3 Water Districts Have Contests

Candidates running for water district boards in the San Gabriel Valley describe the job as something akin to dogcatcher: Not many people want the post, but it’s an important public service required to keep community life--and water--flowing smoothly.

Next week, only three districts in the San Gabriel Valley are holding contested elections, and there is little controversy being generated by the 10 candidates in Pasadena’s Kinneloa Irrigation District, the La Puente Valley County Water District and the Walnut Valley Water District.

Even in the Valley County Water District, where water pollution over the years has forced the closure of five of 10 wells, the three seats are uncontested. Arnold P. Hepner, Merrill F. Whitley and Clinton O. Nixon will be the new board members for the water district, which is headquartered in Baldwin Park.

In the Walnut Valley race, three Diamond Bar men are trying to unseat Richard C. Engdahl, who is the appointed incumbent on the board. The district serves nearly 25,000 residential, industrial and business customers throughout the eastern San Gabriel Valley. Opposing Engdahl are Philip G. Crocker, Eric R. Stone and John T. Underwood.

Four candidates are seeking three seats in the La Puente district. Incumbents Martin Larraya , Lawrence J. Mayo and Carl L. Spear are faced by challenger Robert W. Fallon.

The one contested seat in the Kinneloa district involves Melvin L. Matthews running against Russell D. Shattuck.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is appointing 14 candidates who were unopposed in their bids for seats on six San Gabriel Valley water boards, including Hepner, Whitley and Nixon of the Valley County Water District.

In the Rowland Water District, appointees are Louis N. Yorba, John A. Rowland, Melvin I. Harper and Antonio Diliberti. In the San Gabriel County Water District, appointees are Everette M. Kokanour, Frank E. Seward, Wellington H. Love and Kenneth W. Bauchman. In the Kinneloa Irrigation District, the appointees are Charles F. Briscoe and Amy Walton Brown, and from Walnut Valley, Edward N. Layton.