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Judge delays decision on challenge to wording of Mesa Water merger measure

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An Orange County Superior Court judge Tuesday held off on deciding whether to strike much of the language of an advisory ballot measure proposed by the Mesa Water District concerning a possible merger with the Costa Mesa Sanitary District, saying he needs more information to determine whether a challenge to it was filed in time.

After a brief hearing in Santa Ana, Judge Andrew Banks directed attorneys in the matter to return at 3 p.m. Wednesday to discuss it further.

At issue is a 10-day review period during which the public can ask that election materials be amended or deleted before going on the ballot.

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Mike Scheafer, a Costa Mesa resident who is the board president of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District, filed a challenge Friday to the wording of Mesa Water’s nonbinding measure, which will ask voters Nov. 8 whether they support the idea of the two agencies pursuing a merger.

Patrick Munoz, an attorney for Mesa Water, contends the deadline to file a challenge had passed Aug. 22 and that it’s too late for the judge to rule on Scheafer’s objection.

According to the Orange County registrar of voters office, the 10-day review period began Aug. 13.

“It’s a firm statute of limitations,” said Munoz, of the law firm Rutan & Tucker.

Wednesday’s hearing is intended for Banks to hear arguments on whether he can weigh the merits of Scheafer’s challenge.

“If there clearly is no discretion — [that] it is a hard and fast deadline and after the 10th day the guillotine has fallen — then it seems to me there is nothing to be done,” Banks said.

In his challenge, Scheafer objected to claims in Mesa Water’s ballot measure, designated as Measure TT, of cost savings that could result from a merger with the sanitary district.

Those figures — about $15.6 million in one-time savings and an additional $2.7 million annually — were identified in a preliminary study commissioned by Mesa Water and prepared by consultant Arcadis U.S. Inc.

According to the study, the savings could result in a $650 rebate for each customer and up to a 28% reduction in wastewater rates. Those numbers also are stated in the ballot measure.

Scheafer is seeking to strike all the language in the measure that refers to the potential savings identified in the study, which the sanitary district considers inaccurate and misleading.

Scheafer’s challenge claims the measure is inconsistent with election law and includes “unnecessary words to suggest to voters how they should vote.”

Mesa Water officials have said they believe the study’s results are valid.

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