Divided Council OKs Mailing on Drinking Water

Stung by claims from a City Council candidate who says the city has been forced to “purchase poor quality water,” a divided council voted last week to send residents a letter assuring them that their drinking water is safe.

The special meeting was held Thursday amid the highly charged atmosphere surrounding the April 12 municipal election.

The water quality issue had surfaced at the regular council meeting on Monday, when Councilman Cam Briglio, who is seeking reelection, raised questions about a campaign leaflet distributed by challenger Betty Couch. The flyer said: “Population growth, beyond anything ever imagined, has forced the city to purchase poor quality water.”

Thursday’s meeting was called by Briglio, Mayor Christopher F. Houseman and Councilman G. Monty Manibog despite objections from council members Barry L. Hatch and Patricia Reichenberger.

Hatch and Reichenberger complained that the meeting was called for political reasons, not because of concern over water quality. Reichenberger called the meeting a “witch hunt” and Hatch termed it a “ridiculous farce.”

But Manibog said that he, Houseman and Briglio were concerned “about the misinformation that’s out there.”

The three out-voted their colleagues, deciding to send a letter to all residents to assure them that the community’s water supply meets the highest health standards.

At the start of the meeting Houseman said he wanted to ensure that the council stuck to the issue of water quality. He felt, he said, the subject was one of importance that had to be quickly addressed to allay residents’ fears. But by the end of the meeting, council members were openly debating the politics behind Couch’s statement.

Couch is one of eight candidates vying for two council seats. Briglio is the only incumbent running for reelection; Manibog, whose term also is ending, is running for city treasurer.

In recent weeks, Hatch and Reichenberger have defended challengers Couch and George Ristic, whose campaign literature has also alluded to water quality, from charges made by the three other council members.

During the meeting, Director of Public Works Nels Palm said the city has never bought poor quality water and has always met the highest local, state and federal health standards. The city relies on 12 wells for its water supply and obtains water in case of shortages through the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District.

Palm noted that although there is widespread ground water contamination in the San Gabriel Valley, Monterey Park drinking water supplies have not been polluted.

The letter, which was signed by Palm, said: “The quality of Monterey Park’s water is regulated by federal, state and county agencies in compliance with the Safe Drinking Act of 1974. Under the provisions of this legislation, the city of Monterey Park, water utility division, provides continuous monitoring and testing of water quality to assure that our water supply is in compliance with these standards.”

Hatch and Reichenberger raised the issue of whether development had threatened water supplies. Reichenberger, reading at length from a 1981 report on the city’s water supply, said that experts concluded the city could face problems if the community’s population exceeded 66,000. Already, she said, police and fire officials say the population has reached 80,000, about 19,000 more than the latest census figures show.

Hatch, citing the “plumes” of ground water pollution in the San Gabriel Valley, said:

“This is terrifying. This is something the public should be made aware of. This is something that is going to put us all in danger.”

Already, he said, many people buy bottled water, and he suggested that Couch’s statement about the poor quality of water was, in essence, accurate.

Couch, who did not attend the meeting, said in an interview: “Maybe I’m lacking in that I didn’t explain it better. I’m not trying to scare everybody.”

But she said she has lived in the city long enough to know the water doesn’t taste as good as it once did. And, she said, “the more density, the more we develop, the more we draw on the water.”

The letter does not mention Couch by name. It refers to “misinformation . . . being circulated” and includes the quote about water quality from Couch’s campaign literature. The letter also quotes from a phrase on a leaflet being distributed by Ristic, which says: “Water supply . . . must not again be compromised.”

The letter, drafted by Manibog, said that the statements from Couch and Ristic “have no foundation in fact, have alarmed and upset many residents of Monterey Park.”

Ristic, who also did not attend the meeting, said in an interview: “I don’t think I’m alluding to the quality of the water.” But then he said: “Should our water supply come short, and that may happen, then we draw on our reserves, and our reserves aren’t as good as our wells.”

As the meeting concluded, Hatch looked at his three fellow councilmen and said: “You people are as low as you can be.”

Houseman, Briglio and Manibog all said they had a responsibility to respond to the numerous phone calls they had received from citizens concerned about the statements in the campaign literature. Hatch and Reichenberger said they doubted that the three other councilmen ever received such calls.