ELECTIONS WATER DISTRICTS : Something Unusual Shows Up in Races: Genuine Opposition

During a recent San Gabriel Valley hearing on ground-water pollution, state Sen. Art Torres suggested that perhaps “we need a Wyatt Earp out here.”

The Los Angeles Democrat’ comment comes in the midst of heated political battling over cleanup efforts, including unprecedented campaigning in normally staid water board elections.

Even though there may not be a Wyatt Earp among them, 16 candidates are running in six races in three water districts: The Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District and the Three Valleys Municipal Water District.

In some cases, incumbents who have never faced opposition must defend their positions, especially on the longstanding pollution problem caused during the last 40 years by industrial and commercial solvents and degreasing agents.

So environmentalists have stepped into the forefront of the Nov. 6 election campaign. On Thursday, the Sierra Club and the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters made endorsements in five races.

“We have incumbents that have failed miserably to deal with the ground-water problem,” said Maxine Leichter of the Sierra Club.

Incumbent Robert H. Nicholson Jr. disagreed, calling the environmentalists misinformed.

Nicholson, 57, of Arcadia is one of those targeted by environmentalists. Chairman of the board of the El Monte-based San Gabriel Valley Water Co., he joined the Upper District board four years ago. His opponent, Anthony R. Fellow, 40, of El Monte has the environmental Sierra Club’s endorsement.

Another incumbent, Upper District member Al Wittig, 67, called his challengers opportunists. A retired building contractor, Wittig faces four opponents, the largest field taking on any single candidate in the San Gabriel Valley races.

Wittig, hospitalized since June after a near-fatal blood vessel hemorrhage in the brain, is scheduled for release Thursday from Pasadena’s Huntington Memorial Hospital. He said he has no intention of giving up his place on the board.

Wittig has even received the backing of a candidate who filed against him, William Redcay, 43, Azusa’s water superintendent. Redcay said he only filed to ensure that the water industry’s point of view would be represented. Now that Wittig has recovered, Redcay said, he wants Wittig to retain the post.

Nonetheless, environmentalists are pushing hard to defeat Wittig and have endorsed El Monte lawyer Marvin Joe Cichy, a former three-time Rosemead councilman.

In addition, Wittig faces opposition from former Monrovia Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Janice Marugg, 66, who says the water board “has been run by the good old boys for too long a time.” Another Monrovia resident, Patrick Hauk, an assistant manager of a retail store, is also running.

Both candidates for a seat on the board of the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District promise that it will be a lively campaign. Carol A. Montano, 43, has the full backing of environmentalists in trying to unseat Donald F. Clark, a former Azusa councilman who has served on the board more than 20 years without facing an opponent or election.

Clark, 66, is chairman of the newly created Main San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority.

In the Claremont-based Three Valleys District, three seats are being contested. Board Chairman William Koch, 71, of Pomona is being challenged by Pomona sales account representative Nolie Glover, 64.

One of the key issues of the campaign for Koch, a 12-year board member, relates to fair treatment for Pomona, he said. Koch said he will push for the district to help finance facilities to solve nitrate pollution problems plaguing wells in Pomona.

Likewise, Glover said he will work on the nitrate problem. And, he said, he believes he can be a calming influence on a board known for its contentiousness.

Environmentalists endorsed neither Koch nor Glover but did support incumbents in the other two contests, Muriel F. O’Brien of Claremont and Paul E. Stiglich of Diamond Bar.

O’Brien, 68, faces a challenge from Claremont businesswoman Dorothy R. Davis, 56, who in 1988 ran unsuccessfully as a Republican in the primary for the 36th Congressional District.

Leadership on water issues is the key not only in the Three Valleys District but statewide also, O’Brien said, adding that for too long water officials have not dealt adequately with the tensions of growth, water supply and water quality.

The planning and management of Three Valleys, Davis said, “has been a little lax.”

Incumbent Stiglich, 38, faces two challengers from his hometown of Diamond Bar: Philip G. Crocker, a water company manager, and Joe McManus, a businessman.

Stiglich, a water quality manager with the city of Anaheim, has developed what he calls the “Stiglich Water Plan” in response to drought and pollution. The plan includes ideas about conservation and ground-water cleanup.

One of Stiglich’s opponents, Crocker, is also in the water business. He is manager of the San Gabriel County Water District in Rosemead. Crocker, 58, said he can provide management expertise and technical knowledge to the board.

McManus, 51, said he is extremely concerned about planning adequately for water supply. “Growth is pretty much set in concrete: It’s going to happen. We just need to make sure we have enough water,” he said.