CAPISTRANO BEACH : Director Quits Board to Avoid Job Conflict

Looking to avoid a potential conflict, Dennis Erdman, general manager of the Capistrano Beach County Water District, has resigned from the board of the Capistrano Beach Sanitary District.

Erdman announced Thursday that he was stepping down after hearing from water district attorney Ron Van Blarcom, who said holding both jobs could put the general manager in the middle of issues affecting both agencies.

In particular, Van Blarcom pointed to state regulations that could allow the water district to provide sewage service “even though the district hasn’t shown any interest in doing that,” Erdman said. “Our attorney consulted experts in the state and felt the right thing to do was for me to resign. I certainly regret doing so.”

Before being named to head the water district last summer, Erdman ran the sanitary district for five years. He was also a board member of the neighboring Tri-Cities Water District for 16 years.

Before running for the sanitary district board seat in November, Erdman consulted with Van Blarcom, who reviewed and approved the general manager’s candidacy. But after researching the issue further, the water district lawyer sent Erdman a lengthy memo advising him to resign.

Water district board member Ken Lawrence Sr. said Erdman’s resignation was “a good idea.”

“I’m comfortable with it,” he said. “There could be a conflict there that might curtail him from making necessary decisions.”

Lawrence said the resignation “was something that almost had to be done. If (Erdman’s holding both jobs) were contested, it probably could have gone to the attorney general’s office, and who knows what would happen.”

The two public agencies had discussed a merger, although talks have been stalled in recent months.

Erdman’s resignation means that both districts have an open seat on their boards of directors. A spot on the water district board opened when former director Ray Benedicktus won a seat on the Tri-Cities Water District Board in November’s elections.