) also garnered much reader interest.

No one inside City Hall is willing to talk publicly about why she was removed or confirm or deny whether the city heeded Councilman Jim Righeimer’s call for an investigation.

Councilman John Stephens said he’s not “aware of any investigation or any basis for an investigation.”

He still feels the manner in which Foley was removed as mayor is a violation of city codes and is in the process of determining “what would be the appropriate procedural remedy.”

I’ll continue following both these stories.

BARBARA VENEZIA lives in Newport Beach. She can be reached at bvontv1@gmail.com.