Interim General Manager of Capistrano Water District Quits

After only two weeks on the job, the interim general manager of the Capistrano Beach County Water District resigned Monday, for the second time.

“The water district is in a lot of turmoil with the public, the Board of Directors and other factions within the district,” said Donald Mischka. “I was not comfortable with what was going on at the time, and it appears that I was a pawn in the whole scheme of things.”

Mischka, who was appointed to the three-month position just two weeks ago, said he first resigned last Tuesday. But he decided to return at the urging of two of the board’s directors, Jim Hayton and Ross Carpenter.

But after returning to work on Friday, Mischka said, he again decided to quit.

“There’s no way I’ll go back under any condition,” he said.

Hayton expressed anger over the resignation and accused fellow director Addison DeBoi of engineering Mischka’s departure.

According to Hayton, DeBoi was unhappy with the board’s decision in March to fire Mischka’s predecessor, Dennis A. Erdman, and, in retaliation, DeBoi told Mischka that he eventually would be fired.

DeBoi denied the allegations and blamed Mischka’s resignation on continued political maneuvering by other members of the water district’s Board of Directors.

Commenting on Mischka’s second resignation, DeBoi said that after some checking around,Mischka had simply realized that his initial resignation was the correct decision. “The reason he resigned was because actions by other directors created an uncomfortable environment where his job was not secure,” DeBoi said. “In the end, he recognized that he was being deceived and left.”